The Better Way: Enlightened Enterprise for a World in Transition

Fostering New Thinking & Action Across the Private, Public & Plural Sectors

May 03, 2025

We live in an age of extraordinary complexity and mounting crises. Almost every system we depend on—economic, ecological, social, and political—is under strain or in breakdown. From institutional dysfunction and social unrest to climate instability and economic inequality, the signals are unmistakable: something is deeply wrong. And our conventional ways of responding—based on fragmented thinking, short-termism, and outdated ideologies—are no longer sufficient.

This is what many now recognise as a Metacrisis: a convergence of interwoven, accelerating challenges that are not only system-wide but worldview-deep. This is not just a time of disruption; it is a time between worlds.

We believe a new story is needed—a better way of living, working, and organizing together. That is why we created the Enlightened Enterprise Academy.

A 21st Century Enlightenment

For over three centuries, the ideals of the Enlightenment shaped much of what we know: reason, liberty, science, democracy, and human progress. But these ideals also came with blind spots—mechanistic thinking, individualism, and control-based models that separated us from nature, from one another, and from deeper sources of meaning.

We are now witnessing the end of that epoch. As the Enlightenment worldview loses its grip, we must consciously evolve toward a New Enlightenment—one that honours the past but transcends its limitations.

This New Enlightenment is not just philosophical; it is practical. It embraces complexity, interdependence, dignity, and the shared pursuit of sustainable human flourishing.

Our mission at the Enlightened Enterprise Academy is to support the leaders, organisations, and communities pioneering this new direction. We are a catalyst for those who know, “There’s got to be a better way.”

Rebalancing the Three Pillars of Society

Central to our vision is the need to rebalance the relationship between the private, public, and plural sectors—the three fundamental pillars of a healthy society.

The private sector drives commerce, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
The public sector governs and stewards the common good.
The plural sector—a term popularised by Henry Mintzberg—includes civil society: not-for-profits, co-ops, foundations, unions, and communities.

This plural sector has long been marginalised, squeezed between the market and the state. But it is essential to restoring the accountability, legitimacy, and creativity our society desperately needs.

In Rebalancing Society: Radical Renewal Beyond Left, Right, and Center (2015), Mintzberg warned of the consequences of imbalance.

Similarly, Raghuram Rajan’s The Third Pillar (2019) argued that thriving societies require a strong and engaged community sector. These calls for systemic renewal echo older wisdom and are more relevant than ever.

We believe that rebalancing society with enlightened enterprise is not just a worthy goal—it is a survival imperative.

From Values to Practice: Evolving Our Purpose

Since our founding in 2020, the Enlightened Enterprise Academy has advocated for a simple but powerful principle: that the purpose of any enterprise—whether private, public, or plural—is the creation of value, measured in terms of sustainable contribution to the common good.

Over time, this founding vision has matured. Today, we explicitly commit to enabling cooperation and collaboration across all three sectors, breaking down barriers and building bridges. We make the commitment now because dysfunction has grown more visible, more dangerous—and because real change cannot wait.

Too often, enterprise has been divorced from ethics. Public policy has been detached from people’s lived realities. Communities have been left behind. Our work is to reunite purpose with practice, profit with responsibility, and enterprise with enlightenment.

Why We Signed the Jena Declaration

On May 1, 2025, Paul Barnett, Founder of the Enlightened Enterprirse Academy, became an Ambassador of the Jena Declaration

It is a global call for a new, bottom-up approach to sustainability. At its core is this urgent truth: “If we wait for change from the top-down, it will be too late.”

This is why the Enlightened Enterprise Academy has signed the Jena Declaration, become a partner organisation, and integrated its spirit into our work.

The Declaration affirms that deep, lasting change will not be delivered solely by government edict or corporate strategy. It will come when each of us—individually and collectively—chooses to live, work, and relate differently. Not someday, but now.

And this applies not just in politics or policy, but in our values, daily decisions, and organisational models.

As the Jena Declaration reminds us:

“Sustainability is not an obligation but an opportunity.”

This is not just semantic. Framing sustainability as an opportunity opens the door to innovation, creativity, and meaning. It invites us to reimagine enterprise as a source of human fulfilment, not just financial return.

The Dignity Theory of Value

At the heart of Enlightened Enterprise lies a foundational idea: that our own sense of meaning and value is enhanced when we recognise and support the dignity of others. We call this the Dignity Theory of Value.

When we give, when we extend kindness, when we invest in others’ wellbeing—we don’t just help them. We reinforce our own dignity. This insight is not sentimental; it is structural. A thriving, sustainable society must be grounded in mutual respect and shared dignity.

As Viktor Frankl wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning: “Man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life.” Enterprise that supports sustainability, equity, and dignity becomes not a burden but a joy—something meaningful and human. This is the essence of enlightened enterprise.

Serving the Pioneers of Change

Lots of people are finding it challenging to step back and truly focus on where we are, where we are going, and how we can get there. We will serve pioneers by making this less challenging.

We recognize there are countless islands of new thinking and action across the three sectors, but there is no entity we know of that is weaving them together in a network to create a community of open innovation.

We don't seek merely to create another new organization, even a cross-cutting one. We don't seek to assimilate other ventures nor to encroach on their territory. Instead, we want to create the capacity for mutual enlightenment among new thinker-actors. We want to build momentum and accelerate new kinds of ventures through shared awareness of lessons learned. We want to foster discovery of opportunities for collaborative innovation.

Finally, we seek new approaches to conscious and responsible multi-stakeholder capitalism that utilises the collaborative potential of all the actors in whole ecosystems.

The EEA is creating a kind of ‘archipelago of new thinking and action across the public, private, and plural sectors,’ to bring together an exceptional diversity and quality of thought leaders who have translated thought into action.

We believe that pioneering leaders exist in every sector, and that they are the ones who will bring this vision to life. Some are entrepreneurs creating regenerative business models. Others are civil servants who are uniquely empowered to be future oriented. Still others are community organisers or educators working at the grassroots.

What enlightened leaders share is vision, courage, and a willingness to transcend old assumptions. The Enlightened Enterprise Academy exists to support these pioneers

We will do this by:

Facilitating shared dialogues across sectors to build mutual understanding
Co-creating shared narratives that inspire and align
Delivering shared learning that connects theory to practice

This integrated approach is how we move from fragmentation to unity, from reaction to considered response-ability, towards regeneration and on to sustainable flourishing.

A Global Faculty of Practice

To achieve our goals, we are assembling what will become the world’s largest multi-disciplinary faculty of pracademics and experienced practitioners. Not abstract thinkers removed from realitym but embedded actors—people who combine deep insight with lived experience.

We aim to ensure that every course, every insight, and every tool developed by the Academy is grounded in real-world relevance and systemic wisdom.

Moreover, we are intentionally attracting faculty with experience in public, private, and plural sector leadership. Because the future will not be built in silos.

From Left and Right to Forward Together

Our work has political consequences, but it is not partisan. We echo Mintzberg’s call to move “beyond left, right, and centre.” The challenges we face are not ideological—they are existential. What matters now is not who is right, but what is wise, effective, and humane.

That is why we take inspiration from thinkers across traditions—ancient and contemporary, East and West, progressive and conservative—so long as they contribute to our shared mission: to foster a regenerative, dignified, and balanced society.

Call to Action

We stand at a fork in the road. The Metacrisis presents both the danger of collapse and the opportunity for profound transformation. We choose to believe that better is possible—but only if we act with urgency and integrity.

We invite you to:

Join the Enlightened Enterprise Academy as a member DETAILS
Apply to join the Faculty. After becoming a member you can apply.
Subscribe to our publications (free for members)
Participate in the learning journeys we are developing with the faculty.
Sign the Jena Declaration and live its message DETAILS
Contribute your voice Members are invited to contribute to our publications
Support the movement to make the enlightened enterprise approach the norm, not the exception