In 2001, Jim Collins published his research into the factors that turned good businesses into great businesses, performing well above their industry average over long periods of time. The title of the book is “Good to Great. Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t”. Collins described a cyclic process of 6 steps that – pursued persistently – significantly …
What’s coaching got to do with Regenerative Business? In a collaboration with Alan Sieler of Newfield Institute, we explored this question in October 2010. The detail has changed, but the value proposition hasn’t: A business opportunity for coaches We believe that Regenerative Business Coaching is an emerging area of business for ontological coaches and other forms of coaching. A significant challenge for organisation …
Recently, I had a ride in a Nissan LEAF EV. A friend has just bought one and she took me for a drive. It’s quiet, it’s cool and it’s a distinctive shape in a Megane sort of way. My friend’s experience is that it’s been an amazing conversation starter. In just one week all sorts of people have stopped her …
Joel Makower’s recent blog “Why aren’t there more Ray Andersons?” was an interesting read with great insights into who Ray was from other famous sustainability players. The ongoing conversation from that article is the basis of this post. There was a PROCESS behind Ray Anderson’s “aha” moment on sustainability… I only met Ray through his books, including “Business Lessons of a Radical …
I got seriously interested in sustainability years ago, during post-graduate studies. I was fortunate to be introduced through great books like “Natural Capitalism”, “Cradle to Cradle” and “Biomimicry”. Along with a mass of detail and lots of “reasons why” sustainability was important, I found a set of straightforward strategies that challenge out-of-date 20th century assumptions about the “how” of doing business. I …
A friend connected me to Simon Sinek’s TED talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”. A couple of key points stood out for me (amongst lots of good stuff): Inspirational leaders start from a core purpose, and first answer the question “Why?” rather than “How?” or “What?” Martin Luther King started from “I have a dream…” and “I believe…” not “I have …
On 30th August, I listened to Malcolm Deery of Pilkington Glass speak at a breakfast on “The Economics of Climate Change” at the Shire of Yarra Ranges. Malcolm told an amazing story about the positive, strategic approach to sustainability taken by Pilkington, and how it had benefited the business: major savings in energy and water costs the smart products that …
Interface Flooring is regularly quoted as the company internationally that has fully integrated sustainability into its business strategy. A sustainable planet will need a lot more fully integrated sustainability businesses, so the question that comes to my mind is “How can we create more Interfaces?” What happened??? In his book “Mid Course Correction”, Interface CEO (at the time) Ray Anderson says he was asked to give a talk …