As economic headwinds put pressure on sustainability and other social impact initiatives, reconciling profit and purpose is becoming increasingly challenging for teams. A study of a group of new ventures found that the likelihood of successfully meeting both goals was closely linked to the cognitive mindset of the transformation team. Those who took an either/or approach and chose to prioritize one goal in the near term were less successful than those who maintained a both/and mentality. Corporate sustainability is facing headwinds. Net-zero pledges are being quietly walked back. Regulatory pressure is loosening in some parts of the world. Shareholders are demanding stronger business cases. Inside companies, sustainability leaders sometimes spend more time defending their function than expanding it. The familiar question 'Where is the value'' has returned with a sharper edge, often accompanied by an implicit either/or framing: profit or purpose. In most organizations, sustainability...
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