higher purpose and stakeholder orientation
DESCRIPTION
Jo Hunter's Conscious Capitalism presentationTRANSCRIPT
Higher Purpose & Stakeholder Orientation
Conscious Capitalism
Who is this?
In 2006 I had achieved my career
aspirations
• Senior leadership team in
a national organisation
• Consulted to large, blue-
chip companies
• Good salary
• But there were aspects of
the corporate world that
were misaligned with my
own values
2
Three years ago I started my own business,
determined to make a net positive contribution
to the common good
Competitive
Damaging to the
environmentMeaningless
Not living my
human values
Inauthentic
Disempowered
Secretive
Soulless
“More”
growth /profit
Unfulfilled
Collaborative
Environmentally
regenerative Meaningful
Aligned with my
human values
Authentic
Empowered
Transparent
Soulful /
“heart”
Enough
Fulfilled
My goal tonight: provide a unique perspective on the
notions of Stakeholder Orientation and Higher Purpose
• A case for an unorthodox view of Stakeholder Orientation
• Higher (transcendent) Purpose
• My business as evidence that it works
4
For a long time, businesses viewed
themselves in purely economic terms
5
Economy
But a healthy economy is a subset of a
healthy society
6
Economy
Society
And a healthy society is a subset of a
healthy environment
7
Economy
Environment
Society
Each of these nested systems has
stakeholders
8
Each of these nested systems has
stakeholders
9
Each of these nested systems has
stakeholders
10
11
And each successive system embraces the
entire set of stakeholders from the system
below
12
These nested systems
represent a holarchy,
where each component,
or holon, is both a part
and a whole.
Like a fractal, the
patterns evident at
one level can be
similar to another.
There is no
absolute top or
bottom.
Businesses and philanthropists have begun to
recognise the need for investment in the
common good
13
But tend to focus solely on investment into
society
• Transform Cambodia
• Water for Africa
• Medical research
• Youth suicide prevention
• Children with special needs
• Impact 100 (community contributions)
• PMH
• Spinifex Trust
• Royal Flying Doctor Service
• UWA Cancer Research
• The Smith Family
• Homelessness
• Indigenous disadvantage
• Youth, arts, health, education, sports
• Special building projects
• Disaster relief
14
Is the environment important?
15
The problem: resource use is “coupled” to
economic growth
• If we wish to continue pursuing growth, we must decouple it from resource use.
• Relative decoupling means resource use may increase, however, at a slower rate
than economic growth.
• Absolute decoupling is achieved when resource use declines over time while the
economy grows.
16
To keep economic activity within ecological
limits, we must achieve absolute decoupling
• There is some limited evidence of relative decoupling occurring
thanks to efficiency gains over the last three decades.
– This means that economic growth has outpaced efficiency
improvements, and there has been growth in resource use overall.
• There is little to no evidence of absolute decoupling.
<
So why does the environment get
overlooked?
18
So why does the environment get
overlooked?
19
• The “invisible hand”• Self-interest
• Reputation.
• Cycles of value creation:
“shared value”.
• Pleasure.
• Reciprocity
? • Giving with no
expectation of return• Altruism
Econom
yEnvir
onm
ent
Socie
ty
Our environment needs altruism – the
highest human virtue
20
The common good
Our definition of the common good must include all life, not just people.
Evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin believed that the highest moral achievement is concern for the welfare of all living
beings, human and nonhuman.
Darwin wrote: “Sympathy beyond the confines of man, that is humanity to the lower animals, seems to be one of the latest
moral acquisitions… This virtue [concern for lower animals], one of the noblest with which man is endowed, seems to arise
incidentally from our sympathies becoming more tender and more widely diffused, until they extend to all sentient beings.”
Survive
and
thrive
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable / conscious
capitalism
Self-Interest
Altruism
Reciprocity
What is raising
consciousness?
