IMPACT COMMUNICATION
AND INNOVATION
AND INNOVATION
But why make a strategic shift toward sustainability in business?
Andrew Winston, author of The Big Pivot (2014), listed 5 reasons that help answer this question. The first is climate change,which has been accelerating in recent years. According to the World Bank, climate disasters—like the one that left Houston underwater—could result in losses of up to $158 trillion. This leads us to the second reason, as these disasters directly interfere with the economy..
The third reason is related to resource demand, which, according to research commissioned by Shell, suggests that by 2030, global population growth and increased prosperity will drive global demand for water up by 30%, energy by 40%, and food by 50%.
The fourth reason is the emerging generation: Millennials.This is a more politically engaged generation, concerned with the positive impact they leave on the world, which directly influences their consumption habits (which are more conscious) and how they engage with causes and brands.
A good example is the documentary The True Cost (2015), created by filmmaker Andrew Morgan and funded by the public via Kickstarter. The film questions our consumption habits and working conditions within the fashion supply chain. A key reference for new generations, the film's central theme is excessive consumption and how the textile industry causes environmental damage due to this overproduction. In this way, the documentary makes us rethink the way we consume today.
The fifth reason raised by Andrew Winston is the potential for developing new, high-impact products and solutions based on technology, connectivity, and transparency. One example is the automotive industry (or part of it), with its autonomous and electric-powered vehicles. Following this trend, Volvo will start selling electric cars in 2019, while Uber has an autonomous vehicle project under development, and France has just announced that it will ban the sale of diesel cars by 2040.
Winston also added one more reason, which is the supply chain, and how companies, especially manufacturers, will manage the entire ecosystem by knowing exactly where every material used in their products comes from, where it goes, and what it is made of. In fact, these three questions can already serve as a good starting point for reflecting on every product we consume in our daily lives.
I would add a few more reasons to Winston's list. Evelin Giometti, Head of Corporate Projects at Yunus Social Business Brazil, shared data at the Harvard event regarding the returns for companies that invest in social business and innovation. One of them is the very innovation gained through the experience and acquisition of tools and methodologies for generating social innovation, which can be applied to the products and services offered.
Another point is that companies can also gain an increase in brand perception by investing in social innovation. This, in fact, is an important return if we consider that empathy is identified as the primary driver of consumption for the coming years. Furthermore, this entire universe can also lead to the formation of a diverse network so that high-impact solutions can be conceived and developed collaboratively.
Following this logic, the business can not only drive innovation but also adopt a massive transformative purpose (MTP), one of the most important characteristics for exponential organizations. According to Salim Ismail of Singularity University, it is precisely these MTPs that provide a different value proposition for the company and, as a bonus, help to retain talent.
Todd Zenger, author of Beyond Competitive Advantage (2016), also participated in the Harvard event and contributed with his speech on strategies and competitive advantages for companies. In his work, Zenger offers a more human approach, focusing on which intrinsic business values are most important in this new landscape, as opposed to old competitive advantages.
But the big question was: What world problems can we help solve? And how? What is the role of industries and brands in the world?
The first point involves the reflection of questioning yourself and the market you are in. What am I willing to give up? In a model transition like this, structural changes can occur and things can be left behind. Beliefs, power dynamics, authority, products, services, and interpersonal dynamics. It is worth reflecting on whether we are willing to give up things that we sometimes only discover along the way. But the good news is that this is a one-way street, at least for me, so I always make it a practice to believe that whatever comes next will be accompanied by positive and transformative changes.
Some institutions have already mapped out global issues that require the strength of corporations, government, the third sector, and civil society to drive transformation. These mappings can be a good starting point for a structural change in the core business of companies.
One of them is the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, launched by the UN, which should be implemented by all countries over the next 15 years.
Another is the Singularity University's Global Grand Challenges (GGCs), which believes that leveraging the growth and convergence of exponential technologies will put us on the path to solving major global challenges, moving from an era of scarcity to an era of abundance.
With so many global goals and issues to address, what positive impact can your business actually generate? And I am not talking about social responsibility or sustainability departments looking at this from the sidelines. The point here is much more about these goals becoming the core value of the business, thereby guiding all other strategies.
Social responsibility departments have played a fundamental role in companies until now, but in most cases, they are seen as peripheral and compensatory areas, often disconnected from the company's main strategy. The reflection here is to analyze how social innovation projects, when based on a central strategy, can go far beyond charity projects.
Mercur, represented by Jorge Hoelzel, surprised me very positively. It is a company with 93 years of history and 700 employees that began questioning its role as an industry a few years ago. Since then, Mercur has been charting a path of transition, which includes everything from changes in products, materials, and production processes to management based on holacracy.
There, they realized they could no longer just work on social projects as they had for many years, but that they needed to bring social impact into everything the company does. They managed to replace some internal views by placing purpose above financial goals, quality above quantity, and abandoning competition to adopt collaboration with the entire market in which they operate. As a result, they managed to transform an oppressive environment into one that values the autonomy of the people who are part of the company's daily life.
As we understand that transformations will come from positive impact indicators embedded in the core value that businesses deliver, it is also important to accept that this is a moment of transition. Therefore, it is important to be generous with yourself and your own business regarding the countless inconsistencies that will appear along the way and that the business itself may bring to light. We need to reflect on the fact that we are talking about a different economic logic, in which profit begins to stem from a more empathetic and genuine process based on positive impact.
One of the greatest lessons and reflections I had during these days of intense content was that companies are made of people, and each person has their own beliefs, whether positive or negative. When starting a project, it is important to practice active listening to understand the other side—their culture, fears, desires, and opportunities. And, while being very careful not to fall into the trap of a moral pedestal, try to carry out actions that are idealized but with the pragmatism necessary to make the business a reality. And, finally, ensure these projects are financially sustainable and profitable.
A question that has also been very present is that communication has contributed to and reinforced the culture of consumption and impact we have lived in until now. And now it, and we as communication professionals, have a new opportunity to contribute to building a new collective consciousness and to boost actions that generate positive impact.
It is a long road, but one that is much more meaningful—at least to me. And as it had to come up, it was in the last lecture I attended, by the much-beloved master and friend Tiago Mattos (futurist at Aerolito and professor at the world's most important innovation schools), that the good old maxim by Alvin Toffler was raised: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
