Representatives of companies, governments and civil society mobilize to change the traditional indicator that measures countries' growth
By Marina Grossi
What cannot be measured cannot be managed. This maxim from the business world is beginning to be extended to areas that are much less Cartesian. The challenge that arises is to build indicators to measure well-being, aiming at increasing people's happiness. Last year, on the eve of Rio+20, Banco Itaú launched its Social Well-Being Index, which brings together a series of economic and social indicators, including inflation, unemployment, life expectancy and inequality. The index still needs to consider important variables to assess the well-being of Brazilians, but the concern points to a new path, unthinkable just a few years ago.
Although isolated, the initiative illustrates a global movement of companies, governments and civil society that are working to replace the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with an indicator that better represents the increase or decrease in the well-being of a population. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will be adopted from 2015, already signal this concern.
The time is right. In an environment of global economic crisis, it is possible to rethink the messianic role that GDP growth has in the planning and future of society. This questioning leads us to the understanding that it is necessary to rethink new parameters that reflect the real sources of happiness of a people. And in companies, the adoption of performance indicators capable of expanding their strategies to a path of promoting effective well-being, both in the society in which they operate and in the relationship with their employees and suppliers.
At the beginning of this century, American psychologist David Myers made this reflection and concluded that, contrary to common sense, economic growth does not lead to an increase in the population's happiness. According to him, despite American society doubling its wealth in 40 years, the number of happy people has declined slightly – the rates of divorce, teenage suicide, depression and violent crime have increased.
In Brazil, economic costs still dominate the scope of social programs, without a holistic approach. Recently, the federal government announced the expansion of the Brazil Without Poverty program, with the goal of lifting more than 2.5 million people out of extreme poverty. In this program, the government uses only the monetary indicator (income of up to R$70.00 per month) to define extremely poor people, without considering fundamental elements such as access to health, housing, education and security.
This new vision is present in many environments, including the corporate environment. Gone are the days when a company sold only products and services. Today, it sells image, concept and benefits linked to the brand. A company with a systemic vision knows that its relationship with the consumer, the environment and society cannot be inconsequential. The idea is to create an auspicious environment.
Large companies are already taking action on a global scale. Natura and Itaipu, for example, have already begun to implement local experiments inspired by the Gross National Happiness of Bhutan, a small Asian country. This corporate vanguardism will certainly contribute to the design of new indicators of global social well-being. The SDGs are expected to demonstrate this concern by seeking indexes to measure new production and consumption patterns starting in 2015. Among the groups that are thinking about the SDGs, it is worth highlighting Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, and Peter Bakker, president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD, a global network of which CEBDS is one of the partner institutions).
Still in its infancy, this could be one of the greatest legacies of Rio+20. We must go beyond the restricted measurement of GDP. 21st century capitalism will have to go beyond the pursuit of economic growth alone, pointing its compass towards the well-being and happiness of the population.
