The President of Iceland says we are at an historic crossroads, where “we have to choose (whether we like it or not) what is more important: the interests of the financial markets, or the democratic will of the people.” (from 34-55 seconds)
Author archives: Permabusiness
Three reasons why change management fails
If we are going to adapt our businesses in a rapid and controlled way, then we need large-scale organisational change. Based on some of the latest thinking on organisational change, this article identifies three key reasons why change management fails. The reasons are: Change consultants are insufficiently equipped on a personal level. Most change models are incomplete. Capacity is widely overlooked, on …
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The Community Maturity Model
As businesses build presence on social media, and as they learn to cooperate with other organisations to achieve their goals, a ‘community’ approach can sometimes help to achieve goals more effectively than transactional approaches. But how does a business, that is used to operating transactionally, shift to a ‘community’ mindset? The Community Round Table exists to help businesses …
UN’s IPCC: “climate change consequences ‘bleak’, but cheap to fix”
Back in March the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its latest Working Group II report. The report predicted: food insecurity due to more intense droughts, floods, and heat waves a decline in crop yields starting in 2030, even as global food demand continues to rise water insecurity, due to shrinking of glaciers and changing …
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Greyston brownies
Greyston is a bakery with a different view on the world. They don’t hire people to bake brownies, they bake brownies so that they can hire people. Founded in 1982, Greyston is the USA’s “leading social enterprise“, and explicitly aims to support underprivileged people in New York state by providing them with the employment, skills and resources needed to lift …
Living buildings
I think it was the science fiction writer Harry Harrison who first proposed the idea of genetically engineered buildings: you plant a seed, and in 24 hours it grows into the building you want, according to the design embedded in the seed. This summer, a step towards that idea will be built in New York. A new cooling tower is …
Concentrated Solar Power
The concentrated solar power plant shown here has just been called “a pioneer for future power stations.” It has won an award from the Desertec project on the basis of its ability to store heat energy by melting salt, and so be able to generate electricity for 24 hours/day. The plant has been in operation …
Noam Chomsky on energy policy and our legacy
Here is Noam Chomsky speaking eloquently and briefly on current energy policy and its implications for the legacy of our generation for future generations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axdrh9F3Kqo
No change on Climate Change
The IPCC has released its latest report on climate change. In summary: Climate change has already impacted natural and human systems on every continent. Climate change is also damaging global food production, cutting our supply of fresh drinking water, and damaging our infrastructure. Coastal flooding could reduce global economic production by 10 percent by the end of the century. And the widespread damage already …
Holacracy: changing the future of management
Yesterday we posted about the four-day-week startup: an organisation that is growing fast, yet there are no managers and all employees work only a four day week. (Technology manages the workflow, anybody can propose a new project.) Feedback from some readers has pointed us towards holacracy, “a real-world-tested social technology for purposeful organization”, which “radically …
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