Where is business going? At least we can say reviewing the recent editions of Signals of Change Newsletter it seems that a new leadership is emerging. From the Copenhagen-based Water and Food Award’s simple observation that people need food security for the world to have peace and prosperity, to Michael Porter’s declaration that business and society have common shared values. To experts like Johan Rockström’s simple observation that nature is sending a bill, to a myriad of corporations redefining the core of their missions. Continue reading “Reading the trends: business is going social”
Category: Call for leadership
Why I am starting consulting again
After leaving Ericsson in 2001 I started exploring alternatives to the Industrial Society. During recent years, volunteering for the Water and Food Award, and helping start an Eco -Village were profound experiences. Among others things I had the opportunity to step back and look at what is happening.
Many businesses in going about their business are actually undermining the conditions needed for people to live well. Albeit inadvertently.
No-one means it to be this way, I am sure, but the planet is becoming crowded, our financial systems are leading to uneven wealth distribution and our energy systems are depleting non-renewable energy and climate systems. Several boundaries have already been breached and more are on their way to being exceeded. We are entering into times when we are living outside the safe zone. Continue reading “Why I am starting consulting again”
Speaking of Sustainability in the Future Perfect
Reflections on experiences at this year’s Future Perfect festival, designed to bring together sustainability thinkers and doers…
The Future Perfect Festival, held on the Stockholm archipelago Island of Grinda, wrapped up recently. The event, now in its third year, is designed to provide a space for those engaged emotionally and professionally in sustainability; a space where they can gather, engage in dialogue and co-create.
Future Perfect, the brainchild of John Manoochehri, is a unique kind of festival, and it is badly needed. Even if, like myself, you are engaged in sustainability on an almost daily basis, the topic is far too wide for any one mind to take in. We need to listen to each others perspective. If we as a species are going to successfully transition away from the present counter-sustainable culture we live in we need to do it together. This means talking, listening to each other, sparking ideas off each other, trying ideas out, coming up with ideas together, and developing our perspective by reflecting in the company of those who both agree and disagree with us. Continue reading “Speaking of Sustainability in the Future Perfect”
Evidence mounts that the good workplace is extremely good for business
Writing in Fast Company, journalist Mark C. Crowley observes that American workplaces are seen in particularly destructive to the human spirit by employees. Has the negativity reached a low point? Mark C Crowley things so. For the last few months he has been looking at companies who actively work to create a good workplace. Pointing to firms like Google and software giant SAS, he says:
If you hold any position in leadership today, you should know this: Companies that authentically value their employees will be (and already are) the big winners in the 21st-century economy.
And he has amassed a truck load of evidence to support his point. Take a look at the article in Fast Company!
Stephen Hinton Consulting 