Andrew Winston

“Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take” (2021)

Runaway climate change and rampant inequality are ravaging the world and costing a fortune. Who will help lead us to a better future? Business. These massive dual challenges—and other profound shifts, such as pandemics, resource pressures, and shrinking biodiversity—threaten our very existence. Other megatrends, such as the push for a clean economy and the unprecedented focus on diversity and inclusion, offer exciting new opportunities to heal the world, and prosper by doing so. Government cannot do this alone. Business must step up. In this seminal book, former Unilever CEO Paul Polman and sustainable business guru Andrew Winston explode fifty years of corporate dogma. They reveal, for the first time, key lessons from Unilever and other pioneering companies around the world about how you can profit by fixing the world's problems instead of creating them. To thrive today and tomorrow, they argue, companies must become "net positive"—giving more to the world than they take. A net positive company: Improves the lives of everyone it touches, from customers and suppliers to employees and communities, greatly increasing long-term shareholder returns in the process. Takes ownership of all the social and environmental impacts its business model creates. This in turn provides opportunities for innovation, savings, and building a more humane, connected, and purpose-driven culture. Partners with competitors, civil society, and governments to drive transformative change that no single group or enterprise could deliver alone. This is no utopian fantasy. Courageous leaders are already making it real—and the stakes couldn't be higher. With bold vision and compelling stories, Net Positive sets out the principles and practices that will deliver the scale of change and transformation the world so desperately needs. Join the movement now at netpositive.world

“The Big Pivot: Radically Practical Strategies for a Hotter, Scarcer, and More Open World” (2014)

“Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage” (2009)

From the Publishers Weekly review: "Two experts from Yale tackle the business wake-up-call du jour-environmental responsibility-from every angle in this thorough, earnest guidebook: pragmatically, passionately, financially and historically. Though "no company the authors know of is on a truly long-term sustainable course," Esty and Winston label the forward-thinking, green-friendly (or at least green-acquainted) companies WaveMakers and set out to assess honestly their path toward environmental responsibility, and its impact on a company's bottom line, customers, suppliers and reputation. Following the evolution of business attitudes toward environmental concerns, Esty and Winston offer a series of fascinating plays by corporations such as Wal-Mart, GE and Chiquita (Banana), the bad guys who made good, and the good guys-watchdogs and industry associations, mostly-working behind the scenes. A vast number of topics huddle beneath the umbrella of threats to the earth, and many get a thorough analysis here: from global warming to electronic waste "take-back" legislation to subsidizing sustainable seafood. For the responsible business leader, this volume provides plenty of (organic) food for thought. "

“Green Recovery: Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge from the Downturn on Top” (2008)

When the economy turns rough, many companies sideline their green business initiatives. That's a big mistake. In Green Recovery, Andrew Winston shows that no company can afford to wait for the downturn to ease before going green.Green initiatives ratchet up your company's resource efficiency, creativity, and employee motivation. They save energy, waste, and money, preserving precious capital-and give precise focus to your innovation efforts and strategic priorities.Part manifesto and part how-to guide, this concise and engaging book provides a road map for using green initiatives to deliver short-term gains and position your company for long-term strategic growth. You'll discover how to:-Get lean: Amp up your energy and resource efficiency to survive tough times-Get smart: Use environmental data about products and supply chains for competitive advantage-Get creative: Rejuvenate your innovation efforts by asking heretical questions such as "How might we operate with no fossil fuels?"-Get going: Engage and excite employees to solve the company's, the customer's, and the world's environmental challengesGreen Recovery is your guide to establishing your competitive positioning in difficult times and emerging even stronger into a vastly changed economy.