The 3Ps · People · Planet · Prosperity
A solution that helps people but harms the planet is not a solution. One that protects the planet but bankrupts the founder is not a solution. The 3Ps are a single test, not three.
The argument.
The 3Ps reframe the triple bottom line for builders, not just for reports. People asks whether the solution treats human beings with dignity, workers, customers, partners, neighbors. Planet asks whether it leaves the environment more resilient than it found it. Prosperity asks whether it generates enough value to sustain itself and the people who depend on it.
What makes the 3Ps useful inside this course is the insistence that they are inseparable. A capstone is not strong because it scores high on one axis. It is strong because it refuses to optimize one P at the expense of another, and finds the design that makes all three reinforce each other.
The Sustainable Development Goals are the global expression of this idea. Affordable energy, clean water, primary care, decent work, climate resilience, gender equality, these are not constraints on enterprise. They are the most clearly defined investment thesis of our lifetimes.
People
Dignity is non-negotiable. Test for it in pricing, working conditions, data ownership, and language.
Planet
Measure inputs, outputs, and second-order effects. Regenerative beats neutral; neutral beats extractive.
Prosperity
Financial sustainability is a moral requirement. A project that cannot pay for itself eventually leaves.
Interlock
Optimize the system, not the axis. The strongest capstones make all three Ps reinforce one another.
Solar home systems financed and maintained by a local female technician network.
Solar lighting that displaces kerosene, health, climate, and cost in one product.
Rice-husk biomass micro-grids delivering rural electricity with negative-carbon fuel.
- 01Which P is your idea quietly subsidizing, and which is paying the price?
- 02What does dignity look like in your pricing, your supply chain, your data?
- 03Which SDG does your capstone actually move, and how would you measure it?