Mattia Vettorello
The Perspective Circle is introduced as a comprehensive tool for analysing stakeholder impacts, fostering discussions on trade-offs, and enhancing engagement with different groups. Its effectiveness is amplified in team settings and workshops, where it acts as a visual aid to facilitate communication and evaluation of decision rationales. The workshop introduces the five steps to sustainable decision-making with the Perspective Circle: hypothesis, stakeholders, hats, trade-off, and sustainable decision.
In the current corporate landscape, sustainability represents a shift in fundamental values and practices. This shift touches upon various aspects, including organisational culture, leadership, governance structures, and skill sets, with a particular focus on revolutionising decision-making processes. Traditional decision-making has predominantly favoured profit maximisation, neglecting the broader interests of stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, society, and the environment. This narrow focus poses a significant challenge in adopting a more inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach to decision-making.
The Perspective Circle is presented as an alternative to the conventional method of substituting stakeholders with internal proxies. The concept of perspective-taking, which involves decision-makers adopting the viewpoints of various stakeholders, has been beneficial in areas such as negotiation, innovation, and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Its application in sustainability can enhance decision-making by considering the potential impacts on all stakeholders, balancing trade-offs, and minimising negative externalities.
KEYWORDS: Decision-making, systemic design, holistic diagnosis, ecosystem, multistakeholder, perspective-taking.
RSD TOPIC(S): Methods & Methodology