Our Theory Of Change

We’re all in this together

What are the recurring questions you think about as a business trying to do the right thing? Perhaps these:

  • Is it feasible for us, or for any business, to be part of the solution to the scary global challenges we face, rather than add to them?
  • How do we make sure we spend our time and effort on the right things?
  • What are the right practices to adopt — which make us more responsible and sustainable, and improve us commercially?

We’ve learned that the businesses the world needs to succeed have turned their worry into some form of action. Sometimes a little action, sometimes a lot. 

We’ve also learned that most actions businesses take to become more responsible are worthwhile and rational when viewed at the individual company level. However, when view collectively across a system which compels companies to compete on financial performance alone, diffuse and uncoordinated actions fail to deliver any real change. We think there’s a better way.  


We propose the Race To The Top as the only viable solution

We believe this awful, apparently inescapable Business As Usual to be The Problem. And catalysing a Race To The Top its only viable solution — that is, where businesses compete on the price and quality of their goods and services, as they do now, but also on how much more positively they can impact the world.

Closely related to this is the idea that real, demonstrable responsibility can — indeed must — become a driver of profitability, and irresponsibility must destroy profitability.  

One small step for a business…

…one giant leap for mankind?! Okay, there is more than one step: there are a number of small ones, for each company, issue by each issue. But to be honest, we really do see real giant leap potential!

We meet any business where they are and help them improve. Delivering various benefits to businesses from their very first engagement is critical to what we do. So we’ve worked hard to make the requirements for joining Responsible 100 simple and flexible.

Our test does not rely on scoring a certain number of points off a ledger or anything like that. Instead, we’ve devised logical, intuitive steps, whose logic, worth and relevance are apparent to anyone. They are detailed here.

What is really exciting is creating value for people and planet at the same time. And with each new step in the process that each participating business takes, our central hypothesis is further tested. Namely, that it is possible to catalyse the transformations in business that the world needs by creating and enabling any business to compete in a Race To The Top.

What is really exciting is creating value for people and planet at the same time. And with each new step in the process that each participating business takes, our central hypothesis is further tested. Namely, that it is possible to catalyse the transformations in business that the world needs by creating and enabling any business to compete in a Race To The Top.

Our features benefit businesses through…

Simple Steps

Working through our three-step process, to identify where you are, prioritise what to do next, and make change happen.

Trackable Progress

Using your “Responsibility Indicator” dashboard to track and support your progress in becoming more responsible.

Tailored Support

Receiving tailored business support and responsibility guidance from our experts across all relevant responsibility issues. 

Responsible 100 Badge

Using the Responsible 100 badge to demonstrate your commitment to responsible business to customers, suppliers and investors.

Shared Learning

Learning from other businesses and access to a range of ‘extras’ — from Responsible 100 and expert partner-led events to networking.

Normalising Imperfection

Normalising imperfection — and even ‘poor’ performance — and working across the entire workforce to change that.

Good for your business, good for the world

Benefits accrue for you as a business, as well as for society, nature and our shared future. 

Responsible 100 businesses are those the world needs to succeed because they demonstrate the willingness and ability to explain and justify everything they do. It is true accountability. Participation requirements, or the features and results of undertaking our steps, in combination, have extraordinary potential to create real change. We believe we can create a differentiation that hands critical power and agency to people – as consumers, employees and investors – to support the businesses the world needs to succeed, at the expense of those that we need to fail.

Our goal is that Responsible 100 businesses will be able to: 

  • Demonstrate they stand for honesty, openness, contribution and shared value
  • Eschew the cherry-picking of issues on which they wish to be held accountable, and which they don’t, or any other attempts to define responsibility on their own, narrow terms
  • Invite people in, to provide scrutiny and useful, actionable feedback on their policies and practices
  • Demonstrate optimal responsibility — i.e that they are investing in the most relevant issues, improving their overall responsibility performance as rapidly as possible — given their size, sector and particular circumstances
  • Avoid accusations of greenwash, or doing things which amount to pointless, ineffectual, inadequate or irrelevant ‘responsibility’
  • Help raise public expectations on all businesses that they prove they are optimal and sincere in their responsibility practices too
  • Help raise the floor in terms of minimum responsibility and honesty standards across business
  • Help raise the bar — and fire our imaginations — in terms of what businesses could one day achieve as forces for good in the world