(Un)sustainability
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Jeremy C. Wilson is a Northwestern JD-MBA in the class of 2012. Through his blog, he shares information on business school, law school, admissions, careers, and leadership. |
Today, everyone in business school is talking about sustainability. In fact, it’s the staple question for any social entrepreneur in front of a funder. Is your business plan sustainable? And are your revenues sustainable? In many ways I get it. It’s safe to fund social businesses that won’t rely on your funding next year. But I also wonder how much weight people should actually be putting on sustainability. Instead I propose to look at a few things that are not sustainable to take action.
Imagine the school system on the south side of Chicago. Some of these failed school systems are totally unsustainable and need our attention. And if we don’t start working on them, the persistence rates will never get higher and the growing divide between rich and poor will accelerate faster than it is today.
Likewise, what about food portion size in the US and the resulting unsustainable weight issues of US citizens? This is a big one. Weight gain is a major factor in the development of diabetes, cancer and many other issues. When will we put a stop to this?
And what about the obvious one – global warming. Not only have the temperatures been rising for years but things like air pollution and carbon levels are radically changing. And if we keep up at the pace we’re at now, many people argue that the world be in severe trouble.
While you might debate me on some of the stats, you can’t argue that the trends are UNsustainable. So rather than spend 100% of the time discussing sustainable business plans, I’d be curious to hear more from mission-based organizations that want to work on these unsustainable trends. The cost of ignoring them is way too high.
