Issue #18
Shared optimism
Almost a year since my last letter. And what a year!
Trump has given moral permission to all the business leaders of the world who were not fully committed to building a sustainable future to go back to business as usual: drill baby drill! We were not hitting the targets anyway: forget 2°C, let alone 1.5°C. And we know biodiversity loss will hit harder and sooner than climate change.
All right. Message received. Adaptation will be damn hard… if not impossible! We should have no other choice than to at least try. We can still limit the damage and organise our adaptation in order to make the coming decades much easier than the “forced adaptation” we are running into. To be clear, “forced adaptation” means facing heatwaves, floods, epidemics, droughts, shortages of pretty much everything, etc. We are talking about “survival mode”.
A lack of courage
I often mention Solzhenitsyn’s 1978 “A World Split Apart: Commencement Address Delivered At Harvard University”. The French title aptly translates into “The Decline of Courage”. A must read! Because unfortunately, the world is splitting apart again and it is increasingly difficult to have a nuanced view of things in these days of digital information. Algorithms are there to reinforce evermore our confirmation bias and make sure we think in black and white. And unscrupulous politicians who should know better are very happy to exploit these divisions for their short-term personal interests.
Can one be an ecologist and a capitalist? Can one be a feminist and still think MeToo went too far? Can one accept the reality of global warming and still want to build a profitable business?
My friend Cécile Imbert had me read “Le courage de la nuance” (in French), in which Jean Birnbaum reminds us of the difficulties, but also the absolute necessity of thinking in a more nuanced way. At the risk of making very few happy people, our messages need to be nuanced. We can convince only when we are ready to let ourselves be convinced. We must listen to opposing views and be open to criticism. Then, we will refine our ideas and theories. And this book changed my mind:
I will stop shying away from politically sensitive topics in these letters.
So coming back to those “business as usual leaders”, my advice for them would be to hang a picture of their kids in their office, look them in the eye each time they take a decision, and answer this simple question: even if this decision is legal and profitable, will it make me a better human being, one that my kids will be proud of?
For example, reintroducing a carcinogenic insecticide to “help” beetroot producers sell more sugar that will increase diabetes and big pharmaceutical companies’ profits might be legal, and we could argue if it makes economic sense or not. But will it make Mr Duplomb and friends better human beings?
Active dreaming
Back to last year, I felt like hitting a dead end; I was feeling directionless. Why had I left a well paying job in the investment industry to focus on sustainability, making a lot less money (even before the backlash), working much harder, and unfortunately putting a lot of the weight on my family and fighting with the people I love?
Stop! I needed to slow down (hence, no letter in a year), take some time to dream, and see what path could reveal itself.
This letter is way more personal than my usual letters… And for that reason, I was very hesitant to publish it. But if my personal example is the one I know best, the “slowing down method” can be useful for others. And I know we are many “active dreamers” out there fighting to move the needle for our common good. So I wanted to share my renewed optimism!
Concretely, I focused my day to day job on the essentials and freed time to go back to the drawing board. To clarify where I was and where I wanted to go, I had to ask myself the right questions. But first, I had to discover those questions! And for that, I know of only two necessary ingredients: time and curiosity. I exposed myself to as many ideas and points of view as I could, meeting diverse people, participating in seminars, reading various books, taking courses either to go back to basics on topics I knew or to explore new topics (often on sator.fr, for the French speakers). I also listened to different music, spent hours walking and meditating in places I did not know, restarted dancing, etc.
Guided by a renewed sense of joy, the questions arose, accompanied by some answers: What would I like the world to look like? What would I like to contribute to, and how? What is great in my work today? With whom do I want to work?
A map and a compass
These questions gave me a new map: I have a much clearer view of where I am and where I want to go. And they also gave me a compass: I know why and how I want to travel today.
My company is called WHYO, because I believe in Simon Sinek’s approach to “Start With Why”. So, why did I choose this field of sustainability? The answer is simple and has not changed since I started over ten years ago: I love life in all its forms. I love nature in all its diversity. And I love humans with all our follies! And I believe being responsible is not an accusation: it is an affirmation of power! Being responsible for the environmental and social catastrophes, means we have the moral obligation, but also the collective power to implement solutions.
The word “human” shares the same radical as “humus”, the organic portion of the soil. This material contains billions of invisible workers (bacteria, fungi, etc.) breaking up plant and animal matter, in order for life to renew itself. These invisible workers are at the origin of all life on earth! And another word that shares the same radical is “humility”.
Beyond the “ESG backlash”, many actors are still working in the right direction, often with a renewed commitment. Anecdotally, organisations who have done their double materiality analysis understand the nature of the challenge and have not slowed down! They are getting ready for the next cycle of life!
Which brings me to “The State of Corporate Foresight”, a study done by the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt and brought to my attention by Julie Ezan-Zecca. It is amazing to realise that if most companies use foresight for operational goal setting, only around 40% use it for long-term strategic thinking. So around 60% of companies think “strategic thinking” is doing more of the same! It seems they will continue driving their Ferraris when the world goes off-road, while their competitors will drive past them in their four-wheelers.
Dreaming together
We are at an exciting crossroad: the old system is fighting, the new system is emerging, and we can cut new paths through that ocean of change. We can be the explorers of the 21st century! The great Rudyard Kipling thought all the expeditions of the 19th and early 20th centuries would leave nothing left to explore. He could not have been further from the truth: just like the heroes of the past, we now need to gather our courage, head through the unknown, and bring a new world into the spotlight.
This new world cannot be the work of isolated teams. And I feel many projects could benefit from better coordination and collaboration. For example, we know that a dollar invested in “adaptation”, let’s say the building of a protective dam, will save 4 to 8 dollars for the community. The problem is not money, it is the will to work together! Why would I invest my money if my neighbour reaps the benefits?
So we need to build more links between people, with organisations (whether they are for profit or not), with systems, with nature, with politicians, etc. We need to share our dreams: what does the new world look like for you? (For me, it is one where nature thrives and every human being is necessary.) Maybe then can we build a common dream and a common narrative. And from there, I am confident solutions to finance the protective dam will emerge naturally.
But also, and maybe more importantly, those links are in themselves a real source of joy. After all, connections and friendships are the main ingredients of happiness!
Last year, we started organising “sustainable drinks” with my wife. We basically invite people from various backgrounds that have a common interest in sustainability but that would probably not meet in the usual context of their respective activities. Each time, the smiles are a bubble of fresh air! And the encounters also generate real projects. We can dream of these projects growing, then joining larger, better organised and/or more institutional sharing platforms, finding more partnering opportunities and creating something even bigger and impactful!
Conclusion
After almost a year of exploration, I have a renewed sense of purpose. I will continue my advisory work on strategic sustainability, keeping our focus on grounded solutions. I work with great people and am constantly learning. I will launch a new podcast with Virginie Vitiello to share stories and examples of those who are building the new world (stay tuned!). And I will continue exploring the potential for a circular economy through CHAPOGET, where we are finally launching our Cabin Trunk with my friends Thomas Chaperot and Pascal Nuzzo!
And beyond my personal example, this letter has only one message: let’s slow down until we find the “we” that will bring “us” into the new world!
As usual, this letter, originally published on LinkedIn, is meant to open a discussion: join it here.
Lenny Kessler