Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist - SXSW Eco 2014

We hear a lot about what big companies must do to ensure a sustainable future. But what is it like to be the one who actually has to do it? What are the biggest challenges in pushing for change from deep inside the belly of the beast – and what are the keys to success? How do you maintain faith in your work when things go horribly wrong? Christine Bader shares stories and reflections from her nine years with BP, and those of her fellow Corporate Idealists — from Yahoo!, Gap, Coca-Cola, and more — who she interviewed for her book, 'The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil.'

Christine Bader
Author, 'The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil' Greater New York City AreaInternational Affairs Current BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), Columbia University, Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. Previous Kennedy School of Government, BP, City of New York Education Yale University - Yale School of Management John Ruggie The importance of bearing witness

My featured talk at SXSW Eco

Christine Bader Author, 'The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil' Top Contributor Greetings all -- Delighted to share this! Grateful if you would click 'like' if you're so moved.

The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist - SXSW Eco 2014 youtu.be

We hear a lot about what big companies must do to ensure a sustainable future. But what is it like to be the one who actually has to do it? What are the biggest challenges in pushing for change from deep inside the belly of the beast - and what are....

Comments You and Jack Wysocki like this 1 comment

Peter Burgess Peter Burgess Founder/CEO at TrueValueMetrics developing Multi Dimension Impact Accounting

I enjoyed listening to this presentation ... I relate to much of the story because I have been in corporate management improving profit performance in an international company, and I have done a lot of work for the World Bank, UN and others, and I am interested in seeing business being a really powerful force for good. It would be good to have a 7 minute version of this presentation because setting aside about an hour is OK for retirees but not for people in the midst of work, family and all the rest.

I would also observe that the presentation starts off with a lot of reference to crunching numbers for business profit optimization ... and then gets into the WORDS of good business behavior ... and comes back to the business in the end manages by the (profit) numbers. My position is that business behavior will move to deep good performance as soon as we figure out how the NUMBER all of the dimensions of good business behavior. The good news is that there a lot of people in and out of the corporate world who want to do the 'right thing' ... but the only METRICS in play are those that are related to money profit and stock value, and no coherent metrics for things that are really important. You manage what you measure ... and the only measures in play are profit measures.

This expands my thinking on this subject: http://www.truevaluemetrics.org/DBpdfs/MDIA/TVM-Short-Introduction-to-7D-Capitalism-and-MDIA-141212a.pdf