Gil Friend’s Blog

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit. -Helen Keller

Around this time a few years ago, I wrote 4 Qs for Q4: A Sustainability Checklist to Finish the Year and Plan the Next." In it I asked: How much will your business need to change in the coming years?   Will you be one of the many caught in a reactive, last-minute...

Tonight, Jews around the world begin observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and enter a 10 day period of reflection, "repentance"—or more literally, "return"—and rededication. This year, the holiday coincidently—or conveniently—occurs just after the 50th...

My friend David was beside himself with excitement yesterday, as he talked about Tesla's "better than perfect score" in the automobile safety ratings. "It's amazing," he said. "This is the only time that's ever been done!" It's a great achievement, of course, but I...

I remember the first time I asked the question. It was ten years ago. I was sitting in a private conference room with an executive of a large biotech company. (Don't bother checking my client list; you won't find this engagement listed there.) She had engaged me to...

Ten days ago I told you "I'm just not able to do it. I've tried. I can't. Can you?" —and wrote about my challenges with using the word "sustainability"—and with giving it up!  I recounted some explorations with options like regenerative, flourishing and thrivable, and...

Guardian Sustainable Business has launched in the US, and has named me #7 (tied in that position with Jeremy Heimans) on their list of the the 30 most influential sustainability voices in America. I've had the honor to write the intro in strategy+business for an...

A few months ago I wrote a series of posts about "beyond sustainability"—decrying (or at least bemoaning) the flabbiness and vectorlessness of the term (as Braungart, Ehrenfeld, McDonough and others have been wont to do), the erosion of its essential and once...

OK, now it's official! The sharable economy has arrived! How do I know? Easy: Tom Friedman told me! Breathless as ever, he offers an engaging genesis tale of AirBnB, and concludes "This is powerful." And indeed it is—though it's not a new idea at all. (Amory Lovins...