The Lorax is one of my favourite kids books. Probably because it is all about short term vs long term thinking, environmental sustainability, and the small choices each of us can make to make a difference. All related of course, to the idea of strategic thinking.
This page in the book sums up the key message:
"I meant no harm, I most truly did not.
But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.
I biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.
I biggered my wagons. I biggered the loads
of the Thneeds I shipped out. I was shipping them forth
to the South! To the East! To the West! To the North!
I went right on biggering… selling more Thneeds.
And I biggered my money, which everyone needs."
One goal. At the expense of all others.
Power and opportunity exploited. Growth for the sake of growth.
A single personal goal of a single human at the expense of environmental, national, and possibly global goals. The poor Truffula trees, Brown Bar-ba-loots and Swomee-Swans!
Short-sightedness. Even selfishly, the Once-ler lost his business overnight after the last Truffula tree was chopped down.
He meant no harm, he most truly did not...
"I, the Once-ler, felt sad
as I watched them all go. [The Brown Bar-ba-loots who had to leave home to find food]
But business is business!
And business must grow
regardless of crummies in tummies, you know."
What we can learn from this book is - we can have simple, invisible, unconscious, yet completely destructive beliefs that drive our decision-making. The Once-ler's belief that business must grow blinded him to the harm he most truly did not mean to cause. It almost reads like his belief rendered him helpless to resist the temptation to cause harm! In the end he did take responsibility, but not until it was too late.
This is where long-term thinking, second-order effects and goal clarity come in. This is where explicit values which influence strategic decisions come in. This is where honest, realistic, eyes-wide-open assessment of context comes in. This is where courage to make the right decision in service of the right goals comes in.
Hard hitting for a kids book, huh?!
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