Buckminster Fuller, renowned architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist gave humanity a comprehensive perspective and approach to solving planetary problems and summarized his design goal through the analogy of a "trim tab" (an important nautical and aviation component that helps move the rudder using little force against high pressure) for innovation, leadership and personal empowerment. 

In the February 1972 issue of Playboy, Fuller said, "Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary—the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab.

It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.

According to the Global Scenario Group (GSG), an environmental organization that specializes in scenario analysis and forecasting, our world is shifting into the planetary phase of civilization. Proponents state that increasing global interdependence and risks, such as climate change, are binding the world into a unitary socio-ecological system. This unprecedented condition signals a historic shift from the period of modernity, characterized by sovereign states, the perennial growth of population and economies, abundant resources, and disregard for environmental impacts.

Rather than simply looking at the world through the eyes of profit and loss accounting, it is necessary to incorporate environmental impact and social positive (or negative) impact indicators. By using this new approach, environmental and social capital can be taken into account when evaluating the value and health of the commons. When positive impact to the commons are measured and brought into the accounting equation, a solution to the tragedy of the commons emerges.