Purpose Inspired: by Wayne Visser

Hello. I’m Professor Dr Wayne Visser and in this podcast series, I share my reflections on what it means to be purpose-inspired, whether as an organisation, an individual or even as a whole society. It is really the story of my own exploration over the past 20 years of how business can be a force for good in the world, and how individuals can make a positive difference. I have organized the podcast chronologically, so you join me on the journey and see how key ideas evolve over time. As we go...

This podcast explores how and why corporate sustainability and responsibility (CSR) has failed and how it is evolving. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 1 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- The meaning of responsibility- The failure of CSR- Our global footprint- Our global weather- Our global village- Our global dishonesty- Awkward questions- The ages and stages of CSR

This podcast explores how greed has become institutionalised in business, the economy and society - including in the form of Defensive CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 2 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: Larry McDonald and Lehman Brothers- An unhealthy appetite- Executive greed- Banking greed- Financial market greed- Corporate greed- A personal odyssey into greed- Discovering institutionalised greed- An inSANE economy?- The belly of the beast- Reforming the citadels of greed- Accomplice to the crime?

This podcast explores the history and nature philanthropy - including its perils and promise in the form of Charitable CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 3 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil- The wheels of wealth- For the love of humanity- Philanthropic traditions- American icons- Modern philanthropists- Philanthrocapitalism- Institutional philanthropy- The rise of foundations- The state of corporate giving- Strategic philanthropy- Venture philanthropy

This podcast explores the rise of marketing as a force in business and society - including the dangers of Promotional CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 4 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: John Browne and BP- Magic tricks and military tactics- Using smoke and mirrors- Sowing the seeds of doubt- Hanging greenwashing out to dry- The invisible hand of marketing- From misdirection to redirection

This podcast explores the history of corporate sustainability & responsibility and its growing use of management systems - including in the form of Strategic CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 5 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: Cadbury Brothers and Cadbury- Business ethics through the ages- The industrial welfare movement- Cracks in the industrial edifice- Spaceship earth on a collision course- Towards a theory of responsibility- The voluntary versus mandatory debate- Challenging shareholder supremacy- The quest to civilise cannibals- If the [sweatshop] shoe fits- The rise and fall of corporate governance- The rise of shareholder activism- A cornucopia of codes- The curse of peripheral CSR- The curse of incremental CSR- The curse of uneconomic CSR

This podcast explores the next evolutionary form of corporate sustainability & responsibility, which is transformative - namely CSR 2.0 or Systemic CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 6 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: Ray Anderson and Interface- Radical confessions- Web 2.0: seeds of a revolution- The birth of CSR 2.0- The principles of CSR 2.0- Shifting from CSR 1.0 to CSR 2.0- The DNA model of CSR 2.0

This podcast explores how social and environmental innovation and entrepreneurship can help to achieve a transformation of CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 7 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: Anurag Gupta and A Little World- Stagnation through standardisation- When creativity is a bad thing- Creative destruction- Making money mobile- Self-sufficient electronics- Entrepreneurs on a mission- Kickstarting development- Africa's first free university- EVOKE-ing a responsibility revolution- We are the champions- Mapping the innovation territory- The Googlemorph

This podcast explores how scaling social and environmental solutions can help to achieve a transformation of CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 8 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: The Story of Lee Scott and Wal-Mart- The Limits of Ethical Consumerism- Fairtrade Coffee for You, Sir?- Choice Editing for Good- Government’s Visible Hand- A Flotilla of Little Boats- The Long Tail of CSR- Bottom of the Pyramid- Blessed Unrest- Collaborative Social Entrepreneurship- Crowdsourcing CSR Solutions- Smart vs. Dumb Growth

This podcast explores how responsiveness to stakeholder needs and expectations can help to achieve a transformation of CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 9 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: The Story of HRH The Prince of Wales and the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change- Pharmaceuticals on Trial- GSK’s Patent Pool- Mining for a Cure- Cabbages and Condoms- How Not to McDo Engagement- Cross-sector Partnerships- The 10 Future Faces of CSOs- Eco-Patent Commons- A Creative Commons for the Environment

