A surprising number of people help make a book happen. We’ve relied on many others to provide us with inspiration, ideas, and stories, as well as act as sounding boards, editors, thought partners, and friends (the ones who tell you the hard truths). This book would not have become a reality without all of them.

We have enormous gratitude for Jeff Seabright, who should really be the third author. Jeff was on every call, read every draft, offered new ideas, and provided guidance on every theory and idea we had. Jeff’s combination of experience is unique, including time as chief sustainability officer at Unilever, previous roles in multinationals in consumer products and energy, and work inside the US government. Jeff kept the rudder straight on this project, helping it, as he says, “lurch toward greatness.” If we got anywhere near that mark, it’s because of him.

We spoke to a large number of people who generously gave their time and very honest perspectives on sustainability in general, and on Unilever’s place in the story specifically. As any writer knows, it’s painful to have a long, fascinating conversation with someone and boil it down to a single quote—or have to leave a great story on the cutting-room floor. We wish we could have shared much more of all of these contributors’ views. Thank you to James Allison, Jonathan Atwood, Doug Baille, Doug Baker, Peter Bakker, Irina Bakhtina, Hemant Bakshi, Charlie Beevor, David Blanchard, David Blood, Romina Boarini, Sharan Burrow, Jason Clay, Doina Cocoveanu, Jonathan Donner, Tony Dunnage, Marc Engel, Karen Hamilton, Rebecca Henderson, Cheryl Hicks, Jeff Hollender, Rosie Hurst, Alan Jope, Janine Juggins, Anne Kelly, Tim Kleinebenne, Kees Kruythoff, Angélique Laskewitz, Andy Liveris, Mindy Lubber, Rebecca Marmot, Marcela Marubens, Marc Mathieu, Sanjiv Mehta, Steve Miles, Hiro Mizuno, Kumi Naidoo, Leena Nair, Gavin Neath, Frank O’Brien-Bernini, Sandy Ogg, Ron Oswald, Miguel Veiga-Pestana, John Replogle, John Sauven, Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Samir Singh, Jostein Solheim, Emilo Tenuta, Harold Thompson, Sally Uren, Sunny Verghese, Jan Kees Vis, Dominic Waughray, and Keith Weed. We also extend a thanks to the many other leaders from business, NGOs, academia, and government who inspired us with their work to write this book.

With nearly five hundred endnotes, this book required a great deal of detailed research to get all the statistics we needed and ensure the stories we told were accurate. We relied heavily on our research director, Jennifer Johnson, and research assistant, Laura Zaccagnino, both of whom could find any obscure statistic we wanted and provided feedback as really the first readers. Thanks to designer Fiona Fung, who made our graphics and ideas for frameworks look good. And thank you also to a few people who helped us track down or confirm information at Unilever, including David Courtnage, Cliff Grantham, James Hu, and Ishtpreet Singh.

Once we had a full rough draft—which needed a lot of work—we asked some brave souls to read it and give us their unvarnished perspective. We can’t thank enough the following people who spent a lot of time providing detailed feedback: Matt Blumberg, Mats Granryd, Jeff Gowdy, Andy Hoffman, Hunter Lovins (who went above and beyond providing much needed tough love), Henrik Madsen, Colin Mayer, Jeremy Oppenheim, Jonathan Porritt, and P. J. Simmons.

We also want to thank our teams that kept our businesses going while we wrote. Andrew could not do his work without his core team of Aleise Matheson, Sharon Parker, and Dina Satriale. Paul’s support at IMAGINE includes Kelsey Finkelstein, Jenna Salter, and cofounder Valerie Keller. Zena Creed helped kick off the book process, had a son and took parental leave, and came back … and we were still writing. She has been an important thought partner on getting our book out there and developing our story and communications.

The team at Harvard Business Review Press is world class. Our strategic adviser throughout the process was our editor Jeff Kehoe, who showed great patience. A large team produced this book and made it better. Thank you to Stephani Finks for another great book cover design, and to press editorial director Melinda Merino and production manager Jen Waring, as well as Christine Marra from Marrathon Editorial Production Services. We also want to thank the business operations and marketing teams that shepherd the book and sell it around the world, including Press Commercial Director Erika Heilman, Sally Ashworth, Julie Devoll, Lindsey Dietrich, Brian Galvin, Alexandra Kephart, Julia Magnuson, Ella Morrish, Jon Shipley, Felicia Sinusas, and Alicyn Zall. Our gratitude as well to the leadership team at HBR, Adi Ignatius (who was key in convincing Paul to do the project), and Group Publisher Sarah McConville.

Finally, we thank our families, who are the inspiration for all we do and support us during the long and strange work hours of writers who are six hours apart. Andrew’s parents, Jan and Gail Winston, deserve endless thanks for decades of unconditional support, and for instilling a sense of morality that guides Andrew’s work and life. Christine Winston, an experienced businessperson, has long been Andrew’s best editor and sounding board. While working full-time, she has taken on more than a fair share of the effort keeping the home going while Andrew has been distracted, typing away. Their boys, Joshua and Jacob, have grown from toddler and newborn when Andrew published his first book, to teenagers who can ask tough questions about the content and purpose. We all will rely on Gen Z to pick up the fight for a thriving world, and Andrew looks to his own two members of the action generation to go out and do good in the world.

Paul could not be prouder and more grateful to his family who not only contributed greatly by instilling values, but also by being great examples themselves. His parents, Bertus and Ria Polman, had a simple mission—to give their kids a better and meaningful life and tirelessly put themselves to the service of the greater good. Kim Polman has her own incredibly busy life as founder and chair of Reboot the Future, a social enterprise with a mission to create a more compassionate and sustainable world, via a radical shift in mindset founded on a rule as ancient as humanity itself: the Golden Rule. She is also chairing the main family foundation, Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, focused on unlocking literacy in Africa for the visually impaired. She herself knows what it takes to author a book and has published Imaginal Cells: Visions of Transformation, which gave us lots of inspiration. Whilst showing more than patience during our late hour book discussions and missed dinners, she also stimulated the creative flow with her live cello music.

Paul and Kim’s sons, Christian, Philippe, and Sebastian, despite having busy family lives, have been good sports in encouraging the work and forcing us to go the extra mile. They are each, in their own way, trying to live the net positive life. Millennials might have started a bigger trend than we realize. For that, a big thanks.

And thank you to all the readers who will do the work of building a net positive, thriving world.