“The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent in an unprecedented way, with unlimited opportunities. But does democratized culture mean better art or is true talent instead drowned out? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era.”

This photo has nothing to do with my post, really just thought it was a neat shot.

Micheal E. Porter, I am buying you loads of delicious beers or scotch or both. Or a shot and a beer. Or if you prefer fine wines, I enjoy those as well. I hope you drink is all I am saying.

Recently, Michael wrote an article in the Harvard Business Review Blog named Creating Shared Value. Here Mr. Porter, explains that many of the wrongs of capitalism is due to companies outdated approach to creating value for their participants (customers). He argues that businesses over the past few decades have ignored their participants most basic needs. Michael explains this has created a huge gap between business and society, and because of this gap, there is a great opportunity for businesses to bring true value back to participants (consumers) and society as a whole.

In my opinion, this is one of the most inspiring reads in business today. Not because it is based on a nice idea, or because it is an amazing concept, or even because it is a possibility. I think it is so damn inspiring because again, in my opinion, he is absolutely right. Additionally, not only is he right, major brands and businesses are moving in this direction in their operations, business strategy and marketing. Pepsi and GE, a couple of brands you may have heard of, are currently implementing strategy, supply chains and operational programs based around the thought that they MUST create more value for the community, for their participants and for the environment. These businesses believe if they create more shared value, they are increasing their future profits, their future market share and their future brand equity.

Read this selection: “Shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy, or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success.”  Baller.

I am sooooo tired of hearing from idealistic contemporary hippie (I do realize this is a hugely general statement, and for that I apologize) folks that business is the problem; capitalism is evil. In my somewhat educated opinion, Creating Shared Value is a visceral, even tangible solution. Fuck, it’s beyond a solution, it is an opportunity. Excited.

-Tyler Browning

Wowzer, 2011 was a good one.

Yikes, 2011 was tough.

Damn, 2011 was amazing.

Fuck, 2011 was a bitch.

At certain points in 2011 I was convinced that one of the above statements would prove to be my overall review of this year. Professionally and personally, 2011 was one of flux. I look back on this year with great love, a good dose of hate and some invaluable lessons. Here is what I found out in 2011.

In the year of the rabbit I found out that learning things can mean taking steps backward. More than a couple.

I found out that sometimes the best way to make your short-term goals a reality is to focus more on your long-term aspirations.

There are times when some things are just not meant to be; and for a very good reason. That said, it should be noted that it may take major heartache mixed with tequila to see this.

You have to let down your guard, go for what your gut tells you and let things happen. Try to over think shit. Just try it. Fail.

In life, it is fun to just sprint coast-to-coast like Ty Lawson through the paint.

That dude Thomas Edison hit the nail on the head. I always felt this way, but for 2011 it rang especially true. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

…..and the harder you work the luckier you get.

That dude Jay-Z hit the nail on the head. Real recognize real, and you lookin’ familiar.

At the rip age of 32 you should still hop in the occasional, weekend vortex.

Whether it is shredding the mountain or hooping on the hard wood, physical activity has become much more of a meditation like escape whilst aging.

Life is fun. When it is not though, keep your good peoples around you, they will get you through that stuff.

There is an ebb and flow to business that, after years in the game, I am still trying to perfect.

Colorado weather is precisely like a 2 and a half year old’s disposition, wait 5 minutes and it will change.

At the end of the day, I really believe the most important thing I found out many moons ago is that you have got to keep a swagger in life. A very positive, confident (tip-toeing on the line of over-confident), transparent, fun (but not fun lush) swagger that allows you to learn from those around you and hand back some learnings of your own.

First, bringing some up to speed, about a month ago I wrote a post on the changing landscape of business due to such business sustainability initiatives of the Triple Bottom Line (3BL). This is an ongoing subject that I love to rant about, shine light and attempt to create innovative ideas on the reg, or as some prefer, on the regular.

To provide some context on the paragraph below, this was taken from a paper written by business heavy hitters Yvon Chouinard (CEO, Patagonia), Jib Ellison (Founder & CEO, BluSkye) and Rick Ridgeway (VP, Environmental Initiatives). The  paper is aptly titled “The Big Idea: The Sustainable Economy”. Fantastic read. I got the inside track from good friend and colleague, Patrick Cowen who is an advertising badass and currently earning his MBA from University of Denver.

Real change will come as high-level calculations filter down to individual companies’ bookkeeping. Puma, a sports footwear and apparel brand that is a subsidiary of the French PPR Group (which also includes Gucci, Stella McCartney, and Yves Saint Laurent) announced in April 2011 that it would begin issuing an environmental profit & loss statement that will account for the full economic impact of the brand on its ecosystem. It commissioned PriceWaterhouseCoopers to help develop the EP&L statement, and both companies hope to create a model robust enough to be adopted by others. “This is nothing to do with corporate social responsibility and the green agenda,” Chris Knight, of PwC’s sustainability practice, told The Financial Times. “It is hard-nosed economics.”

