Now is a Period of Opportunity

Solving a jigsaw puzzle is a fascinating game.  Each piece, no matter how different or unrelated, is held together by a thread of commonality, a bigger picture.  When I started researching sustainability, I was missing such a blueprint and I was confused by the diversity of people, companies, organizations, and ideas I discovered.  To orient myself, I developed my own big picture and called it the Sustainable Value Curve.

There are a many, many approaches to reach the end goal of financial, social, and environmental balance.  Each valid within their own right, each with their own opportunities.  The Value Curve reveals at least six Opportunity Periods in which we can all find a way to participate in making things better.

Opportunity Period A – This is the period for making the kinds of everyday changes that cumulatively make a difference.  Companies that develop and implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies (like Cargill and Nestle), introduce healthier and more conscious products into the marketplace (Aveda, Patagonia, Nau, Clorox’s Green Works natural cleaners), commercialize new solutions for reducing our destructive demands on the planet (Dow, Better Place, Raser Technologies), and companies helping other companies become more sustainable (InterfaceRAISE) are pursuing a similar type of  opportunity: incremental or reformative improvements.

Opportunity Period B – This period describes traditional non-profit organizations and their philanthropic missions.  Examples include Doctors Without Borders, foundations like that of the Rockefeller Brothers, former president Bill Clinton, and software billionaire Bill Gates, and government organizations like the Peace Corps.

Opportunity Period C – Some non-profits are working to educate the business world on new ways of doing business that benefit stakeholders not just shareholders.  Notable mentions include the Biomimicry Guild, who are acting as tour guides to how Nature can be used as a model for  solving all kinds of design challenges, and Business for Social Responsibility, who provide a safe, progressive forum for business leaders to develop sustainable business strategies and solutions.

Opportunity Period D – People who employ the resource management skills of business — money, marketing, management, etc. — to creatively solve pressing social and environmental challenges are organized in this period.  They are commonly called social entrepreneurs.  EnviroFit International, the Grameen Bank, and MBA Enterprise Corps are notable examples.  Larger companies like the Indian multinational Tata Motors through the introduction of the Nano automobile are also pursing Period D opportunities.

Opportunity Period E – Admittedly, this is my absolute favorite period! Companies in this period are heroically pursing commercialization of new technologies and ideas that are disruptive — in that they will fundamentally change the way we live our modern lives.  For these pioneers, sustainability is achieved by implementing radical solutions.  You will hear more from me about these kinds of companies, but I recommend you explore the work being done in genetic design by Synthetic Genomics, the controversial overunity energy platform called Orbo, and the mobile desalination facility being developed by Water Standard Company.

Opportunity Period F – The opportunities in this period are focused on accelerating philanthropic missions through socially responsible investing (SRI) — investors caring how their money is used to obtain financial returns.  Funding organizations include Ashoka, the Skoll Foundation, the Acumen Fund, and the Social Venture Network and (social) venture capital firms like San Francisco-based Good Capital.

My hope is that every reader is motivated by at least one of these periods to find opportunities to get involved in making the world a better place for us all.