Purpose Inspired #51

PICTURE OF THE WEEK - MUD MAID        

REFLECTION OF  THE WEEK - VALUES GAP        

Values are a key driver of behaviour, so why do we often see a values-action gap? Here are three reasons: 1) We face ethical dilemmas, or values conflicts. If I pay more for sustainable products, there is less for something or someone else. 2) We suppress our individual values to conform with the group or a higher authority. If I express compassion for animals, my meat-eating friends or colleagues might tease me. 3) The consequences of our ethical choices are too complicated or too far away. If I fail to take climate action now, who will suffer and when?

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK - SUSTAINABILITY        

“Sustainability stands on the brink of transforming the underlying business model of the past few hundred years”

Quote from Beyond Reasonable Greed | More quotes on?social responsibility,?sustainable business?and?transformational change

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK - SHAREHOLDER VALUE        

Shareholders are an ingenious invention dating?back to the creation of the first corporations in the 17th?century. As Europe’s strongest countries began to flex their colonial muscles – most notably Britain, Spain, France, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands – there was a need to invest larger sums of money in bigger and riskier ventures. Shareholders became a way to pool the financial resources of lots of individuals, who in return could reap the windfalls of the business, should there be any. For instance, they may fund a ship and crew to sail to the other side of the world, discover ‘new’ lands, and trade for spices and gold. This is when the first corporations were conceived.

Read the full article | More in the evolution of value series

PODCAST OF THE WEEK - TURNING BUSINESS INTO AN INSTITUTION FOR HOPE        

My guest this week is R. Edward Freeman, Olsson Professor of Business Administration at the Institute for Business in Society at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and the founding father of stakeholder theory. Listen to him talk about: why the real business case is about creating stakeholder value -- and moving beyond trade-offs to synergies; what we can learn about thriving from ancient and modern philosophers -- and why there's no such thing as an ethical leader; why he's a big fan of the short term -- and doesn't buy into the notion of the short-term versus long-term divide; how we need to break from the grip of unhelpful narratives -- like the triple-bottom line and the invisible hand of the market; and why creative imagination is essential to make capitalism?work -- and how all have have a crucial role to inspire ourselves and others.

Listen to the episode |?Catch up on previous episodes (now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts and other platforms)

POEM OF THE WEEK - LOST KEY        

I. The Key - It was just a glimpse / A glint in the sun / A flint spark in the park / As I walked along / Lost in a daze / Amidst the maze of thoughts / And paths not taken / Futures forsaken / A flash of something / Out of place in space / And time / A rhyme interrupted / On its steady march / I glanced askance / To find the source / Of my distraction / That point of light / Which changed the course / Of flight in action / And there it lay, an object astray / Dull upon the vivid grass / Like glass that’s lost / Its sheen and shine / Until the rays / Of blue-lit days break through / The haze of dappled tree: It was a key

II. The Lock - I bent and picked / Then gently flicked / The metal trinket free of dust / Thumbed its dent / And stroked its rust / My eyes mesmerised / By its jagged edge / And ragged mystery / Its silent history / Of openings / Of protecting and concealing / Hidden treasures / The pleasures of unlocking and revealing / An unknown nest / Of artefacts / A chest of gold / Or letters old / And fading, the lines shading / In the trace of stories / Of star struck lovers / Or soldiers’ glories and grieving mothers / Or something more mundane / A plain account of transactions / Between two parties / Now estranged, the tick and tock / Of a broken clock: / Behind the lock?

III. The Keyholder - I began to meditate / Upon the lost key’s heft and shape / An object cleft from fire and steel / To reveal something / So unique, like fingerprints / Like hints of who / And clues to why / The echoed cry of one / The puzzle / Of how this story’s begun / I find myself wondering / Pacing and pondering / Tracing the mists of the owner’s travels / The twists and turns / The burns and blisters / As fate’s tapestry unravels / Leaving these fragments / Like loose threads / Fraying through life’s seasons / The reasons long since lost / The untold cost of living / Of giving without getting / Of letting / The most precious things / Disappear on wings of regret / For we forget, as we get older: / We’re the keyholder

IV. The Box - Keys without locks are castaways / Unhanded and stranded / On faraway shores / Where the cause of their being / The eye of their seeing is blinded / So as I held in my palm / This enigma, this charm / I could tell that its spell / Was unbroken / I had stumbled and fumbled upon a token / With a secret unspoken / And now in my power, this synchronous hour / I could grant a dying wish / A moment of bliss / It’s crazy I know / Yet I felt a deep flow / A tide in my head, blood red / Tugging and teasing / Ice logic unfreezing / Like a serpent in search of its tail / In a flash it came through / The thing I must do / For I knew without fail / That this was the key / That the future unlocks / And the fit was with me: / I was the box

Poem link | More poetry

BOOK OF THE WEEK - THE WORLD GUIDE TO CSR        

This was the first book to provide comparable national profiles that describe the evolution and practice of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) for 58 countries and 5 global regions. Each regional and national profile includes key information about the relevant CSR history, country-specific issues, trends, research and leading organisations. The purpose of the book is to give CSR and sustainability professionals a quick reference guide to CSR in different regional and national contexts. The book is an edited volume, with expert contributors from around the world.

Order the book | Browse other books

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK - SEASONS        

We are all affected by the changing moods of nature throughout the year. We rise earlier or later, we dress warmer or cooler. But we should never let the seasons become a problem to be managed, rather than a wonder to behold; or an undulation to be smoothed out, rather than a great wave to be ridden.

Discover?more inspiration

THRIVING FEATURE - NESTED        

The environment comprises nested living systems, including people and all other organisms as well as their complex and dynamic relationships: the incredible web of life. The notion of living systems being nested is a bit like a Russian doll, where inside each doll is another smaller doll. Similarly, each system exists within another system. In fact, all of life is characterized by nested webs: Cells join together to form organs and other biological systems, which make up our human bodies; we group together into social systems like families, communities, organizations, cities, countries, and societies; and we are all part of the earth’s dynamic, self-regulating ecological systems.

Extract from?Thriving?|?Order a copy?of the book (available as a hardback, ebook and audiobook)

MORE FROM PURPOSE INSPIRED        

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