We Can Still Learn from History – A Tale of Trail-Blazers

What is it about?

The ongoing sustainability revolution not only shares similarities with the quality movement of the 1970s and 1980s but is essentially a continuation of it. Similarities can be found in particular with Japanese quality guru Genichi Taguchi’s idea of a moral dimension of quality. In concordance with previous megatrends, the major benefit of the sustainability revolution will be reaped by countries and companies running ahead of the curve. To stay ahead of the curve, companies need to move from reacting to upcoming environmental challenges and demands to anticipating them. They should start their search for solutions before political and consumer response, and at best at some point between discovery and demands for response. In the worst case, companies risk their products becoming outdated prematurely due to changing consumer preferences or environmental requirements. On the other hand, forerunners can use their first-mover advantage and actually shape the future, instead of just anticipating it. I call this trailblazer dependency. By showing example, the first-movers are opening a trail for late-comers follow. No prediction of future is needed as the future is made.

Featured Image

Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

Why is it important?

I show how we can use historical research for better insights into the future. I provide two hope igniting success stories from the past, to counteract the prevailing doom associated with the Anthropocene. Thus providing some belief that we can do something about our current environmental problems, and that it is worth doing something

Perspectives