Introduction Part 1: A Change of Fortune A short fictional story of our times Part 2: The Case for Change 1. The reshaping of capitalism 2. The waning of CSR 3. The ascent of values 4. The surge of technology 5. The rise of reputation and the fall of brand 6. Turning the dial Part 3: Changing for Good 7. Phase 1: Identifying 8. Phase 2: Defining 9. Phase 3: Aligning 10. What it takes Conclusion
I enjoyed this book, learned from it - and strongly recommend it for those trying to succeed at the interface between business and society. -- John Elkington, Chairman & Chief Pollinator, Volans, and co-author with Jochen Zeitz of The Breakthrough Challenge: 10 Ways To Connect Today's Profits With Tomorrow's Bottom Line CORE is a really important piece of work. We need this kind of principled clarity more than ever before. -- Simon Anholt, Founder, Good Country, and Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia, UK No business can prosper in the future without a clear purpose and here at last is a practical management tool to turn a great theory into gritty reality. -- Mike Barry, Director, M&S Plan A, UK This is a great reflection on the movement beyond CSR to one that connects business - through purpose - to the real issues on which our societies need to deliver. It's a great recipe for future success - and one that is much needed. It will be a good practical reference for any organisation wanting to make a positive difference. -- Rachel Brown, Founder & CEO of Sustainable Business Network, New Zealand There's been a lot of pontification about why businesses need to develop a social purpose but precious little insight on how they can go about it. Refreshingly, Neil's done exactly that with this book - a must read for any business that wants to create social change. -- Jilly Forster, founder, Forster Communications, UK When you have a core idea at the heart of your business, as co-operatives tend to in focusing on member needs, there can be a richness of motivation and a special kind of empowered collaboration at work. Keep it simple and you can bring more people on board. -- Ed Mayo, Secretary General, Co-operatives UK and author of Values As he says, identifying the odd win-win is not radical enough. And in the digital age, there is no more time for spin and greenwash. Businesses need to change in a more fundamental way, and Neil's idea of a Single Organising Idea (SOI) is compelling. -- Johnathan Glennie, Director, Ipsos' Sustainable Development Research Centre I agree with your argument that business needs to focus on its core, rather than philanthropic CSR, and I like the idea of companies bringing focus to how they do that through an SOI. This latter point is what I think really is new in your book. -- Zahid Torres-Rahim, Founder, Business Fights Poverty The fictionalized story really grabbed me. It dramatically brings home the new reality of extreme global connectivity. -- David Grayson, Director of the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Cranfield School of Management
NEIL GAUGHT is what Malcolm Gladwell would call an outlier.
Neil was born in Hertfordshire in the UK in 1963. Following a short
spell in the British Army and an even shorter one in the French
Foreign Legion he completed his education at the London College of
Printing where he gained a BA(Hons) in Graphic Design. A year after
graduating he founded his first business, a London-based design
consultancy. Having successfully run the business for ten years he
sold it to a marketing company before joining WPP’s largest global
brand consultancy, Enterprise IG. There he took a leading role on a
variety of high profile branding projects for Merrill Lynch,
DeBeers, Andersen, Scottish Power, BG Group and Standard Chartered
Bank, among others.
In 2003 Neil and his young family moved to New Zealand for the
adventure. Following three years with the country’s leading agency
DesignWorks, Neil re-established his independent consultancy
status. Since then he has advised a wide variety of organizations,
ranging from international NGOs and energy, manufacturing and
infrastructure corporates to tech start-ups, global faith based
organizations and government institutions across Asia Pacific,
Europe, Africa and the USA.
'Business should help people learn how they can live better lives
and lead society to create the systems and technologies to do so.
Core is a great guide to how business can take on that
task.'Charles Leadbetter, author of We-think: the power of mass
creativity, and leading management consultant'I enjoyed this book,
learned from it - and strongly recommend it for those trying to
succeed at the interface between business and society.'John
Elkington, Chairman, Volans, and co-author with Jochen Zeitz of The
Breakthrough Challenge: 10 Ways To Connect Today's Profits With
Tomorrow's Bottom Line'CORE is a really important piece of work. We
need this kind of principled clarity more than ever before.'Simon
Anholt, Founder, Good Country, and Honorary Professor at the
University of East Anglia, UK'No business can prosper in the future
without a clear purpose and here at last is a practical management
tool to turn a great theory into gritty reality.'Mike Barry,
Director, M&S Plan A, UK'This is a great reflection on the
movement beyond CSR to one that connects business – through purpose
– to the real issues on which our societies need to deliver. It’s a
great recipe for future success – and one that is much needed. It
will be a good practical reference for any organisation wanting to
make a positive difference.'Rachel Brown, Founder & CEO of
Sustainable Business Network, New Zealand'There's been a lot of
pontification about why businesses need to develop a social purpose
but precious little insight on how they can go about it.
Refreshingly, Neil's done exactly that with this book – a must read
for any business that wants to create social change.'Jilly Forster,
founder, Forster Communications, UK'When you have a core idea at
the heart of your business, as co-operatives tend to in focusing on
member needs, there can be a richness of motivation and a special
kind of empowered collaboration at work. Keep it simple and you can
bring more people on board.' Ed Mayo, Secretary General,
Co-operatives UK and author of Values'As he says, identifying the
odd win-win is not radical enough. And in the digital age, there is
no more time for spin and greenwash. Businesses need to change in a
more fundamental way, and Neil’s idea of a Single Organising Idea
(SOI) is compelling.'Johnathan Glennie, Director, Ipsos’
Sustainable Development Research Centre'I agree with your argument
that business needs to focus on its core, rather than philanthropic
CSR, and I like the idea of companies bringing focus to how they do
that through an SOI. This latter point is what I think really is
new in your book.' Zahid Torres-Rahim, Founder, Business Fights
Poverty
'The fictionalized story really grabbed me. It dramatically brings
home the new reality of extreme global connectivity.' David
Grayson, Director of the Doughty Centre for Corporate
Responsibility, Cranfield School of Management
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