As I see it, our current way of life, dependent on the exploitation of natural and human resources for financial profit, is destroying our future.
Turning that around is a wickedly difficult task, but we have the means to do so. To not just tackle the immediate threats to our current way of life, but to got beyond that and create a world of opportunity and joy for all. Overwhelming evidence is all around us of our creative capacity to solve even the most complex problems and invent what before would have seemed entirely impossible. What we've lacked is the collective will to use this capacity for good, but that's now changing.
Today, more and more people are waking up to the urgent need for change, and for business to play an active role. To focus not on maximising shareholder returns at the expense of everything else, but rather on maximising positive impact on the world. If there's one good thing I hope emerges from the 2020 Pandemic Crisis it's that it marks a tipping point in this transition to a new economy, to a new mindset and behaviour in businesses both big and small.
After years of mounting frustration at the way in which I’ve been applying my skills as a leader and innovator in ways that do little or nothing to contribute to this transition, I’ve decided it’s time to take a stance. To stop pretending that as a consultant, by serving the needs of my clients, I’m somehow neutral. To start being the change I want to see in the world by working with leaders and organisations to help them lead into (and in) the emerging new economy, to help them leverage their assets, capabilities and scale to not just do no harm, but to actively do good. To be not neutral.
This site is a launchpad for this new venture. It will evolve over time as Not Neutral takes shape. For now I'm going to be using it as a vessel for my personal exploration of the business for good space, a place where I gather stories and stimulus, synthesise my own point of view and contribute to the conversation around how leaders in businesses of all sizes, but particularly big ones, can take concrete actions in the here and now to accelerate our transition to the new economy.
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