3 questions for Future Salon Speaker John Montgomery

Today someone asked me: "Why are you doing the Future Salon Activating Conscience in Corporations?" We are always looking for the biggest lever to push the world in a positive direction. If we are able to awake conscience in corporations, that will make an enormous difference. 

That Walmart is embracing sustainability is one of the most positive signs for our environment in the last years.

As a little teaser Future Salon speaker John Montgomery answered the following 3 questions: 

1) According to history corporations where first created by kings. What influence did that have on the conscience of the corporation?    

Corporations in their current form are anachronisms from the days of feudal Europe.  Corporations were designed to extend the reach and power of the monarchy without creating rival centers of political and economic power.  The king bestowed a charter upon the corporation and was its investor, intelligence and conscience.  The corporation (corpus L. body) was split asunder from its intelligence and conscience. If the corporation misbehaved, the king could revoke the charter. The collective intelligence and conscience latent in those managing the corporation was deactivated. Europe threw out its kings in the age of Enlightenment but the basic lobotomized corporate form survives intact with legacy architecture that lacks formal mechanisms to activate the collective intelligence and conscience latent within each corporate collective.

2) What do you say to skeptics, that claim: When the rubber hits the road the profit goal is overwriting conscience goals. 

The early evidence is gathering that conscious businesses are better, more profitable businesses.  See Firms of Endearment, for example.  Being a conscious business is a significant competitive advantage.

3) You saw a pattern within the 1000+ startups that you helped. What about established, long time corporations, can they be guided towards greater corporate social responsibility?  

 

Absolutely, YES, 

 

Look at Google.  Google is flirting with activating its corporate conscience. Its mantra "Do no evil" is the Hippocratic oath and the fundamental precept of buddhism.  As a double negative, it is a very weak statement, but it is better than what most companies have.  This ethic is part of what creates the perception that Google is a great place to work. It hints at a corporate conscience.  People are hungry to work for businesses that have a conscience.  Having a corporate conscience will become a very important competitive advantage during this decade.

Look at Google's recent action with respect to trying to do the right thing with respect to its operations in China.  Imagine what Google would be like if their mantra were "Do Good". 

To call Google a long time corporation is a bit of a stretch. Can't wait to continue the discussion this Thursday. Going to be so interesting.

Future Salons have the following structure: 6-7pm is networking with light refreshments proudly sponsored by SAP; 7-9+pm is the presentation followed by questions and discussion.

SAP Labs North America, Building D, COIL (Co-Innovation Lab). SAP is located at 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304[map]. Free and open to the public. Please spread the word and invite others, but be sure to RSVP http://bit.ly/9kPpRt so we know how many people to expect.

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