World is Green

But I’d love it if we one day eliminated the term “blogging” from the web lexicon (and that we stopped pursuing “CEO’s who blog.”). CEO’s who have cell phones aren’t “cell-phoners,” those who have email accounts arent “emailers,” those who give interviews on television aren’t “TV’ers” - they’re all leaders using technology to communicate. Communication is central to leadership - using words, written or spoken, to articulate strategy, guide organizations, engage in dialog, and… lead. Leading two or 200,000, you can’t do it without communicating. Using technology just leaves more time for everything else (I’m not saying stone tablets can’t be effective, they just take way longer to distribute).

- Source: Jonathan Schwartz 

Can you prepare for a Black Swan? In one sense, no, at least not specifically; that’s the whole point. But you can, at a minimum, consider the degree to which your actions and procedures concerning damn near everything, and likewise those of your organizations, rest on assumptions of continuity. (Hint: They do.) Of course China is a “shock to the system”—but, in fact, it has taken and will take decades for its impact to unfold. I’m talking about the events of a day or a week that could unravel a life’s work—or make you president of the U.S.A.

Your life most probably will be made or unmade by the arrival by one, two, or three Black Swans.

- Tom Peters

One such Black Swan moment for me was the short time I spent with Atanu Dey and Rajesh Jain at Deeshaa.

Anyone developing new products and new technology needs one characteristic above all else: hope. This comes down to a few elements: -having high expectations that you will succeed - despite any setbacks or frustrations -having the sense to break down an imposing task into smaller, manageable ones -believing that you are able to achieve your goals, whatever they may be. Be dogged and determined - and don’t be afraid to be different.

Source: Fast Company Fast 50 ‘04.

“We lowered our carbon footprint,” Kennedy said, pausing, “before we even knew what a carbon footprint was.”

Source: Green, if only by accident.

EcoGeek: In many of your books, you tackle the subjects of sustainability and the environment, but from a perspective that may seem odd to many environmentalists. It seems you are not the typical “tree hugger”…

Daniel Quinn: I don’t consider myself an environmentalist. I feel that the category itself is badly conceived, dividing the world into people who are “for the environment” and people who are “for people,” which is nonsense. Thus it came to be seen that “environmentalists” were “for” the spotted owl, while non-environmentalists were seen to be “for” forestry jobs that would be lost by saving the spotted owl. The term “environmentalism” emphasizes a false division between “us” and “it” — “it” being the environment. There is no “it” out there. We are all in this together. There are no two sides. We cannot survive as a species somehow separate from the rest of the living community.

Source: EcoGeek of the Week: Daniel Quinn

But it simply isn’t working, and there is one principal reason: fossil fuel energy is extraordinarily cheap, both in historical terms and when measured against average salaries. Consider the tumble dryer. A full load of clothes, swiftly extracted from the washing machine and pushed firmly into the dryer, can be painlessly dried in a couple of hours or less. To take that tangled mess of dripping underwear, shirts and tea towels and pin it on a washing line might take 15 minutes. Drying “by hand” would take several hours, possibly a day, and bringing the clothes indoors and folding them could easily take another 20 minutes. Moreover, rain could fall or the activities of birds could spoil your clean sheets.

However, the cost of the electricity to power the dryer will be around 25 pence (US$0.50), and the labour saved may be half an hour or more. As a result, the rational person who values his or her own time has little choice. Homo economicus slams the door of the dryer shut, feeling only a little guilty that another kilogram of CO2 has been added to the communal atmosphere.

Source: Chris Goodall on China Dialogue

On EBBF, a quote on the connection between CSR and the bottomline.

“The vast majority of CSR research is attempting to establish a
correlation between the bottom line and CSR. For an excellent overview
see a recent book by Vogel (2005): The market for virtue. His conclusion
BTW is that: there are indeed cases of companies that have gained a
competitive advantage from being responsible. However, that there are
also many companies with good records of corporate responsibility that
have done poorly financially, and that there are many companies who
have pretty irresponsible records of corporate responsibility that have
done very well.

He argues that corporate responsibility, purely from a
self-interest perspective, is like any other business strategy. It
makes sense for some of the companies some of the time. A strong
neo-liberal agenda does not only determine the research agenda but also
the focus of practical CSR efforts. As the CEO of GE remarked: “We are
investing in environmentally cleaner technology because we believe it
will increase our revenue, our value and our profits… Not because it is
trendy or moral, but because it will accelerate our growth and make us
more competitive.” (Economist, 2005).

“The minimum that is scientifically necessary far exceeds the maximum that is politically feasible.”

- Al Gore in an interview with Bill McKibben (Source)

The significance India will have on the the world in the future will be extraordinary, we’ve only scratched the surface. The thing that remains to be seen is the importance green business has in India. Tackling mass poverty is the first thing that is happening, and it should be the first thing that the country emphasizes. India will be an economic powerhouse, and could be a leader in green business if they choose to be. The direction that business takes in India will have massive impact on the world. If business leaders there recognize the vast potential that green business has, and then decide to invest time, money, and effort, the world would only benefit. India is in a very unique position right now, they could either lead the world, or potentially aid in its destruction.

India, the world is watching. What’s your next move?

Source: Future of Business via Digg

“The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the reverse.” - Herman Daly