Sipping my orange juice
I am grateful for the farmers
And all those working in fields and orchards
Dressing
I give thanks to the weavers and the sewers
The cobblers, designers, and makers of soap
Driving to work
I am grateful for the builders of bridges and roads
The trash haulers, truckers, school bus drivers
And the wonderful people at National Public Radio
Sitting at my desk
I am grateful for the opportunity to make a difference
For clients, professionals, partners
And friends I am surrounded by each day
At meetings throughout the day
I give thanks for the risk-takers, the problem-solvers
People who work with integrity and passion to get the job done
Working late
I am grateful for loving what I do
And chefs everywhere making dinners with love
Seeing my son
I am grateful for teachers and coaches
And everyone who works to serve others
At the close of the day
I am deeply grateful for the 99% who care deeply
And are working hard to craft a better future for us all
- Kate Emery
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Going Good!
How good is your company? Like going “green”, going “good” is more of a process than a destination. It’s a path that moves us to a new way of doing business - business that strives for
• Social responsibility
• Transparency
• Fair and equitable compensation
• Net positive social impact
• Balancing people, purpose, planet, and profits
A company that fully embraces all of these core values and is doing business in order to create social good is a social enterprise. Most of us have a ways to go, but like going green, every step you take toward these goals brings us one step closer to a day when business serves people rather than the other way round… and that would be pretty good wouldn’t it?
• Social responsibility
• Transparency
• Fair and equitable compensation
• Net positive social impact
• Balancing people, purpose, planet, and profits
A company that fully embraces all of these core values and is doing business in order to create social good is a social enterprise. Most of us have a ways to go, but like going green, every step you take toward these goals brings us one step closer to a day when business serves people rather than the other way round… and that would be pretty good wouldn’t it?
Monday, June 27, 2011
In response to the NY Times column “...To Be Good Citizens...Companies Should Just Focus on Bottom Line”
On June 14, 2011 Stephanie Strom of the New York Times informed us that according to a report put out by a high-priced advisory firm "To Be Good Citizens...Companies Should Just Focus on Bottom Line."
Really? It’s not surprising an advisory firm paid by the biggest corporations might come to the conclusion that “companies would achieve more social good by simply focusing on the bottom line,” but why give it any extra play?
Suggesting that greed results in good corporate citizenship is wishful thinking at best. How ironic that these same hard core MBA types who tell you “what you measure is what you get,” are trying to convince us that the best way to get good behavior is to look the other way. Spare me.
To Daniel Altman and Jonathan Berman, the consultants who wrote the report and used ExxonMobil and Cargill – poster children for the abuse of power - as examples of good corporate citizens - WOW – that’s bold!
Let’s look at Cargill for a minute. Owned by Monsanto this company has been rapacious in its search for profits, destroying the environment and farmer livelihoods around the globe. I’m sure they’re doing some good somewhere, but the net impact? Watch Food Inc. and discover what happens when the food industry focuses on the bottom line.
They talk about how nice Cargill is being giving farmers in Africa seeds. It may sound nice but in reality it is a clever, cruel trick which binds the farmers forevermore to the seed, fertilizer, and insecticide sold by Cargill and Monsanto. It’s no different than street corner pushers passing out freebies to the neighborhood kids.
Sighting ExxonMobil's safety measures? Really? Anybody recall the Exxon Valdez? It happened in the 80’s and we’re still cleaning up. Or more recently perhaps you heard that ExxonMobil lost a bid in federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club because of thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act. Or that New York City recently received $105 million dollar settlement from ExxonMobil for its contamination of groundwater, ignoring warnings from its own scientists and engineers. Not because it couldn’t afford to clean it up, (they earned $10.65 billion in PROFIT this past QUARTER) but because they were focusing on the bottom line.
Unless required by law to be good corporate citizens companies cannot afford to be socially responsible. If the goal is profitability, the profit imperative will sweep everything else to the side. Corporations used to be more community-minded, when owners and management lived and worked in the communities that housed them. Today, with multinational corporations beholden to no person, state, or nation we’re seeing even the vestige of corporate citizenship dying. All that’s left is the façade. And reports like this denying what we, as individuals can see around us every day everywhere.
