One way of arguing for the value of sustainability is to suggest that we (humans, westerners, whatever) have declined from a past that was more in touch with nature. Jason Hickel does this by combining ideas about sustainability and grand historical sweeps. History Is Very Much In The Past This isn’t the approach I would…
Category: History
What’s With The Alexander Stuff?
There is a cottage industry of people writing about business using the lessons of Alexander the Great. I have only one question: What’s with the Alexander Stuff? The Macedonian king was a terrible bloke, and there are plenty of easier, and much more novel, ways to illustrate business situations. Business As War: Not Really Business…
Business Ideas Change
Reading history gives you an understanding that things change. (Often for the better, see here and here, but that isn’t the point of today’s post). Here I just want to note how business ideas change. This is important to remember. What we advocate now might be thought weird, quaint, or barbaric in the future. The…
Regulation And Business Responsibility
What can business history tell us about regulation and business responsibility? The Purpose Of Business Looking at business history gives an interesting perspective. The idea that businesses are only there for the benefit of shareholders (see here) is not the only view that exists by a long way. One set of people who had a…
Certification And Better Business
One challenge with stakeholder/better business ideas is that there are so many things to be good (and bad) at. Is it enough to be good for the environment if you are awful to your employees? If you give money to your local community does that absolve other sins? Opinions might reasonably differ. As such we…
