sparking curious mind

The soon to be published book by Wayne Visser, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business, argues that CSR, as a business, governance and ethics system, has failed. This assumes that success or failure is measured in terms of the net impact (positive or negative) of business on society and the environment. 


The reason CSR 1.0 has failed is not through lack of good intent, nor even through lack of effort. The old CSR has failed because our global economic system is based on a fundamentally flawed design. For all the miraculous energy unleashed by Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ of the free market, our modern capitalist system is faulty at its very core. 
Simply put, it is conceived as an abstract system without limits. 


What is now needed is a new form of CSR - which the book dubs CSR 2.0. 
This combines five elements:
1) Creativity - Directing business creativity to solving the world's social and environmental problems
2) Scalability - A 'shining pilot project' is pointless if it can't be scaled for mass use
3) Responsiveness - greater transparency, through reporting mechanisms and through sharing intellectual resources (eg/technology patents)
4) Glocality - Understanding local contexts and applying local solutions without forsaking global principles
5) Circularity - Closed loop production - such as factories that produce drinking water as waste or materials that can feed into industry as high quality raw materials for new products


The end result is a new meaning for CSR - Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility. 


When all is said and done, CSR 2.0 comes down to one thing: clarification and reorientation of the purpose of business. It is a complete misnomer to believe that the purpose of business is to be profitable, or to serve shareholders. These are simply means to an end. Ultimately, the purpose of business is to serve society, through the provision of safe, high quality products and services that enhance our well being, without eroding our ecological and community life-support systems.


CSR is dead! Long live CSR!

Combine Sir Ken Robinson with nice drawing infographics about a fascinating subject like education reform and you have a captivating video you won't be able to stop watching... or thinking about it.

Speaking at Making Digital Work in NYC, Faris Yakob, Chief Innovation Officer for MDC Partners inspires us all with thoughts on how strategy has to evolve if it’s to inform work that’s interactive, shareable, and participatory.
Check it out! Time well spent.



Watch live video from bdw_live on Justin.tv



Watch live video from bdw_live on Justin.tv

To understand why people make things, you have to make things. Go play and do stuff.

1. Digital Cowgirl – the internet pioneer

• 51 percent of women say they love finding new and exciting websites on the internet
• 42 percent say they will go online even if they are not looking for anything in particular
• Where to find her: games websites

1. Digital Cassandra – the influential predictor of “what’s next”

• 43 percent of women say they tell all their friends about websites they like
• 22 percent claim they are usually the first of their friends to discover an interesting website
• Where to find her: news, finance, home & family and food & entertainment websites

1. Digital Diva – uses the “smartest” sites

• 16 percent of women say they use the Internet to buy luxury items.
• Where to find her: shopping, travel, health & beauty, entertainment & gossip and finance websites

1. Digital Debutante – new to the internet, but not a novice

• 20 percent of women state that although they are relatively new to the internet, they are constantly learning about new applications and websites.

1. Digital Detective – internet researcher

• 82 percent of women say the Internet is the first place they go if they need to conduct research
• 58 percent can spend hours on the Internet researching every aspect of an issue that they are interested in.
• Where to find her: news, weather, finance, home & family and food & entertaining websites

1. Digital Voyeur – uses the internet to anonymously observe

• More than 20 percent of respondents use the internet to look up old friends or boyfriends
• Where to find her: news, finance, games, home & family, food & entertainment and astrology websites

1. Digital Socialite

• 12 percent of women agree with the statement: “I use the Internet to help me plan my social life”
• 15 percent say they have used the Internet to meet new people
• Where to find her: travel, entertainment and gossip websites

1. Digital Shopkeeper

• Just over 10 percent of women say they have started an online business or have used the internet to generate income.
• Where to find her: news websites

Bloody Nora! Great find! The periodic Table of Swearing courtesy of Modern Toss. Available in print.

Infographic by PPC Blog

The pace of change in social media is fast! Extremely fast! Check out the following videos, made bySocialnomis. There is a 9 month gap between the moment they were made.

The first video


The second one (9 months later)

The Type Directors Club has asked a few designers to find a classified/personal newspaper ad from their local community to “hijack” typographically. When redesigned, the once banal and disposable classified ads will be reinterpreted by the designer into a one-of-a-kind collectible poster. Each poster will be auctioned, with proceeds to benefit the TDC Scholarship Fund

Hilarious example of how to create buzz and word of mouth for your brand. Diesel created this hard selling performance, in Piazza Della Scala, Milano, as part of the new "Sex Sells"campaign.

"It has never been more important for companies to turn their brand into a service. Jaded, time-poor, pragmatic consumers yearn for service and care, while the mobile online revolution makes it possible to offer über-relevant services to consumers anywhere, anytime. Basically, if you're going to embrace one big consumer trend this year, please let it be 'brand butlers'."