There are many companies out there run by persons of conscious and good will, who work for a profit, but who give back, and behave responsibly. But as a company grows, and particularly when it goes public the profit imperative becomes paramount.
This business model which focuses on profitability to the exclusion of everything else has damaged our economic, environmental, and social landscape beyond recognition – I hope not beyond repair. What we need is a new game, with different goals, to which we can apply our intellect, creativity, our passion to win. There needs to be a new scoring system that isn’t all about profits. This new game called social enterprise, and measures success by net social impact. ExxonMobil and Cargill may have achieved some positive public benefits through their operations, but if you look at the net impact I think we as a society are on the losing end of the equation.
New business structures are being birthed to accomplish this goal, where profits become a means to an end, but not the final goal. It may seem impossible to change our current paradigm, but change does happen. At one point in our not too distant past slavery was seen as a valid business model. When we as a society decided that it was immoral to build wealth this way things changed. Today we look back upon that time with shameful wonder – what were we thinking?!
I believe we will one day look back on our current model with the same amazement wondering how anyone could have thought that by focusing on the bottom line alone anything good would result.
Really? It’s not surprising an advisory firm paid by the biggest corporations might come to the conclusion that “companies would achieve more social good by simply focusing on the bottom line,” but why give it any extra play?
Suggesting that greed results in good corporate citizenship is wishful thinking at best. How ironic that these same hard core MBA types who tell you “what you measure is what you get,” are trying to convince us that the best way to get good behavior is to look the other way. Spare me.
To Daniel Altman and Jonathan Berman, the consultants who wrote the report and used ExxonMobil and Cargill – poster children for the abuse of power - as examples of good corporate citizens - WOW – that’s bold!
Let’s look at Cargill for a minute. Owned by Monsanto this company has been rapacious in its search for profits, destroying the environment and farmer livelihoods around the globe. I’m sure they’re doing some good somewhere, but the net impact? Watch Food Inc. and discover what happens when the food industry focuses on the bottom line.
They talk about how nice Cargill is being giving farmers in Africa seeds. It may sound nice but in reality it is a clever, cruel trick which binds the farmers forevermore to the seed, fertilizer, and insecticide sold by Cargill and Monsanto. It’s no different than street corner pushers passing out freebies to the neighborhood kids.
Sighting ExxonMobil's safety measures? Really? Anybody recall the Exxon Valdez? It happened in the 80’s and we’re still cleaning up. Or more recently perhaps you heard that ExxonMobil lost a bid in federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club because of thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act. Or that New York City recently received $105 million dollar settlement from ExxonMobil for its contamination of groundwater, ignoring warnings from its own scientists and engineers. Not because it couldn’t afford to clean it up, (they earned $10.65 billion in PROFIT this past QUARTER) but because they were focusing on the bottom line.
Unless required by law to be good corporate citizens companies cannot afford to be socially responsible. If the goal is profitability, the profit imperative will sweep everything else to the side. Corporations used to be more community-minded, when owners and management lived and worked in the communities that housed them. Today, with multinational corporations beholden to no person, state, or nation we’re seeing even the vestige of corporate citizenship dying. All that’s left is the façade. And reports like this denying what we, as individuals can see around us every day everywhere.
There are many companies out there run by persons of conscious and good will, who work for a profit, but who give back, and behave responsibly. But as a company grows, and particularly when it goes public the profit imperative becomes paramount.
This business model which focuses on profitability to the exclusion of everything else has damaged our economic, environmental, and social landscape beyond recognition – I hope not beyond repair. What we need is a new game, with different goals, to which we can apply our intellect, creativity, our passion to win. There needs to be a new scoring system that isn’t all about profits. This new game called social enterprise, and measures success by net social impact. ExxonMobil and Cargill may have achieved some positive public benefits through their operations, but if you look at the net impact I think we as a society are on the losing end of the equation.
