{"id":2407,"date":"2017-04-20T05:00:36","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/industry\/blog\/uncategorized\/transformation-imperative-good-us\/"},"modified":"2023-05-31T16:45:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T23:45:19","slug":"transformation-imperative-good-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/retail\/2017\/04\/20\/transformation-imperative-good-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The Transformation Imperative: for the good of all of us"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span lang=\"EN\"><span>Whenever spring comes, I look at the transformation of nature before my eyes, and I can\u2019t help but think that we in the Western World have it all wrong. Nature teaches us the same lessons every year, and we can both see and hear those lessons, yet it feels as if we increasingly detach ourselves from those cycles. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN\"><span>We feel inclined to look at life as a linear event, minute after minute, day after day, year after year \u2013 when it really is circular! I recently read a book about the Chinese concept of time, which is circular;\u00a0where the present is always connected to the past, and I do earnestly believe that we need to learn from this school of thought. If we also consider that a lot of (too much!) food goes to waste and packaging material to landfill, why in the world are we still only talking about things, and not doing more? Is change really that hard for us? There\u2019s a hint in the circular\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN\"><span>A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accenture.com\/us-en\/insight-un-global-compact-ceo-study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent study<\/a><span> by Accenture of the UN Global Compact CEO\u2019s pointed to an emerging degree of optimism, when it comes to implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: in fact 9 of 10 CEO\u2019s believe that sustainability will have real impact in their industry. Interestingly, the same CEO\u2019s also are starting to feel a personal responsibility about what happens to the planet. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN\"><span>Microsoft\u2019s mission\u2014to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more\u2014aligns strongly with the United Nation\u2019s global agenda for sustainable development from 2015 through 2030. The UN General Assembly articulated that agenda in a set of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/sustainable-development-goals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)<\/a><span> \u201cseeking to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all\u201d. There is a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/about\/corporate-responsibility\/un-sdgs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">white paper<\/a><span> which shares our high-level vision for how the digital transformation of the global economy can and must address the key challenges underlying the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN\"><span>Information and data are the lifeblood of modern organizations. The more time workers in those organizations need to spend locating and understanding information, the more they will impede that organization\u2019s ability to compete, creating vicious circles instead of virtuous ones. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN\"><span>When I occasionally, like Alice, slip \u201cThrough the Looking Glass\u201d I hear the Queen again: \u201cNow, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!\u201d If we in the Consumer Goods space are to really have an impact on reducing waste and creating real impact for future generations, we need to \u201cstart running\u201d to transform. As digital transformation enables us to become more productive, we can, strangely enough free up time to do more of the things we love. And when we do things we love to do, we are happier, more creative and we deliver true innovation \u2013 we win, the planet wins and our children will inherit a better place to live in. <\/span><em><span>\u201cImagination is the only weapon in the war against reality\u201d <\/span><\/em><span>as Jules de Gautier, French philosopher once said. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN\"><span>Optimizing routine tasks to free up time to do the things that your organization cares deeply about can come much faster through accelerated digital transformation. We help consumer goods and retail companies every day to transform their business for a better tomorrow. To learn more, go <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise.microsoft.com\/en-us\/articles\/industries\/retail-and-consumer-goods\/driving-efficiency-and-sustainability-in-consumer-goods\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>LinkedIn: <\/span><\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nina-lund-70a42bb\/\">Nina Lund<\/a><br \/>\n<span> Twitter: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lund_nina\">@lund_nina<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft helps consumer goods and retail companies every day to transform their business for a better tomorrow. Find out more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"post_tag":[],"content-type":[1483],"coauthors":[1781],"class_list":["post-2407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retail","content-type-thought-leadership"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Transformation Imperative: for the good of all of us - Microsoft Industry Blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/retail\/2017\/04\/20\/transformation-imperative-good-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Transformation Imperative: for the good of all of us - Microsoft Industry Blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Microsoft helps consumer goods and retail companies every day to transform their business for a better tomorrow. 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