Business – the Decade for Making a Difference
The fresh air of the Wairarapa, New Zealand
I’ve been reflecting on something Seth Godin wrote in his New Year’s day post welcome to the frustration decade:
…And, to top it off, savings are thin and resource availability isn’t what it used to be. A lot of people ate their emergency rations during the last decade. Look for this frustration to be acted out in public, and often.
My concern is whether our businesses and industry also ate our emergency rations during the last decade – the rations of resources, environment and society.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that businesses and industry make a critical contribution – creating employment, providing necessary products and services, fueling economic growth, and providing returns to investors. But they also consume resources, impact the environment, and influence societies. As businesses and industry move into the new decade I believe that you and I (who operate within businesses and industry) need to pay as much attention to the latter set of considerations as we do to the former set. As a powerhouse in our communities our businesses and industry have the muscle to make a difference in the world – let’s make it for the good.
Many leaders have already shown us the way, making a contribution to profit AND purpose:
- Terracycle – a business that creates value from waste (see my post TerraCycle – A Business Built on Waste and Worm Poop)
- Interface – a petroleum intensive flooring manufacturer well on their way to having zero impact on the environment by 2020 (see my post Interface Looking after Tomorrow’s Child)
- TOMS Shoes – for every pair of shoes sold TOMS Shoes gives a pair of shoes to a needy child (see my post One for One – TOMS Shoes)
Our world, our society needs us to step up and to continue this same lead in our own businesses and industries for the next decade and beyond. Small changes now can make a big difference in the future.
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