fbi toolkit update (winter 2016)

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Flourishing Business Innovation Toolkit

The Story So Far…A PersonalPersonal Perspective for the Members of the

Strongly Sustainable Business Model GroupFeb 9, 2016

Antony Upward [email protected] @aupward

ENTERPRISEBuilds on many Builds on many

slides; download & slides; download &

view in slide show view in slide show

mode for improved mode for improved

comprehensioncomprehension

Lots of Lots of speaker notes, speaker notes, inc. referencesinc. references

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/





http://www.edwardjames.biz/Permissions



http://www.ssbmg.com/

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/deed.en_CA

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Objective• Share my view of the Story so far…

…to Inspire and Pollinate• In other words…

– Make an invitation to accept our gift and make it your own – in your own hero’s journey*

• Gift: Flourishing Business Canvas and the opportunity to engage, contribute, to contribute to your own flourishing

• Question for You:– Will you accept our invitation? – How will you use our gift on your own journey?– Who will you pollinate?

* The new story of business – mentors to their stakeholders – the provider of knowledge and resources for their hero’s journey. Sachs, J. (2012). Winning the story wars: Why those who tell (and live) the best stories will rule the future Harvard Business Review Press. (Hero’s Journey Video: https://vimeo.com/50791810)

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Content1. Convener

• Core Beliefs• Starting Points

2. Why is flourishing the goal? • Appreciate / Abhor the Situation• Vision• Theory of Change

3. What came before this project?• Whose shoulders are we standing on?

4. Gap to be closed to realize the vision• Challenge – Language, Knowledge & Utility (inc.

Beauty)

5. The journey 2010-2014• The original research• A key realization – Theory for Success• Core Team Convened• Project & project vision, plan and business model

outline

5. The journey 2014-present• Improved Canvas• Academic Credentials• First Explorer Program• Collaboration with Related Endeavours• Maqruee Funders & Strategic Partner• Go-to-Market Trials• Growing the Community• Validation / Feedback

6. What’s next for 2016 • Personal Assessment• An invitation

• Appendix• Business Proposal, Vision, Mission, Strategy,

Values, Plan Details & Status

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Introducing the Project’s Convener• Sustainability Business Architect

– Certified Management Consultant• 25+ years consulting experience

– 10+ years university teaching experience in business schools and elsewhere

• Undergrad, grad and professional– Masters Environmental Studies in Business

Model Design and Sustainability – 2010-13• Thesis summarized in high ranked peer

reviewed journal• Founder and principal of

Edward James Consulting Ltd:Flourishing Enterprise Designers

• OCAD U* Strategic Innovation Lab Industry Partner

• Co-Founder Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group – Jan 2012

• Convening Entrepreneur and Program Director of the Flourishing Business Innovation Toolkit

* OCADU – Ontario College of Art and Design UniversityFaculty of Design includes using design to design anything that isn’t a thing (policy, process, business model, etc.)

Antony Upwardwww.antonyupward.name

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My Two Core Beliefs

All life (including us humans), can only have the possibility to flourish forever§ on our finite planet¶, if we accept

our role as stewards¥ – caring for ourselves, each other, all life and our planet through our unlimited capacity

for love and rational thought*

A powerful illusion†, that we created for ourselves, is at the heart of our Global Problematiqué‡:

mind is separate from body, body from world, I from we, you from me, us from them, this from that.

§ Ehrenfeld, J. R. (2000). Colorless green ideas sleep furiously: Is the emergence of ‘Sustainable’ practices meaningful? Reflections, 1(4), 34-47.¶ Allen, T. F. H. (2003). In Hoekstra T. W., Tainter J. A. (Eds.), Supply-side sustainability. New York: Columbia University Press;

12 slide summary http://www.slideshare.net/AntonyUpward/supply-side-sustainability-summaryupward-av102¥ Crutzen, P. J. (2002). Geology of mankind. Nature, 415(6867), 23.* Upward Family (2002). Funeral Program for Christopher Upward. Self-published† Hutchins, G. (2014). The illusion of separation: Exploring the cause of our current crises FLORIS.‡ Ozbekhan, H. (1970). The predicament of mankind, quest for structured responses to growing world-wide complexities and uncertainties: A proposal. The Club of Rome.

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My Starting Point

What to do with such a belief?

What action can I take?

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““How do we want to be How do we want to be remembered? We were

remembered? We were the ones who got caught the ones who got caught … trying something

… trying something audacious” – Majora audacious” – Majora Carter Carter

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Humanity’s Situation – 1 / 2 • Based on our values, we don’t have a common sense of

• An aspirational collective purpose for our species, nations and communities• How such a purpose is linked to our individual life goals • How these purposes and goals are enabled and constrained by environmental,

social, economic, physiological and psychological realities as (increasingly) understood by credentialed science

– This lack of a purpose and goal means our efforts to “make things better” are increasingly ineffective, inefficient, too slow and at cross purpose

• At the same time results (good and not good) of our past actions to achieve previous implicit and explicit purposes and goals are now becoming more and more evident

• Economically, socially, environmentally• Our collective and individual circumstances now understood to be

– Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous– Comprising of a “Global Problématique” consisting of many inter-linked “continuous

critical problems” – Ozbekhan 1971 – A “mess of messes” – Ackoff 1974– “not (just) climate change, but everything change” – Atwood 2015

– The pace at which these are negatively impacting the status quo and efforts to make things better is accelerating – the risk of significant increases in human suffering is growing

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Humanity’s Situation* – 1 / 2• Current attempts to set aspirational goals while well intentioned

and necessary are not sufficient nor achievable based on already known credentialed science– e.g. Sustaining development is not possible on a finite planet – this is the

current goal of humanity described in the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, recently official blessed by the UN General Assembly*

• Development = GDP growth = increasing flows of materials and energy - forever– Most current efforts, based on currently acceptable purposes and goals,

are merely “reducing unsustainability”;• This can never create “sustainable” or “reslient” outcomes

– Don’t believe me? Go argue with a physicist! • Not a good tactic if you want to sustain any type of profit by mitigation of

known risk!

We don't have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not

the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it Douglas Adams

* See my keynote talk for through exploration of this based reality on the work of MIT prof, John Ehrenfeld and others

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And Our Understanding & Values ARE Shifting in the Necessary Direction for Change

• Instead of the 21st century; we got the 19th!• Globalization – not so great• The Economy – unfair, not delivering;

system is the problem• National governments not protecting nor

representing us• Free enterprise needs a bridle (reform)• Rising fear; perceived corruption; declining

hope• Convergence and now divergence between

North and South• Rise of personal action [driven by deeply

held values of what is right] and the sharing economy

Decade long public option trends across 20 countries Global North and South

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Observation

Our governments, civil-society (macro), health-care (physiological & psychological) (micro) attempting “big things” – why not our (meso) organizations?

Macro: Biosphere, Our Civil Society & Economy etc.

Micro: Our lived experience – mentally, emotionally, spiritually, practically, artistically & economically

Meso: All our organizations – the predominant way we collaborate to meet most of our needs (formal / informal; not-for-profit / for-profit; our institutions )Small

& Fast

Large & Slow

Multi-scale Panarchy diagram from Holling, C. S. (2001). Understanding the complexity of economic, ecological, and social systems. Ecosystems, 4(5), 0390-0405. doi:10.1007/s10021-001-0101-5

We’re not taking advantage of the

feed-back and feed-forward loops – hence pace of change can’t

accelerate!

Huge efforts to transform the outcomes of

our activities in the world, society and economy at the macro and

micro level – much less at the meso level

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Challenge

What could be the most practical, relevant and attractive stretch goal for humanity as a whole (including our meso organizations – including our enterprises of all types)?

Macro: Biosphere, Our Civil Society & Economy etc.

Micro: Our lived experience – mentally, emotionally, spiritually, practically, artistically & economically

Meso: All our organizations – the predominant way we collaborate to meet most of our needs (formal / informal; not-for-profit / for-profit; our institutions )

What’s should be the goal, our chosen

design brief, for these, our interlinked realities that we

create – moment-to-moment?

