People, Planet, Profit

Hot off the presses from McKinsey (yep the stratergery consultancy):

• Almost 70 percent of executives around the world say that global social, environmental, and business trends are increasingly important to corporate strategy
• Yet relatively few companies act on the global trends they think will affect them most
• Among those that do act, only 17 percent report significant benefits

Hmmm… Social, environmental and business. Sounds eerily like the ‘triple bottom line’ to me.

Full disclosure, I am a big proponent of the triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit. I am a capitalist at heart, but do fundamentally believe that the ‘carrying capacity’ of the planet – especially in terms of people and environment, are important factors we need to address--- today.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not a dope smoking, stereotypical hippe that demonizes capitalism and the goal of profit. I am for profit (although my bank account would suggest otherwise), and could not put my hair into dreadlocks if I had to.

No, I am just an average guy who sees that 5,10,15 years from now these will be issues that are mandated through regulation. So I figure, start addressing it now, invest for the future, and you will win…

Call it what you will:

• Cost avoidance- spend $10 today or $10,000 in the future
• Competitive advantage- if you are ‘there’, why not push for more regulations, as will cost your competition more to catch up
• Investment- if you can figure out how to make social and environmental economically feasible today, think of the learning curve effect for tomorrow
• Positive PR- consumers are getting more savvy as to including social and environmental considerations in their selection criteria

Bottom line- the triple bottom line will be more important than just 70% talking about it. Soon, you will have to do something about it.