For me, this paragraph should be a big eye opener for all business stake holders. Are you one who considers this business sustainability movement a mere pop culture trend? Good luck with that.

Collectively as business stake holders, strategists, economists, entrepreneurs, and as folks who enjoy buying things to enhance their life, I believe we are doing ourselves injustice by calling ourselves consumers. Sure, we consume things. I consume a lot of libations whilst pairing with delicious food. We consume gasoline and electricity like pandas on bamboo. Problem is, being described as a consumer does not necessarily enhance our lives. I certainly to not feel like I am on top of my game of life being labeled a consumer. To me, it sounds so effing pessimistic. Not only are we/you just another number, we/you are also a disgusting person who digests any product in there path with no consideration for value and leaves a path of destruction in the wake. In addition, if you are a business owner, do you really want to call out your valued clients as consumers?

Some will argue that much of the modern world are made up of those “consumers” who pillage through products, resources and otherwise. Ignorant. That is what I will call them. These are typically the same people who tell me technology is ruining our family bonding and social engagement. Bullshit. We are all humans on this earth striving for an improved life; whatever that may mean individually. I like to think that we are all on the same level intellectually, we are just separated by passion or drive to make things happen or get things done.

This may just come off as a semantic rant to some, but if we are to change what many of us view to be problems in our current economic and environmental condition, I strongly believe that it starts with perception. How we perceive our lives and our actions in this world is as important as an actual action in my opinion. This is why I think we need to reconsider our labels of the general purchasing public, i.e. ourselves.

I have written several times that I hate the word consumer. Last week, a friend of mine and a person I respect highly in regards of branding and design wrote me a message that he has been using the term “participants” to replace “consumers” and, in his words, it had been resonating very well with him. Without getting his opinion, I think my man Brian Oliva understands that as communication artists we have a responsibility of progressing the business world, or at the very least the communications industry, towards a better future. If we don’t progress and educate our peers down to our clients/potential clients then we essentially have no value, incapable of pushing new boundaries of our passions and businesses. Sounds pretty whack to me.

As a part of my daily/weekly/annual self-actualization, I try to find small to big methods in improving my surroundings. This week substituting my use of “participants” into all communications where you would typically find “consumers” will suffice as a decently sized check mark for improving professionally.

As my hipster friends will inform you, I am far from a proper hipster. While I have my own category of sweet tea available on the shelf, it certainly is not definable. As my friends and past lady friends will tell you, I have the best snowflake tattoo ever on my back. Super impressive. 4″x4″, located on the left shoulder. So sick. Holler ladies. This has allows me to have my own category, and thus, I can continue to write on the subject of the hipster as an unbiased outsider.

I found a nice opinion piece written by William Deresiewicz in the The New York Times this past week. My man William is well beyond my league in terms of education and intellectual man-processing. If we got into a heated Mixed Martial Arts exchange, he could most likely take a single word, spell it out loud, and that act alone would succinctly bludgeon my face.

The title of the piece “Generation Sell” is William’s explanation that the millennial generation is an entrepreneurial one. Over all, I could not agree more with the name of the op-ed article or the over all theme. My generation of millennials is a radical group fused of go-getters and creative business folk. To me, the millennials understand the business cycle better than any other generation. We/they/us understand how to market product, make it sexy, build substance behind the product, produce a quality product and tie it all together with a solid business strategy.

I think William missed a comes across very harsh on the millennials or as he puts it, “Generation Sell” later in the piece. Take these following quotes:

“The self today is an entrepreneurial self, a self that’s packaged to be sold.”

“The millennial affect is the affect of the salesman. Consider the other side of the equation, the Millennials’ characteristic social form. Here’s what I see around me, in the city and the culture: food carts, 20-somethings selling wallets made from recycled plastic bags, boutique pickle companies, techie start-ups, Kickstarter, urban-farming supply stores and bottled water that wants to save the planet.”

Perhaps I am misunderstanding Mr. Deresiewicz, but I feel that he is dramatically disconnected with the millennials, and specifically the hipster. When the fuck is being an entrepreneur an issue? Or selling a bad quality? Or especially wanting to save the planet an societal problem? I hop on ye ‘ol Facebook and Twitter universe everyday and I am constantly reminded what is right with the hipster. What I see are tweets and status updates of how the millennials are taking shit into their own hands. And this starts with business. From my perspective, my friends and colleagues are merging economics with fun with community. And, along with these daily status updates of awesome from my peers comes the personal pressure to step my game up to compete with them. You see, I want to be the better than the best. I think some of my friends feel the same way.

