Abstract

Sustainability today is very different from what it meant only a few years ago. We have crossed at least four planetary boundaries and are facing severe shortfalls in our social foundations. The Earth has entered a new geological epoch called “Anthropocene”. Today, investors, customers, and other groups in and beyond a business ecosystem are increasingly demanding that companies manage their impacts and make effective contributions to sustainable development. A typology of three strategizing mindsets will help corporate leaders to make business sense of sustainability. In Strategizing-as-Usual, sustainability is seen as an unfolding market shift much like any other business opportunity or threat. With a Sustainable Strategizing 1.0 mindset, executives pro-actively seek to create win-win situations between economic and social or ecological performance. Leaders following a Sustainable Strategizing 2.0 mindset consider socio-ecological future fitness as a prerequisite for economic future fitness and ask “What can my business do for sustainability?”. They follow a societal purpose and seek to achieve positive systems impact through a variety of levers. Strategists need to be aware of and reflect their own strategizing mindset before they make strategic decisions toward a thriving future for both business and society.