Recently I was a speaker, representing myself and the Institute of Directors, on a panel at the opening session of the #WeAreSurrey2018 conference with Surrey County Council. The theme of the session was ‘Is social value good for business?’. The clear consensus was that #Socialvalue is indeed good for business! No surprises there!

My answer is that Social Value, defined for the right reasons, designed the right way and delivered uncompromisingly is indeed good for business But, if any of these criteria are compromised, the Social Value proposition could be bad for business.

People who know me and my work know that I am all about welding Purpose to Priorities through my training and speaking work on my 4D Productivity Platform . We know that we have to be careful when talking about ‘Purpose’. It is dangerous to confuse and conflate a company’s purpose with the purpose that an individual employee might subscribe to within that company, for example.

It is fascinating to me that The British Academy released its ‘The Future of the Corporation’ report the day after our  conference. It is a fascinating read and I commend it to you, either in long form or by following  on Social Media.

Prof Colin Mayer, from The British Academy, was interviewed on the Today programme on Radio4 this morning and this quote is well worth thinking about. “Business took a wrong road about 60 yrs ago, choosing an excessive focus on profit at the expense of everything else. Business should be a force for social change.”

If you want to discuss my training and speaking work around Defining Purpose, Deciding Strategy, Defending Priorities and Delivering Results easier give me a call on 07711571653

Until next time – be outstanding!