Small & Fast

Large & Slow

Multi-scale Panarchy diagram from Holling, C. S. (2001). Understanding the complexity of economic, ecological, and social systems. Ecosystems, 4(5), 0390-0405. doi:10.1007/s10021-001-0101-5

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Strive to sustain “the possibility that human and other life will flourish on this planet forever” – John Ehrenfeld, MIT

• Audacious• Inspirational• Attractive• Universal• Practical • Values Based• Continuous

You, Me, Us, You, Me, Us, Everyone, EverythingEveryone, Everything

Flourishing as a Goal

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Our Vision for the Future of Enterprise• We imagine a world where

human enterprises– No longer merely attempts

to do less harm – Sets as their goal the

flourishing of human and other life

– Creates tri-impact by being tri-profitable:

• Financially viable• Socially beneficial• Environmentally

regenerative * Increasingly shared: see recent Flourishing & Prosperous Business

Conference (www.globalforumbawb.com), the book “The Flourishing Enterprise” by Laszlo, Brown, Ehrenfeld et. al. and the Future Fit Business Benchmark (www.FutureFitBusiness.org)

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Clean air & water Vibrant soil for food Healthy eco-systems creating materials for us & rendering our wastes

harmless

Trusting relationships focused on well-being

with all our fellow citizens (neighbours,

communities, cities, regions & countries)

Businesses choose to co-operate, collaborate and

compete to best meet our needs today & in the

future, whilst creating the wealth to meet shared

needs(education, infrastructure, etc.)

Individuals choosing to strive to flourish:

emotionally, spiritually, physically, practically, artistically

& economically

Our Understanding: Requirements for Flourishing…Big PictureBig Picture

Macro: Natural Sciences

Micro: Physiology, Psychology, etc.Meso: Business, Organization, etc.

Macro: Social Sciences

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Future fit businesses, operating forever, would not only do no harm, but do well by only doing good

… creating the possibility that human and other life will flourish on the planet forever.

… throughout its value constellation

A flourishing enterprise is financially rewarding, socially beneficial and

environmentally regenerative

WHERE

WHY

WHAT

Implications for Enterprise Vision & Mission for the Possibility for Flourishing*

* Inspired by Future Fit Business Benchmark – a project of The Natural Step Canada & 3D Investment Foundation –FutureFitBusiness.org

WHO … for all its stakeholders:founders, customers, employees,

owners and communities

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=Do Good to Do Well

We Believe Flourishing Enterprises are Simply Better…

Compared to Profit-First Businesses, in our increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, flourishing enterprises have the possibility for: More Innovation, More Opportunity, Less Risk, More

Resilience and as a Result Improved Financial Viability over the longer term

Shared values and goal: Shared values and goal: sustaining the possibility for sustaining the possibility for

flourishing for all foreverflourishing for all forever

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But How?

How can we enable flourishing

in new and existing enterprises at

scale?

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Our Theory of Change – 1 / 2• Nothing of significance happens in the world without humans

working together in organizations of all kinds

• Therefore to realize a future in which the possibility for flourishing for all is systematically sustained requires increasing the nature, scope and scale of “business model”* innovation

• To realize this future vision: 1. The nature of business model innovation must decisively shift

• Explicitly start with the of goal sustaining the possibility of flourishing for all forever

• Be systematically informed by the best available science of flourishing2. The process of business model innovation, the design, testing and

improvement of such business models, and the speed of their subsequent wide-spread adoption by enterprises world-wide, must also be significantly improved

* “Business model” means a representation of the necessary and sufficient concepts that describe how any human organizations defines and achieves success; like all models – business models are never “right” but they have been shown to be very useful.

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Our Theory of Change – 2 / 2• Must engage people emotionally

– Get them excited about the benefits for them, their organizations, communities about striving to flourish informed by their values

• Must be empathetic– Meet people where they are– Enable them to learn in their contexts informed by their values; don’t require / prescribe

• Must enable business model innovation aligned with the inter- and trans-disciplinary knowledge of flourishing

– Required to avoid worst implications of our past choices on the economic, society and environment

– Systematically increase scope of innovations from organizational to systems level

• Must move people from analysis/forecasting to synthesis/backcasting to envisage significantly improved futures and iteratively bring them about

– Move from Plan / Execute to Design / Test / Learn / Repeat– Increase speed of innovation design, testing and deployment at scale

To realize this future vision at scale we must enable people in their enterprises to take new / different actions in the

world

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But Why Business Models? Because they Integrate Many Views of an Enterprise

Business modeling efforts integrate all the aspects of an enterprise – enabling you to learn more effectively to create the most compelling story of your endeavour

Your Your Business Business ModelModel

Operational PlanOperational PlanTransformation PlanTransformation Plan

AssumptionsAssumptions

Vision, Mission, ValuesVision, Mission, Values

StrategyStrategy

ContextContext

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Have

Needs

Work Together toMeet Our Needs & Achieve Our Goals

ExistwithinShare

To Work Together Requires

Common Language Describe Organizations –

Economically, Socially, Environmentally

Process Understand current, & design the future, organization that

better meets our needs & achieves our goals

Example

Flourishing Business

Canvas Tool

Example

ABCDStrategic Design

Process

CurrentBusinessModel

InnovativeFuture

Business Model

Can ImagineHas

Understand, explore, imagine, design, test, assess, diagnose, choose, and tell stories about…

Enabled by the shared language and process of organizations, together we can…

So that ultimately we all have the possibility to flourish on our planet forever

Science1-6 Theory of 1-6 Theory of

Change – SummaryChange – Summary

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Progress?

So what’s been done to date to realize this audacious vision for humanity and our

planet?

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Previous Best Practice for Business Innovation

• Have Idea+ Get Money+ Hard Work+ Hope + Luck

Not…• Efficient• Effective• Reliable

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Emer

ging

Bett

er P

racti

ce…

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Design your Business Model so it creates the possibility for financial profitability

Your Business Model

Emerging Better Practice – 1 / 3

“A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers and

captures value (financially)”** “Business Model Generation”, by Alex Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur, 2008

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* Business Model Canvas described in 2009 crowd-funded book “Business Model Generation”, by Alex Osterwalder based on his 2004 PhD

1+ million books* sold, used in 250 entrepreneurship

programs in NA alone

Some investors now see a tested business model as more useful to assess enterprise potential than

business plans

5 million downloads of the Business Model

Canvas: a collaborative visual tool to design esign financially profitable financially profitable

business modelsbusiness models

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Benefits of the Business Model Canvas – the Language of Profit Prioritizing Business: 9 Questions for a Profitable

Business ModelEvidence of the benefits of the Business Model Canvas approach from “The business model canvas – why and how organizations around the world adopt it – a Field Report” http://blog.strategyzer.com/posts/2015/2/9/why-and-how-organizations-around-the-world-apply-the-business-model-canvas

Enables Strategic Discussion

Makes UsCreative

New Idea Template

Fast toUse

Clarifies Thinking

Enable Better Conversationsand Decisions

Understandcustomers Alignment – get’s us

all on the same page

Shared Languagefor all Depts.& Locations

Helps Tell Our Story to…Investors, Customers,

Suppliers, New Employees

Creates a Sense of Urgency

BetterTeamwork

Focus Quickly on Best Ideas

We Can Act Immediately on

Our Ideas

Inspires Innovation

DrivesEffective

Collaboration


http://blog.strategyzer.com/posts/2015/2/9/why-and-how-organizations-around-the-world-apply-the-business-model-canvas

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Emerging Better Practice – Summary:Necessary but not sufficient

…(almost) nothing about everyone and everything else

Lots about money, and the people you financially transact with…

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Extending Better Practice• Many who believe business can be a “force for good”*

have proposed extensions to the Business Model Canvas– Add things believed to be “missing”– Building entirely new canvas based on their experience and

knowledge

• Our research determined these extensions are not suitable to enable the design of organizations that systematically enable financial viability, social benefit and environmental regeneration

The proposed extensions are largely “ad-hoc” changes to the existing financially oriented business model canvas and

its variants – none are based on the level of systemic and trans-disciplinary thinking required

* For Example – B Lab the NGO behind the global Benefit Corporation Certification and Legislation

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Tri-Impact Enterprises Need More

Your Business Model

“A business model is a description of how an enterprise defines and achieves success over time.”*

Design your Business Model so it creates the possibility for flourishing:

financially, socially and environmentally

* Upward, A., & Jones, P. H. (2016). An ontology for strongly sustainable business models: Defining an enterprise framework compatible with natural and social science. Organization & Environment, Special Issue: Business Models for Sustainability: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Transformation 29(1), 1-27. doi:10.1177/1086026615592933 & download manuscript: www.academia.edu/14461116

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The Language Challenge• A common future focused language for all the

elements of a flourishing business model is required

• Developing this language, plus tools and techniques to enable the design of flourishing business models is a key initiative of:

www.SSBMG.com


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Goal: Explicit compatibility with the inter- / trans- disciplinary credentialed science via a shared and explicit

systems approach – synthesis + analysis

Knowledge Challenge

Physiology

PhysicsChemistry

BiologyEcology

Positive & Ecological Psychology

Management, Strategy & Innovation

Organization & Leadership

OperationsInformation

Systems

Objective: Explicit compatibility with the inter- / trans- disciplinary credentialed science via a shared and

explicit systems approach – synthesis + analysisNormative Goal: Our enterprises should strive to “sustain the

possibility for human and other life to flourish on our planet forever” (Ehrenfeld, MIT)

Conceptual Framework: Applied, realist, critically pragmatic*

Mac

roM

acroM

esoM

icro

Ecological Economics

Environmental & Positive Sociology

* Adapted from Chapter 3 and 4 (Upward, 2013, p.p26-406)

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The Challenge to be Useful• Inconvenient truth – its even harder to design tri-profitable

enterprise than a financially profitable one– Requires much broader knowledge of many more topics than currently

taught in business school’s and understood by business leaders and professionals

– Requires authentic, meaningful and on-going engagement of all an enterprises stakeholders based on their values and fundamental human needs

• So to be useful a flourishing business model language and design tool will have to boil down huge amount of knowledge and make this knowledge accessible without preaching– Understandable– Actionable– Attractive– Complete

This is a very challenging design brief with many experiments required to learn what will be and be seen as useful!

