Chapter 8 focuses on ways we can invent our sustainable future, with particular attention to the importance of collaboration, technology, and community. The chapter explores enterprises as complex systems operating in dynamic and increasingly unpredictable environments that include ecological disruption and social change. Drawing on lessons from the past and realistic assessments of where we are today, the chapter explores areas that are critical to inventing future sustainability for business and for society. Those are:

• integrated thinking;

• leadership and our complex networks of relationships including public-private collaborations;

• architecting participation;

• technology and ensuring the sustainability of essential resources.

The sections include tools, exercises and thought problems, and case studies about what it will take to reach baseline sustainability thresholds that can support prosperity and thriving within Earth’s planetary boundaries.