Book review - Net Positive by Paul Polman & Andrew Winston
I really enjoyed this book. Why? Because their vision for how businesses should be and the role businesses should play is aligned with mine. AND they come at it from a business perspective, with Paul showing how he actually implemented this vision within an established multi-national – Unilever. There’s so much practical advice about how to build a business that’s fully responsible for its activities and helps to tackle global challenges – so, if that’s what you’re aiming to do as a leader then this book is well worth a read.
The vision
Chapter 1 starts like this:
“Stores that sell fragile items like pottery or glassware may post a sign: “You break it, you own it””
And this is the premise of the book. A shareholder primacy model of capitalism, where businesses focus on financial metrics and don’t recognise their impact on people, the environment and society, has broken many things and most business aren’t currently taking responsibility. This needs to change. And then there’s the massive opportunity beyond that where businesses can play a role in helping to tackle global environmental and social challenges – and so move from having a negative impact on the world to being ‘net positive’.
This is the first core principle of a net positive company, as defined by the authors:
1. Ownership of all impacts and consequences, intended or not
Their other core principles are:
2. Operating for the long-term benefit of business and society
3. Creating positive returns for all stakeholders
4. Driving shareholder value as a result, not a goal
5. Partnering to drive systemic changes
The book goes into these in detail, giving tangible examples of what Unilever has done for each – this brings it to life and shows that it’s a do-able (if bold) vision, rather than a theoretical dream.
Rethinking value, defining purpose
How do you define value in your business? What’s valued? What’s measured? What successes are celebrated?
The authors talk about the importance of having a purpose, a reason why the business (or brand) exists. Knowing the difference you want to make motivates people, fuels innovation and engages external stakeholders. And this drives both impact and profit. Financial returns are an outcome – they’re not the reason for being.
There are some great examples of the impact purpose can have in the book – and how reconnecting with purpose was fundamental in turning around Unilever’s performance when Paul Polman became CEO.
Leaders who care
I’ve seen Paul Polman speak and he comes across as someone who cares. Cares about people and cares about the planet. Someone who wants to use his position to bring about positive change in the world and have a positive impact on people’s lives.
This shines through in the traits he and Andrew Winston say are crucial in a net positive leader:
- A sense of purpose, duty and service
- Empathy: a high level of compassion, humility, and humanity
- More courage
- The ability to inspire and show moral leadership
- Seeking transformative partnerships
For me, this is about responsibility, integrity, humility, bravery and being human. We need to lose the image of Alan Sugar as a great leader and businessman!
I want to comment on bravery. At the moment, this is about taking a new path and bucking the status quo. It’s hard to challenge the way business is done; it’s not easy when people question you and suggest you’ll fail; or when you’re told that you don’t ‘get’ the realities of business. That said, there’s a growing community of leaders showing that this approach does work – it makes a difference to the world, delivers financial results, a highly engaged workforce and a loyal customer base – all things that are the foundations of a long-term sustainable successful business.
I have a pencil mark against this sentence in the book:
“Never selfishly try to maintain the status quo at the expense of a thriving future”
This takes bravery and a leader who leaves their ego at the door.
Working within a system
What system are you thinking in? Your team or department? Your company? Your sector? Your country? The world?
Too often, businesses are focused internally on their own operations and internal problems. Once we’re focused on taking responsibility for the full impact of the business and have a purpose that goes beyond the business then we need to look outside. Looking outside enables us to understand and unpick problems, understand the role we as a business can play, build collaborations and enable change.
Thinking big
Once companies start looking at their full impact, they come across big problems outside their control. For example, human rights in the supply chain, technological packaging or recycling challenges, sustainable palm oil, labour laws.
‘Net positive’ leaders don’t shy away from challenges that might appear impossible. They collaborate to create solutions – with competitors, NGOs, communities, national and regional governments.
I like what the authors say about collaborating on things that are ‘pre-competitive’. Where a challenge is shared, then it makes sense for organisations to come together to tackle it. More diversity and shared resources should make it quicker and easier to succeed in addressing a problem that may have previously appeared insurmountable. It’s a win-win for everyone, including vulnerable people and the planet. Once the problem is addressed then businesses can continue to compete in terms of how they move forward – but, when it comes to being responsible for people and the planet, we should all be pooling our resources and sharing our learnings so all of us can do better quicker.
Conclusion
There are people who question what’s in the book. I’ve spoken to several people who’ve worked in and with Unilever and they’ve reflected that the things that are covered in the book are not perfectly implemented and embedded. There are also questions about the impact of Paul Polman leaving. And the share price has taken a tumble since late 2018/early 2019. Does this question the ideas described in this book? I don’t think so.
Becoming a ‘net positive’ business is a journey and it’s not always going to be easy – this is about transforming complex areas like business culture, supply chains, investor relations, governance.
But the traditional way of doing business isn’t sustainable – we can’t keep outsourcing the damage and closing our eyes and ears to it. The planet can’t take it and the way many workers and labourers have been treated is morally wrong – with increasing transparency, businesses are going to be held to account by employees, consumers, customers and investors.
What Paul Polman and Andrew Winston do in this book is paint a picture of a different way of doing business. And they go into practical detail about how this can be done. If you’re a business leader who wants to challenge the status quo and build a business which integrates responsibility and ‘doing good’ into its core then this book is well worth a read.
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