Applied Understanding: Sustainable Capitalism [Systems thinking & modelling series]
This is part 25 of a series of articles featuring the book Beyond Connecting the Dots, Modeling for Meaningful Results.
The current life expectancy for a Fortune-500 company is 40 to 50 years, less than 10 years for a newly started company, and about 12.5 years for all companies together. During this lifespan the tendency is to focus on short-term profits with little or no concern for the impact the company has on society or the environment. Have you ever wondered about the reasons behind this? The “Sustainable Capitalism” model is derived from a presentation by Mark Van Clieaf, Managing Director of MVC Associates International and sponsored by Ken Shepard, President at Global Organization Design Society.
The influences leading to short term focus and long term decline.
Need help? See the Model instructions
Structure influences behavior. An often used definition of insanity is to continue taking the same actions and expecting different results. If you want different behavior you need a different structure, otherwise aren’t you simply practicing insanity?
Next edition: Applied Understanding: Swamping Insights.
Article sources: Beyond Connecting the Dots, Insight Maker. Reproduced by permission.
Header image source: Beyond Connecting the Dots.
