Book Description
Looking at the top 100 organisations in the world, have you ever wondered which ones would we really miss if they were to disappear? Or, which ones deliver something that we truly need in order to improve our health and happiness? Or even, which of these organisations are taking advantage of resources while jeopardising the quality of life of the next generations? Current performance metrics strongly overlook these facts. In fact, despite the dramatic technological progress that infused radical changes in the society over the past century, profits and shareholder value remain the cardinal assessment tools. We believe this has led us to support, recognise and reward predatory organisations in detriment to sustainable organisations. Ultimately, we end up seeing villains for heroes and blindly incentivising those who live from this, albeit not contributing to the community. Yet, a society that deters useful professions in favour of futile jobs, a society that values futile organisations, penalising the ones that bring actual value, is undeniably unsustainable. With this book, we aspire to instil discussion about the characteristics of sustainable organisations as the cornerstone of the definition of new criteria to assess how useful an organisation truly is. The main premise for this is that an organisation can only be sustainable when its full impact - internal and external - is positive in the short, medium and long-term and when its activity contributes to human survival and/or development. We propose a new model for sustainable organisations founded on transparency, merit and purpose as well as a simple index - a new algorithm - that will enable any citizen in the world to understand and compare the real value and impact of any organisation. Our hope is that this awareness will lead to a shift in global dynamics, from a perilous route - conflict-oriented - onto a prosperous trajectory that is truly sustainable and unequivocally focused on human needs. Following are reviews from three of our Beta readers: "A book that can help both identify and cure the ills of today's world with a simple formula - is a gift that we cannot afford to pass by. The Sustainable Organization points boldly to the organizational transformation reforms needed to reclaim humanity from the gridlock of inequality fostered by a predatory reward system that minimizes employee contribution while channeling the rewards to a few at the top. Offering a few simple indicators that can help organizations determine if they are on the right path the book sheds light on the hard truth about those who have to change the ways they operate. I can hardly imagine a more powerful approach to changing the status quo at a crucial time in history." Mihaela Ulieru, PhD, Global Agenda Council at the World Economic Forum, USA "The Sustainable Organization is a very interesting book which shows the way for organizations to create a win, win, win for all stakeholders in our fragile world. Become Sustainable or eventually die.Greed is a poison." Lee Cockerell, Former Executive Vice-President at Disney, USA "What you measure is what you get " how human / capitalist measure the world in the liner mind brought us to where we stand toady . What we need now is a bold and proven new measurement lead all humankind to a better world. I am glad my friend Miguel do it for us, with his insight in the writing " The sustainable organisation " we can levitate tunnel view and see a brighter future - an equal and fair world to be. I am ready to join the new perspective now, and you? Roger Lee, founder of CSR Community International; Forum works Inc. and Talents Fly Co-creation International association, TAIWAN Other comments from beta readers: http: //thesustainableorganisation.blogspot.pt/2015/04/comments-and-observations-from-our-beta.html
