Looking Back, I Predict a Riot
December is a time when many of us reflect on the past year and look ahead with predictions for the future. Here’s mine.
In the second half of 2017, I traveled the world promoting my book CORE while simultaneously seeking to understand what holds businesses back from identifying, defining, and embedding a core strategy that would allow them to become forces for good.
I wanted to know why companies can do good “some of the time” (i.e., when it suits them), but struggle to do good all of the time. While some videos from my tour show me in an evangelical light, the journey itself was less about pushing and provoking, and more about probing, listening, and learning. Ultimately, I came away with two key insights:
1. Business Leaders Don’t Know How to Make Change for Good
In response to the UN’s 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the growing buzz around “purpose” in 2017, many business leaders have begun to think more about their company’s role in society. But the truth is, there’s no clear, “approved” method for changing a business at its core to make it a force for good.
By “approved,” I mean that there’s no formal business school curriculum (to my knowledge) teaching leaders how to reorient a business’s core purpose for societal benefit. Sure, CSR programs are widespread, and ideas like Harvard’s Shared Value Initiative have introduced new thinking, but these concepts tend to be cautious and limited. Big ideas that come from large institutions and consultancies are often tied to corporate interests and rarely challenge the status quo beyond the “when it suits you” mentality.
But here’s the truth: I do know how businesses can make lasting change for good. Enter the Single Organizing Idea (SOI). Throughout my travels, I’ve seen firsthand how this practical methodology has helped businesses move beyond the rhetoric of purpose to create real, transformative change.
2. Evidence Alone Doesn’t Make Business Leaders Want to Change for Good
For decades, pioneers in sustainability have championed the social and economic benefits of a business becoming a force for good while increasing profitability. However, the impact has often been “underwhelming,” as one pioneer described it to me.
Despite the growth of CSR, sustainability, and community-focused roles within companies, the conversation hasn’t shifted enough to make doing good a core part of business strategy. And more evidence, at this point, won’t necessarily help.
But here’s the kicker: fear can.
Fear of being left behind is driving a growing need to understand and adapt among forward-thinking business leaders. While the existential threat to our planet isn’t enough to spark action in corporate boardrooms, the fear of a company’s survival being at risk is. When the future of a business’s revenue and success is at stake, that’s the real motivator.
We may not yet be on the brink of a riot where businesses are violently challenged, but the tide of discontent is swelling. According to motivational speaker Simon Sinek, it will take 15% to 18% of businesses to create a tipping point. And that tipping point? It’s coming.
Bring on 2018.
*Cities visited to date: London, Oslo, Boston, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Washington DC, Copenhagen, Beirut, Sydney, and Auckland.
About the Author
Neil Gaught is the author of CORE: How a Single Organizing Idea Can Change Business for Good, published by Routledge.
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