BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL SHOULD BE THE RULE NOT THE EXCEPTION.
Have you noticed? Things aren't usual anymore. They're being turned upside down. And if you're in business, that matters. If we look at things the way we've always looked at them, it's likely we'll what we'll see is what we'll continue to see. But if we look at things differently, then outcomes can change.
It was Earth Day yesterday, and one of the notable statistics that coincided with this day of looking at our planet, was that the UK had been 'off coal' for 90 hours. Other energy sources powered our homes, our phones, our cars and our air-conditioning (!) - solar, renewables, natural gas (itself a fossil fuel, but not as CO2 'bad') and other.
Not since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, well over 150 years ago have we gone so long without burning coal. This event also coincided with protests by earth activists, Extinction Rebellion in central London; their 'closing down' of Oxford Street to traffic led to dramatic drops in air pollution. A hiatus for people of course, but overall good for people shopping there.
Business As Unusual
A tweet caught my eye late last night, by Tori Tsui with a video message to Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London "We cannot do business as usual, the time to act is now". It caught my eye, because the slogan used by our Capital City is "London is Open". And, clearly the XR protests had kind of 'closed' it.
If London, and the UK in general wants to lead the way in the the world coming, it needs to be open to doing 'business as unusual' and 'open to change' rather than just being "OPEN FOR BUSINESS"
RAMBLE AROUND OXFORD STREET? WHY NOT?
Take the closure of Oxford Street to traffic; this was generally applauded as making it a much nicer place to be, not having to dodge buses, taxis et al. You only have to take a look at the famous Las Ramblas in Barcelona to see what it 'could' look like.. We know shopping on the high street is changing, surely the lead should be taken by the UK's most famous high street, currently dominated by outdated Department Store formats, and a mix of tourist tat shops. Imagine if it was reimagined around relaxation and experience; a heady hybrid of tourist delight, retail, restaurant and relaxation.
IF WE DO WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS DONE, WE'LL GET WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS GOT.
Over the past few years, we've had quite a lot of re-balancing starting to take effect. Starting nearly three years ago, the #MeToo movement started, calling out unacceptable sexual behaviour in the workplace, first in the US, now world-wide. We've had the calling out of the gender pay-gap, with companies needing to reset what they pay women and men, basis they are equal in being human beings, and should be equal in terms of payment and worth.
Of course, we've also had three years of Brexit and Trump, where populism has decided the short term trajectory of countries, putting themselves 'first' (MAGA) and perhaps others second. But, at the same time, we've had people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Senator, advocate of the #GreenNewDeal) and Greta Thunberg (teenage climate activist) come from 'nowhere' to command our attention.
FOR A LIFETIME, NOT JUST ONE TIME.
Writing this in the context of our Code Zero launch, where we are introducing a lifetime use refillable range of un-plastic packaged toiletries and skincare products, it's clear to me that only by lots of little happening, will big change come about. A few years ago, beaches were often polluted by huge amounts of plastic, consumer and industrial. Over the past couple of years, many have been cleaned, by actions undertaken by Surfers Against Sewage in the UK, and similar grassroots activists abroad.
China has stopped accepting our waste plastic for 'recycling' (read landfill or burning), so we have to deal with this issue ourselves - and right now, as A Plastic Planet, point out, are failing. Changing behaviour is difficult - it's like 'new' coming along, first it's rejected, then argued against, then grudgingly accepted, then becomes the norm. Sadly, changing our planet isn't as delightful as an Apple iPhone launch, where with a single stroke of technological genius, the whole world became able to embrace communication technology and connectivity only a few years before would have been unthinkable.
Change, which is often posited as good, also comes with drawbacks. Take social media - great we can all 'share' what we're up to, on a global basis, but look at the effect that 'sharing' can have, especially if the content is divisive, controversial, unacceptable, agendered or leads people to question the value of their life and it's worth.
IT TRULY IS BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL FOR GOOD.
I write this only to put out my opinion that we need to get unusual about better solutions, and have passion and commitment in pushing them through, and getting them heard. As founder of King of Shaves, back in 1993 I didn't give strategic long-term thought to the fact our products were sold in (what I believed was or could be) recyclable plastic. Only in recent years have I thought back that millions of our plastic tubes, that delivered tens of millions of people are really great pain free, enjoyable shave, have ended up likely inside our planet. For me, that had to change, and is changing as we speak. We are moving to metal, not just with our Code Zero learnings, but with King of Shaves too.
BE THE CHANGE. BE THE UNUSUAL. BE THE DIFFERENCE. IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO?
Over the coming months, we hope retailers and consumers alike will be receptive to our 'lifetime use' move for our King of Shaves and Code Zero brands and outlook. We look forward to seeing genuine change from our businesses, business leaders and politicians.
It is awkward and to be honest, unacceptable to ignore what is being advocated we do, especially if it's narrated by a 92 year old naturalist combined with a 16 year old activist.
Business as Unusual for us is the way it's going to be going forwards. Will it be the same for you?
We know what our Code Zero is. What about you? #WhatsYourCodeZero? What will you zero out to make the world a better place to be in?
With you.
Will