Think Like a Mother (Or: Why Stakeholder Capitalism is a Dangerous Concept)

Photo by Simon Rae

I’ve just given a short talk to a corporate audience at a daylong online conference. I was invited to help close out the day with some provocative thoughts. And still, it felt risky and brave.

Here’s the description of the session, as it was given to me:

This discussion will look ahead and try to imagine a world that has truly arrived at stakeholder capitalism at minimum, or a just and regenerative economy at best. Speakers will offer pathways to getting us there, along with suggestions for highly effective levers of change we need along the way.

Here’s what I said:

You’ve asked me to share some provocative thoughts to send people off at the end of the day, thoughts about pathways to stakeholder capitalism at a minimum and a just and regenerative economy at best. First I want to offer a little background about my own journey and the work I do now as a way to illustrate that pathway.

I started my career in brand strategy, working internationally for HJ Heinz and then for Coca-Cola. And I’ll tell you: it was deeply disillusioning. I felt that there was something really important missing in how we think about the relationship with customers and community. But I couldn’t put my finger on just what was missing, and…