As the millennium turned, I watched in fascination as a wonderful kaleidoscope of millennium celebrations streamed from my television. Such images echo the powerful shift of consciousness that swept around the globe when we first saw the breathtaking images of the earth from outer space. At such times we experience ourselves as global citizens sailing a precious blue planet through the cosmos – together. 

In the 1960’s we discovered that borders are not visible from space – only continents, brilliant blue seas and ephemeral swirls of clouds drifting across the earth. Deeper awareness of our social and environmental interdependence is constantly reinforced through on-line chats with friends across the globe and media focus on global social and environmental issues. Is it possible for our business and economic models to incorporate this growing appreciation of the web of life?

As we integrate this shift of consciousness into the world of business, people have been exploring a number of key themes that are shaking our business and economic models to their very core. In the forefront are pioneers struggling with ways to make the formerly unseen and unappreciated both more visible and valued. There is a deep exploration underway as we ponder, “How is value really created in this new economy?”

There is also growing social concern that our current business practices are resulting in a shocking and potentially disastrous gap between the wealthy and millions of poor people. Millions of poor not only cannot participate but are literally discounted in current economic thinking. For example, in traditional economic terms the Exxon Valdez voyage was a huge success for the amount of income it produced. Yet, we know that the real costs and environmental value loss were never calculated in either business or economic terms.

At the business level, many companies are experimenting with intangible asset or intellectual capital indexes, balanced scorecards, and Triple Bottom Line accountability (social, environmental and business success). Intellectual capital indexes and the Balanced Scorecard concepts emerged in the mid to late 1980’s in different parts of the world stemming from an appreciation that financial measures only tell us about the past and the present, they tell us nothing about a company’s future. Real success lies in managing intangible assets such as our business relationships the skill, knowledge, and learning that resides in our people and the internal structures and ways of working that help us deliver value.

Companies also consider their business practices in light of social and environmental responsibility. Early leaders such as The Body Shop, Ben and Jerry’s, and Smith & Hawken proved that an enterprise could be successful and “green” at the same time. We now see this way of thinking going mainstream as Shell Oil and Dow Chemical have both released Triple Bottom Line reports.

At the macro economic level, we are seeing alternative indexes and indicators such as the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations, and its System of National Accounts has been seriously overhauled, even though there is a long way to go. Other alternative indicators are the Index of Social Progress (ISP) and the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI), and the Tobin-Nordhouse Measure of Economic Welfare (MEW). These indicate a fundamental rethinking of value creation, wealth, and economy success. All of the indexes mentioned here are highly credible and have a growing number of supporters around the globe. The push for new lenses is powered by a coalition of environmentalists, women, those concerned with social justice and developing country policymakers.

Another aspect of this deep shift is a growing emphasis on knowledge management and learning organizations. If the limited resource model of the industrial age is really yielding to the abundance of the knowledge or idea economy, what do we pay attention to? What do we “manage in this more dynamic world? Tenuously, but surely we are seeing enterprise models shifting from industrial age ideas such as the value chain to the more dynamic world of value networks, embedded in economic clusters and complex webs of relationships. As the boundaries of an enterprise become ever more fluid, knowledge communities become the very lifeblood of innovation.

All this adds up to emerging global business and economic models of value creation that are truly beginning to address success not only in financial indicators, but also in social and environmental terms. Business models that do not embrace what we truly hold dear, that are toxic in their practices, that ignore high principles and ethical practices, that sacrifice common sense on the alter of short term financial gain are increasingly intolerable. They are also, I believe, doomed to failure in the economic realities of the next millennium. 

Businesses will continue to discover that "good" business IS good business. There is much to be hopeful about in what is emerging. But it is also a time when leaders must be particularly thoughtful and courageous as they shape the enterprise. We are a very clever species. We are certainly smart enough to find ways of working that are good for people, good for business and good for the planet. The challenge lies not in our intelligence but in our focus, our will, and our courage to continue the good work that has already begun.

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