[Sigia-l] Book reccomendation

[Johndan Johnson-Eilola]

On Wednesday, September 3, 2003, at 05:02 PM, Listera wrote:

> "Johndan Johnson-Eilola" wrote:
>
>> By "disruptive" I think Sean's suggesting massive and sweeping change,
>> but certainly not chaotic, violent, or dehumanizing.
>
> Hmm. Many would consider the Industrial Revolution to be just that. So 
> the
> second part of "Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial 
> Revolution"
> is a bit problematic.

Right--that's why I wanted to clarify. I think the primary audience for 
Natural Capitalism was people more on the side of thinking that the 
industrial revolution was a good thing without being too concerned 
about the consequences. Or, at best, people who tend to consider 
environmental and community consequences separate from profit/loss 
statements. So although I'm much farther to the left of the main 
audience for the book, I did appreciate seeing how one could make 
arguments that expanded on a limited notion of "bottom line" thinking.

> So it all comes down to: does usability pay? :-)

Absolutely. Even if we *know* the world would be better with more 
effectively designed information spaces, ones that took into account 
not merely functionalist measures but broader understanding of human 
potential. But "a better world" doesn't hold as an argument for a lot 
of managers and stockholders. _Natural Capitalism_ is perhaps more 
useful as a strategy manual or playbook than a rhetorical argument for 
people who are already on the side of environmentalism.

- Johndan