The business world however is fixed in its ways to out of date strategy, a reason why the graph below from MIT presents what it does with a very shallow view of the benefits. This is also why very few business schools in the world teach sustainability.

The path many businesses make is reflective of their leaders understanding of sustainability, the problem being there is a lot of old school business out there. This is unfortunately brushing up on the next generation not looking past the low hanging fruit opportunities. From shows such as The Apprentice, showcasing “Britain’s brightest business prospects”, with their money hungry attitude and ill conceived and implemented ideas that have never had any form of motivation behind them other than to achieve short lived profit maximisation.

In the western world this is mainly due to the short term financial pressures placed upon companies. In the eastern world financial value is placed over longer periods of time, this makes it easier to place value upon environmental pursuits as longer term investments (a reason why their P&L’s are getting increasingly stronger). Within a lot of businesses due to this short term frame of mind I find it hard to see who’s in control, the business owner or the corporation, it’s a destructive model.

Although there is a drive for change i.e. M&S Plan A, Nike Considered, Interface, Patagonia, BloomEnergy and Saatchi and Saatchi S. From leaders such as Adam Werbach that can see past ‘greening business strategy’. There currently isn’t even close to a 50/50 trade off with an anthropocentric approach much more likely than ecocentric. There needs to be an understood meaning of what sustainability means, as The BCG found, every business survey revealed no company agreed on establishing a single definition, ranging from environmental goals, economic, societal and political implications.

This agreement isn’t currently happening as ‘the market’ doesn’t place value upon truth and honesty of a businesses environmental impact, this will change though as the triple bottom line and transparency becomes central to operation. As the hot online start ups are demonstrating i.e. Facebook, YouTube, Mozilla,
WordPress and the concept of Foursquare. All of these help frame the businesses of the future with their common goal of sharing information easier, demolishing hierarchical business practice.

Paul Hawken’s recognises business and industry as one of the major culprits of the decline of the biosphere and the only institution powerful and persuasive enough to lead the world out of its ecological decline. There is a lot of strategic opportunity here and it’s not going to slow down any time soon, past the realms of ‘improved company or brand image’.

Success in business is all about gaining a competitive advantage. What The String Theory presents here though is this doesn’t apply that closely to the sustainability USP, but instead that sustainability is about striving together (as is the Latin meaning of competition – competere) to gain greater benefits from a less focused anthropocentric approach. This is where the striving together of sustainable strategy will begin to produce the best in class with longer term thinking and healthier operating businesses, gaining cost and differentiated advantage.

The link between development and environmental degradation can then be weakened for future generations. The fact is if you don’t join the movement you’re be left in the dust.

The Stone Age didn’t end because we run out of stones.