It’s possible to apply scientific rigor to thorny issues such as the ‘glass ceiling,’ the lack of women reaching pinnacle positions of power.
There’s no doubt whatever about the problem. However, as Sloan Professor of Organization Studies Roberto Fernandez told MIT Management in August, “the glass ceiling, like dark matter in physics, cannot be observed. We know it’s there, but we’re not sure what’s causing it to endure.”
‘Close’ is – famously – only good in horseshoes. However, I’ve done enough valuation to know that hitting close to the mark on the right target – to paraphrase the late mathematician John Tukey – is better than a bullseye on the wrong one. There is value in approximate answers, as long as they’re answering the right questions.
As unlikely as it sounds, a single water droplet falling from only 15cm, “can light up 100 small LED light bulbs.” Though this technology is a few years away from market, it could be the next major renewable energy source.
The ‘hard part’ of science-based targets should be achieving them, not setting them. Our Science Based Target Setting & Tracking Tool was designed to reduce the time for target setting from weeks or months to a few hours. Most importantly, it makes it far more likely your organization will be willing to set SBTs.
Over the years, when working to drill down on sustainability, we’d reach into the toolbox…but the right tools weren’t there. Accordingly, Valutus set out to create tools that were scalable and could be applied to almost any company’s sustainability work, to help them drill powerfully through those barriers.
In a world where many live in scarcity, one commodity – blame – is always in available in abundance. We expect climate-change blame to be in overdrive before 2020 is done, with activists, governments, and deniers alike howling for relief.
We’ve developed a tool to help companies select science-based targets and plan for their achievement. It also demonstrates the value of starting quickly. Every year of delay comes with significant cost. You’ll have to go faster and may run into the organizational equivalent of getting pulled over for speeding.
Our roads and cities rise as our sand levels fall with 50 billion tons of sand harvested annually – not from deserts but from vulnerable riverbeds and beaches – all so we can make the most ubiquitous mixed material in the world: concrete.
Two tipping points are competing to determine our future. The first is visible and physical – melting glaciers, flooded cities, and sunken islands. The second is a social tipping point – subtler, less dramatic and less observable, but just as real: melting resistance to engaging in sustainability, and a rising tide of climate action. Here’s our method for ensuring the second one wins.
A simple, compact, and low-maintenance living agent that can do the work of a small forest – harvest CO2, fix nitrogen, pull many other toxins from the air and, crucially, give off oxygen – could transform the air quality in cities right where the worst pollution is found. As it happens, moss is does all of that and more.
