Using a business as a catalyst for change

Business Activism

What is activism?

• Any effort to create change.

2

"Be the change you wish to see

in the world."

~ Gandhi

My journey started when I finished work to

have my son.

• Left full-time role as marketing manager.

• Background in management consulting.

• Was starting from a zero-income base.

• Had found aspects of the corporate world were misaligned with my

values.

3

Human instinct

Shareholder capitalism

Shared value capitalism

Sustainable capitalism

LEVEL OF

EQUALITY

UNIT OF

VALUE

MORAL INTENTIONS

& OUTCOMES

MARKET

DYNAMICS

DIMENSION

OF CSR

VALUE

CREATION

FOCUS

ECONOMIC GROWTH

ASPIRATIONS

ENVIRON

IMPACT

Survive

and

thrive

Why misaligned?

Human instinct

Shareholder capitalism

Shared value capitalism

Sustainable capitalism

LEVEL OF

EQUALITY

UNIT OF

VALUE

MORAL INTENTIONS

& OUTCOMES

MARKET

DYNAMICS

DIMENSION

OF CSR

VALUE

CREATION

FOCUS

ECONOMIC GROWTH

ASPIRATIONS

ENVIRON

IMPACT

Survive

and

thrive

Self-interest

(good for

me)

Competition

(survival of

the fittest)

Pro

fit

befo

re

pla

net S

ocia

l

inequality

Individual

(egocentric)

Grow

th

economy (no

decoupling)

Econ

omic and

lega

l

Emph

asis on

human

-

mad

e

capita

l

Professionalism

= inauthentic

Professionalism under shareholder

capitalism feels a bit like this:

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Conundrum: how would I realign my values

with my work?

7

“There is no such thing as an

environmentalist. Just find the

thing that you are passionate

about, do it to the best of your

ability, and in the process make

positive change.”

~ David Suzuki

8

Authentic purpose must come from the

heart

9

I loved strategy…

• Defining purpose, vision, values.

• Identifying highest priority strategic goals and setting out broadly

how these will be achieved.

10

Purpose

VisionSituation Analysis

Issues

(Gap)Strategies

Implementation

• Implementation of sustainability initiatives:– Carbon footprint

reduction

– Cradle to cradle design

– Closed loop production

– Etc

The alignment:

• “Strategic planning to help organisations improve their

performance and increase their contribution to our world.”

• “Lead a new business movement whereby more and more

organisations view success in terms of their total

contribution to our world, causing significant growth in social

and environmental capital.”

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Purpose

Vision

Values

Human instinct

Shareholder capitalism

Shared value capitalism

Sustainable capitalism

LEVEL OF

EQUALITY

UNIT OF

VALUE

MORAL INTENTIONS

& OUTCOMES

MARKET

DYNAMICS

DIMENSION

OF CSR

VALUE

CREATION

FOCUS

ECONOMIC GROWTH

ASPIRATIONS

ENVIRON

IMPACT

Survive

and

thrive

Self-interest

(good for me)

Reciprocity

(good for

society)

Cooperation

(creating

shared

value)

Competition

(survival of

the fittest)

Harm

min

imis

ati

on

Pro

fit

befo

re

pla

net

Socia

l equality

Socia

l

inequality

Individual

(egocentric)

Community

(anthropocentric)

Grow

th economy

(relative decoupling)

Grow

th

economy (no

decoupling)

Econ

omic and

lega

l

Ethica

l

Emph

asis on

human

-

mad

e an

d

social

capita

l

Emph

asis on

human

-mad

e

capita

l

Human instinct

Shareholder capitalism

Shared value capitalism

Sustainable capitalism

LEVEL OF

EQUALITY

UNIT OF

VALUE

MORAL INTENTIONS

& OUTCOMES

MARKET

DYNAMICS

DIMENSION

OF CSR

VALUE

CREATION

FOCUS

ECONOMIC GROWTH

ASPIRATIONS

ENVIRON

IMPACT

Survive

and

thrive

Self-interest

(good for me)

Reciprocity

(good for

society)

Altruism

(good for the planet)

Symbiosis (harmony between

people, planet and profit)

Cooperation

(creating

shared value)

Competition

(survival of

the fittest)

Envir

onm

enta

l

regenera

tion

Harm

min

imis

ati

on

Pro

fit

befo

re

pla

net

Ecolo

gic

al

justic

e

Socia

l equality

Socia

l

inequality

Individual

(egocentric)

Community

(anthropocentric)

Biosphere

(ecocentric)

Low/no grow

th

economy: “stasis”

(relative decoupling)

Grow

th economy

(relative decoupling)

Grow

th

economy (no

decoupling)

Econ

omic and

lega

l

Ethica

l

Phila

nthr

opic

Balanc

e be

twee

n

human

-mad

e, soc

ial a

nd

natu

ral c

apital

Emph

asis on

human

-mad

e

and so

cial

capita

l

Emph

asis on

human

-mad

e

capita

l

Appealing to

women

Enough

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What

I could

charg

e

Enough

25%Surplus for altruistic

reinvestment (can

experiment)

Altruism and authentic purpose as a

foundation for strategy

• New Scientist: Last year, researchers compared 180 companies and found that the

more environmentally friendly businesses were more profitable in the long run than

their less-sustainable competitors.

