Decades ago, a famous military strategist explained the strategic importance of benefiting others — and the disadvantage of being seen as acting only in your own interest.
People often think sustainability’s idea of benefitting others, in addition to ourselves and our own business’s interests, is “soft.”
But as a famous fighter pilot explained decades ago, the truth is the opposite.
On LinkedIn this week, I wrote about US Air Force pilot Colonel John Boyd, who is said to have never lost a dogfight — even when starting at a disadvantage — and had a pioneering perspective on decision-making.
Boyd is best known for his concept of the OODA (Observe – Orient – Decide – Act) loop for decision-making — a framework that emphasizes the importance of rapid response times in dynamic environments, which has become a cornerstone of present-day military strategy. The OODA loop provides great insights for sustainability professionals on improving responsiveness and adaptability in the face of challenges (which I cover in more depth in my LinkedIn post) — in other words, the essence of resilience.
However, less well known — but just as pertinent to our current moment — is something else he said: In A Discourse on Winning and Losing — a book compiling a series of briefings he wrote on the importance of OODA loops in military strategy and maneuver warfare — Boyd listed three strategies for isolating opponents. The third one was extremely relevant for sustainability professionals, and it shows that benefiting others is of key strategic importance — while being seen as acting only in your own interest is a real disadvantage.
As Boyd wrote:
“Morally, our adversaries isolate themselves when they visibly improve their well-being to the detriment of others … by violating codes of conduct or behavior patterns that they profess to uphold or others expect them to uphold.”
In other words, decades ago, a prominent military strategist recognized just how important it is to benefit others and to meet expectations for standards and behavior.
Just like sustainability professionals have been trying to remind us for years.
Daniel Aronson is the founder of Valutus, which specializes in creating value through sustainability and responsibility, the creator of the Value of Values™ Model, and the author of the book The Value of Values (MIT Press, February 6, 2024). He has helped clients identify and quantify over $2 billion in sustainability-driven business value.
Daniel coined the term “submerged value” and created the first set of tools for dramatically accelerating double materiality (Materiality Science™).
He has guest lectured at Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan’s Sustainability Lab and has written or been featured in over 100 articles and publications.
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