A CEO Responds to a Spear Through the Heart
By Donella Meadows
–November 28, 1996–
About two years ago Ray Anderson was happily running his company, when he received what he calls a “spear through the heart.”
The company, Interface, makes carpet tiles — carpet you lay down in squares. In 21 years Anderson built up a business with 26 factories in six countries, customers in 110 countries, 5800 employees, and nearly [...]
Dear Folks: November 23, 1996
Dear Folks, Well, things have quieted down. They always do in November, when the world starts to freeze, we give up on the garden, we move the animals close to the house, we start lighting up woodstoves. Because of the short days, we can’t do morning chores till seven, and evening chores happen before five. That makes long, quiet nights, time [...]
Don’t be a Turkey on the Day After Thanksgiving
By Donella Meadows
–November 21, 1996–
Is there any kind of ad that CBS, NBC, and ABC won’t run?
Presumably yes — obscene ads, violent ads, ads for cigarettes and other lethal drugs. And, Kalle Lasn discovered when he tried to buy 30 seconds of air time, there’s another kind of unacceptable ad.
Open on a pink plastic pig, wiggling, grinning, and belching. The [...]
Not So Fast!
By Donella Meadows
–November 14, 1996–
Those of us who think the world needs saving — from environmental destruction, rapacious greed, decaying morals, drugs, crime, racism, whatever — keep very busy crusading for our favorite remedies. School vouchers. Carbon taxes. Campaign reform. The Endangered Species Act. A lower capital gains tax. Strong regulation. No regulation.
You know. That long list of mutually inconsistent [...]
The Character Issue
By Donella Meadows
–November 7, 1996–
Everyone breathes a sigh of relief when an election is over. This year my sigh is more heartfelt than usual. While one presidential contender was ranting about “character” and the other was studiously ignoring the subject, I was teaching an ethics course. The daily contradiction between real ethics and the rhetoric of the politicians was hard [...]