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So Where does that Leave Us?What are you

doing to bring into the world thetools we need to efficiently design and

test flourishing business models – embedding all the required knowledge

into a new language of flourishing business models?

And… how are you doing this very challenging

work so that the majority of businesses can design their business models to

enable the possibility for flourishing as soon as possible?

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…The quest for better tools begins…

http://hdl.handle.net/10315/20777

…journey to 2013

2010

20122013

20042009

http://hdl.handle.net/%0B10315/20777

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We Went Deep – 2010-2013*SSBMO Detailed Design Principles

DDP1-6

4.3-4.7

Strongly Sustainable Business Model

Ontology(v1.031)

7.2 -7.4, SM3, SM4

Overall Research Design + Key

Theoretical Frames

3.2-3.5

SSBMO Build Principles BP1 & 2

5.4.1

Preparation: Literature Reviews to Identify “Truths” About Business Models and

their Contexts, including detailed critique and review of the BMO

Chapters 1 - 4

Research Objectives RO0-2

Design Principles ODP1 & 2

3.1-3.6

SSBMCDesign Principles

CDP1-3

4.7.4

Strongly Sustainable Business Model

Canvas(v1.031)

7.5, SM5

Key Knowledge Input / Output Key Activity Output from Activity

We went back to Osterwalder’s 2004 PhD and his financially focused Business Model Ontology (BMO); then from the Required Knowledge

developed a Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology. From this our Canvases are derived – not from the Business Model Canvas

Flourishing Business Canvas

(v2)

Thesis Published Aug 2013

Osterw

alder’s BMO

/ PhD 2004Start of O

ur Research Fall 2010

* Adapted from Figure 7-14 Derivation of the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Canvas (Upward, 2013, p.840). Numbers above boxes are section numbers in thesis

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Finding Like Minds and Convening Our Community – 2012-2013

• Founding of SSBMG – Jan 2012– Jeremy Bowes, Nabil Harfoush, Peter Jones, Antony Upward

• Theory of Change Prezi – Summer 2012– https://prezi.com/vp8kfcmf6iam/

• Founding blog posts – Summer-Fall 20141. http://blog.ssbmg.com/2014/01/26/ssbms_defining_the_field/2. http://blog.ssbmg.com/2014/09/16/towards-a-definition-of-

organizational-strong-sustainability-a-review-of-the-literature/3. http://blog.ssbmg.com/2014/09/16/towards-business-design-principles-

for-strongly-sustainable-organizations/ • Thesis published – Sept 2013

– http://hdl.handle.net/10315/20777– Now downloaded >1350 times

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Community Theory of Change (Discussion / Refinement Required)

Theory of Change Prezi – first attempt to lay out the elements to achieve our community mission of “Our objective is to assist and accelerate the shift of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) at any stage of development

(from start-up to long lived) to a strongly sustainable mode of operations; we believe one key approach to achieving this via the design and successful implementation Strongly Sustainable Business Models ”

wiki.ssbmg.com/home/streams and prezi.com/vp8kfcmf6iam/

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2011-2013 – Version 1* of a better Tool

© Antony Upward / Edward James Consulting Ltd., 2013 All rights reserved.

Based on 3 years of graduate research and conceptually better Canvas is “powered by” its own ontology – the Strongly Sustainable Business

Model Ontology based on a comprehensive critique of Alex Osterwalder’s profit-first Business Model Ontology (his 2004 PhD)

* The “pre-”version of the canvas

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Reaction?(Confidential Expert Respondents – 2012)

“I really liked is that it really makes you makes you

thinkthink about things that you would never

consider before”Management Consultant “You've ratcheted it upYou've ratcheted it up to the

next degree of specificity and made sure that it is truly about

sustainable businesses. Whereas the current [tools] that I’ve seen,honestly could be applied to any

kind of business”Sustainable Business NGO

“The power of this thing is it’s really the first to take the first to take the social aspect and the the social aspect and the

biophysical into biophysical into considerationconsideration. And I

haven’t seen that that any other business model

That would take that into consideration”

Business Architect / Professor / Consultant

“This is an impressive body of work”

Management Consultant

“I like the tool and think it provides a great way to analyze a company”

Leader Eco-Industrial Park

“It’s about timeIt’s about time somebody did something like

this”Author / Consultant

“I recognize this firm.” “This gets the zeitgeist of This gets the zeitgeist of

who we arewho we are, which is great” (Reacting to his business

described using the Canvas)CTO Small Manufacturer

“If I was starting abrand new business, a

significant business today, I would use thisI would use this business model to help me define

and develop a pure detailed business plan”

Management Consultant

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Make it “better, better, faster, faster,

strongerstronger” ?

Learning by Using / Testing Testing

it out some it out some moremore?

But What About…?(Ideas from All Research Respondents – 2012)

A better way to introduce and summarize the

canvas

A methodologymethodology for designing great

sustainable business models?

An “app” so I can do this on my tablet with my

clients?

A communitycommunity of people using and

improving it?

Ensuring the design principles align with

the emerging “Future Fit Benchmark” for

Flourishing Business?

Training / Workshops for

Social / Environmental

Entrepreneurs ?

A Consulting Service that uses the Canvas

to Diagnose and Improve the

Sustainability of Business?

The design principlesdesign principles to help me come up with great answers to the questions the canvas

asks?

How about some more examples and

case studiescase studies?

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But how about earning an income

nownow?

The people developing this have to have first hand experiencefirst hand experience using the tool… without it you

won’t be credible when providing advice, writing a book, nor fund

raising

But What About…?(Ideas & Risks… from Team and Our Trusted Advisors 2013-14)

Organizing an effective project, including a large

crowd-funding campaign, need a lot of planning – it takes timeit takes time

The “First Explorers” of this approach need

help if they are to be good case case

studiesstudies?

Getting one or two well known organizations as funders before ‘going

public’ with the a larger community creates

significant additional credibility

All the current toolkit elements

need to be documenteddocumented at a consistent level of

detail

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2013 – Key Realizations…• If we’re going to change the world at scale we need a global collaborative

approach to overtake the BMC as the tool of choice for designing business models

– We simply have a better design tool for our emerging understanding of our world and our role in it

– ALL business models of ALL human enterprises!

• We don’t want to “just”– Help those few leaders who already “get it”– Publish a book and sell a few professional services – we want to provoke a

global change movement in the purpose and culture of business

• We need a comprehensive global program: community, team, toolkit, research & development, plans, budgets and legal entities to achieve this goal

– We need to plan for this endeavour itself to be financially viable, socially beneficial and environmentally regenerative – sustaining the possibility for the flourishing of all our stakeholders – including ourselves!

– This will take time, we need to plan for our own flourishing for the long journey – we expect to say “our overnight success took us x years of hard work”

What are the key elements of success for such a program that comprehensively tests our theory of change while trying to bring it

about? (aka action research)

46

““How do we want to be How do we want to be remembered? We were

remembered? We were the ones who got caught the ones who got caught … trying something

… trying something audacious” – Majora audacious” – Majora Carter Carter

47

Old… …Entrepreneur as Hero(Goes fast, but by themselves)

48

New… …Entrepreneur as Convener(Goes far by going together)

49

read content first &

exclusively

use the canvas in your own business now!

try it out – be a case

study

interact with Flourishing

Business Thought Leaders

influence team & the community

share your experience, gain from

others

demonstrate your thought leadership to your peers

exclusive webinars

preferred access to subsequent training & consulting revenue opportunities

your name / organization logo in book

credits

discount on final book price

be a part of

the change

we need to flourish

be a part of something BIGBIG: a global flourishing business community

have Fun!

early access to improvements

This lead to an This lead to an exploration of why exploration of why

“first followers” “first followers” might want to might want to

meaningfully engage meaningfully engage in this project now?in this project now?

