Greetings!
It’s been an intense couple weeks on the industrial healing trail. In this note I’ll:
orient you on what this note is (and isn’t);
(a) share highlights and (b) key learnings from the Matereality Marathon;
invite you to a Matereality Mistressclass.
Bear with me – dynamic interconnectedness alert!
What is(n’t) this note?
A whole bunch of you just joined my mailing list (thank you!). And some of you have been along for a while yet I have managed to confuse you as things have evolved. So here’s a quick orientation.
This is a newsletter. You got it in your email (or clicked on a url someone shared). I send them (rather rarely) to anyone who has added their name to my mailing list. I post them all here.
I also have a blog on my website, but (as I explain the blog header) the vast majority of my writing is now published on Medium – and if you follow that link you’ll find a table of contents with all my articles (behind the paywall because not everyone can/wants to pay a monthly membership fee).
Along with the other pieces I publish (usually two to four each week) every Friday I publish a Medium Short (all of which are bundled here). This is a mini-accountability mechanism that helps me stay sorted; anyone can look over my shoulder.
Why am I telling you this? Partly so you can choose what you subscribe to and what you don’t. And partly because a few people mentioned to me recently that they had no idea I was publishing other stuff beyond this very rare little ditty. And because a handful of you are receiving a newsletter and a Medium Short in your inbox today (blame the Mistressclasses...) and may be wondering what the heck. So I hereby clarify, that’s the heck.
Matereality Marathon: what happened?
Okay so back in those heady early days of November 2022 (i.e. 12 days ago) I was rather arrogant in thinking I could just bang out a third Matereality assessment, this time on global food company Danone, as if it were any other week. As I announced on November 6, I set out on a five-day Matereality Marathon, creating the assessment live in the (virtual) public square.
Having learned from creating the Google and TDBank assessments (linked here), I wanted to take it up a notch, to be able to say with honesty, This is the kind of thing you have been paying consultants a lot for, but they haven’t been telling you what needs saying.
It was an intense experience. I didn’t realize what I was in for until I was in the liminal slurry (stop laughing at me, Butterfly!). I had to give myself an extension and take a full seven days. But I got it done and feel glad to have created the time and space to do it. I don’t know what if any impact this will have — please tell me if you know of anything that changes as a result. I sincerely hope there is something useful in there.
One friend (and fellow consultant...) private-messaged me saying, “Seriously, McKinsey et al would charge six figures for that!” Lucky for them I didn’t charge a dime and I made it open source. Feel free to let them know (also please tell them my tip jar is here).
What did I learn?
I kept a steady drumbeat of daily recaps, bundled in my Matereality + other expensive (yet free!) deliverables list on Medium. If you missed the action and want to double back, it’s all there, tired face on Day #4 and all.
I’ll lift two things up here that feel especially relevant to the way forward:
Creating an assessment this way felt like making art — not pretty art, and not necessarily great art either. But art in the sense of interpreting the world and creating something to reflect it back out. That might not make sense (although that may just be for lack of using all of our senses). Maybe follow the business model slides from 11-13 and see what your senses tell you?
Sometimes I felt like a jerk as I was doing this, saying some rather negative things to total strangers. The nerve of me! But then I was like... Wait… I’m not the multinational corporation earning billions while contributing to social and environmental degradation. I don’t have to apologize. I have to keep going! (And I really do think they need to talk to Cows, as explained on slides 22/23.)
Lots more I could say. I’m still regrouping if I’m honest. Plus this is getting long and I still have to tell you about the Mistressclasses!
Would you like to join a Matereality Mistressclass?
I make the Matereality methodology, approach, and findings as available as possible as I go along. I really do mean “open source” — I would be glad if others make use of what I’ve put out there in whatever way is meaningful.
And yet I know that learning alone with slides and links is not always the best way (!). I also received a lot of questions and requests for guidance. So I’m going to offer a couple Mistressclasses in the coming weeks to support others who want to dive into this way of understanding a company.
Wait: what is a Mistressclass?
Well, it’s certainly not a Masterclass! I can’t imagine anyone having mastered Matereality at this point since it’s brand new. (Also I like how the word “mistress” is just a pronunciation misstep away from “mischief” because I think we are going to need more mischief to break out of our current industrially harmful ways.)
In these sessions I will present the key points of the approach, and participants can ask questions and share thoughts. I am keeping these sessions small, charging a modest fee, and scheduling a couple to reach different time zones.
Click here: December 5, 5pm EST / December 6, 11am EST to find out more, reserve your spot, and/or share with others who might be interested.
This mischief is for you if...
... You are involved in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, assessing materiality, developing business models, or some combination of thereof. It’s also for you if you’re involved in sustainable business and/or impact investing but have felt like something wasn’t quite right.
I can't guarantee that you’ll come away with “answers” but I’m sure you’ll come away with renewed ideas about your role in an economy that works in service of life.
Can’t make those days, and/or want something a little more tailored to your needs? Find out more about my services here. Perhaps I can help — feel free to get in touch.
Deep bow of thanks as we cross the start line
Thank you again for those who handed me much needed refreshments during the five seven-day marathon by way of comments, questions, and ideas on Medium, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. It was amazing to see you along the way and better yet to meet you here at the finish.
Or, should I say... here at the start. Lots to do now.
Yours in connectedness,
Lorraine
