Last fall, I attended an ISSP webinar presented by Martin Rich of the Future Fit Foundation. I try and attend ISSP events when I can just to keep up with my own professional development. I was not expecting to find the Future Fit Business Benchmark so interesting.
Having gotten my bachelor’s degree in business and sustainability, I am confident in my general knowledge of impact-driven, for-profit organizations. I know the important concepts, the relevant certifications, and the main challenges and solutions that companies face. The business benchmark, however, went further than my previous understanding had, presenting a clear and radical path forward for businesses to do their part in building a sustainable society.
The Future Fit Business Benchmark has two main components: the Break-Even Goals and the Positive Pursuits. The Break-Even Goals are the minimum actions a company must take to not hinder society and the environment. These are things like ‘don’t pollute the water or air’ and ‘don’t underpay people’. The Positive Pursuits go beyond the minimum and represent the ways that a business can actually make the future better. This is shown in the quadrant below, where the lower left box is the baseline action.
Crucially, the Future Fit Business Benchmark covers all impact areas of a business. Going beyond singular opportunities for value creation, shared or otherwise, the benchmark makes it clear that an organization cannot have a positive impact in one area and a negative impact in another and then claim that they are ‘future fit’ or sustainable. Every Break-Even Goal must be met to qualify as future fit.
The Future Fit Foundation provides an enormous set of free tools and resources to empower businesses to make the necessary changes. This includes an online changemaker community, video and written guides to each part of the benchmark, a risk profiler, a health check, and a progress calculator. Working with an accredited advisor, as Spearpoint clients do, gets you access to even more tools and knowledge.
There are many thought leaders in the sustainable business space. The vision presented by Future Fit of development that ‘protects the possibility that humans and other life will flourish on Earth forever by being environmentally restorative, socially just, and economically inclusive’ resonates with me and many people I know as we work to transform our businesses and larger systems to create the world we want to see.