50

+

Our Theory for Success – 1 / 3Go Together through Pollination*

=

* Compare to “viral” approaches – virus’s harm, hurt and kill their hosts in their quest to propagate – pollination creates new life & flourishing

51

Pollination is the fastest way to Get Committed Followers to create a Movement*

• Every first-mover must have guts to the “lone crackpot” until they have followers

– First movers need to be easy to follow– Fun! Useful! Reputation Enhancing! – Relationship not Transactions (social and financial)

• First-followers are a first-mover’s equals– They have guts too– Its about the nascent movement not the

first-mover• Even a small crowd of first-followers is news

– and the news is both followers and first-movers• Later followers tend to emulate the

first-followers not the leader• With sufficient followers you have momentum and a movement is born• Now the tables are turned – the people not following are at the risk of being left out –

but its not to late to be part of the “in-crowd” – if they hurry– Leader crosses the chasm and enter the tornado (Geoffery Moore)

* https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement (Thanks to Brad Zarnett @TSSS for reminding me of this!)

Anyone can be leaderful – not everyone will be a leader all the time - leaderful behaviour is the power behind the moment NOT the first-

mover (even pollinators take a break now and again)

52

Our Theory for Success – 2 / 3Experiment to Gain Experience

53

Theory of Success – 3 / 3My Perspective

• Put the goal at the centre of everything – not the organization– Aim high – what if.., imagine a world where…

• Trust acting in alignment with your values will attract those who want to help you succeed– People are drawn to your “why” not your organization and its brand

• Be a mentor – not a hero – everyone else is a hero – offer them genuine help and gifts• Practice planful co-opportunism

– Cast a wide net– Play it forwards– Co-generate the required serendipity – “hope is not a management strategy”– Pay attention when amazing serendipity happens (and it does)– Spend effort where people pull you

• Consistently apply the 6 co-operative principles*– We always do better together – when we care for each other– Start to build the relationships / shared experience to realize the long term vision of a “Co-operative of

Flourishing Enterprise Innovators”• Open to all who share in the goal of realizing the vision of human enterprises enabling the possibility for flourishing

for all forever• Those who wish to co-operate to enable the possibility for flourishing for themselves and their stakeholders around

the world – environmentally, socially and economically– Co-operation is not a zero sum or negative some game when scaled – unlike other legal structures

• Continuous improvement – always in everything– Plan-do-check-act / use the method of scientific inquiry in our “action research” in the world

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochdale_Principles#ICA_revision_.281966.29

54

Our Theory for Success – Detail• Enjoy Being the Change

– Authentic – purpose / passion driven informed by our values

– Focus on Small / Medium Business (they can change more easily)

• Existing and Start-ups– Think Local, Adapt Global– Radical Transparency with

Appropriate Protection• Creative Commons Licensing

– B Corp Certified – Scoring >150/200

• Steps toward a Vision– Iterative via multiple “Minimum Viable

Products” (MVP) over time– Compliance with The Natural Step

Sustainability Principles

• Powered by the Crowd– Committed & Engage– Individuals & Organizations

• Research Enabling Continuous Improvement

• Pollinate a Global Community– Follow co-operative principles– Mutually supportive eco-system

• Highly involved stakeholders• Sharing of opportunities and revenues• Maximize local opportunities, minimize

flying around!– Collaborative writing / testing /

governance – Spread the word– Learn by Doing & from Each Other– Use leverage to the max B Corps /

Locally oriented businesses

55

( )

Feb 2014 – Toolkit Core Development Team Convened

All Members of the OCAD University sLab SSBMGroup*

Bill CraigEdmonton

Stephen DaviesToronto

(via Wales)

Doug GilbertDenver

You? TBD

Peter JonesToronto

(via Dayton, OH)

Alexandre JoyceMontréal

Patricia KambitschToronto (via Dayton, OH)

Florian Lüdeke-Freund

Hamburg

Harry StoddartPeterborough,

Ontario

Sebastian StraubeBerlin

Bruce StewartToronto

(via Vancouver)

Antony UpwardToronto

(via Birmingham)

Bob WillardWhitby, Ontario

Manager (Advisor)

( )

Visual Design Lead (Contributor)1. Introduction & Story Editor (Contributor)2. Tool Lead (Contributor)

( )

( )

( )( )

( )

3. Design Principles Lead (Contributor)4. Methods Lead (Contributor)

( )

( )( )

5. Patterns & Case Studies Lead (Contributor)

Roles

West East

( )

Visual Designers

Kelly Kornet Toronto

Additional Team Members

Kritika Sharma Toronto (via India)

( )

* Strategic Innovation Lab Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group – http://forum.SSBMG.com

Leo Mburu Toronto (via Liverpool)

First Explorer

CommunityAnimator( )

http://forum.ssbmg.com/


56

Core Team Planned the Program• Developed our business model– using the SSBMCanvas!

– For the project – down-to-action viable now striving towards long term flourishing– For the long term for-profit business – aspirational long term vision for a

flourishing enterprise• Developed comprehensive plan, including:

– Vision, mission, strategy, values and tactics – Business Model is backup– Established initial roles, responsibilities, norms of behaviour– Developed detailed project plan and budget

• Seeking funding while “just getting on with it” – sweat equity while searching for paid work that both advances the project and wider practice and pollinates the community

• Made all this available in public – wiki.ssbmg.com/FBT-project/business-model – As per radical transparency required for flourishing– “Sunlight is the best disinfectant”

F2F / Virtual Convening Workshops May 2013; F2F Core Team Workshops Toronto (OCADU sLab) Feb 2014 – “All for One, One for All”

(everyone invested, including paid their own way to attend)

57

I need help I need help to design to design my better my better businessbusiness

OthersOthers working

to convince the rest

to change

We have We have the the betterbetter tools you tools you

needneed

But where to start? Help Those Who Have AlreadyAlready Decided to Do Something Different

I need help I need help to design my to design my flourishing flourishing businessbusiness

Our HypothesisOur Hypothesis

… WhateverWhatever their starting point and reasoning

“Blue Suits”

“Green Suits”

Tell me Tell me again, what’s again, what’s the problem I the problem I need to fix?need to fix?

“Pinstripe Suits”

58

Possibility for: More InnovationMore Resilience

More Opportunity with Less Risk

We Imagine…

Better Tools to Better Tools to Help Apply that Help Apply that Logic & ScienceLogic & Science

A New A New Logic for Logic for

Flourishing Flourishing EnterpriseEnterprise

Toolkit ContentsToolkit Contents• Tool (canvas)• Design Principles for

Flourishing Business• Methods for effective

use of the tool while applying the principles

• Patterns and case studies

Based on Based on the Latest the Latest ScienceScience

Doing Good Doing Good toto Do Well Well

59

Impact We Want Toolkit to Have…

We believe SMEs, We believe SMEs, with their small with their small

management teams management teams have the most have the most

ability to change ability to change the most and the most and

fastestfastest

60

Passing Benefit Corporation Legislation

We Believe a Toolkit for We Believe a Toolkit for Flourishing Enterprise Design Flourishing Enterprise Design

can, help can, help ALLALL these flourishing these flourishing enterprise innovation leaders be enterprise innovation leaders be

more successful… and many more successful… and many moremore besides! besides!

61

Toolkit to be published as a “book” – but not your typical business “book”:

1. “Book” is not the end-goal, but a key enabler to pollinate a global movement

2. Inspired by design ethos of Business Model Generation

3. Self-publish initially

• Find Agent & Publisher– Marketing, Distribution, Translations

• “app”– Design Tool– Business Learning Game

• Community Revenue Opportunities via– Training Service “Toolkit”– Consulting Service “Toolkit”– Education / Classroom “Toolkit”– Sustainability Entrepreneur’s “Toolkit”– Industry Specific “Toolkits”– Sustainability Maturity Level Specific “Toolkits”

• Full alignment with emerging Future Fit Business Benchmark– Measurement “Toolkit”

• Best Practices• More Case Studies

Next

Later

62

Proposed Table of Contents*†

* Book describes version 1.0 of our Flourishing Business Innovation Toolkit – which includes the Flourishing Business Canvas tool.

† Learning suggests we’ll replace “Business” with “Enterprise” as more inclusive – i.e. Flourishing Enterprise Canvas, Flourishing Enterprise (Model) Innovation, etc.

63

After “Book” is Published… • Flourishing Business Canvas will be made available under a Creative Commons License

– Free to use commercially & non-commercially*– Minimize barriers to uptake of the key element of the toolkit to maximize likely of impact at scale

• Toolkit will be first product offering of a global for-profit co-operative business of “Flourishing Enterprise Innovators” – Book will be first revenue stream based on the Toolkit intellectual property

• Initially focus sales on Flourishing Enterprise Innovation leaders globally – early adopters• Then as market continues to shift on-going sales for the – early majority and beyond – overtaking Business Model Generation sales and impact replacing the

Business Model Canvas with the Flourishing Business Canvas as it is accepted as a better tool to design better businesses– Other revenue streams will be:

• Branded training, workshops, labs• Certification• Apps and other electronic forms of the IP• Industry Specific versions etc.

