Strategy is an interesting idea. I have wondered for a long time what is the divide – between strategy and strategy execution, between management and staff, between mission and processes, between budget and actual, between shareholders and the people who make up the corporation. And so on. I wonder if anyone notices that life is real time. And that every moment isn’t at all repeatable. What is then the pragmatic or doable strategy to navigate this reality? I come down to consistency. Every living moment is then an embodiment of your entire reason or purpose of existence – mission, vision, strategy, strategy execution, enterprise performance management, enterprise resource planning & processing. It is an integration of all that you are. What then is this snapshot or point of coherence that is at once meaningful, harmonious and fruitful for each of the member of the common participation – be it in an enterprise, a corporation, an organisation, a community? That to me is the deep meaning of purpose. And since everyone is a human person, I would dare venture that ultimately, it is about cultivating, scaffolding, and growing humanity. And the process is about patience and inner patience. And a word that is so seldom breathed in corporate circles: love.

It was very strange. I almost got confused between strategy and sustainability. Perhaps there really isn’t any difference. The strategy, any strategy, afterall, ultimately, is to sustain, isn’t it? If you don’t sustain, you are out of a business, a job, a mission, an application of an idea or purpose or reason, and well, maybe, a planet. So, I find it quite intriguing that we spend so much and so much time about processes, or even markets, when actually the smart question, or the only question, is about transformation towards collective sustainability. How do you transform in order to sustain the whole, so that the part still has a part to participate in?  So isn’t sustainability about the earth, people collaborating, cooperating and sharing and discovering greatness – within and for the whole. It is the simultaneity of the two, the parts and the whole. It is about understanding, appreciating, and enabling our individual and collective roles and responsibilities to come to a point of recognition that resolving this paradox is simply this: the part is the whole. That I am a part of you and that you are a part of me. That, in fact, “I” am “you” and “you” are “me”. That it is not possible to defeat the other without defeating ourselves. That it is only possible to sustain the other, in order to sustain ourselves. So, sustainability comes down to this. To take care of the other, as we would, ourselves. We make so many jigsaw puzzles, cutting the one picture into so many parts, but the picture is right under our noses. It is the divides that divide us; however, we cut it. Supposing we focus on bridging the separations. Separations are the most difficult to bridge. That’s why the gap has arisen in the first place. But suppose we say to ourselves, “Let’s bridge the islands.” What happens? We sustain. We don’t break or fall apart.

The enterprise risk management framework is reduced to this acronym GRRRTAL. Yes it is a frustrating exercise but well worth the self-examination, facilitation and timely responses. In short, it is about:

G – Goals

3Rs – Risk Appetite, Risk Categories, Rank Risks

4Ts – Tolerate, Transfer, Treat, Terminate

A – Take Action

L – Learning

Again, it isn’t a legalistic, checklist exercise. It is truly knowing what you and your business, enterprise, organisation, community is about, and coming together to discuss areas of vulnerabilities. Most importantly, it is about learning, to live in community – with compassion, resilience, tenacity, and openness.

I don’t know why, but I begin with Corporate Governance. Governance isn’t at all about legalism. It is about culture. I hold just three principles amidst navigating all the codes. It is this:

1. Integrity
2. Competence
3. Trust.

And it is held by every single person in the organisation, corporately structured or otherwise. It is held by each person in the community as an internal value. That is actually the deep work. No amount of auditing and disclosure can uphold governance. It has to be intrinsic in every individual participating in the space.

Nevertheless, the trend is encouraging. The scaffolding in a direction towards global corporate responsibility is heartwarming to observe, witness, and participate in.