We are called not to live in the world we are given to, but to live in the world that we are in the process of making. – Lee Weissman
Dear [First Name ##cap_lower],
Well, it happened again today. Bright, eager, undergraduate inventor/entrepreneurs, fired up with the insights and opportunities that a systems view of the world opens for them, meet the world of siloed organizations.
Where “that’s not my department” may not always be quite the barrier is used to me. But where “full cost accounting”—comprehensively considering all costs (including the mythical notion of “externalities”) and all benefits (including interacting multi-benefits)—that can disclose investment opportunities and ROI that you just can’t see in your normal GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial management system, remains a mystery.
Or a dream.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard smart, experienced, caring executives say—for decades now!—”Well, we’d like to tackle those sustainability initiatives, but we just can’t afford to.”
My usual response: “Which part of higher ROI are you figuring can’t you afford? Lower CapX, reduced OpX, higher revenues, and higher profit margins? Reduced absenteeism, improved recruitment and retention? Impact on risk, reputation, and meaning? Regulatory insulation?” (Yes, I recognize that leaders are increasingly aware of these dimensions—and that they’re still not consistently a part of decision-making.)
And there begins a journey of discovery, which some clients have told us discloses “massive value”—their words, not ours—that even some of the best companies in the world just can’t see in their standard, legit, but myopic, management systems.
Sometimes we bring in our tool-building friends to help uncover submerged value, steamline materiality and other analyses, and build the business case. (Always cautioning, of course, that a business case isn’t for deciding whether or not to do the right thing; it’s for figuring out how to do the right thing most effectively.) Oh, and —and roadmaps for bottom-up implementation too.
But while the tools are valuable, it’s mindsets that are key. Because (as I’ve written about before), the habits of thought, assumptions, interpretations, and moods—that we all inescapably bring into every encounter—condition, shape, nourish, and limit the possibilities we see.
That’s where our Natural Step-based Sustainablity FrameWorkShop™ is so powerful at shifting executive teams, business leaders, designers, product managers—all hands, ideally—into a very different frame of action, in a matter of days or even hours. And why we’ve partnered with MySustainOnline to bring inexpensive sustainability micro-learning to every employee at every level in every organization we touch.
So my first question for you is this: what could we do together?
Here are just a few possibilities:
- Engage Natural Logic to help your company uncover—and harvest—the massive value you could generate by doing business as though you actually belonged to the living world. There’s no web page for this; contact me directly by phone or email to discuss.
- Engage me as your personal coach/mentor, to help you clarify and advance both your personal and professional sustainability goals and move them into effective action. And do that with more power, presence, and peace of mind. (Now including the Mood Navigator “gym” from our friends at Pluralistic Networks.) Find out why one of my clients called this “One of the best business investments I’ve made, ever.”
- Join us for our monthly exploration of the challenge of “Living Between Worlds—with Grace, Dignity, and Power.” You can register here (next session June 21), and visit our four years of conversations here.
My other question: What does reading this provoke for you?
I look forward to hearing from you!
Yours, in solidarity with life,
Gil
Gil Friend
CEO, Natural Logic Inc.
Managing Director, Critical Path Capital
Coach/Mentor, Trimtab4Trimtabs™