The Right Way to Flourish

I got back from my quick trip to Cambridge University yesterday. Recovering from jet lag is always easier coming back from Europe than going there. The conference was focused on “Integrating Industrial Sustainability.” I have posted a link to the talk below. The conference title gave me the theme for my talk, one that runs through my book and most of what I write about. The way sustainability is used in the title makes it sound like it is all about keeping industry going in the face of new threats from a failing Earth. For some, I do think that… Read More

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Labor Day has come and gone and I promised to begin posting again. The Jewish New Year took a couple more days out of my schedule. The Jewish Holidays come this year at the earliest possible time. They will come this early once again in 2089 and then never again so early. It’s OK to begin the New Year so early, but Hanukkah starts on Thanksgiving Day, even before Black Friday. Think of a turkey stuffed with chopped liver and potato latkes! The New Year Holiday, Rosh Hashanah, is more than simply a day marked to celebrate the end of… Read More

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On August 24th, I delivered my first (and probably only) commencement address to the graduates of the Marlboro College Graduate School in Brattleboro, VT. I had been teaching in their MBA for Managing Sustainability until last January. I had a chance to watch with great pride a handful of those I taught among the graduates from other programs. I am attaching my address should anyone be interested in reading it. It was very well received. 2013 Commencement Address.pdf

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I am off the grid under about Labor Day. Please come back later. In the meaantime buy and read my new book.

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I read an interesting [piece](https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston-sub/doc/1419117067.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+11%2C+2013&author=Graham%2C+Ruth&pub=Boston+Globe&edition=&startpage=&desc=The+triumph+of+coping) (subscription only) in the Sunday Globe *Ideas* section yesterday. With a headline of “The Triumph of Coping,” the article is a conversation with Jennifer Silva, who finds that, “the American Dream is being replaced by a new kind of story.” In a series of 100 interviews with working class people, she found that, in place of the old story of unlimited opportunity for upward mobility (The American Dream), a new tale of struggle against “emotional problems, mental illness, family chaos, and addiction. . . To her surprise, hard-won emotional self-management was often viewed with as… Read More

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I was reading a review of a set of essays by Simon Leys in the *New York Review of Books* (August 15, 2013) when Confucius jumped right out of the page. Leys is an expert on Chinese history among other interests. Here’s what caught my eye. > When Confucius was asked by one of his disciples what he would do if he were given his own territory to govern, the Master replied that he would “rectify the names,’ that is, make words correspond to reality. He explained (in Leys’s translation): > > > If the names are not correct, if… Read More

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*CSRwire* has always been a good source for information on what is happening in this domain. It has gone from a seemingly random reporting style to a well-designed and clearly displayed format. One added feature is the Talkback columns, presenting the ideas of a wide range of business, academic, and other interested parties. My comments today are directed to a recent article by Giles Hutchins, entitled, “Order Within Chaos: A New Business Paradigm Inspired by Nature.” His principles seemed reasonable, if not a bit generic, but I did not see their connections to nature as clearly as the article suggested.… Read More

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Nicholas Christakis takes social science to task in an [article](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/opinion/sunday/lets-shake-up-the-social-sciences.html?ref=opinion&_r=0) in the NYTimes Sunday Review of July 19th. He complains that the social sciences haven’t exploded as the natural sciences have in the past few decades. > TWENTY-FIVE years ago, when I was a graduate student, there were departments of natural science that no longer exist today. Departments of anatomy, histology, biochemistry and physiology have disappeared, replaced by innovative departments of stem-cell biology, systems biology, neurobiology and molecular biophysics. Taking a page from Darwin, the natural sciences are evolving with the times. The perfection of cloning techniques gave rise to… Read More

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If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything in the world looks like a nail (to be banged into something). If the scope expands and all you have is a complicated technological system, than the world looks like a lots of problems waiting for you. That’s my quick appraisal of a provocative [article](http://e360.yale.edu/feature/new_green_vision_technology_as_our_planets_last_best_hope_/2671/) that appeared in Yale Environment 360. The author, Fred Pearce, reports on the evolution of a group, claiming to save the environment through technology. His article is entitled, “New Green Vision: Technology As Our Planet’s Last Best Hope.” Here’s the abstract from the Yale… Read More

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An extract from a the NYTimes article: WASHINGTON — China’s growth has slowed significantly in recent months. But even its current pace of expansion may not be sustainable, the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday, unless China starts making significant and systemic economic changes — and soon. . . “A decisive shift toward a more consumption-based growth path has yet to occur,” the I.M.F. said. “Accelerating the transformation of the growth model remains the main priority.” Life in China has historically, like many poor countries, been difficult, but is this the way to alleviate it? Continuous grown is not only… Read More

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