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Bacon everywhere. Zombie mania. Airline biofuel. Silent dance parties. The Wal-Mart Effect. What do all these things have in common? They’ve been cited as phenomena to watch in 2010. It’s that time of year again, when the annual explosion of New Year trends forecasts (and belated end of year reviews) hits us with full force. With so much to reflect on, yet more to anticipate, and none of it pointing to a clear path ahead, how do we even begin to evolve our newly outdated worldviews? A quick look at some of the (largely) green-focused standouts from the trends report literature gives us a feel for the huge array of forges and fallouts of the sustainability landscape at the turn of the decade: What does it all mean for how we conduct our businesses and plan our sustainability marketing for the coming year? We can’t do “the answer” justice in a blog entry, but we can promise forthcoming 2010 insights which can put this proliferation of trends in context and offer some strategies for how to act in light of new cultural, regulatory, and extra-governmental exigencies. Until then, let this serve as an acting “insight”: the principles of good business remain, as they ever were, at the nexus of value and values, and they transcend the trends of year-to-year. In the race to define and predict the New World Order, there’s a tendency to overlook the humble truths that defy change. Yet often it’s in those small patches of imperishable reality where we find what is most important and most relevant to the course ahead. Lincoln called such changeless truths an ‘ancient faith.’ And business has one, too: Trust and profit follow leaders who solve problems, and longevity requires a long-term view. Those are truths you can take to the bank no matter what decade you’re living in. And regardless of the Fed’s decrees, you can bet it will always be a high interest account.
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