Google and Virgin have a 100-year plan. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development is working with its corporate members to develop a vision out to 2050. Aviva Investors are working with Forum for the Future to evolve a picture of what a sustainable economy could look like in 2040. China’s new 5-year plan focuses on sustainability a greater degree than in the past. These are just four of 50 individuals and initiatives, like fireflies in a jam jar, spotlighted by Volans and JWT in a new report, The Future Quotient: 50 Stars in Seriously Long-term Innovation.

2011 is a pivotal year, and this project is designed as a provocative input to 2012’s global discussions about sustainability. 2012 will be a year of reflection upon various milestones – including the fortieth anniversary of 1972’s Limits to Growth study, the twenty-fifth anniversary of 1987’s Brundtland Commission report, and the twentieth anniversary of the 1992 UN Earth Summit, the major summit in Rio de Janeiro focusing on the green economy and global governance.

The uncomfortable truth of the above, the authors argue, is that much of what currently passes for sustainability strategy in business is little more than a watered-down version of corporate citizenship—and more or less completely ignores the pivotal concept in the sustainability agenda: the interests and needs of future generations. How has this happened? Why do leaders get it so wrong? Their answer: Because system constraints mean that leaders cannot think sufficiently long-term while being locked, as most are, into existing systems of quarterly capital and political tenure.

Volans and JWT conducted a dipstick survey of 4,000 expert members of our global network, which showed an overwhelming belief that thinking and acting long-term will be increasingly important. Yet the overwhelming majority of respondents felt that our ability to think long-term—let alone intergenerationally—is weakening. 

But how would you measure your future-readiness? What is your Future Quotient? A key feature of the report is a new tool developed by MindTime Technologies, which links to a new online platform designed to test the future-readiness of individuals, teams and companies in relation to the sort of challenges that will be flagged in 2012. The report contains a link to a website where a very brief survey will help decision-makers.

A copy of the full report is available now upon request or at www.futurequotient.com from 17.00 BST on 12 October 2011.

Notes for editors:

About:

Volans

Founded in 2008, Volans aims 'to help the future take flight.' We are a future-focused think­-tank and consultancy business that works at the intersection of the entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, innovation and sustainability movements. We apply our thought leadership and our global networks across these three sectors to help innovators, investors, private sector and government leaders develop solutions to the challenges facing our world. The Future Quotient is our fifth publication (page 52). We are delighted to have JWT as a partner because of their history, their new Ethos offering – and because behavioral and culture change are now crucial. www.volans.com

JWT

JWT is the world’s best-known marketing communications brand and the world’s oldest advertising agency, bringing pioneering spirit to our clients ever since the mid-1860s. With more than 200 offices in over 90 countries employing nearly 10,000 marketing professionals, we are a truly global network. JWT Ethos is our specialist offering designed to help our clients’ brands prosper by making better forward-thinking decisions over social and environmental issues. With The Future Quotient, we urge business and brands to take up the responsibility and challenge that this presents. www.ethosjwt.com

Future Quotient (FQ)

A measure of the future-readiness—of individuals, teams, agencies, businesses, brands and beyond—to positively cope with and overcome the various complexities as a result of foreseeable and unforeseeable future changes in the economy, society and the environment. Feature articles/op-eds/thought pieces on FQ and the long-term view of the sustainability agenda are possible. Please contact Sam Lakha or Lisa Barrett. View Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Volans John Elkington's editorial series on The Future Quotient here.

Volans

Volans

Founded in 2008, Volans aims 'to help the future take flight.' We are a future‐focused think­‐tank and consultancy business that works at the intersection of the entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, innovation and sustainability movements. We apply our thought leadership and our global networks across these three sectors to help innovators, investors, private sector and government leaders develop solutions to the challenges facing our world. The Future Quotient is our fifth publication (page 52). We are delighted to have JWT as a partner because of their history, their new Ethos offering -- and because behavioral and culture change are now crucial.

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