New business structures are being birthed to accomplish this goal, where profits become a means to an end, but not the final goal. It may seem impossible to change our current paradigm, but change does happen. At one point in our not too distant past slavery was seen as a valid business model. When we as a society decided that it was immoral to build wealth this way things changed. Today we look back upon that time with shameful wonder – what were we thinking?!
I believe we will one day look back on our current model with the same amazement wondering how anyone could have thought that by focusing on the bottom line alone anything good would result.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
When you think of innovation... think social enterprise!
What innovation offers to solve some of our social problems, attract young talent, and create jobs, all without putting a drain on tax revenue?
Full article - the CT Mirror
We have been hearing about the need for business innovation from leaders in all sectors, from President Obama in his State of the Union speech to Commissioner Daniel Esty of Connecticut's new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, who spoke before the Hartford Metro Alliance Partners' Economic Development Council on the first of this month. I couldn't agree more.
But after talking about the need for innovation what we are most likely to hear is a plan for providing economic incentives to spur that innovation. The thinking is that if we give the private sector enough incentives, they will innovate for us. It's like the old Skinner Box--reward the mouse with food pellets and it will run the maze. But as Einstein suggested, problems can't be solved at the same level of thought used to create them. And since business is often the heart of the problems we face today, it seems wishful thinking to expect that business will solve them--especially if it's business as usual.
Fortunately there is a different business model that offers promise. It's called social enterprise, and it's really not that new. Think no further than Newman's Own--Paul Newman's line of food products from spaghetti sauce to lemonade--and you will see an example of a business that uses the power of the market to make positive social impact. It's a simple concept. Business can be about making a contribution rather than simply a profit. Profits are important of course, because without them a business cannot operate never mind accomplish anything positive. But profits can be a means to achieve a more satisfying, sustainable goal rather than the be-all and end-all.
The idea of social enterprise is simple, but its impact can be profound. We've all grown up assuming that the only reason for someone to run a business is to make wads of money. But there is really no reason why entrepreneurs couldn't set up shop in order to combat homelessness, say, or create cheap, clean energy. They need to make a living of course, but their driving motive could be to make a difference. For those of us who grew up with a business menu limited to one of two choices--commercial or nonprofit--this hybrid choice of social enterprise represents a paradigm shift. Could we really have an economy that embraces a goal of giving back as a legitimate reason for being in business rather than just an afterthought, or an extension of marketing? Why not? And increasingly this hybrid model is demonstrating itself to be viable, and full of potential.
Newman's Own is doing it. Grameen Bank and Ten Thousand Villages are doing it. My own company, The Walker Group, is doing it, as are many others. We need to spur innovation at the very core of how we do business, and encouraging social enterprise would be a great place to start.
People still stuck in the Skinner Box say the only way to effect change is through economic incentives. Let me ask you this: What makes you volunteer, join teams, worship, raise families, adopt pets? It's not money. Think about the last time you left work feeling really good about your day. Did it have anything to do with money? Think of something you love to do. Would you love it more if I paid you to do it? Research has shown that you would actually enjoy it less. Yet in the business world we've talked ourselves into believing what we know in our hearts is not true: That money alone counts. Fortunately the research is showing that kids coming out of school today have seen enough of the damage done by business as usual and they want something different. They understand we can't go on as we have been, pretending that there is an endless supply of natural resources. They want to make a difference. They want to be part of the solution.
So while I agree with Mr. Esty that we need innovation I don't think tax incentives are the first thing to think about. Like mice in the Skinner Box, it may create a certain kind of behavior that looks like innovation, but as soon as you let up on the food pellets, the mouse stops. We're looking for a more lasting and profound change. We need to encourage a different approach altogether. And the really exciting thing about social enterprise? It doesn't put a drain on tax revenues. Social enterprise gets started out of passion and caring by people who want to fix the problems we face today. They don't need an economic incentive to put their ideas to work, they just need the opportunity. It also appeals to the young people who have been leaving the state in droves. Create a state in which social enterprise can flourish and we retain and attract this vibrant talent pool.
So when you think innovation - think social enterprise.
