In 1994, when the interface Inc. 's founder and CEO Ray Anderson started thinking about his legacy, it made him uneasy. Deep down, Anderson realized that the business model of commercial carpet manufacturing company, which he founded 20 years ago, was based to "dig up the ground and the transformation of oil and other contaminants in the products that were in the dump," and not what he wanted his grandchildren to remember him by. Thus, in 60 years, Anderson has broken with the old model and start again. Standing on skeptics (whose ranks include partners, suppliers and analysts on Wall Street), he went for the transformation of the interface from the traditional business is built on consumption and waste, whose focus, that is, profitable growth will be zero waste and remediation of land. Since Travel, Anderson and his colleagues faced technical barriers that no one could have foreseen. But inch by inch, watt-hours per kilowatt-hour, recycled carpet pound pound recycled carpet, vision Anderson moved closer to reality. Moreover, to become more efficient in their energy and material use, for example, 89% of the world's electricity and 28% of the interface of the total amount of energy from renewable sources, the interface is proud of its ability to convert more and more of their carpets in the new product. He is also proud of the influence of their efforts have on the stability of other company. This article is a graph showing how Anderson's "mental model" has changed, and how he and his company moved towards sustainable development. "Hide
by Bruce Posner Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 7 pages. Date Published: October 1, 2009. Prod. #: SMR331-PDF-ENG