A client recently asked for a collection of “short” readings” as prep for an innovation/strategy retreat we led for their 60 top managers. Here’s what we suggested. (It’s not comprehensive, in that it’s focused somewhat on their particular food/ag industry concerns, but hopefully worthwhile for you too.)
Short readings
Gil Friend, CEO Natural Logic Inc
Making the Business Case for Sustainability
Gil Friend, New Bottom Line (short articles):
A Sustainability Cookbook
Product Regulation and Future Markets
Risk, CFOs, and the Sustainability Business Case
Sustainability – At the tipping point?
Short videos:
Ray Anderson, CEO Interface Global
The Business Logic of Sustainability (Video on TED.com)
Longer readings:
Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins
Natural Capitalism, Chapter 1 (21 pg PDF; big picture overview)
Donella Meadows
Places to Intervene in a System (21 page PDF, or this shorter summary)
Gil Friend, CEO Natural Logic Inc
The Truth About Green Business
Longer videos:
Gil Friend
The Truth About Green Business, and the Three Barriers to Building a Sustainable Economy (YouTube, 8/18/09)
This client is in agribusiness, so we also included this short article:
Nicolette Hahn Niman (Livestock Rancher, Lawyer, and Author, Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms)
Avoiding Factory Farm Foods: An Eater’s Guide
and this short video:
Fred Kirschenmann, Leopold Center
The Future of Agriculture – An Introduction (video)
PS: Here are a couple of other “best sustainability book” lists — one from Cambridge University, and one from TriplePundit.com’s readers.
Enjoy! And let us know what your favorites are!