Full article - the CT Mirror
Friday, May 13, 2011
Intentionality
Declaring your intention as an organization is the first step in becoming a social enterprise. This is straightforward for the nonprofit – it’s your mission statement. But if you’re operating a commercial enterprise like we do, your mission statement will focus on the products or services that you sell. Underlying the traditional business model is the unspoken (it goes without saying right?) goal of maximizing profits. So if you’re bottom line isn’t the traditional bottom line then you need to say so. It might look something like this:
We are in business to make a positive difference in the world. Our profits are a means to this end not our primary goal and so will not be used as justification for harming people or planet. We are proud to be a social enterprise committed to:
• Transparency
• Participative Governance
• Equitable Pay
• Social Responsibility
• Community Service
• Equal division distributed profits between employees, community and common shareholders.
By putting it out there you are taking a stand and demonstrating by example that there is another game in town. That it shouldn’t go without saying that business is all about the profits. That business can be built around any number of goals, and you are measuring the success of your business by metrics that resonate with your values and beliefs.
We are in business to make a positive difference in the world. Our profits are a means to this end not our primary goal and so will not be used as justification for harming people or planet. We are proud to be a social enterprise committed to:
• Transparency
• Participative Governance
• Equitable Pay
• Social Responsibility
• Community Service
• Equal division distributed profits between employees, community and common shareholders.
By putting it out there you are taking a stand and demonstrating by example that there is another game in town. That it shouldn’t go without saying that business is all about the profits. That business can be built around any number of goals, and you are measuring the success of your business by metrics that resonate with your values and beliefs.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Have you ever gotten the Smile?
I get it sometimes, when I talk about social enterprise. I’ll be explaining the idea that business doesn’t have to be just about profits, that we can harness the power of the free market to solve world problems, and that we have to learn to measure success not just by the financial returns to shareholders, but by the sum net total return to society. Sometimes I get a look of confusion, often it is curiosity or excitement, and sometimes shared passion. And sometimes I get the Smile.
I’m not the only one who gets this look. I’ve seen the Smile leak out even in august reportage. Do you remember when Google was heading toward its IPO? How many paternalistic, condescending articles did you read about their creed, “do no harm.” The Smile was vivid in the reporters’ descriptions of their youthful optimism and this quaint idea, and how it would certainly need to be put up on some shelf along with other childhood notions if these youngsters wanted to play in the major leagues.
It’s a kindly patient smile and it ignites my inner teenager. It brings me back to middle school and arguments with my Dad. After listening with tolerance to some fervent argument I put forth he’d pull out the Smile and I knew the battle was lost. No amount of passion or logic would prevail because in his eyes I was just a silly idealistic, unrealistic child. I would then do what any normal teenager does in the face of great parental injustice and storm off to my room to sulk for days.
Well I’m not storming off to my room any more. Because today it is we, the passionate, idealistic, forward thinking, trail blazers who must take the reins. We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and sulk. We need a new business paradigm, with new metrics for success. We need to drive this buggy in a new direction.
And if anyone is deserving of the Smile these days it is the old guard - anyone who still thinks business as usual is sustainable. It’s time to wake up, smell the coffee and realize that a new day is coming. The old way (in case you hadn’t noticed) isn’t working. It is time to put away the simplistic childish fantasy that any single metric like quarterly profits can lead us to success. Social enterprise is not simplistic. It is complex and will require new and challenging tools to help us find our way and stay on track. But life is complicated. Naiveté is continuing to believe, against all proof to the contrary that the system is working.
It is time to grow up, to face reality, to get serious. Because it’s ok for children to live in a fantasy world, but the world today needs fact facing, hard working, purposeful, passionate people. Who’s with me?
I’m not the only one who gets this look. I’ve seen the Smile leak out even in august reportage. Do you remember when Google was heading toward its IPO? How many paternalistic, condescending articles did you read about their creed, “do no harm.” The Smile was vivid in the reporters’ descriptions of their youthful optimism and this quaint idea, and how it would certainly need to be put up on some shelf along with other childhood notions if these youngsters wanted to play in the major leagues.