• Adam Grant, the youngest tenured professor at Wharton is author of the best-

selling Give and Take. Grant believes that the success of our careers is due to our

generosity with our time and knowledge.

• My experience confirms the strategy works. Why? Authenticity of purpose leads to

better decision making.

• Investment in the common good appears to have both direct and indirect benefits.

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If an organisation has a well-defined purpose, targeted

at the common good, then by investing altruistically in

its areas of interest, the organisation will

inadvertently make itself stronger. For example, if a

business that produces consumer goods invests

altruistically (i.e. with no expectation for return) in

reducing its impact on the environment to zero, by

developing, say closed-loop production methods,

eventually it will have a far more resilient and

attractive business, even though that may not have

been the original goal.

ommon

Vision: a bright future where the natural world and the human spirit are perpetually enriched by the activities of business

and society.

Kommon campaigns and goals

• “Women rising”: promote the role of women in the new economy.

• Giving a voice to sustainability through art.

• Combatting the influence of the “for profit” media.

• Promotion of investment in the common good by business and

individuals.

– To serve as a case study for my consulting business.

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18

19

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Natalie Jeremijenko

Kommon Sense – book gifting to CEOs

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Mobile Accessories

• Leading mobile phone accessories distributor,

• Donate a percentage of their margin to Carbon Neutral for every private branded product they sell.

• Over 19,000 trees planted and recognised as a Gold Supporter.

• Now investigating biodegradable materials and packaging.

Yacht Club

• Purpose:

– Give our members access to a “river-side lifestyle” and the social

benefits of boating.

• Vision:

– Bringing life to the river

RTRFM

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Purpose: Giving voice to Perth’s cultural

communities by promoting local music, arts and

current affairs and encouraging progressive

social change.

BenchAD

• “In all that we do we

look to innovate and

re-use.”

• Local innovator in

advertising-funded

street furniture.

• Committed to sustainability - both environmental and social -

and reflect this in the design of their street furniture and

promotion of the positive in the community.

• Recycle advertising posters, work to reduce their carbon

footprint through eWood bus shelters and street furniture (made

from recycled print cartridges).

• In the process of developing Australia’s most sustainable bus

shelter.

• Donates thousands of dollars worth of media space annually to

support not-for-profit organisations, charities and sporting clubs

in WA.

Holstee

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Interface Global

• Manufactures carpets,

textiles, chemicals,

architectural products and

access flooring systems.

• Mission Zero® to achieve

zero negative impact on the

environment by 2020.

• Because it is “the right thing to do”.

• Eliminate waste, closed-loop production, biomimicry, renewable

energy.

• $400m in cost savings.

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How will these ideas take hold? Emergence.

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• The world changes as networks of relationships form among

individuals with a common purpose and vision of what's possible.

• Separate, local efforts connect with each other as networks.

• These strengthen as communities of practice.

• Suddenly and surprisingly a system of influence emerges at a

higher scale, possessing qualities and capacities that were

unknown in the individuals.

• They are properties of the system, not the individual, but once

there, individuals possess them.

How will you find your authentic purpose?

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Once you have your purpose, how

will you:

• Form networks with individuals

with a common cause and

vision?

• Strengthen these into

communities of practice?

• Create system of influence?

Where I was versus where I am now

Competitive

Damaging to the

environmentMeaningless

Not living my

human values

Inauthentic

Disempowered

Secretive

Soulless

“More”

growth /profit

Unfulfilled

Collaborative

Environmentally

regenerative Meaningful

Aligned with my

human values

Authentic

Empowered

Transparent

Soulful /

“heart”

Enough

Fulfilled

Emergent characteristics of the new

paradigm

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Generous

connection

Sustainability

Love

Altruism

Vulnerability

Freedom

Spirituality

Truthfulness

Intuition

Women

rising

Openness towards…

And it’s one of the easiest, lowest-risk things I’ve ever done

Authenticity: by no means am I getting

things perfectly right

• By traditional or contemporary standards, I fail all the time.

• I’m just very good at forgiving myself.

• And I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.

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"Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love,

I do not know.

But that need not disturb me.

The law will work just as the law of gravitation works

whether we accept it or not."

~ Gandhi

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Thank you.

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