22
Expanding the boundaries of our awareness to encompass
a larger and larger system
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable / conscious
capitalism
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
LEVEL OF OPENNESS
ECONOMIC
GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
Survive
and
thrive
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable / conscious
capitalism
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
LEVEL OF OPENNESS
ECONOMIC
GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
Survive
and
thrive
Self-interest
(good for me)
Competition
(survival of
the fittest)
Gro
wth
econom
y
(no d
ecoupling)
Socia
l
inequality
Individual
(egocentric)
Secretive
Prof
it b
efor
e
plan
et
Emph
asis on
human
-mad
e
capita
l
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable / conscious
capitalism
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
LEVEL OF OPENNESS
ECONOMIC
GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
Survive
and
thrive
Self-interest
(good for me)
Reciprocity
(good for
society)
Cooperation
(creating
shared value)
Competition
(survival of
the fittest)
Gro
wth
econom
y
(rela
tive
decoupling)
Gro
wth
econom
y
(no d
ecoupling)
Socia
l
equality
Socia
l
inequality
Individual
(egocentric)
Comm
unity
(anthropocentric)
Reciprocal sharing
Secretive
Prof
it b
efor
e
plan
et
Har
m
min
imisat
ion
Emph
asis o
n
hum
an-m
ade
and
social
capi
tal
Emph
asis on
human
-mad
e
capita
l
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable / conscious
capitalism
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
LEVEL OF OPENNESS
ECONOMIC
GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
Survive
and
thrive
Self-interest
(good for me)
Reciprocity
(good for
society)
Altruism
(good for the
planet)
Symbiosis (harmony
between people,
planet and profit)
Cooperation
(creating
shared value)
Competition
(survival of
the fittest)
“Ste
ady s
tate
”
econom
y
Gro
wth
econom
y
(rela
tive
decoupling)
Gro
wth
econom
y
(no d
ecoupling)
Ecolo
gic
al
justic
e
Socia
l equality
Socia
l
inequality
Individual
(egocentric)
Community
(anthropocentric)
Biosphere
(ecocentric)
Total transparency
Reciprocal sharing
Secretive
Prof
it b
efor
e
plan
et
Harm
minim
isat
ion
Enviro
nmen
tal
rege
nera
tion
Balanc
e be
twee
n
hum
an-m
ade,
soc
ial
and
natu
ral c
apital
Emph
asis on
human
-mad
e
and
social
capita
l
Emph
asis on
human
-mad
e
capita
l
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
LEVEL OF OPENNESS
ECONOMIC
GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
Altruism
(good for the
planet)
Symbiosis (harmony
between people,
planet and profit)
“Ste
ady s
tate
”
econom
yEcolo
gic
al
justic
e
Community
(anthropocentric)
Biosphere
(ecocentric)
Total transparency
Enviro
nmen
tal
rege
nera
tion
Balanc
e be
twee
n
hum
an-m
ade,
soc
ial
and
natu
ral c
apital
Survive
and
Thrive
Appealing to
women
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable / conscious
capitalism
Economy
Society
Environment
The great opportunity of our time is to recalibrate
business as a total system contributor.
• To achieve this, businesses must reimagine themselves as vehicles for
delivering true social and environmental value, in addition to customer value.
• In other words, businesses must identify their transcendent purpose.
Authentic purpose must come from the
heart
29
Pollen Strategy:
• “To deliver strategic planning that helps organisations
improve their performance and increase their contribution to
our world.”
• “Lead a new business movement whereby more and more
organisations view success in terms of their total
contribution to our world, causing significant growth in social
and environmental capital.”
30
Purpose
Vision
Values
“If you think of vision and purpose
as an organization’s head and heart,
the values it holds are its soul.”
~ Victor R. Buzzotta
Intellectual
curiosityAdmiration for
natural systems
Power of the
individual
Primary measures of performance
• Net Promoter Score
• Total funds contributed to social and environmental projects and
charities.
31
Enough
32
What
I could
charg
e
Enough
25%Surplus for altruistic
reinvestment (can
experiment)
Transparency
• Operating: 3 years
• Philanthropy: $68,000
• Philanthropy % of revenue: 25%
• Philanthropy % of profit: 48%
33
ommon
Vision: a bright future where the natural world and the human spirit are perpetually enriched by the activities of business
and society.
Kommon is a case study
• The brand we will use for investments in the common good that
are non DGR.
• Purposely disassociated from Pollen.
• To eliminate cynicism – “doing good for reputational purposes
only”.
• Not looking for business ROI.
• Want to conduct experiments.
Kommon Values
• Diversity (Resilience/Complexity)
• Wholeness (Unity/Oneness/Equality)
• Connection (Systems thinking)
Kommon campaigns and goals
• “Women rising”: promote the role of women in the new economy.
• Giving a voice to sustainability through art.
• Combatting the influence of the “for profit” media.
• Promotion of investment in the common good by business and
individuals.
37
38
39
Natalie Jeremijenko
40
41
42
Kommon Sense – book gifting to CEOs
43
It is fractal
44
Pollen
PurposeVis
ion
Consulting
work
Philanthropy
DG
R
Kommon
Purpose
Diversity
Wholeness
Connection
Vis
ion
Non-DGR
Where I was versus where I am now
Competitive
Damaging to the
environmentMeaningless
Not living my
human values
Inauthentic
Disempowered
Secretive
Soulless
“More”
growth /profit
Unfulfilled
Collaborative
Environmentally
regenerative Meaningful
Aligned with my
human values
Authentic
Empowered
Transparent
Soulful /
“heart”
Enough
Fulfilled
Emergent characteristics of the new
paradigm
46
Generous
connection
Sustainability
Love
Altruism
Vulnerability
Freedom
Spirituality
Truthfulness
Intuition
Women
rising
Openness towards…
And it’s one of the easiest, lowest-risk things I’ve ever done
Take-aways
• Any business that makes a net-negative contribution to the
common good of all life can not regard itself as “conscious”.
• The environment needs our altruism.
• The notion of “enough” is very powerful.
• Break the rules!
• Build a fractal business.
47
48
Who is this?
49
50
Thank you.
51