Dean of sustainable business stratergizing, John Elkington, did something unusual recently. Writing in the Harvard Business Review he issued a "recall" for his well-known business concept the "triple bottom line" or TBL.

He argues, despite successes with some businesses including Unilever and Novo Nordisk, the concept had failed to "truly shift the needle".

I'm a fan of the the notion that "better is good" and think that TBL led to valuable thinking, debate, data, and analysis. But 25 years is a long time. Any organization (or consultant) that hasn't done some serious re-thinking after a quarter-century needs some serious re-thinking. 

So, what now?  Elkington calls for "a triple helix for value creation, a genetic code for tomorrow’s capitalism, spurring the regeneration of our economies, societies, and biosphere."

The TBL was constrained by being a new accounting format trapped inside traditional businesses. Businesses might track whether they were becoming more sustainable but what got measured didn't necessarily get done.

The new version needs to truly internalize "regenerative" thinking -- baking an emphasis on people & planet into the organization. We need what Carol Sanford calls "regenerative business".

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We are very early in the process of defining what it means to build a regenerative society. While the terminology will continue to evolve, we're convinced the ideas are directionally correct. We are studying, testing, plotting, and building interest, support, and resources.

Thus this newsletter, which will come out every few weeks with information about RASA - narrating our work - along with brief observations and links to related materials exploring innovation and the regenerative economy.

With effort, and a bit of luck, we hope support for these concepts becomes a wave sweeping the world! Check out the archive to see if this newsletter is right for you (or a friend).

If you find this email valuable, please share with a friend. If you don't, please unsubscribe (link at the bottom.) We also much appreciate comments, advice, and suggestions for links to highlight.

Thanks.

      Dave 

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