Last week I read yet another social media post bemoaning “the lack of government action” on sustainability and wondered: What government specifically the writer was wanting to act? (From context, it was probably Australia’s federal government) What magic bullet solution he thought that a change in government action might deliver? Was his complaint going to perpetuate the myth that federal …
What can we do differently when we realise that climate change solutions don’t REQUIRE government policy action? What else is possible when we recognise that expensive consumer frugality isn’t “the big answer”? (NOTE: I’m not saying that these aren’t useful – I’m asking “is this the only powerful source of innovation?“) I listened to the same old conversation on my …
… to design regenerative supply chains. Back in the 20th century, “sustainable” products, processes and services were expensive, difficult and unreliable. But that was then….
It’s a lovely illusion – the myth of the rational human being – but is it “true”? Does it match the reality you’re dealing with? Or are you meeting resistance?
A major work on influencing that can support whatever you’re out to achieve in life is Robert Cialdini’s book “Influencing: The Psychology of Persuasion”. His work explains how influencing is a learnable skill, not just a magical talent.
For years I tried to ignore my environmental concerns. I was worried but felt powerless. Then I was introduced to “Natural Capitalism” and I got interested – almost in spite of myself. The story of a mid-course correction Then I read entrepreneur Ray Anderson’s first book “MidCourse Correction” – and that got me INSPIRED.
Years ago, I heard a networking expert speak on the difference it made to her business to find her “tribe” – that group of people who understood who she was and where she was coming from.
“A watery by-product of fruit and vegetable processing, which used to end up in the sewerage system, is now being served at restaurants as premium drinking water.” Yes, this article is about bottled water – but it’s also about a fundamental shift in how entrepreneurs are thinking differently and turning “waste” back in to high-value resources. You may not value …
A 6 point check for “toxic seriosity” It’s easy to get passionate about sustainability – but is your message EFFECTIVE? How do you know whether you’re creating action – or whether you’re teaching helplessness? Here’s a quick check on what you’re messaging and how you’re pushing it.
There is a growing wealth of tools available for getting change happening in human systems. They come from a range of fields from education to linguistics. If you’re serious about sustainability, then you know that the real work isn’t in the technology – it’s in changing human systems. Some great tools that I keep coming back to are: The fundamental …
Talking regenerative business and systems thinking the other day, we came around to Donella Meadows and her classic article “Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System”. Some web research found this Prezzi Points of Power that gives a nice summary of levels of influence, including:
Many sustainability people I meet are full of stories about “the evil of marketing”. To me, it’s a powerful tool that changes human behaviour – so we’d be much better off taking the tools it’s developed and using them to deliver the change we want to see in the world.
Biomimicry is a label for a design process that’s been developing over the past few decades – it’s a design process that happens where technology meets biology and physics. It challenges our traditional approaches of mechanical and chemical engineering with elegant new solutions. Biomimicry has been happening since Leonardo sketched designs based on nature, but it has been named and …
Yuval Noah Harari’s recent book “Sapiens” is a fascinating insight into human history and how humans use language. “…the truly unique feature of our language is … the ability to transmit information about things that do not exist at all. As far as we know, only Sapiens can talk about entire kinds of entities that they have never seen, touched …
Darren Pearson of Diversified Property Group started as a conventional property developer building project homes. He’s become a “stealth player”, integrating products from leading edge innovators to deliver smarter, greener homes in Sydney, Australia. He credits his mid-course correction primarily to two people: A Harvard professor in his global business group His small daughter The Harvard professor challenged him to …
(Adapted from The Prime Innovation Pattern in The Innovator’s Way) The use of the nouns “entrepreneur” and “entrepreneurship” hide the reality that what we’re dealing with is a process that’s been intensively studied and defined over recent decades – particularly under the label “innovation”. Innovation is another process hiding inside a noun – and what is hidden is the process …
Once upon a time entrepreneurs were thought to be born rather than made. However, like any human craft there’s a strong element of skill. We now know a lot about the skills and habits of successful repeat entrepreneurs. These are 3 of my current favourite skill-builders – along with video intros – for finding, funding and building new business opportunities. …
Smart new business models are delivering radical forms of sustainability – without any mention of the “S” word. eBay, Gumtree and others are enabling product reuse and recycling across the globe and in all sorts of market places. Whether it’s a 10 year old girl updating her toy collection, a home handman acquiring tiling tools, or a larger scale purchase, …
Not getting the results you want? Maybe there’s a reason. I’m repeatedly amazed at how little many (extremely smart) sustainability advocates seem know about the art and craft of influencing. Poorly crafted sustainability messages are as destructive as any other form of junk mail. How many of these screw-ups have you seen recently? 1. Only talk about the bad news …
When leading brands start turning regenerative thinking into business innovation, you know there’s a fundamental mindset shift underway. Here are a few big brand indicators that particularly caught my eye: Adidas collaborates with Sea Shepherd to make running shoes out of ocean plastics: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3048033/adidas-knit-these-sneakers-entirely-from-ocean-plastic-trash McDonalds hooks up with Rocky Mountain Institute to design a Net Zero Energy fast food outlet: …