IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2020 - 33

reduce the number of deaths and illness stemming from COVID-19. When
trusted sources like the World Health
Organization revealed this information, humans changed their behavior.
The immediacy and clarity of a
life-threatening pandemic has made
it clear: if we want humanity to survive, we must take specific measures
to avoid the spread of a fast-acting,
invisible virus. In business terms this
means our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for weathering COVID-19
are straightforward:

brands define social media stratetial profits or growth? No, they
gies when Twitter and Facebook
are not.
had just come onto the scene. I had
And herein lies humanity's greata front row seat to see how messagest opportunity for sustainability -
ing shifted from a "one to many"
utilize the lessons learned from
standpoint to a "many to many" forCOVID-19 to change behavior that
mat, where social media influencers
reflects and prioritizes metrics of
could have as much power in the
success increasing human wellrelease of a product as the VPs or
being in symbiosis with environVIPs working directly for the brands I
mental flourishing.
had as clients.
Shifting from the Single
It was an exciting time, and the
Bottom Line
majority of people I worked with
A few months ago The IEEE Stanwere not only deeply intelligent but
dards Association created a report
compassionate and thoughtful indicalled Measuring What Matters in
viduals. Most of them deeply cared
that their brands truly helped
people in their lives beyond
just making profits.
Nonetheless every quarter, five words shaped the
The year 2020 has a majority
actions of our clients and
our PR firm: "Will we make
of the planet asking the
our numbers?" The numbers in question were the
simple question: "How do we
KPIs based on single botstay alive?
tom line priorities on fiscal
profits and growth. In my
case, as part of a global conthe Era of Global Warming and the
glomerate, our fiscal priorities were
Age of Algorithmic Promises [2].
reliant on the needs of shareholders
Written by Konstantinos Karachaliwhose logic was primarily based on
os, Managing Director of the IEEE
the idea of exponential growth.
Standards Association, Lord NichoAnd there's the rub - the word
las Stern, and myself, it provides
exponential. Profits, growth, ecothree pragmatic recommendations
nomic output - to date, based on
I'd like to touch on here as a way to
gross domestic product (GDP) and
shift our myopic metrics from single
similar metrics, these are the KPIs
bottom line to triple bottom line.
that most deeply and universally
define "societal success." Does this
Recommendation One:
mean people don't care about the
Shift Society to the New
environment or their loved ones? Of
Climate Economy and Identify
course not. But are there metrics of
"Earth-Friendly" AI
success that prioritize people and
Based largely on the work of Nick
the planet at the same level as expoStern and the "New Climate Econonential profits?
my's report, Unlocking the Inclusive
The good news is - yes. Yes there
Growth Story of the 21st Century:
are [1, pp. 68-89].
Accelerating Climate Action in Urgent
Are these complementary metTimes" [3], the logic here has to do
rics beyond GDP prioritized at the
with a focus on systems thinking. A
same level today as single bottom
danger with well-intentioned but highly
line metrics focused on exponen-

People follow physical distancing
guidelines,
■■ Governments and communities
provide for their citizens with
food, medical supplies, and
emotional support,
■■ Fewer people suffer and die.
■■

Never in my lifetime at age 51 has
there been a more pragmatic instantiation of the business and economics
maxim, "what we measure matters."
Sometimes this phrase is stated as,
"If something can't be measured, it
doesn't exist." Now, I see people visually measuring six feet constantly as I
take my daily run or go to the supermarket. I see people making measured decisions on how they clean
their homes and wash their hands.
And this massive behavior change
happened quickly. It's only taken
two to three weeks for people to
stay home and follow these new
life directives. Through a mixture of
government ordinances and societal zeitgeist implementations, we
all have COVID-19 metrics that are
deeply shaping the sustainability
of humanity.

Or Do We?
In my previous career at a top ten
PR firm I worked with some of the
smartest people I've ever encountered in the professional arena. I
helped a number of the world's top
JUNE 2020

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IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2020

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