I was eating lunch yesterday with a colleague/friend and we were discussing ethics in business and how as of late, many top companies within their respective verticals were creating sustainable practices or more planet aware programs as a part of their business strategy. Why are companies feeling the pressure to implement such programs? Because the hipster entrepreneur is forcing them to do so with competitive products and business models. Companies like Nike and Pepsi are trying to find new ways to be sustainable because their hipster customers (not consumers, not a good word) are more educated about the social substance of products.

To be clear, I do not think William is a hipster hater or completely disagrees what the millennials bring to the table. However, I do not think Mr. Deresiewicz is truly considering where we are at as a society and as a planet. Recently, we have seen volatile economic conditions that have cost me many personal setbacks in starting my own ventures. I have personally failed only to rub dirt in the wound, pick myself up and attack life with the fury of a hungry mother-scratching hippo. And I probably have too many hipster peers and friends who have similar stories. If this is staying “too positive” or “too affable” than we are headed for better things as a country in my opinion. See you at the top ballers. Time for a shot of tequila.

-Tyler Browning

For those of you who may have missed the first installment, get caught up over here. With this being my second iteration on the Triple Bottom Line (3BL) business strategy, I intend to cover the issues surrounding the Triple Bottom Line strategy. The main point of contention from my perspective is that while this is certainly a feel good business approach, the reality may be that it is a very tough business model to implement.

Operating a true, Triple Bottom Line business requires a company to create weights or values to each of these 3 bottom lines of People, Profit, Planet. That is, financial officers and accountants must assign a value to the ‘People’ and ‘Planet’ lines just like the traditional financial bottom line of ‘Profit’. This obviously is a sticky point as a company must estimate how successful they truly are on the social and environmental side of the 3BL. While these efforts are very commendable, it is tough to attach a value to them. Also, the public and private companies depending on investors may have a hard time justifying the stated values to those potential investors. And would the investors agree with the valuation given to ‘People’ and ‘Planet’.

While I hope that this does not deter entrepreneurs or businesses from realizing a successful 3BL business strategy, it certainly gets these firms and individuals thinking about the great task of executing a Triple Bottom Line company. I also hope that businesses can think creatively about how to approach a Triple Bottom Line company. For example, can the ‘People’ and ‘Planet’ line items be positioned to be profitable in there own right? Something to seriously evaluate and researching in my opinion.

-Tyler Browning

Phew.

When I started to write this post, I had originally planned on discussing a brief overview of Triple Bottom Line. If you are unfamiliar with the Triple Bottom Line, it was originally coined by John Elkington in his 1998 book: Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. The idea behind the Triple Bottom Line (TBL or 3BL) is that companies measure success in 3 areas: People, Profit, Planet. Since the John Elkington’s book, many more have wrote, studied and built businesses on the premise that a company should be focused on a larger picture other than that of purely profit.

Now that I have partially exposed what I intend on writing, I fully intend on explaining my quandary. I have read multiple articles/papers/books on the subject of TBL prior. When I first thought about this first post, I wanted to provide a decent insight on the Triple Bottom Line and why I believe it is important to companies, regardless of revenue. After digging in further to the ethos of TBL and companies successfully embodying the approach of TBL; I realized that a single post does not justify proper, surface level education into the Triple Bottom Line approach. I would rather (attempt at the very least) provide insight to the goals of the TBL approach, companies whom are successful in implementing TBL practices and possible issues with the Triple Bottom Line business strategy. Instead of writing one post, that will most likely barely skim background/intentions/realizations of the TBL practice, I am gong to break it up into 3 posts. And, depending if that is not enough dive into niche areas of the business thought as I believe needed or pending feedback.

Back to the introduction of Triple Bottom Line if you are unfamiliar. Another very important visionary to the TBL business approach is Robert Rubinstein, creator of the Triple Bottom Line Investing concept. He is founder of the TBLI Group and TBLI Conference. Triple Bottom Line Investing is obviously the choice, the challenge and the opportunity of investing in sustainable businesses, ideas and brands. This is incredibly important to the goals of the TBL because Robert is attempting, in a large way, to influence powerful investors to consider investing their funds into businesses that build TBL into their products, operations and end goals.

I think this might be suffice for today. A quick final statement. I believe TBL is very important to the future of business. First and very most, consumers (and I hate that term) are much smarter than brands or investors sometimes give credit. More consumers today are investing in products that go beyond the purpose of the product. They are starting to base purchasing decisions based on how the product is made, who is making it, and where it is made. This at the very least proves that the Triple Bottom Line is relevant in our economy.
-Tyler Browning