– Members wish to co-operate to enable the possibility for flourishing for themselves and their stakeholders around the world• Members will be individuals and enterprises of all types who share in the goal of realizing the vision of human enterprises enabling the possibility for

flourishing for all forever• Members expected to mostly be legal enterprises (inc. sole proprietors) not individuals

– First right of refusal for joining to:• FBIToolkit Core Team Members and Volunteers (see next slides)• FBIToolkit First Explorers (see later slides)• Strategic Partners, Marque Funders and CrowdFunders• SSBMGroup Community Members

• A not-for-profit Research Institute will co-ordinate relevant global on-going research– Opportunities for on-going partnerships with education and research institutions

• An independent not-for-profit community will act as a global hub and clearing house for all flourishing enterprise innovators (incl. but not exclusive to users of the co-ops toolkits)

* Current version must be licensed before use – at no cost via the Flourishing Business Innovation Toolkit “First Explorers” program

Toolkit project ends with the publication of the book – the program plan (incl. co-op legal entity) then uses the book as a pollination tool to scale the impact of the Toolkit in order realize the vision and complete the testing of

our theory of change

64

Plan to Create Toolkit: Releases to v1.0 and beyond

“Pre-”

Today -

v1.0

>v1.0

• v1 canvas + various levels of thinking on other topics– Challenge: Not easy to learn or use

• Find Marquee Funders– 2-4 Organizations / Independently Wealthy Individuals

• Core Devt. Team Creates -Toolkit. incl. v2 canvas• Core Devt. Team uses toolkit to gain 1st hand experience

– Own business / training / consulting / research Toolkit used by 20-80 “First Explorers”

– Animation of and co-creation with this community is required Toolkit published (print-on-demand “Handbook”)

• Core Devt. Team Creates -Toolkit in light of experience with • Crowd-funding

– 500+ Individuals and organizations• Crowd-funding collaborators use -Toolkit

– Experiences shared within collaboration community

• Core Devt. Team Creates v1.0 Toolkit described in book • Book released

• Co-op, Research Institute and Community Hub formally launched• Toolkit evolution and expansion begins

– Based on wiki.SSBMG.com/complementary-toolkit-elements

Core Devt. Core Devt. Team Team

Gains 1Gains 1stst Hand Hand

ExperienceExperience

Core Devt. Team Core Devt. Team Learn from Learn from

CollaboratorsCollaborators

http://wiki.ssbmg.com/complementary-toolkit-elements

http://wiki.ssbmg.com/complementary-toolkit-elements

65

What Was Done Next?So there is a team with

a theory for success to “power” atheory of change to realize an audacious vision, there is a plan for developing the first version of the Toolkit in a way that

pollinates the change to the next level of scale…

But… at this point the team only had a pre-alpha canvas which was clearly not ready for the prime

time and very limited experience for its effective use to help people

design flourishing business models…

66

A tool that provides a common language in a useful visual framework to enable you to collaboratively sketch, prototype, design, improve,

communicate, understand, measure, diagnose and tell stories about your flourishing business model

Oct 2014 – Introducing …v2Based on feedback on v1, Based on feedback on v1, canvas was renamed and canvas was renamed and made more attractive

made more attractive and easier to use and easier to use through collaboration

through collaboration with professional with professional designers on Core Team

designers on Core Team & OCADU MDes SFI & OCADU MDes SFI students paid through a

students paid through a small grant small grant

67

Based on 3 years of now peer reviewed research*; Built on Alex Osterwalder’s 2004 PhD – the basis of the very

practical and successful Business Model Canvas

Oct 2014 – Introducing …v2†

† The “”version of the canvas – now the key component of the Toolkit for Flourishing Business Innovation

* Upward, A., & Jones, P. H. (2016). An ontology for strongly sustainable business models: Defining an enterprise framework compatible with natural and social science. Organization & Environment, Special Issue: Business Models for Sustainability: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Transformation 29(1), 1-27. doi:10.1177/1086026615592933 & download manuscript: www.academia.edu/14461116

68 V2.0© Antony Upward / Edward James Consulting Ltd., 2014 All rights reserved.

Flourishing Business Canvas – the language of tri-impactful enterprise: 16 necessary and sufficient questions to describe a

flourishing business model: financially, socially, environmentally

A Business Model Tool for Tri-Profitable Enterprise Design

69

Key Points About Flourishing Business Canvas – 1 / 2

• Didn’t delete concepts compared to BMC• All 9 questions still there – you can move stickies

that describe the profit making elements of a business model from the BMC to the FBC without any changes

• AND then you’ll start to see, through the additional and expanded questions, new opportunities and new risks – that come from the integrated view of the economic, social and environment

70

Key Points About Flourishing Business Canvas – 2 / 2 *

• A common language for describing and designing flourishing organizations

• Builds understanding of interconnections of the organization with the world: Economically, Socially, Environmentally

• Enables broader, deeper and richer conversations about all aspect of value co-creation (and destruction)

• Provides context to enable collaboration – enabling teams to align on key strategic decisions

The Flourishing Business Canvas: A key component of a comprehensive innovation toolkit to collaboratively think through all the aspects of an enterprise to create the possibility for flourishing – sketch,

prototype, design, improve, communicate, understand, measure, diagnose and tell stories

* Separate articles, presentations, talks, videos, workshops, labs introduce / explain / give examples of the Flourishing Business Canvas

71

Progress Since Fall 2014• Process• Academic

– Credentialing / publication– Research

• Praxis / Project – “The Toolkit”– First Explorers– Collaboration with other projects

• In SSBMG• Outside

– Co-developing, applying, testing content– Marquee Funders

• Practice– Go to market trials / action learning

• Plan do check act– Recent Validation– Customers

• Community – SSBMG – the driving force behind it all– New ideas– New people– Sharing / collaborating

72

The Feed-back and Feed-forward Loops of Planful Co-opportunism

A new type of entrepreneurial / movement making – it looks & feels very different from the mainstream /

silicon valley “hero” approach

73

Academic Credentialing

• And as conference paper– Jones, P. H., & Upward, A. (2014). Caring for the future: The systemic design of flourishing

enterprises. Proceedings of The Third Symposium of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD3), Oslo, Norway, 3(1) 1-8. Manuscript with Links to Presentation www.academia.edu/14497937

• Original research published in high quality peer reviewed journal

• Upward, A., & Jones, P. H. (2016). An ontology for strongly sustainable business models: Defining an enterprise framework compatible with natural and social science. Organization & Environment, Special Issue: Business Models for Sustainability: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Transformation 29(1), 1-27. doi:10.1177/1086026615592933 & download manuscript: www.academia.edu/14461116

• To our knowledge includes first critique in academic press of Osterwalder’s original Business Model Ontology from any perspective

More on the way + quasi academic / practitioner book chapter

Uniquely amongst all other ‘sustainable’ business model tools proposed, not only is the Flourishing Business Canvas conceptually powered by its

own formally defined ontology informed by systems-oriented economic, environmental, social, organizational and psychological science, this

ontology has been credentialed via the peer-review publication process

https://www.academia.edu/14497937

74

Academic Research – Next Steps

In addition overall action research approach funded by “sweat equity”:

– SSBMGroup Cultural Flourishing Business Models project received a small SSHRC grant last year and is now applying for a larger Insight Grant

– University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Prof. Dr. Rob Elkington is applying for a SSHRC Insight and other grants for a significant longitudinal comparative study of the utility of the Toolkit on the Flourishing Leadership outcomes for Social Entrepreneurs in Ontario (Durham Region) and South Africa (Cape Town Region)

75

2013-16 First Explorers Program• 43 individuals and organizations have signed free First Explorer

license to use -Toolkit in return for providing feedback– Further ~10 in process of signing agreement with ~3 per month applying

since Jan 2015– Leo Mburu First Explorer Community Animator recruited / volunteered

(un-paid) to administer this program and more if / when funds available (1-2 hours per week; expect backlog to take months to clear)

• First Explorers include:– Project Core Team (using Toolkit in go-to-market efforts – see later slides)– School for Social Entrepreneurs-Canada– Forum for the Future– Durham Region Community Innovation Lab– OCADU via RECODE Impact Collective– Global Leadership Initiatives

Significant opportunities to further animate this community to enable them and the project to realize the full value of this program

76

First Explorer Program – Next Steps• Animate the community – get them using the

Flourishing Business Canvas and reporting experiences via GoogleGroup– first-explorers.FlourishingBusiness.org

• Requires– Mural Training– Handbook

• Short form of final book – will contain other elements of the -Toolkit– Design Principles, Method, Patterns & Cases

• Co-create this handbook / test it with the First Explorers• Provides sellable artefact / give-away for people we’re co-creating

value with our professional, learning and coaching services

Pending Funding

77

Collaboration with Related Endeavours

• The Toolkit and other projects inside and outside SSBMG are highly symbiotic since they share the same values and vision to help enterprises sustain the possibility for flourishing for all forever informed by the best available scientifically credentialed knowledge– Extensive collaborations to these projects mutual benefit

started and continue

• The Toolkit project is actively exploring collaborations with a range of others who share the Toolkit project’s vision, values and goals, facilitated by the SSBMG

78

Shared Science-Based

Approach

Key Symbiotic Global Initiatives – 1 / 2

When we implement the business model we’ve designed with the intention of

creating the possibility for flourishing, how can we assess if we’ve done enough?

Described by Flourishing Business Canvas Defined by Future-Fit Business Benchmark

If our business is not able to attain the future-fit benchmark goals, can we

collaboratively improve our business model to enable that level of performance?

Future-Fit BusinessGoals and KPIs

Your Business Model

Flourishing Business Canvas (www.FlourishingBusiness.org) Future-Fit Business Benchmark (www.FutureFitBusiness.org)

http://www.flourishingbusiness.org/

http://www.futurefitbusiness.org/

79

Does Your Enterprise Measure-up?

State in Baseline

year

CompetitorGoals

CompetitorCurrent

StateYour Enterprise

today

Currentstate

Your Tri-ProfitableEnterprise tomorrow

UnsustainablePast

Flourishing Future

Self-

definedshort-term

goals

Where is the Where is the Enterprise’s Enterprise’s Visionary? Visionary?

Where do the business models lie? Where do the business models lie? (current & target)(current & target)

Future-Fit state

Best current knowledge

Slide adapted with permission from www.FutureFitBusiness.org / Dr. Bob Willard – Presentation to Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group wiki.ssbmg.com/meeting/2016-01-12

80

Key Symbiotic Global Initiatives – 2 / 2

When we implement the business model we’ve designed

with the intention of creating the possibility for flourishing, how can we implement our desired

our enterprise design?

Described by Flourishing Business Canvas

Harbourfront Centre & REFOCUS (www.refocus.harbourfrontcentre.com)

Flourishing Business Innovation Toolkit (www.FlourishingBusiness.org)

If we commit to truly sustainably operations, and seek to demonstrate that this enhances our performance,

how can we transform the organization to make this possible?

Science-Based Approach

Developed using the REFOCUS Program Model

Your Business ModelYour Business Model

Work underway to

fully align with Science

Your Transformational Your Transformational ProgramProgram

81

Possible Additional Symbiotic Global Initiatives

• B Lab / Benefit Corporations• Business Alliance for Local Living Economies• International Living Futures Institute

– Living Building Challenge, Living Product Challenge, Living Community Challenge– Declare, Just and Reveal Labelling Standards

• Transition Towns• Future Fit Foundation• GenuineWealth Foundation• Forum for the Future • SustainAbility• Aim2Flourish / FlourishPrizes

– Affirmed by UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (UN PRME)• Global Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) • ThrivAbility Foundation• Sustainable Design Awards

– Originated at OCADU and now Province Wide• Social Business Models

There are many other initiatives underway around the global that share, albeit often using different labels, the vision of a world in which enterprises sustain the possibility for all to flourish forever – here are some we’re keen

to work with – many of whom we’ve some initial contact

What ever we call it – all these folks are in the same Big Tent

82

Marquee Funders• Seeking to raise project funding via donation from 2-3 funders

• aka R&D / working capital for t he co-operative– A key pollination test - is our flower attractive enough to a funding bee?

• Depending on funding source may need a strategic partner through whom to flow donations

– Project team members are private companies / individuals who need to be paid – not a employees of a charity, NGO, etc.

• Seeking Funders and partners– Who share our vision to accelerate the achievement of the future-fitness of all

human enterprises and their investors globally – That work with same groups we seek to help - helping start-ups, existing small and

medium enterprises (for-profit, not-for-profit, social enterprises, hybrid, co-operatives, Benefit Corporations, etc.) and (impact) investors

– Whose work would be enhanced through the use of better visual, collaborative, systemic tools like ours,

– Who wish to get involved and shape the project, – Who can provide material, relationships capital, practical support to secure grant

funding

83

Funding CallFunding of $300K will:• Fund the activities in Phase 1 and the start of Phase 2 of the

project plan (see appendix) -Toolkit Handbook– Professional public presence– Collaboration platform to enable growing community to work effectively

together– First Explorers Community Animation to get meaningful feedback on -

Toolkit – Talk, workshop, lab and professional services development

• Be used for professional services of: Project Manager, Core-Team members in Canada and elsewhere, First Explorer Community Animator, Web/Social Media Pollinator, Visual Designer, Writer/Editor, Videographer

84

Go-to-Market Trials – Action LearningBrands Under Active Testing in the Market via Minimal Viable Offerings

– Flourishing Business – learning services for all– BetterMy.biz – Services for SME’s and

Growth Stage Impact Investors– Lean4Flourishing – Services for Tri-Impact

Entrepreneurs and Early Stage Impact Investors

– Personal brands invested• Antony Upward, Harvey Weisfeld, Stephen Davies,

Bruce Stewart, Russ Christianson, Ondine Hogeboom• All First Explorers, not all Core Team!

– Legal Entities powering the Brands• Edward James Consulting Ltd, Wiser Solutions,

Transformation by Design, Bruce Stewart Consulting, Rhythm Communications, Ondine Hogeboom Consulting

– Via professional services communities• Global Leadership International

Going-to-market not only helps us achieve some financial sustainability as we gain 1st hand practical experience using the -Toolkit, it demonstrates to funders the market reaction and it

informs value propositions and revenue model for long term business – co-operative of flourishing enterprise innovators!

85

2014-16 Keynotes, Workshops & Labs: Developed*• Introductory

– Story – Why I need a flourishing business model– 3 min audio / visual animation (prezi)– 2 x 10 minute videos – more on the way– 20, 30 and 60 minute Keynote talk

• Introduce concept of flourishing, how this applies to enterprises, the value of the business model design approach supported by appropriate tools – 4 hour introduction hands-on workshop

• Co-Creative Skills for Collaborating Entrepreneurs & Stakeholders– 2 and 4 hour workshop

• Hands on case study of business models of existing B Corp’s in the Food Sector (Analytic) – 20 minutes – gamified, 2 hour, 4 hours

• Experiential design (Synthetic) – Case study based

• 1 hour – Co-operative Business Succession• Full-day – Design an innovation for an existing business

– Role playing simulation a B Corp • Half-day and full-day – Designing the business model of a new enterprise

– Case “Dirt-to-Shirt in 500km” value constellation (Apparel)– Case Green Building – includes both product design (the building) and Business Model Design to build/operate the building)

• Labs– Full-day with early-stage social enterprises with entrepreneurs and their stakeholders– 2 and 4 hour with later stage entrepreneurs: explore their for-profit business model (risk & opportunity identification)

To start to share the Flourishing Experience and gain experience in its use we have developed and a range of workshops and labs

* 1 page briefs for each of these workshops available and labs available

86

2014-16 Keynotes, Workshops &Labs: Delivered• 40+ workshops and labs delivered to over 1000 attendees in 5 countries in last 20 months (to Feb

2016)

• Of these delivery was funded only at the following (in this order):– Global Forum for Business as Agent for World Benefit, Fowler Center for Sustainable Value Case Western

Reserve University (Attendees paid)– Plymouth University Business School Futures Entrepreneurship Centre (Local Funds)– Hamburg University Faculty of Economics and Business (Local Funds)– OCAD University DesignJam (OCE Campus Linked Accelerator)

• 2 half-day, 1 full day, 4 x 2 hour workshops at Big Tent event– Sustainable Corps at Centre for Social, OCADU Impact Collective (Attendees paid)

• Keynote, 2 two-hour and 2 half-day– University of Toronto MSc Sustainability Management (Program Funds)– Durham Region Community Innovation Lab (OCE Ontario Social Impact Voucher pilot)– OCAD Impact Collective (McConnell RECODE)

• Delivery will be Q1 2016– EIT-Climate-KIC Pan-EU Climate Change adaptation and mitigation program – flourishing business design

for innovation & sustainability learning materials development and delivery– School for Social Entrepreneurs – Ontario

• Delivery in 2016

Based on very positive feedback from initial delivery, significant interest in further funded delivery by other OCE Funded RICs via OCAD U

