As I’m sure most you reading this blog know, stakeholder engagement is a good idea.
But as we also know, many companies are still not very good at it.
It’s an art, and a bit of a science. (all processes must be managed somehow)
For a big picture ‘business case’ for engagement, you needn’t look any further than this article from Foreign Policy by Stephen Walt, a professor at Harvard.
It’s called: “Where Do Bad Ideas Come From? And why don’t they go away?“.
It’s a fabulous and short(ish) summary of mistakes repeated in foreign policy, and why/how they happened, and continue to happen. It also looks at why we don’t seem to learn from the past, using a half century of global politics and conflict to make the point.
It’s conclusion? That: “Vigorous, unfettered, yet civil debate remains the most reliable mechanism for acquiring greater wisdom for the future”.
You may not want to read the whole article now I have given the ending away, but I think it would be worth it if you did. Perhaps give it to your CEO too.
I'm Tobias Webb, founder of Innovation Forum and Sustainable Wine. I write on this blog, with others, about areas of interest to me in supply chains, circular economy and sustainability in general. I hope you find it useful. I've worked in sustainability for about 20 years, and work with large companies, NGOs and governments all over the world. I often act as facilitator, at our conferences, and other meetings, either private or multi-stakeholder. I also work as a 'critical friend' advisor to companies on strategy and stakeholder engagement. I have a separate wine website on sustainability in wine at 
