Impact Science Part II: Submerged Value

Robert K. Merton, the giant of modern sociology, coined the term the Law of Unanticipated Consequences. He identified two types of consequences: intended, or what he called ‘manifest’ consequences; and unintended, or ‘latent’ ones. Okay, but what does social theory have to do with sustainability? Hmmm. What if we told you that a huge portion of the…

INTELLIGENCE: The White Hats Must Lead

Intelligence, Issue #19.
A laser focus on what works: that’s what we need in our sustainability leaders. There’s no time for low-value actions. The powerful forces determined to hold the status quo on climate have found what works for them. We are the white hats and we must do the same. 
To win we need leaders using scientific rigor and method to find what is most likely to actually work, then to drive only those actions forward. We’re the posse and they have a head start. Finding what works is possible and nothing less will do.
Here’s my take on approaching sustainability projects and problems with rigor. Please let me know what you think.

Rigor Wins the Nobel Prize

From Valutus Sustainability R.O.I. #18 Rigor: Part 1 Consider that the first Econ laureates, in 1969, were recognized for “applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes.” In 1970 it was for, “static and dynamic economic theory.” A year later came, “empirically founded interpretation of economic growth,” followed closely by ‘economic equilibrium theory,’ ‘input-output’ method, the…