TheGoodFuture Blog (Futurist Gerd Leonhard)

“Only today, Given, an agency that has been helping companies develop purpose-driven brands for some years, launched an “insider’s guide to purpose.” Earlier this month, a book attempted to set out what this focus means for leadership. Written by Hubert Joly, former chairman and CEO of the consumer electronics retailer Best Buy (one of the signatories of that 2019 Business Roundtable statement), The Heart of Business describes how the company was turned around by such initiatives as pursuing a noble purpose, putting people at the center, embracing all stakeholders and treating profit as an outcome rather than an end in itself. Along the way, Joly, who stepped down from the chair of Best Buy last June, having passed on the CEO baton the year before, also describes his own transformation from ambitious, hard-driving consultant and young executive into a more thoughtful and considered leader.”

Putting Purpose At The Heart Of Business Is Harder Than It Looks
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2021/05/25/putting-purpose-at-the-heart-of-business-is-harder-than-it-looks/
via Instapaper

“My patience has certainly deteriorated. I’ve come to like Zoom calls, because I can click “end meeting” then jump into the bath minutes later. When I had a friend over recently for a rare, socially distanced dinner, I quickly realised that for the next few hours, every time he said something, I’d have to say something back. Again and again. I was trapped.”

What if we’ve forgotten how to socialise?
https://www.economist.com/1843/2021/02/26/what-if-weve-forgotten-how-to-socialise
via Instapaper

“One of the rules to live by that I came up with for myself was, when in doubt, always assume the best in other people. Statistically, you’ll be right most of the time. You should also do it because of what psychologists call a noncomplementary effect. A simple summary is this: if you harm or antagonize me, and I respond in a positive way, it will become very hard for you to stay negative, because behavior—good or bad—is contagious. And do you really want to live your whole life in distrust? That’s irrational. That price is just too high to pay, and it’s really not good for you.””

People Are Actually Pretty Decent
https://www.outsideonline.com/2422821/rutger-bregman-humanity-good
via Instapaper

“Some of us are cynics and have a low opinion of humanity—that people are mostly bad and innately selfish. Yet research supports the opposite view. It was survival of the friendliest, not the fittest, that caused Homo sapiens to rise to where we are today.”

People Are Actually Pretty Decent
https://www.outsideonline.com/2422821/rutger-bregman-humanity-good
via Instapaper

“A thing is right when it enhances the stability and beauty of the total ecosystem. It is wrong when it damages it.” The sustainability of the larger system comes first. Everything else must fit itself within that frame.”

Toward a generative economy
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/toward-generative-economy/
via Instapaper