Isn’t this obvious? Then remember Darwin, who postulated that each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, hence the most adapted survives best. The notion that ‘the most adapted survives the best’ is the hook on which Mario Pretorius hangs his message on the importance of business sustainability. Follow the laws of nature,” he advises.
The best form of business is sustainable business.
How are you daily measuring the slight changes for usefulness? Are you generating success from the never-ending improvement programmes? Do you actually have any?
The changes of positive adaption are much slimmer than maladaptation and both are subtle. From time to time a new species appear, hopefully from your lab. If not, even the newest creatures – and especially the newest – are in need of modifications for purpose. This is how sustainable business is sustained – trial and foolish error, trial and small success in all areas.
It seems ‘sustainable’ has been appropriated to mean a ‘green’ business – as if business should be beholden to the reduce, re-use and recycle idea. Perhaps this is a small step. Business should follow the laws of nature by not wasting, and not exerting unneeded effort, being efficient and collaborative and reciprocally useful to the host and prey.
Few folks hail from farms these days; fewer CEO’s have a deep understanding of the cycles, birth, inevitable death and symbioses of nature. Putting in before taking out is such a law; leaving some behind for the next round is another; so the list goes. If you can understand the cruel but necessary laws here, your understanding of ‘sustainable’ in both meanings will surely help your decisions.
Life is a great sifting process and you are in the winnowing wind in all aspects of your life; business, home life, tennis game and in every conversation. Go with the flow. Domination is your middle name but live a sustainable life with your sustainable business.
Foes don’t need to be vanquished. The time of swords with seconds at daybreak has gone. Best you apply the considerable skills to turn opposition to support. Making friends of those who remind us too much of ourselves is a challenge worthy of your rank, and the happy result will be a high point indeed. That will be a superb example of symbiosis – a very valuable form of sustainability.
This tip is an extract from the manuscript of “The Unconventional CEO: Common sense outside of conventional Management thinking” (by Mario Pretorius).
