John Elkington, the thought leader on CSR and sustainability strategist, in his keynote speech at the ASEAN Next-Gen CSR Forum, described CSR as the "art of the possible", stressing that we should constantly push the agenda and find breakthroughs to achieving a new way of doing business.   

The keynote speaker said that we should not be limited by what is possible in today’s context, but instead have a bold vision for achieving what is seemingly impossible.

The keynote speaker, who also works with large corporations at C-Suite level said of the need for C-Suites to step up and engage more.  He referred to examples of visionary business leaders who have embraced the CSR agenda and helped to transform their businesses into truly sustainable organisations.

Among them was the founder of Interface, the late Ray Anderson.  Anderson was seen as ‘crazy’ by many when he first declared “Mission Zero”.  The mission is to eliminate any negative impact the business may have on the environment.  The measure proved to be better for the business.

Addressing a question from a participant, John Elkington expressed concern that CSR and related concepts such as the “Creating Shared Value” are becoming widely misunderstood and misinterpreted as they gain popularity.  This leads to companies practising it the wrong way and create doubt on its value.