Purpose Inspired: by Wayne Visser

I wonder what you thought of when you saw this title - Connecting Earth and Sky? Well, for me, there are three ideas or questions which come to mind: Firstly, it is the story of creation - how did th…

With the rich texture of African soil once again beneath my feet, the warm sun on my back, and the Cape South Easter wind tugging at my hair, my body and soul have unmistakably returned home.  My min…

After various world summits on sustainable development, we should take care not to mistake this single event for the greater symphony of change that it heralds. Like fleas on an elephant, we need to …

This episode deals with the crucial debate that is beginning to emerge about corporate social responsibility (CSR), which acknowledges that the sophistication of stakeholder challenges and corporate …

As the new millennium looms large on the horizon, speculation about humanity’s recent progress are becoming ever more frequent.  Even more so are whisperings that humanity might be teetering on the t…

Surprisingly little has been written about the search for meaning in a workplace or business context, and nothing, in my knowledge, has made the explicit link to corporate social responsibility (CSR)…

In this episode, I want to explode a few myths about corporate responsibility in developing countries. Most of these myths exist as a result of the feeding frenzy that inevitably occurs every time th…

In any war, one of the mantras that has been repeatedly chanted by the military and media alike is the so-called “battle for the hearts and minds”. Take the Iraq war for example. The more cynical com…

It is not uncommon to hear our present global economic system being compared to a predatory natural environment. We might imagine the market as a great African plain where competition for scarce reso…

There are a growing number of critics who claim a direct link between the advancement of industrial development based on neo-classical economics thinking and the erosion of communities. This erosion …

Ethical investment – also called social investment, socially responsible investment and green investment – is an international trend which refers broadly to the conscious use of investments to achiev…

The world we live in is exceedingly complex. We use indicators to simplify things. Indicators work in the same way as a map. They are meant to be a guide, a representation of reality, which help us t…

Many see the “failure” of most African economies in terms of a neglect of their peoples to foster home-grown indigenous business cultures that are in harmony with the African soil and soul.  And they…

In our modern economies and businesses, unlimited growth is constantly striven for, institutionalised, almost idolised.  We hold it up as the measure of success.  Yet, by doing this, we could be sowi…

For me, the image of the phoenix from Native American Indian mythology rising up from the ashes of its dead body symbolises our potential to transform the dying metaphor of business as a ‘rational ma…

Although it is heartening to note the growing worldwide interest in building sustainable communities for the future, it is at the same time disconcerting that so many of these community visions provi…

There is a growing body of literature on what could be loosely described as explorations in ‘new paradigm’ thinking. Included in this is an implicit belief about the nature of transformation.  It is …

Season 2 of Purpose Inspired is based on the book Business Frontiers: Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development and Economic Justice. Why business frontiers? Well, business operates at the front…

When I think back on all the writing I have done over the years, it strikes me that much of my creativity has been the result of tension. All of these tensions I have felt, and continue to feel at a …

Having depicted the possible paths that the future can take in two mainline scenarios, we must now consider the options within the control of the principal actors which will increase or reduce the pr…