No.0107：Sustainability - for our children and grandchildren
October 30,2022
Just this past Sunday was the third anniversary of my father's death. Since he passed away so suddenly, it was very difficult for me to take over the affairs of his relatives, his legacy, and his wishes.I felt that I should have checked with him more before his death. But the timing of the farewell was sudden and difficult to predict, so it could not be helped. At the very least, I should have kept in close communication with him as a daily basis, just as a professional baseball player does with his weight training. By doing so,
I probably would have been able to improve the accuracy of what my father would have thought.
Thus, in this article, I would like to mention the importance of succession from one person to another.The title of sustainability is often described in terms of three perspectives: environmental, social, and governance (ESG). As a simple and familiar example regarding the environment, if we continue to destroy the environment at the current rate, we may force our children and grandchildren to live an extremely uncomfortable life at the cost of our current comfort. As for society, treating employees like slaves by overworking them at low cost may come under increasing criticism over the medium to long term through social networking services, etc., and this may gradually make it difficult to attract new employees and hinder the operation of the business. As for governance, there are examples of short-term expediency leading to long-term crises, such as the case of an automobile manufacturer whose falsified quality test results became public knowledge, resulting in a loss of corporate image, loss of sales, and other crises that threatened the company's survival.
Earth is the only shareholder.
The above are the words of the founder of Patagonia, an apparel manufacturer. He recently made headlines by donating his entire Patagonia stake to an environmental organization. Also, Patagonia has been sending out messages that may stagnate their own sales, such as "Patagonia doesn't want you to shop too much, so please wear durable items for a long time while repairing them. Although the prices are a little high, I have long been a fan of Patagonia because of
the sense of nobility that comes with wearing Patagonia clothing, thanks to the coolness of its hidden beliefs.
Unfortunately, only a few companies have a long-term perspective like Patagonia. There are still many companies that are obsessed with meeting short-term quotas and overworking their employees. Short-term goals are essential for corporate management from the perspective of steadily turning plans into reality through rigorous implementation. Otherwise, the company may become a fluffy organization with only ideals and no reality. On the other hand, we do not want to be associated with a greedy, profit-driven approach that lacks a long-term direction. Not long ago, I would have been treated like a child for saying such a thing, but now that a sense of sustainability is being installed in the center of society, I feel comfortable with it.
Going back to the story about my father, he gave me the name Toru “ 暢". It means to take it easy. I often feel frustrated by the slow progress of my goals. This attitude of mine is extremely annoying to my family. Perhaps when my father was in the same situation as I am now, he got fed up with himself. That is why my father wanted me to be relaxed, easygoing, in harmony with my surroundings, and sustainable. After my father's death, I became convinced that my name was made with such father's wish in mind.
Thus, in this article, I would like to mention the importance of succession from one person to another.The title of sustainability is often described in terms of three perspectives: environmental, social, and governance (ESG). As a simple and familiar example regarding the environment, if we continue to destroy the environment at the current rate, we may force our children and grandchildren to live an extremely uncomfortable life at the cost of our current comfort. As for society, treating employees like slaves by overworking them at low cost may come under increasing criticism over the medium to long term through social networking services, etc., and this may gradually make it difficult to attract new employees and hinder the operation of the business. As for governance, there are examples of short-term expediency leading to long-term crises, such as the case of an automobile manufacturer whose falsified quality test results became public knowledge, resulting in a loss of corporate image, loss of sales, and other crises that threatened the company's survival.
Earth is the only shareholder.
Unfortunately, only a few companies have a long-term perspective like Patagonia. There are still many companies that are obsessed with meeting short-term quotas and overworking their employees. Short-term goals are essential for corporate management from the perspective of steadily turning plans into reality through rigorous implementation. Otherwise, the company may become a fluffy organization with only ideals and no reality. On the other hand, we do not want to be associated with a greedy, profit-driven approach that lacks a long-term direction. Not long ago, I would have been treated like a child for saying such a thing, but now that a sense of sustainability is being installed in the center of society, I feel comfortable with it.
Going back to the story about my father, he gave me the name Toru “ 暢". It means to take it easy. I often feel frustrated by the slow progress of my goals. This attitude of mine is extremely annoying to my family. Perhaps when my father was in the same situation as I am now, he got fed up with himself. That is why my father wanted me to be relaxed, easygoing, in harmony with my surroundings, and sustainable. After my father's death, I became convinced that my name was made with such father's wish in mind.