Major and Minors

I heard a good talk this weekend about majoring on things that are major and minor on things that a minor.  As the sustainability arena gets more and more crowded with solutions, best practices and risk reduction we should keep focus on what is really major.  Every corporation has the same fragility that represents the major we need to focus on - which is energy.  Nothing in our world works once the power goes out.  No one can deny that our energy consumption is growing - but can we sustain the growth?  A good analogy is the human body which can last for a good while without food but without water death looms quickly.  The “water” for corporations is energy.    Even if we can meet the demand without disruptions it is clear that the cost is only going up or will at very least be volatile while – and if – we manage to transition to steady state renewable energies.  Any organization not addressing this as part of their operations will become more and more risky to operate.  There are still many companies out there that do not even have a sustainability report.  This is like going for a jog down an unknown lonely road without water -  assuming that there will be some along the way – and that you can afford it.  The message is that if you are one of those companies that says: “we’re just not ready to address this because we are focused on growing and making sure we keep the lights on”.  The  bad news is that circumstances may turn off your lights for you and there is amble warning that life giving energy may cost more than you can marginalize.  The good news is that by  - at very least – focusing on what is major you can prepare for the worst and improve your profitability at the same time.   Collecting the information and putting it into a manageable format to identify risks and opportunities cannot be done on excel alone.  Only a sophisticated software solution can address the major items to ensure longevity.   The surprising element is that while focusing on the major issues the minor issues get addressed with more excellence as well.