How to accelerate positive change in challenging times

by Alan AtKisson

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Reviewers call Alan AtKisson’s guide to doing sustainability
‘a tonic for hope’ and ‘a breath of fresh air’

Global problems are accelerating, but so are global solutions. The world is in a deadly race against time, a race that it still barely understands, writes Alan AtKisson – but this is a race that we can, and must, win.

This book is “the essential guide” to winning (Hunter Lovins). When first released in 2008, THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION (previous title: “The ISIS Agreement”) was quickly adopted by university programs, studied by corporate sustainability managers, and purchased by the carton for use in international training programs. With AtKisson’s trademark combination of clarity, creativity, and rigorous analysis, this “highly readable, even moving” book (Bill McKibben) empowers the reader to join the “army of change agents” who are working on making the dream of sustainability a reality – in time.

THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION also introduces you to the widely adopted ISIS Method and the ISIS Accelerator tools: Compass, Pyramid, Amoeba, and StrateSphere. Leading companies, cities, government agencies, universities and schools around the world all use ISIS – because it produces rapid, significant, measurable results. Combining indicators, systems thinking, innovation theory, and strategic cultural change in one powerful package, ISIS guides you confidently through the complex jungle of sustainability in practice.

THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION is “essential, transformative reading” for professionals in all sectors: business executives, government officials, leaders, teachers and students – as well as “sustainability amateurs,” or anyone who is trying to make positive change in their corner of the world.

“No past human civilization has ever seen a dilemma like ours; nor is any civilization likely to face a similar one in the future. We are the generation tasked with solving the problem of sustainability – how to live on the one planet we have. It is a struggle that calls forth all of our best qualities, fought by an Army for Change that calls on all of us to join it, whether we work in business, government, research, education, agriculture, industry or the arts. Every day, more and more of us are joining this Army. Every day, we learn more about how to overcome our differences and work together to create, find and implement creative solutions. Every day, the pace of change quickens. And every day we gain more ground in the ultimate race against time.”

- from the closing pages of THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION, by Alan AtKisson

Readers and reviewers’ praise for the hardback edition

“Alan AtKisson’s Believing Cassandra is one of my favorite introductory books on sustainability. With AtKisson’s characteristic wit and creativity, he’s written another winner: THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION. After slogging through many other dry books [on sustainability], this one is a breath of fresh air. Part how-to manual, part essay, part mythological allegory, and part personal journal, this book would give anyone interested in becoming a sustainability consultant an intimate view of the work. He covers process but also touchy issues like politics and power. You get to listen to the reflections of a guy who has worked all over the world, helped to promote the Earth Charter, and has now proposed a code of conduct for our profession. … Shhh, don’t tell. But clearly AtKisson’s clients have WAY more fun than ours do.”
- Darcy Hitchcock, Axis Performance Advisors and Co-Founder, International Society for Sustainability Professionals

“The ideal entry point for leaders and innovators in all organizations for understanding and instituting change towards sustainability … essential, transformative reading for leaders in business, organizations, and government, and professionals of all description in all sectors who are working on whole systems change in pursuit of strategies for innovation, sustainability, and profitability, as well as students in business and management.”
- Sustainable Village

“[In THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION,] Alan AtKisson offers a credible operating manual for making our new century an era of recovery and regeneration.”
- John Elkington, co-founder of SustainAbility and Volans Ventures

“An excellent combination of theory, situational analysis, real life examples and tested tools. This is a must-read book for all who want to move the sustainability agenda forward in the 21st century.”
- Manuel Baigorri, Levi Strauss Europe, Middle East and Africa

“A novel approach to the challenges of sustainable development … [and] a highly readable case for a sustainable future.”
- Surendra Shrestha, United Nations Environment Program

“Insightful, inspirational … I read it straight through in one sitting.”
- Herman Mulder, former Executive Vice-President, ABN-AMRO Bank

Order THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION today from your favorite bookseller. Read it together with BELIEVING CASSANDRA: How to be an optimist in a pessimist’s world (new edition 2010)

Visit www.AtKisson.com

For a review copy write to: Cassandra@AtKisson.com