DesignJam / OCE CLA funding, EU Funded pan-European Climate-KIC program, School for Social Entrepreneurs-Canada and others

87

2014-16 Keynotes, Workshops & Labs: Delivered – Selection

40+ workshops and labs 40+ workshops and labs delivered to over 1000 delivered to over 1000

attendees in 5 countries in attendees in 5 countries in last 20 months (to Feb 2016)last 20 months (to Feb 2016)

88

Learning Services – Next Steps

• Flourishing Enterprise Design for Innovation– Competency Model– Learning Materials– Delivery Services

• Complete Flourishing Enterprise Curriculum– Entrepreneurs / Start-ups (early-growth)– Leaders / Managers Existing SMEs (change)– Civil Society Leaders – civil servants, NGOs, Charities

(transformation / not-for-profit)

89

Integrated Flourishing Enterprise Coaching / Professional Services Model

In our service design we integrate coaching and professional services to maximize the client’s depth and speed of learning on all fronts through a consistent plan-do-check-act approach – we believe this is a significant

innovation and differentiator

90

2014-15 Professional Services:Developed

• Integrated Coaching, Assessment, Diagnosis, Design and Value Discovery services developed* and promoted to tri-impact– Investors– Encouragers (hubs, incubators, etc.)– Enterprises (for-profit, not-for-profit)– Consultants

• Significant hopper of opportunities / clients developed from scratch

• Significant work undertaken to build relationships needed to create qualified funnel of paid work

* See separate presentation for details

91

2014-15 Professional Services:Offers*

• Our approach helps tri-impact enterprises, their funders and stakeholders effectively undertake strategy assessment and development at many steps of their journey

A Start-up From concept to proven business model

B Find Funding to Scale Ensuring capability to grow and readiness for funding

C Enterprise Succession From decision to sell through new owner control

D Enterprise Innovation New product / service design and associated business model development and testing

E Value Network Innovation Multi-stakeholder collaborations to resolve systemic barriers to tri-impact creation

F Tri-Impact Performance Assessment

Financial, social and environmental reporting, risk analysis and opportunity identification

The services are designed help tri-impact enterprises flourish at all stages of development

* 1 page briefs for each of these service offers available

92

• Assess Quality and Completeness of a Business Plan for Impact Investor or Impact Investment Applicant– Environmentally, Socially, Economically– Template Report and Delivery Method

• Co-operative Succession Process– From: current owner considering selling– To: New co-operative operating business– 18 Step Succession Process

2014-15 Professional Services:Examples*

* Longer briefs and / or template deliverables available

93

2012-15 Growing the Community

• SSBMG is a “knowledge mobilization” action research community hosted by the OCADU Strategic Innovation Lab convened by Prof. Nabil Harfoush and co-founded with Prof. Peter Jones, Prof. Jeremy Bowes and Antony Upward

• On-line Presence: www.SSBMG.com forum.SSBMG.com (LinkedIn Group) wiki.SSBMG.com blog.ssbmg.com literature.ssbmg.com files.SSBMBG.com tv.SSBMG.com facebook.SSBMG.com twitter.SSBMGcom

• A number of initiatives undertaken as collaborations by members– Toolkit, Flourishing Cultural Business Models, Future Fit Business Benchmark underway– Methods for Flourishing Enterprise Design and Patterns of Flourishing Enterprises under discussion

• SSBMG membership growth continues– 2012-2014 – reached 300 members – 2015 Jan-Oct – added 225 members (total at 525)– 2015 Nov-Jan 2016 – added 25 (total 550)– All continents represented; Solid mix of practitioners, researchers and graduate students

• SSBMG activity is growing– Meeting live regularly F2F/Virutal

• Feb 2016 was 48th monthly meeting• Attendees – solid mix of F2F (Toronto) and elsewhere (Timezone challenges)

• 2 projects secured small grants to fund OCADU MDes SFI studentsAll work of to plan, organize, promote, run monthly meetings and initial projects in the SSBMG has been undertaken without funding. Detailed

report of SSBMG activity and benefits to OCAD U available

Improved Group Governance Model Under-Discussion

94

2014-16 Validation / Feedback• The lack of a language, tool, design principles and method for flourishing

business is a recognized problem that needs to be addressed– Existing business model design tools outdated or incomplete– Enhancements to current tools

• Don’t go far enough – missing aspects of economic, social, environmental • Aren’t rigorous – not based on applicable available inter-disciplinary science

• People are actively looking for a practical solution to this highly complex problem

• Flourishing Business Canvas is starting to be recognized as first practical solution – its ready for thought-leaders to undertake significant experiments in many situations

• Our theory of change, overall project approach and plans are seen as audacious, but possible

– Continuing to attract interest, positive feedback and encouragement

Positive feedback from potential clients, funders, academic reviewers, professional colleagues, workshop and lab

participants from around the world

95

Other Evidence• Number, growth and wide-spread location of SSBMG

members and First Explorers• People finding us despite lack of SEO

– LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Academia.edu– Across platforms community has ~2500 social media

“follows”• >1350 Downloads of original thesis

– US, Canada, Germany, UK, China, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Brazil, other (131)

– 8 cites of original thesis, – 3 cites of 2016 peer-reviewed summary

• >5500 Views of ~3 min audio/visual intro

Additional evidence we’re building some presence and beginning to be noticed

96

Movement’s First-Followers• Appears we appear to be attractive enough + timing is right – context is

changing (COP21, SDGs, etc.)– More people changing their plans to align with / build on ours– Pollination is starting to work

• Long term collaborators are investing even more– Core team – particularly mgt team – Peter, Stephen, Bruce, Bill, Antony + Florian,

Bob, Harry, Patricia– Close Friends & Volunteers – Harvey, Russ, Ondine, Javier, Claire, Krittika, Kelly,

Andrew, Leo

• Additional first-followers starting to respond to our open invitation to collaborate with us

– “How can we help?”– “How can I benefit?”

Moving from “nut case” to “bleeding edge innovation”… will ridicule from main-stream be far behind?

97

What’s Next for 2016?

Wow, given you’ve no money and no formal

organization you’ve made a ton of progress on many

fronts… so what’s next for 2016?

98

Next Steps for 2016• Continue learning and professional services

work to gain first-hand experience and revenue• Seek strategic partner to help us find and flow

funding from 1-3 marquee funders• Use funds to:

– Animate First Explorer Community• Accelerate getting additional feedback• Provide Handbook and Active Assistance

– Prepare to pollinate community to support for the co-creation with them of the book / toolkit

99

Personal Assessment

Which way will the wind blow in the first months of 2016: will these clouds clear or is a storm gathering?

100

Toolkit Project:Personal Assessment – Jan 2016 – 1 / 2

• Very limited financial support for all activities to date– One very small academic grant to fund students– Time to deliver (not develop) some workshops and labs has been compensated– Financial sustainability of further participation by core team in question

• Significant pro-bono support from many– 5+ years of investment by convening entrepreneur

• Very largely sweat equity / significant financial opportunity cost– Core Team Members

• Including funding travel to meeting in Toronto from around the world– OCAD University

• Brand, network, space and facilities • Canvas is ready for use, documentation of other elements of the -Toolkit is

lacking - Toolkit Handbook is required to make it easier for people to use the Canvas– Ability of First Explorers to use Canvas without significant support not possible

Funding the project will enable us to retain the commitment from the people with the passion, knowledge and skills to build

on the significant achievements to date

101

Toolkit Project:Personal Assessment – Jan 2016 – 2 / 2

• Public face of the project doesn’t have necessary level of professional look and feel be attractive to future participants

– Website, social media presence, videos, presentations, documentation, etc.• First explorer program membership continues to grow, but majority of

existing members mostly inactive – Comprehensive and multi-facetted animation of this community is urgently

required to ensure these pollinators see the Toolkit as “good” and “useful”, are willing to pollinate their network during the next phase of pollination, and provide the project get meaningful feedback required for continuous improvement

• Significant effort has been expended to generate a funnel of opportunities for core team members to gain paid hands-on deep dive experience in the use the Toolkit with enterprises of all kinds, but finding customers #1, #2 and #3 has been very challenging

– Finding early customers for new services is always challenging; unsurprising – Key way to speed up finding paid work is via relationship-based introductions to

potential customers from people/organizations they already trust

A strategic partner willing to use their relationships to help the project find funding and relevant paid work will enable the

momentum to continue to grow

102

Challenges & Opportunities

for a Strategic Partner

Our On-Going & Open Invitation

Join us in founding a Values-Aligned Dream Team of First Movers to create and pollinate the Global Flourishing Enterprise Movement We

Urgently Need: How much value could this create for you? Which of your challenges could this improve?