It’s a kindly patient smile and it ignites my inner teenager. It brings me back to middle school and arguments with my Dad. After listening with tolerance to some fervent argument I put forth he’d pull out the Smile and I knew the battle was lost. No amount of passion or logic would prevail because in his eyes I was just a silly idealistic, unrealistic child. I would then do what any normal teenager does in the face of great parental injustice and storm off to my room to sulk for days.
Well I’m not storming off to my room any more. Because today it is we, the passionate, idealistic, forward thinking, trail blazers who must take the reins. We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and sulk. We need a new business paradigm, with new metrics for success. We need to drive this buggy in a new direction.
And if anyone is deserving of the Smile these days it is the old guard - anyone who still thinks business as usual is sustainable. It’s time to wake up, smell the coffee and realize that a new day is coming. The old way (in case you hadn’t noticed) isn’t working. It is time to put away the simplistic childish fantasy that any single metric like quarterly profits can lead us to success. Social enterprise is not simplistic. It is complex and will require new and challenging tools to help us find our way and stay on track. But life is complicated. Naiveté is continuing to believe, against all proof to the contrary that the system is working.
It is time to grow up, to face reality, to get serious. Because it’s ok for children to live in a fantasy world, but the world today needs fact facing, hard working, purposeful, passionate people. Who’s with me?
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Why the Kings of Bhutan Ride Bicycles
Bhutan has pioneered the use of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a measure of progress, instead of the more commonly used GNP. GNH measures not only economic activity, but also cultural, ecological, and spiritual well-being.
Read more...
Read more...
Friday, January 7, 2011
What little birds and sheep are telling us
The number of mass animal deaths in the last several days is a not just a little unsettling. Thousands of birds in America and Italy, millions of fish in Brazil, America and New Zealand – it makes one think.
In 2005 1500 sheep leapt to their deaths off a cliff in Turkey. There was no good reason ever provided, but the prevailing hypothesis put forward was a combination of panic backed up with momentum. Perhaps if we’d paid more attention we could have gleaned some important lessons. After all we were heading for our own economic cliff of 2008. (But we’re not sheep right?)
It’s interesting to note that while 1500 sheep took the dive, only 450 died simply because the later jumpers found a softer landing. So here we are, in 2011, picking ourselves up from the big fall of 2008, shaking ourselves off and looking around. We can see the detritus and destruction all around, and know but for the grace of God we too could be among the unrecoverable.
So while the economy seems to show some signs of life, let us not just jump back into the herd and start the next stampede. Let’s reflect on what got us here – a single minded focus on money and profits. Maybe it’s time to rethink our business paradigm.
Someone wise said leadership is not getting in front of the herd and leading the pack over the precipice, but instead having the guts and the vision to move in a new direction. We’re at that place.
The sheep, the birds, the fish – they’re telling us something, and it begs the question of each of us – will you learn from the hard lessons of 2008, or will you run with the pack and lead this whole planet over the edge of a precipice no one will recover from?
In 2005 1500 sheep leapt to their deaths off a cliff in Turkey. There was no good reason ever provided, but the prevailing hypothesis put forward was a combination of panic backed up with momentum. Perhaps if we’d paid more attention we could have gleaned some important lessons. After all we were heading for our own economic cliff of 2008. (But we’re not sheep right?)
It’s interesting to note that while 1500 sheep took the dive, only 450 died simply because the later jumpers found a softer landing. So here we are, in 2011, picking ourselves up from the big fall of 2008, shaking ourselves off and looking around. We can see the detritus and destruction all around, and know but for the grace of God we too could be among the unrecoverable.
So while the economy seems to show some signs of life, let us not just jump back into the herd and start the next stampede. Let’s reflect on what got us here – a single minded focus on money and profits. Maybe it’s time to rethink our business paradigm.
Someone wise said leadership is not getting in front of the herd and leading the pack over the precipice, but instead having the guts and the vision to move in a new direction. We’re at that place.
The sheep, the birds, the fish – they’re telling us something, and it begs the question of each of us – will you learn from the hard lessons of 2008, or will you run with the pack and lead this whole planet over the edge of a precipice no one will recover from?
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