Dansk
Big changes require not only lofty visions, but also the will to bring them to life in the real world. When that fails, powerlessness prevails - for citizens and employees alike.
In January, DR released its annual media report.
It showed that more and more people are suffering from so-called "news-avoidance". Many people simply avoid the news because it makes them feel depressed and powerless.
The question is whether the phenomenon risks spreading. Could it be, for example, that at some point we as citizens or companies mentally log out of the climate fight because we feel powerless?
That would be really bad. Especially if our many small and medium-sized companies end up in that ditch. Because their solutions are crucial to solving the green crises. Fortunately, the business potential of sustainability is huge. It continues to drive optimism forward.
But at the same time, I'm often left with a sense of powerlessness lurking beneath the surface. How can our small business make a difference on a large scale? Perhaps one of the reasons is that the green agenda in business often takes place in a theoretical air bridge between RUC and the accounting industry.
Our talented universities provide invaluable research, which skilled consultancies translate into important analysis and recommendations for businesses. The question is, are we focusing enough on the engine room and the ability to act? On the part of the chain where concrete solutions are born, refined and scaled. Where we actually do something.
I recognize the trend from my own world: the strategy development industry.
Here, the air bridge is typically between CBS and a strategy consultant who is hired by a company's management to help with the strategy - but who does not always understand the reality of the business and therefore does not always manage to translate the high-flying strategies into concrete solutions on the production floor.
When this happens, employee apathy grows. The colorful posters with great visions are quickly forgotten - and perhaps employees' trust in management is even shattered. After all, what are employees supposed to do with all the fancy words and clever slogans in their everyday lives?
If we are to succeed in making the necessary changes, we must be able to translate high-flying visions into down-to-earth action. Otherwise, we leave ourselves and those around us feeling powerless and frustrated.
Conversely. When we each feel we can contribute to a meaningful goal, we can create incredible change in record time.
One of the best proofs can be found in the higher altitudes. It took us humans a long time to build the first airplane. But from the Wright brothers cracking the code in 1903, it was only 25 years before Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic. And just over 40 years later, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.
It was not only a result of vision and daring. It was just as much a result of will, craftsmanship and drive. This is how visions become reality.
This column is published on Jyllands-Postens Finance and in Jyllands-Posten, Business on May 1, 2023.
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