We talk a lot about sustainable communities but we all tend to think that we know what it means, without ever describing it.
I believe that sustainably communities are those who have achieved balance across these three factors:
Wait for it…
A book about how business can change the world, including:
- The Zone
- The Touchpoint Model
- Thoughts on changing our future
After many months (many many months), the first rough draft has been finished.
Now for the editing…
Seth Godin
Seth Godin isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I think this blog from him is worth sharing:
A seat at the table
Short-term profits are a lousy way to build a sustainable community.
There’s always a shortcut, a rule to be bent, a way to make some more money now at the expense of the people around us.
The counterbalance to selfish Ayn-Randian greed is cultural belonging.
“No,” the community says, “we’re not proud of what you did, and you’re not welcome here.”
People like us do things like this.
It’s the community’s role to establish what “things like this” are. If you want to hang out with people like us, that’s the price you have to pay. To avoid the short-term and to invest in us instead.
The community might be wrong. The path of the person making change happen is often lonely, because change is frightening. But too often, the act of taking a shortcut or finding a short-term profit is confused with the actual long-term hard work of making things better.
Fortunately, the community often knows better.
Seth Godin 26/4/19
A nice quote
“As business leaders, we should not choose between profit or good; rather, we must choose to profit from good. And that requires connecting what we do with a purpose beyond profit – a reason to exist that meets our shared sense of ‘doing good’”
Punit Renjen
Missing the point
Someone on LinkedIn posted about “why CEOs’ are still missing the point on social impact”
My view is that the answer is “how long is a piece of string” There is never one reason and never one solution but I did contribute a couple of views:
In our (NZ) context, SME’s can struggle to see how they can do good without it significantly impacting on their bottom line. A lot of information is floating around on what start-up social enterprises do and also what large corporates are up to – but not so much about the SME (I’m looking to publish some ideas in this space, if only there was 28 hours in each day…).
Another issue I have found, though more in the environmental space than social, is a tendency to preach to business. “You contribute to the problem now go fix it”. We need to get better at working alongside business to work through issues together. If we have the attitude that business activity can support so much positive change and that this is a great thing – maybe more businesses will come a long for the ride. CEO’s and business owners are always under so much pressure, we need to make ‘doing good’ easy for them to do. And it can be very easy.
More than a logo
My logo shows a coffee cup
Those that know me, know that this is more than just a logo….
So my new mantra is – “an empty cup is full of ideas”.
And remember, I’m always willing to empty a cup on your behalf.
Do our words actually speak…
A quick thought for a Monday afternoon.
LinkedIn and other forms of social media are places, like so many, where people go out of their way to say the right things. This is especially true now that ‘for purpose’, ‘good cause’ ‘EQ’ and ‘diversity are buzz-words in mainstream use.
We all need to remember though, actions speak louder than words. A single misaligned action can disprove thousands of well-spoken words.
The internet ensures that none of our actions can remain totally hidden from view. If we don’t authentically act out our words, it will be as if we’ve never spoken.
Be True
Go forward
I haven’t blogged for a while now as I pour my creative thoughts into my book – “The Zone, where business and purpose collide”
I did however want to share this proverb. I think it’s so fitting, both for this period in time but also for a sustainable future.
Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata. Haere whakamua.
Care for the land, care for the people. Go forward
Thanks Eco Friend
Being very busy with my full time ‘day job’, I haven’t been out and about in the social enterprise / purposeful business space for a while (apart from with CSC Buying Group of course).
When you’re head down, it’s easy to forget about the truly awesome stuff happening out there. This is why it’s vital we have awesome friends and contacts to remind us and to add that spark to our thinking.
We all get busy leading up to Christmas, it’s almost like we expect the country to shut down for six months so it has to be done now. Then of course we find it doesn’t shut down but we’re back into the daily grind before we know it.
The festive season is a great time to let thoughts bounce around and I for one am immensely glad for the opportunity to sit down and listen to people who inspire me.
The Optimistic Cynic 