Elemental in transition

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"10 years of entrepreneurship, 10 years of Strategy Makers (now Elemental). And I feel the same vibe again as when we started."

Do you recognise those moments when you come to the realisation that things have to be done differently? Over 10 years ago, my partner Ferry van Halem and I felt that old-school strategy needed to be turned on its head. Too much planning, too much analysis, too much management. So Strategiemakers was born and in recent years we worked with clients on renewal and innovation, and helped with the transition to client-focused, agile organisations.

Is the world better off?

Over 3 years ago, it started bubbling up again. And in 2020, I dropped in an interview noting that it was the moral obligation of consultants is to put sustainability on the map. For years, sustainability, CSR and CSR was a 'staff department'. It is now abundantly clear that we need to integrate sustainability into the core of organisations and their strategy.

Then it's not about using less paper or driving less car. Or that your supplier has a certificate, or that you offset CO2 emissions. It is about the strategic question of how your organisation can make a positive, meaningful impact on the world: more give than take.Is the world better off because your organisation exists? is the question posed by Paul Polman, ex-CEO of Unilever, in his book Net Positive: how to create a successful and sustainable business: by giving more than taking.

Giving more than taking

But what does that mean: making a net positive impact? In our profession, we help companies become more innovative so they can deliver relevant services and products to their customers and be agile in the face of change. Is that impact? Yes, definitely. Does it also make the world a better place? Not obviously. Entrepreneurship has increasingly become all about financial results. Sparkling quarterly figures, going from attic to unicorn in 18 months. Financial gain seems to have become the primary, self-centred goal. Care for nature and well-being have been diluted.

It will be different if we start seeing the role of business more broadly again. If we see profit as a means of investing in nature, the climate, people and our society. What business model do we have then? What ambition? What strategy?

We rise to the challenge

Getting to work with these questions is a downright transition for many organisations. Not a march route but a quest, in which you will unlearn 'old' things and learn new things. There is a tendency to turn a transition into a project, with goals, deadlines and steering committees. But if you want to make the transition to creating value for nature, society, customers and the organisation, you need a different approach. An approach in which creativity, space, embracing ambiguity and learning are central.

We enter the search ourselves. We have a diverse transition team formed that takes our entire team by the hand and encourages it. Just as we do with clients. Every fortnight we have a Future Friday, a day with all Strategy Makers, where the transition team shows intermediate results, collects input and feedback.

Transition features prominently in our investments. We are investing 20% of our capacity this year (and turnover) in redesigning our purpose, propositions and own organisation. In a strategy that will set the tone for the next 10 years.

Are you joining the transition?

Many organisations face similar challenges. That is why we thought it would be so much fun to start sharing experiences. Our first impetus is to create a series of blogs, in which we will give an insight into how we are shaping the transition and what we are up against.

Feeling enthusiasm, and want to hear more about our transition? Then get in touch, want the more organisations join in the more we make the sustainable society flourish.