Tom uses his background in cancer research to recast our economy as a human body, using startling metaphor that our economy is suffering from advanced cancer.
Inspired by systems thinking, Tom looks to natural systems for lessons for a healthy economy. He identifies the root cause of the cancerous economy – and its results of inequality, disempowerment and the destruction of the planet – in the mutation of our shared societal values over centuries.
Through ‘On Purpose’ Tom has helped bring together a supportive community of 1,500 people and growing passionate about creating social and environmental impact has created a nurturing community. His ideas and the people he has worked with have been compared to anti-cancerous agents spreading out into the workplace and the economy.
How this differs from the mainstream
Friedman (1976 Nobel Prize winner) proposed in 1970 that managers of economic organisations should maximise returns to shareholders and this has dominated the mainstream ever since.
For More on Tom's work see
- 'How To Cure a Cancerous Economy' by Tom Rippin - in Real Leaders, February 2019
'The Nature of Business: What can natural systems teach us about creating a healthy economy?' a talk by Tom Rippin at the LSE, 2019
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Tom Rippin
Tom Rippin (born c. 1975-76) is a social entrepreneur, founder and CEO of On Purpose, a company that develops leaders who aim to create an economy that works for all. …