The Future Workplace

A Unique Time in History

Perhaps workers of every generation believed that they lived in a unique time in history. However Dr. Izzo is confident that current business choices and decisions will affect life on earth for many years to come. He believes that humanity faces two great hurdles to securing our future survival. The first is our ability to learn to work and to live in a balanced relationship with the earth. And the second hurdle is to conduct our work and our lives in a way that protects each other and maintains harmony across cultures.

Since high school, John has been involved in efforts to preserve “wild spaces” and help others understand the ‘miracle’ which is life on our planet. “From when I was very young, I remember being deeply concerned about humanity’s relationship with the planet. I have always believed all of life to be sacred: how can we treat the earth – the largest living thing – carelessly? We need to stop thinking of the earth as something for our immediate use and instead consider the earth, its spaces and resources as unique and miraculous extensions of life. An aboriginal elder once told me, “Humans are not the highest in the chain of life, only the most vulnerable.”

A new awareness is growing around the globe: the awareness that we are dependent on this web of life for our future. Scientists tell us we may have less than ten to twenty years to change our paradigm. In the last hundred years of human history, individuals and business have used the resources of the earth in an irresponsible and unsustainable manner. John says, “The issue of ecology in business is a multi-faceted problem: more than technological solutions are required. Ecology in business is about earning profit while making respectful decisions about the environment and on the impact on humans, individually and collectively.”

Izzo believes that we are on the brink of a major mind shift. “To create a different future, we need a different mindset, where we recognize our common destiny with the earth and all living things as well as a common bond across boundaries of race and creed. I am optimistic that workplaces can lead their employees in making this shift and that this time in history requires each of us, individually and collectively, to aid this cause. My step-father fought on D-Day in Normandy because it was the call of his generation. These are the calls of our century: to mend our relationship with earth and to embrace our common destiny as humans.” This is the work of our time. John can help your business and your employees lead the way.