In the week before Christmas, the building was almost empty. The lights remained on out of routine rather than necessity, an apparently irrelevant detail that revealed more than one might imagine. Outside, the city was illuminated and full, consistent with the festive season. Inside, the atmosphere was silent and functional, suspended between the closing of the year and the anticipation of the next.
Seated at her desk, she reviewed documents that would not be discussed again before January: impact reports, medium term goals, commitments made in forums and meetings that rarely aligned with the rhythm of everyday decision-making. Christmas appeared, as always, as a symbolic milestone, more closely associated with communication and a formal pause than with an effective interruption of processes.
There was still a pending decision. It was not a critical situation, nor a particularly visible moment. Above all, it was a technical choice: to proceed with a project that was efficient in the short term or to delay its implementation to ensure alignment with principles of sustainability and long-term value creation. There was no explicit pressure. Institutional silence allowed room for the simplest decision. And that was precisely what made the choice relevant.
She knew that the more responsible option would not produce immediate results nor justify external communication. It would not be associated with innovation, nor recognized as an inspiring practice. Even so, it would have an impact, not only on the project itself but on the coherence between organizational discourse and practice. But it would take time before anyone could see those results.
As she prepared to leave, she walked through empty corridors and turned off the lights in unused rooms. A small, routine gesture. Perhaps even irrelevant. Yet she carried a thought she could not silence: that responsibility, in most organizations, manifests itself precisely in this way, through technical decisions, mostly small but cumulative, taken when there is no reputational incentive nor external urgency.
In the lobby, she encountered a colleague closing out pending tasks. They exchanged brief and formal greetings. Even so, she could sense in his expression a certain calm, the same calm she herself felt at this time of year. Despite knowing that work does not always respect the closures suggested by the calendar, the symbolic moment of year-end brought with it a unique sense of reflection that permeated everyone’s work.
She decided to return to the computer. She adjusted the plan, reviewed the criteria, and postponed the final decision. She left an objective note for future follow up. She did not seek to over justify the choice. Institutional responsibility does not always require explanation; it requires consistency. She was satisfied with the decision she had made.
Outside, the city maintained its rhythm, enveloped by the cold air. The lights remained on, bright. Christmas approached as a collective ritual, a moment of shared reflection and silent decisions that remained invisible but would guide the course of the following year. After all, it was those decisions, taken outside the spotlight and without celebration, that would continue to shape the organization’s impact long after the festive season ended.
She decided it was time to set aside institutional responsibilities for a while. She had time. She could go home to celebrate with her family. When she returned, she would continue working without fanfare, in alignment with the values she shared with her team: collaboration, co-creation, and positive building. She knew that, together, they would continue to create a narrative that, like a long book, unfolds gradually, becoming part of the ideas who read, reflect, and continue to absorb the story and its results over time, in a consistent, or rather, sustainable way.
She looked at the building, now with fewer lights on. She smiled to herself, knowing that when she returned after the festive period, she would come back to close the project by those same silent decisions, the lights that remain after Christmas.
Natália Cantarino, Researcher at Center for Responsible Business & Leadership