This podcast explores how glocality (thinking globally, while acting locally) can help to achieve a transformation of CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 10 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: The Story of AIESEC and Me- Origins of Glocality- CSR Around the World- Myths of CSR in Developing Countries- An Alternative CSR Pyramid- Local CSR Drivers- Global CSR Drivers- Going Native and Becoming Indigenous- Social Media Muddle- A New Way of SEEing- Glocality in Practice

This podcast explores how moving to a circular, zero waste economy can help to achieve a transformation of CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 11 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: The Story of Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia- Holistic Science- Spaceship Earth- Life Cycle Assessment- Sustainable Production & Consumption- Cradle to Cradle- Nike’s Considered Design- Timberland’s Eco-Confession- Seventh Generation Cleans Up- Water Neutral Coca-Cola- Carbon Neutral at Tesco- Waste Not, Want Not- Circular Urban Design

This podcast explores the different ways to make societal and organisation change happen to help achieve a transformation of CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 12 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Case: The Story of Oases in the Desert and Plains of the Serengeti- Stories of the Future- The Matrix of Change- The Power of Ideas- Progress Is Slow But Sure - Something is Gathering Momentum- The World Has Changed Forever- Dynamics of the Change Matrix- The Process of Change- Wheels of Change- Theory U- A New Mythology

This podcast explores how you can be an effective change agent as an individual, to help achieve a transformation of CSR. In the podcast, Prof. Dr Wayne Visser reads Chapter 13 from his book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. The podcast is broken into the following sections:- Cultivating Radicals- Are We Happy?- We Are the Champions- Types of CSR Change Agent- Dynamics of CSR Change Agents- To Scare or To Inspire?- Reasons to be Optimistic- To Hope is Human- Experiments in Generosity- Answering the Question ‘Why?’

“Greed is good”. Some of you might remember the phrase immortalized by Michael Douglas who played Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie Wall Street. Well, the world has more than lived up to these words by pursuing the principle that excessive greed is even better. In a critical analysis of the principles driving modern business, Series 1 of the Purpose Inspired podcast by Wayne Visser demonstrates that the predatory behavior of the lion is symbolic of the way most companies are run today. But the w...

Magic is the revelation that results from a profound change in perception or understanding. And as with everything in life, there’s good magic and bad magic. Bad magic has moved many companies into a state that is beyond reasonable greed. This podcast introduces the call for a Reformation in business, along the same lines as the one precipitated by Martin Luther in 1517. Reform is critical for business to restore its reputation, particularly as its presence in society rivals that of the Churc...

The best chance for companies to survive an accumulation of changes to the environment is to develop a better understanding of how evolution itself works. The popular Darwinian notion of a slow, incremental process of continuous improvement by random trial and error is only partially accurate. Evolution also happens in great leaps of sudden transformation, so-called discontinuities. Small changes have a cumulative effect so that when certain thresholds are reached, dramatic metamorphoses are ...

There is a common driving force in all creation and evolution - a golden thread which Jan Smut called holism. Holism is a fundamental tendency within nature (including human society and its institutions) to form wholes of ever-greater synergy. Synergy is the now well-known concept of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. What characterises these wholes is increasingly complex relationships between their diverse elements, resulting in progressively higher levels of intelligence an...

The lion as an inspirational role model is neither new nor unique to business. But the role of business is changing and the hunting lifestyle is proving to have a number of weaknesses in the new landscape of sustainability. The modern capitalist company, while it continues to portray itself as a lion king, has a number of blindspots with reference to sustainability. These fatal flaws or false assumptions, that are beginning to challenge the supremacy of this kind of regal thinking, are discus...

Physical growth is inherent in nature, but it doesn’t continue ad infinitum. And yet, there is a widely held belief that economic growth is always good and should be continuously strived for. Now business has to face the fact that economic growth does not automatically benefit either society or the environment. The UNDP puts this qualitative difference in a nutshell when it identifies the following five damaging forms of growth: jobless, voiceless, rootless, futureless and ruthless. When the ...