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Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model
Of value to business people, environmentalists, and educators alike, Mid-Course Correction is a business book about the environment that's written from a personal perspective. With passion and pride, Ray Anderson, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of one of the world's largest interior furnishings companies, recounts his awakening to the importance of environmental issues and outlines the steps his petroleum-dependent company, Atlanta-based Interface, Inc., is taking in its quest to become a sustainable enterprise - one that will never have to take another drop of oil from the earth.
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 4, 2009
Is it possible to run a billion dollar company and try to make it work with sustainable development principles? You usually read about it in books written by scientists or sociologists, but here, it is written by the CEO of one of such companies. So here is the proof that you can both make profit AND try (and manage) to do good for the environment.
Ray Anderson gives his vision of a sustainable industry, and shares the ideas that he and his employees have looked into so far to make Interface Inc. converge towards one of them. He tells us: here is where we were, here is where we want to go, here is how we are going to do it, and here is where we are so far.
He gets it, and Interface Inc. gets it. You can get it too by applying some of these principles to your own company... Great book!
Ray Anderson gives his vision of a sustainable industry, and shares the ideas that he and his employees have looked into so far to make Interface Inc. converge towards one of them. He tells us: here is where we were, here is where we want to go, here is how we are going to do it, and here is where we are so far.
He gets it, and Interface Inc. gets it. You can get it too by applying some of these principles to your own company... Great book!
October 19, 2008
This is more or less a reiteration of other writers' ideas for addressing sustainability issues. He does show that organizations that adopt sustainable practices experience higher profitability. He does not discuss specific examples of actions taken to reduce reliance on raw materials, which would have made his story more effective.
If anything, the book provides a useful "to-read" list for existing information about sustainability. Read Hawken's "Ecology of Commerce" instead.
If anything, the book provides a useful "to-read" list for existing information about sustainability. Read Hawken's "Ecology of Commerce" instead.
February 11, 2020
Ray walks us through his journey to improve his company with sustainability at the center
February 1, 2024
Sus, technology/innovation as the only solution. Regulation as bad, and the rest of the book just copies ideas straight from The Ecology of Commerce by Hawken. This guy is an ATLien?
August 2, 2011
Anderson’s book recounts his personal experience as founder and CEO of the carpet company Interface. He recounts the process of transforming the company from a profit-driven company to one heavily focused on reducing waste. The book explains his realization of the environmental harm his company was doing, and provides a tangible and inspiring example of how corporations can dramatically change the sustainability of their practices.
October 12, 2008
There is much to be learned from this book, but its author is a carpet tile CEO- dry cheeseball. It's better when he cites the big players in the environmental movement and the next industrial revolution instead of the rise of his company.Might not finish this- I want to read Paul Hawken's "The Commerce of Ecology" instead.
November 18, 2008
Ray Anderson has evolved from determined entrepreneur to sustainability-minded philosopher. I had the pleasure of spending a weekend with him at a workshop sponsored by his company, Interface Carpet. This book has been a great inspiration and educational tool for me as I work to build sustainability thinking into my own company's culture.
January 19, 2016
Ray Anderson is a great example of a leader who gets it: get a head of regulation, cause it's gonna happen, by becoming a leader in the new industrial revolution that reduces impact (near to zero) and has goals of adding more than they take. Social justice issues also become addressed which is fantastic for a just sustainability. I recommend this book, and many of those that Ray cites.
October 12, 2007
Interesting facts about what went on for Interface to become a sustainable company. A rough model for other companies along with some inspirational stories. Good for thinking about sustainable design from a top-down managerial aspect.
May 12, 2008
While Mr. Anderson cannot be said to be a good writer, this doesn't detract from the importance of his book, which serves as an inspiration and course of action for business executives and entrepreneurs to take seriously the care of our environment and averting climate change.
October 4, 2010
Worth reading. CEO has an ephiphany about how humans are plundering the planet Earth's resources and does a "mid-course correction" by trying to get his company (carpet manufacturing) to zero waste.
February 23, 2013
To understand the importance of this book, all you need to do is conduct a simple thought experiment. Imagine what the world would be like if the largest 10,000 corporations all followed the path that Ray Anderson and Interface have blazed.
May 27, 2008
I am about a third of the way through this book and it is very, very thought provoking.
September 1, 2008
Ray Anderson's story is exciting and really encouraging. It's proof that it is never too late to make a difference.
February 14, 2019
I am honored to have met Ray C. Anderson before he passed and I feel a bit guilty that it took me so long to read this. The most astonishing thing about this book is that it was written in the late 1990s and it feels completely relevant to today. In fact, it sounds like it was written now instead of 20 years ago. That is how much of a visionary Ray was. This book is a combination of business primer, sustainability how-to and strong message of faith and how it shaped Ray's life and business journey. Anyone interested in business should read this because if you aren't thinking how to innovate your business to be sustainable then you might want to go ahead and start planning on how to shut the company down. There is no more in a couple of years thinking for your business. The time has arrived to start thinking how can my company be resilient and lighten it's impact on the planet. Your customers want you to lead on this and in a resource constrained world you will have to make adjustments to find new ways to use less virgin resources and more reused content.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews