Sustainability and Organizational Longevity: Insights for Post-COVID-19 Organizations

Some organizations and leaders struggle with balancing decisions regarding financial, societal, and environmental contributions, the three traditional components of sustainability. For example, an organization’s financial difficulties can result in unfavorable impacts on its two other sustainability components: societal and environment. In The Infinite Game, Sinek emphasized the importance of these three sustainability components and added a fourth dimension—the longevity of the organization. While some leaders pursue “the infinite game,” many focus primarily on the near-term by necessity. This chapter explores the relationships among an organization’s leadership, its pursuit of excellence, the balance of traditional sustainability components, and ultimately its longevity. Then, it reexamines those relationships through the lens of the COVID-19 Pandemic, a global existential threat that has affected both organizations and individuals in unequal ways. Insights from both failed and surviving organizations may provide lessons for future organizational resiliency.