Initiatives
Plan B

Business needs a Plan B

Burgess COMMENTARY
A comment I have made on this post:

The Plan B idea is a move in the right direction, but whether or not the B-Team will be able to move the needle with respect to socio-economic performance is going to be an open question for some time.

I am sorry to see reference to People, Planet and Profit rather than the what I refer to as the 4Ps ... that is People, Place, Planet and Profit. There is an important reason why I include Place in the group, because it is Place more than Planet that determines any individual's quality of life, and is more granular for decision making than either Planet or Nation.

The Organization ... especially the huge multinational corporate organization, has a huge influence over the state, progress and performance of the economy and society. There is a very well developed system of metrics that functions inside the modern organization (I used to be a corporate CFO/CIO and have some understanding of this) mainly built around the idea that more and more growth and more and more profit is good, and anything that detracts from this is bad. Metrics about economic activities should be as useful for the place as they are for the organization.

At present, there is no system of metrics to address the externalities that have impact on people, place and planet, and such a system is in my view essential to any meaningful success in reforming how business behaves. Such a system can be created, but do not hold your breath that it will be created by the establishment.

Team B may do this ... but I am not particularly optimistic. I will however keep an open mind ... after all the idea of Virgin Atlantic was insane when it was first started, and it changed the game quite impressively.

Sincerely

Peter Burgess TrueValueMetrics

Business needs a Plan B

Introducing The B Team, a global non-profit founded by Jochen Zeitz, me and a group of wonderful partners and leaders. We will work together to deliver a Plan B for businesses - a new way of doing business that prioritises people and the planet alongside profit.

The B Team are working with government agencies, the social sector, and business leaders to help get on top of some of the world’s seemingly intractable challenges. We are keen to listen, learn and share with others to build businesses that do what’s right for people and the planet.

I have sat and watched The Elders at work over the last few years, dealing with conflict resolution issues around the globe. In those meetings I have often thought wouldn’t it be great to get some key business leaders together to think about the issues facing the world? Why can’t we work together to see how business could be a true force for good?

So we have decided to give it a go and worked with Virgin Unite to incubate The B Team. We have some excellent business leaders joining us, including: Arianna Huffington, Mo Ibrahim, Paul Polman, Ratan Tata, Guilherme Leal, Strive Masiyiwa, François-Henri Pinault, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Shari Arison, Kathy Calvin and Honorary Leaders Mary Robinson and Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland.

We will address three initial Challenges: “The Future of Leadership”, “The Future Bottom Line” and “The Future of Incentives”. The aim of these Challenges is to help focus business away from short-term gain and to balance the long-term benefits for people and planet.

It shouldn’t just be left to politicians and community organisations to tackle the world’s problems - businesses should help too. Although individually lots of businesses do great things, collectively they could be far more powerful and do much more good. I have high hopes that The B Team can make a real difference.

We want to start a global conversation on a Plan B for business. We’ll be holding community events and encouraging you to send in your ideas. So head over to The B Team to find out more and get involved.

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