Challenges & Opportunities for Marquee Funders

Challenges & Opportunities for

Flourishing Business

Innovation Toolkit

Project/Program

Growing Global Growing Global Community of Flourishing Community of Flourishing

Enterprise Designers, Enterprise Designers, Consultants, Researchers…Consultants, Researchers…

103

www.FlourishingBusiness.org@FlourishingBiz

www.SSBMG.com@StronglySustain

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Appendix / Back-up











104

Proposal*: A Project to Create Our Business†

1. Business Proposal• Our Declaration of Purpose

– Our Beliefs and Commitments– Our Vision, Mission, Strategy, Values

• Our Theory of Change• Tactics: Our Learning & Development Program• Metrics: Our Definition of Acceptable Success

Business Models• Project & On-Going

2. Book Proposal• Describes version 1.0 of our Toolkit• First product of our business

3. Core Development Team Roles and Responsibilities

4. Detail Plans• For project to create Toolkit v1.0 and to establish our business

* Described in 9 separate documents – http://wiki.ssbmg.com/book-project/business-model#TOC-Business-Proposal-and-Detailed-Planning-Documents; Draft detailed budget prepared.

† Working name: Co-operative of Flourishing Enterprise Innovators: Members wish to co-operate to enable the possibility for flourishing for themselves and their stakeholders around the world. Members will be individuals and enterprises of all types who share in the goal of realizing the vision of human enterprises enabling the possibility for flourishing for all forever. Members expected to mostly be legal enterprises (inc. sole proprietors) not individuals. “First right of refusal” for joining to:

• FBIToolkit Core Team Members and Volunteers (see previous slides)

• FBIToolkit First Explorers (see previous slides)

• Strategic Partners, Marque Funders and Crowd Funders

• SSBMGroup Community Members

http://wiki.ssbmg.com/book-project/business-model#TOC-Business-Proposal-and-Detailed-Planning-Documents

105

Our Business Vision• Our business strives to only create positive

environmental, social, and economic value for all its stakeholders, contributing to the possibility that human and other life will flourish on our single shared planet forever: we do well by doing good, while continuously endeavouring to do no harm.*

• We will achieve this vision in timeframes that minimize the harm to the flourishing of human and other life.

* The goal for a Flourishing Business, with minor changes, from the Future-Fit Benchmark for Truly Sustainable Businesshttp://www.FutureFitBusiness.org

http://www.futurefitbusiness.org/

106

Our Business Mission

1. Fomenting a system level change: the permanent shift in the goals, operating logic* and outcomes of all Small and Medium Enterprises so they proactively enable resilient sustainability as the possibility for flourishing.

2. Creating a passionate, values-driven, for-impact and for social purpose organization that aims to consistently produce an acceptable level of environmental, social and monetary profit for the foreseeable future.

* Strategies, business models and processes

107

Our Strategy• We believe that the most powerful lever we have to

complete our mission is the development, delivery and continuous improvement of a multi-faceted toolkit that helps SME business people world-wide undertake the required shift in goals, operating logic and outcomes.

• Our business strives to have authentic enjoyable relationships with all stakeholders: behaving at all times in an ethical, radically transparent and open manner, striving for win-win while being place aware and aligned with the science of flourishing.

Our Values

108

Overall Plan to Create Toolkit: Releases to v1.0 and beyond

“Pre-”

Today -

v1.0

>v1.0

• v1 canvas + various levels of thinking on other topics– Challenge: Not easy to learn or use

• Find Marquee Funders– 2-4 Organizations / Independently Wealthy Individuals

• Core Devt. Team Creates -Toolkit. incl. v2 canvas• Core Devt. Team uses toolkit to gain 1st hand experience

– Own business / consulting / research Toolkit used by “First Explorers”

– Animation of and co-creation with this community is required Toolkit published (print-on-demand “Handbook”)

• Core Devt. Team Creates -Toolkit in light of experience with • Crowd-funding

– 200-500 Individuals and organizations• Crowd-funding collaborators use -Toolkit

– Experiences shared within collaboration community

• Core Devt. Team Creates v1.0 Toolkit described in book • Book released

• Evolve toolkit– Based on wiki.ssbmg.com/FBT-project/complementary-toolkit-elements

Core Devt. Core Devt. Team Team

Gains 1Gains 1stst Hand Hand

ExperienceExperience

Core Devt. Team Core Devt. Team Learn from Learn from

CollaboratorsCollaborators

http://wiki.ssbmg.com/FBT-project/complementary-toolkit-elements

http://wiki.ssbmg.com/FBT-project/complementary-toolkit-elements

109

FBIToolkit Project Plan – up to and including launch of Co-op

110

Toolkit Development Phases aka Phases of the Collaboration Project

Self Study / Mutual Support + Workshops

+ eBook / PoD

1

Core Devt. Team Content Leaders & Contributors

Core Devt. Team + First Explorers

TBD + +Canvas

published in short book

Core Devt. Team Content Leaders via Webinar etc.

2


Crowd-Funding Collaborators

TBD

AU + Learning Map

Delivered to Users via

Pre-Toolkit Version

0Phase

AU + SSBMGroup

teams

Co-Created By

AU + First ExplorersUsers

Thesis + Working DocsFormat

…various

>v1.0

4+

Co-op Members

…and beyond

+ App etc.

Self-Published Book

v1.0

3


Book Readers

Core Devt. Team Core Devt. Team has sufficient has sufficient

learning to learning to develop develop -Toolkit?-Toolkit?

Core Devt. Team has Core Devt. Team has sufficient learning to sufficient learning to develop toolkit v1.0?develop toolkit v1.0?

Phase Completed

When

Core Devt. Team Core Devt. Team committed to proceed committed to proceed

based on detailed plans – based on detailed plans – Feb 2014Feb 2014

111

Toolkit Current State Assessment: Jan 2016

Conceptual Chapter Conceptual Content

Assessment of Current Completeness Against Requirements for Minimal Viability

Explanation for Core-Development Team

& First Explorers (-Toolkit)

Explanation for Collaborators

(-Toolkit)

Explanation for Target Audience via Book

(Toolkit v1.0)

1. Introduction 75% 40% 20%

2. Visual Design Tool

90% (v2 canvas released)

50% 20%

3. Design Principles 30% 20% 10%

4. Methods 60% 40% 10%

5. Case Studies and Patterns 70%[1] 20% 10%

– Companion Website 40%[2] 25%[3] 0%

– Visual Design 50% 30% 0%

– Story Design 75% 30% 15%[1] The -Toolkit will include relatively little information concerning patterns and cases studies. The experience the Core Development Team gains using -Toolkit the will provides the patterns and cases for the -Toolkit.[2] Assume we clean-up the existing wiki and make everyone aware of the various sources of information on line included in the learning map - youTube, SlideShare, etc.[3] Assuming we leverage the existing wiki, bringing this content into the crowd-funded collaboration platform (see Crowd-Funding and Collaboration Platform Requirements document): http://wiki.SSBMG.com

http://wiki.ssbmg.com/

http://wiki.ssbmg.com/

112

Help bring Flourishing Business Innovation to the World!

Become a “First Explorer”– Enables commercial use of the new Canvas now

40 organizations & individuals around the globe have joined so far

Join the quest– Crowd-funded collaborative book project

Working Title: Flourishing Business Innovation– 12 International co-authors identified– Crowd-funding in 2016-17

Individuals and OrganizationsBackers also get immediate commercial rights to use new CanvasEveryone else will have to wait for the book

– Self Publish 2016-17Canvas released under a Creative Commons License free for commercial use

Connect to like-minded colleagues– Linkedin and Facebook

540+ Members from around the globe

@FlourishingBiz #FlourishingBiz

[email protected] www.FlourishingBusiness.org

https://twitter.com/FlourishingBiz

https://twitter.com/FlourishingBiz

http://twubs.com/FlourishingBiz

http://twubs.com/FlourishingBiz

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.flourishingbusiness.org/

113

Join 550+ colleagues: http://forum.SSBMG.com Monthly presentations – virtual & F2F

www.facebook.com/StronglySustainableBusinessModels @StronglySustain #SSBMG

[email protected]

www.SSBMG.com

Learn More– ~3 minute Audio/Visual Overview

about.SSBMG.com• Focus Areas

– wiki.ssbmg.com/home/streams• Videos

– youTube.com/ssBusinessModelTV• Learning Map

– wiki.SSBMG.com/home/learning-map– Includes case studies

• Blogs– blog.SSBMG.com

Strongly Sustainable Business Model Resources



http://www.facebook.com/StronglySustainableBusinessModels




114

Copyright

• All images used under applicable creative commons licences – see notes on each page

© Antony Upward / Edward James Consulting Ltd., 2016. Some rights reserved. – Permissions available at www.EdwardJames.biz

/Permissions – This work is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License







