Forty (birthday poem)

Every year (since I turned 34) I've written a poem on my birthday. Here's what I wrote yesterday.

FORTY
By Wayne Visser

What a year! Oh, what a year!
Around the block, around the bend
Around the world and back again
In time for snow and Christmas cheer!

What I’ve seen! Oh, what I’ve seen!
The fire’s strong, the fire’s bright
I chased the sun, I braved the night
I woke the muse and lived the dream!

What a time! Oh, what a time!
Of meeting minds, of meeting fears
Of random walks and World Cup cheers
I searched for reason, found my rhyme!

What a find! Oh, what a find!
To look beyond, to look within
To see a place I could begin
To leave the phantom past behind!

What a day! Oh, what a day!
When snowflakes dance with naked trees
When moonboats sail on tranquil seas
Our dreams are young and love’s at play!

What a joy! Oh, what a joy!
To be so loved, to be so blessed
To still be on life’s sacred quest
I’m all grown up, yet still a boy!

What a life! What paths I tread!
Through valleys low, to mountain peaks
With flowing words through hidden creeks
I’m forty, with the best ahead!

The Age of Responsibility: New Journal Article Published

I am delighted with this new article of mine, just published in the Journal of Business Systems, Governance and Ethics and available online. It distils the message of my forthcoming book of the same title. Here is the abstract:

This paper argues that CSR, as a business, governance and ethics system, has failed. This assumes that success or failure is measured in terms of the net impact (positive or negative) of business on society and the environment. The paper contends that a different kind of CSR is needed if we are to reverse the current direction of many of the world’s most pressing social, environmental and ethical trends. The first part of the paper reviews business’s historical progress over the Ages and Stages of CSR: moving through the Ages of Greed, Philanthropy, Marketing and Management, using defensive, charitable, promotional and strategic CSR approaches respectively. The second part of the paper examines the Three Curses of Modern CSR (incremental, peripheral and uneconomic), before exploring what CSR might look like in an emerging Age of Responsibility. This new CSR – called systemic or radical CSR, or CSR 2.0 – is based on five principles (creativity, scalability, responsiveness, glocality and circularity) and forms the basis for a new DNA model of responsible business, built around the four elements of value creation, good governance, societal contribution and environmental integrity.

Reference

Visser, W. (2010) The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business, Journal of Business Systems, Governance and Ethics 5(3): 7-22. November, Special Issue on Responsibility for Social and Environmental Issues.