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For the last four years Center member CA, Inc. has sponsored CA Together in Action (CTA), a month-long program to support non-profit organizations around the world. Launched in 2006 as a two-week event, the program expanded to a month to allow as many employees as possible to participate. 
Conference Exclusive: John Elkington keynote
By Tim Wilson
Well I’m back on campus and the jet lag has worn off but I’m still feeling the sting of the reality slap administered by John Elkington in his remarks Monday evening in San Francisco.
In stark contrast with the spirit of hope that surrounded the conference, the man described by BusinessWeek as “the dean of the corporate responsibility movement” delivered a reminder that our economic condition may not be getting better any time soon, and may well get considerably worse for an extended period.
While John’s message may not have been welcome, it is undeniable that it needs to be heard. Whether we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel or an approaching train, survival for companies and corporate citizenship will require more than earnest efforts and unbridled optimism.
In an informal keynote address conducted conversation style with Brad Googins, Elkington quickly made the point that “we face profoundly challenging times.” He remarked that while the recessions of the 1970s and 1980s put the squeeze on safety, health, environment and quality, this time around the squeeze will be felt by corporate citizenship.
When Brad asked if things are past the point when institutions, in business or academia, can reform incrementally, Elkington couldn’t agree more strongly. He said that institutions evolve for different reasons and often because of pressure. “We need to actually start breaking things.”
In order to figure out what has to change and to find solutions for moving forward Elkington pointed to the problem-solving approach of Thomas Edison as a guide. Having failed 10,000 times, the Wizard of Menlo Park observed that “at least I know 10,000 things that don’t work.”
“That spirit is lacking,” Elkington said.
Asked his view of where things stand on the environment, the founder of SustainAbility acknowledged there has been profound progress yet conceded climate change may be outrunning our capacity to make a difference. “Some argue it now doesn’t matter what we do but we’ve made vast progress,” said Elkington, adding that the trouble is that addressing climate change has not gotten into our politics or behavior as consumers.
On social issues Elkington sees new expectations because of globalization but feels that unlike the environmental movement that has crystallized around climate change, people working on social issues have not crystallized around one thing.
Elkington encouraged those seeking leaders on any issues to look beyond the usual places, recalling Winston Churchill’s remark that “extraordinary times call for extraordinary leaders.” He said the young people eager to emerge as leaders in corporate citizenship will have to look beyond corporations and take a more entrepreneurial approach with their ambitions.
Elkington said those watching the behavior of business, such as NGOs, may have to shift their focus from the large companies they know and “have loved beating up for years.” He said the spotlight needs to start shining on smaller organizations. “The ones we paid attention to (in the past) may not be the ones that will be important in the future.”
Speaking directly to the fears of his audience, Elkington said that if people in corporate citizenship want jobs in three or four years they will have to demonstrate its value to boards in different ways. He said businesses seeking to address issues and expectations will have to go beyond innovation and find scalable, entrepreneurial solutions. New technologies such as genetic engineering and nanotechnology will be the place to invest in John’s view.
And for those not already shaken up by the economic mess, he stressed that the next wave of change “will be enormously disruptive to industries. The attrition rate will be surprisingly high.” Rather than change and leadership coming from large companies and cascading down to smaller companies and suppliers, the incubators of innovation will be small and medium businesses.
Of course this means the environmental footprint of small companies, which is already substantial, will grow. This comes with problems, Elkington said, as these smaller operations don’t have the people to address the issues they will create. As a result, he said, government will have an important role to play.
The subject of government is where hope and fear collided loudly in John’s remarks. Asked to offer advice to the Obama administration, Elkington first predicted that if the president gets to a second term he will be prematurely aged by the set of social and economic challenges he has to face.
His first piece of advice to the newly minted leader: “Please don’t just focus on the U.S.” Elkington cited the Marshall Plan and the historic international monetary conference at Bretton Woods in 1944 as examples of the kind of leadership needed now from the United States. “Within five to 10 years we will have to take apart the United Nations and redo Bretton Woods to address things like climate change.”
Secondly, Elkington urged President Obama to give up saving “dinosaur industries” like the car makers in Detroit. “Accept that many of these industries are going to fail.” Elkington advised that funding has to be turned toward green industries that face a capacity building challenge as they are looked to as a big part of economic and environmental solutions.
“We’ve got to invest money,” he said. “Don’t just squander it on bailing sick companies out.”
At this point much of the audience may have been distracted by thoughts of unemployment lines and stocking up on canned goods to survive the coming depression. But John did offer a glimpse of silver lining in the dark clouds he had painted over his picture of the future. After expressing his sincere hope that his prophecy of doom proves imprecise, he latched onto the conference’s symbol: the Chinese word for crisis that combines the characters meaning “danger” and “opportunity.”
Looking into a sea of faces wearing expressions of fear and uncertainty he announced: “There is no more exciting time than the one we are headed into.”
All I can add is, “For your safety and the safety of others, please remain seated until the roller coaster comes to a complete stop.”
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Great article – as a social entrepreneur and Boston College grad, this keynote makes me happy for 3 reasons:
1. Inspiration for new and globally integrated solutions
2. The hard yet needed reality that some dinosaur businesses can not be rescued – why rescue car companies that are not sustainable either financially or environmentally?
3. A call to ‘invest in new & innovative companies’ with the money that #2 above would have sucked dry & faster than a gallon of gas in an SUV from Boston College to Boston University
In response to Elkington’s view that while the environmental movement has crystallized around climate change, people working on social issues have not crystallized around one thing – I beg to differ.
There is an emerging industry that does not need “CSR” as it already breathes, walks, eats, preaches CSR without saying “CSR” and that is Social Entrepreneurship.
As a Social Entrepreneur myself, Co-Founder of http://www.BeRewarding.com, a free online game to move from social concern to social action via multiple choice questions, which when correctly answered becomes a fundraiser for non profits working to solve social & environmental problems while also promoting socially and environmentally responsible companies, we have crystallized around social change noting that the environment, health, poverty, human rights and education are all connected. This was best vocalized by Amartya Sen in a book I read while at Boston College called “Freedom as Development & Development as Freedom”.
Onwards & Upwards to a cleaner, sustainable & ethical world.