Discussion - Striving for Future-Fitness: A Lesson from the Suffragettes

     Geoff Kendall took an interesting spin on talking about changing "Business as Usual" in his article posted to Sustainable Brands.  What caught my attention about the article was relating it to the Women's Suffrage Movement, how women made waves with the outcome of finally having the ability to vote.  As someone who identifies as a feminist, I was intrigued to see the correlation to another passion of mine; sustainability.  There was also a term I had not heard but was eager to learn about: Future-Fitness.

     What Kendall did was talk about how the women of the Suffrage movement made a change, which then became a norm in society.  Today, one would never think (at least, most people wouldn't) to not include women or minority groups in a vote, not hire someone for their race or ethnicity, dump their industrial toxic waste into the city water supply, or numerous other things that, at one time, were sociable acceptable actions.  How did these things become so far out of the realm of possibility?  Certainly not overnight.  These were changes that took a lot of time, action, and dedication.  Paradigm shifts are slow, but carry a lot of weight behind them. Current global issues will not be solved in an instant, but action must be taken on them swiftly if we hope to have Future-Fitness.

     Future-Fitness describes a society that will maintain economic, ecological, and social ideals.  It means that companies cannot fix big problems with quick solutions.  Issues must be tackled with thoughtful and critical thinking, keeping the future of the business, and the subjects of the business, in mind.  This is important for not only the futures of companies, but the future of societies everywhere.  The actions taken now to prevent usual business practices are the ripples in a much bigger wave.  Much like the Women's Suffrage Movement, it will take many actions, some being radical and all being well thought out and mindful. 

Check out the article here.


My plans for the future Individual Assignments are as follows:
     IA2: I have reached out to my former mentor from the dual degree MBA/Sustainability masters program to complete an interview.  While he is now in San Diego, we have kept in contact and has been subject to my school projects before, he has agreed to assist.
     IA3: I have often thought of opening a business.  It would be with sustainable roots, possibly a B-Corp.  Currently I am thinking I would make a plan on how to market to restaurants to cut down on food waste and start recycling.  It would be a consulting type of business, that offers other services such as recycling and compost pick up. 
     IA4: I plan on attending the Women's Leadership Breakfast Series February 9th, and writing about "Defining and Designing Your Dream Job".
     IA5: Currently, I am planning on writing about Nazli Saka or Rebecca Harris.  I enjoyed both of their talks immensely, and admire the Center for Women's Entrepreneurship and all that they do a lot.