By Nicola Robins (20 February 2012)

I kindled my way through Richard Branson’s Screw Business As Usual this weekend. In it, Branson (bless his virginal cotton socks) argues that business must become a force for good. “Business” he says, “must do the right thing… People inherently want to do the right thing. It’s what makes us human.”

I wish he’d just stick to doing business better. Screw BAU has just the kind of reborn zeal that gives sustainability hacks like me a bad name in corporate corridors.

Such dollops of emergent largesse suit people like Branson who’ve made their money (presumably by being very good). But for the rest of us, let’s ensure that sustainability is about something far more balanced – that recognises that business has always had two sides: a whole bunch of good and a whole bunch of bad. And always will.

Just like any human (except perhaps for some corporate leaders, Mother Teresa and good ol’ Arch).

Which means that the tipping point for sustainable business will never be achieved based on an ethical or moral appeal. It will only be achieved when CEOs recognise that doing business in a sustainable world simply makes more sense in every respect than the scramble they’re engaged with presently.

And as a result, decide to aim their company’s innovative arsenal accordingly.

Yes, I know that’s what he’s saying too, ultimately. And that he’ll have more impact than I’ll ever have. But prefacing it with all that moral stuff – no matter how well-intentioned or full of integrity – is invariably counter-productive where it really counts.