A Social Moonshot
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Stewardship Decision Lens
A brief guide to responsible, enduring decisions
Use this lens to guide core decisions through the five stages of responsibility - in order.
We are living in the exhaustion of extraction. Decisions too often prioritise speed, scale, and novelty over responsibility and care. Stewardship reframes leadership as custodianship: every choice inherits the past, shapes the present, and sets precedents for the future.
The Stewardship Decision Lens is a practical framework to guide responsible decision-making. It asks you to consider what you have inherited, who and what is affected, what requires care, whether a choice endures, and the legacy it sets.
See this as lens of orientation, a tool for slowing down decisions long enough to act with responsibility. Stewardship begins not with answers, but with how we choose to decide.
1. INHERIT
What are we receiving, and from whom?
Nothing begins from zero
This stage surfaces:
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Materials and resources
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Cultural references
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Labour histories
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Environmental and social context
Key prompt:What existed before us that makes this possible?
If this stage is skipped: Decisions become extractive by default.
2. IMPACT
Who and what is affected — immediately and over time?
Not “impact” as marketing, but impact as consequence.
This stage examines:
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Human cost
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Environmental burden
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Cultural distortion
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Downstream effects
Key prompt:Who carries the weight of this decision?
If this stage is rushed: Responsibility is displaced onto the invisible.
3. CARE
What must be protected, maintained, or repaired?
This is where stewardship diverges from sustainability.
Care asks:
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What needs attention, not replacement?
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Where is repair more responsible than innovation?
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What requires slowing down?
Key prompt:What does responsible care look like here?
If this stage is ignored: Efficiency replaces ethics.
4. CONTINUITY
Does this decision hold over time?
This stage tests:
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Durability
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Cultural relevance
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Long-term viability
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Resilience beyond trend cycles
Key prompt: Will this still make sense when we are no longer here?
If this stage is weak: Short-term wins undermine long-term trust.
5. LEGACY
What precedent does this decision set?
Every action teaches others how to behave.
This stage considers:
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What norms are being reinforced
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What behaviours are being rewarded
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What future decisions this enables or constrains
Key prompt: What are we teaching others to do through this choice?
If this stage is absent: Leadership becomes accidental.
The lens is intentionally simple. Its purpose is not to prescribe outcomes, but to change the quality of decision-making itself. When applied consistently, it helps organisations move beyond reactive ethics and toward deliberate responsibility.
This lens is offered as a shared tool — a way to make stewardship speakable, usable, and actionable across culture and commerce. It is designed to be adopted, referenced, and applied wherever decisions shape lives, landscapes, and meaning.
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Stewardship in Practice
Those who wish to take this lens beyond reflection and into lived practice are invited to sign the Stewardship Pledge and join the Age of the Steward — a growing body of leaders choosing to be accountable not just for outcomes, but for how decisions are made.