Capitalists focus on the financial returns from capital invested, and most business leaders prioritize issues that are financially material. For anyone with a pension linked to market performance, that is a good thing. But this single-minded focus can be a major problem when it comes to tackling slow-building, systemic challenges, like global warming, that could take down not just supply chains but, over time, entire economies.
The 6 Ways Business Leaders Talk About Sustainability
How we frame the problem influences the solutions we propose.
October 17, 2017
Summary.
What does it take to change the way we think? In this piece, the author discusses six of the key mental frames that are at play in the sustainable business space: resources, time, value, design, abundance, and morality. Each of these frames has its strengths and limitations. For example, the value frame encourages business leaders to ascribe a value to natural resources they previously thought of as free, like clean air or water. But focusing on costs can inadvertently keep leaders from seeing sustainability as an opportunity — possibly the biggest one of our lifetimes. Improving our understanding of these mental models is the first step towards building a more sustainable business.