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.

Age of Arrows

I’ve had the privileged position of talking with many Large Enterprises across North America regarding their sustainability initiatives.  After a year of ongoing conversations about qualitative and quantitative information and how, why and when to share -  one factor is fairly constant - the arrow.   Is the arrow on any particular sustainability metric going up or down in the right direction?  A good example of this can be found at:  http://www.sapsustainabilityreport.com/operations-impact  The point – pun intended – is that many companies are still just making statements on their public facing sites about their initiatives.  How are we to believe that they are actually dealing with the items or if they are just making empty promises?  Do we really have to wait a year to read the results in their annual report?  Any organization just making statements is in danger of green washing accusations.  Imagine if we could do our financial reports this way? Would shareholders just accept that we “state” we are going to turn a profit or reduce costs without any real metrics?  Major banks are now determining the risk of loans to corporations based in part on these “statements” and how real they actually are.  The good news is that any corporation can get the arrow working for them with an automated software solution that collects, monitors and drives the arrows.  Eventually arrows will be the norm so now is the time gain the advantage – the power of the arrow is yours to wield.   A good place to start might be to ask the company that is showing a good example of arrows like the one sited above – how did they do it?

Vacation sustainability

It is that time of year when many of us start planning our summer vacation.  It is also a perfect time to exercise your power as a buyer.   When you are booking transit, accommodation and entertainment why not ask about the sustainability initiatives of those organizations?  A simple query can go a long way to impacting the world.  Maybe the vendor your are choosing does not have a sustainability practice but now that customers are asking starts to look deeper into some initiatives.  You may not know how extensive the efforts are with other vendors but once you learn you have some bragging rights and can relax that much extra knowing you are doing your part  - even on vacation.  Many hotels are cutting costs significantly with their sustainability initiatives.  It may be that the extra profit floating around will serve you better with discounts or excellent service!  Also, if an organization does not care about the planet what kind of culture do you think you will experience with them?  – how much will they really care about you?  Part of the memories of a holiday are telling the stories after so learn more about your providers and you might just be surprised how your vacation changes for the better.  Remember, sustainability goes beyond waste, water and air and includes social elements as well.  You may be on the receiving end of a genuine smile from the staff serving you or they may be struggling to share a good vibe since the vendor you booked has a bad social track record.  One little question or a bit a research could really change the dynamics of your trip.  Ask and you shall receive – or at least be for warned. 

From certainty to confidence

A corporation can hold several meetings and double check all the measurements and reports to get to a place of certainty in their sustainability practice - but does that bring confidence?  Confidence is when the organization really believes in what they are doing and does not look at the future as a threat.  Many companies are still dealing with their sustainability practice as a  - make sure - or - ensure - practice instead of building the practice for confidence.  So what instills confidence?  Consistent tracking and a system of alerts and monitors goes a long way to achieving confidence.  Those can not be accomplished with excel spread sheets and setting up watch dogs in the organization since people fail and excel is problematic on many fronts.  Connecting sustainability data into an automated system and establishing key performance metrics that align with corporate goals is the only way to move from certainty to confidence.  The most sustainable companies in the world have done the work to white board out their sustainability practice and deploy a software solution to bring it all together.  The good news is that the process is less daunting and expensive than many may perceive.  Furthermore, the return on investment can be calculated up front.  If you are in the drivers seat of a sustainability practice now is the time to bring it all together with a software solution so that you can take you vacation this summer - with confidence that they system is working for you - instead of you working for the system.

Engage student brains

Part of a broader strategy for a corporation should be to engage their sustainability practice with local Universities.  Nike found it’s famous “just do it” logo and statement by leveraging the fresh nubile minds of higher ed.  Why not challenge those minds with corporate sustainability data to come up with game changing approaches, ideas and opportunities?   When a corporation has an on-demand sustainability software solution it can engage outside resources for analysis and contribution.  Of course standard NDA’s should apply between students and companies and the assignments structured for optimal outcomes.  When you mull this over it is easy to see the “win” cases.  The university gets to deal with real world data and problem solving directly impacting the local communities.  The student gains valuable real world experience.  The company gets cheap – if not free – brains looking into it’s sustainability practice.  Finally, the over-all we move the conversation of sustainability more into finding opportunities – rather than creating costs – issuing reprimands or the ages old play to change minds about  taking care of the environment.  Since a sustainability practice is more than just environmental a broader subject matter expert student body can be embraced.   In fact, maybe any balanced doctorate program should include some form of sustainability contribution/link on that subject matter.   Now that is some good “grist for the mill”.

Short Term Thinking

Poverty forces short term thinking.  Need is a powerful agent in the degradation of our environment so it has to be part of any good sustainability strategy for an organization.  Still many companies do not see this as a critical part of their business.  Leaders know that companies cannot succeed in societies that fail – a repeated lesson learnt in the developing world.   Aside from the obvious feel good implications the reality of addressing this inside a corporate sustainability practice has real asset valuation.   Only sophisticated software solutions can help a corporation move beyond hand-out solutions to real efforts that are long lasting.  Really, the age old idea of teaching to fish over just giving a fish applies here.  The difference is the complexity is so great that getting a handle on the real opportunities can only come through qualitative and quantitative analysis.  Deep review usually translates into a cost center many corporations are quick to reduce or eliminate especially in tough times creating a corporate poverty that forces short term thinking.  The only answer to link the strategy to the performance metrics of the company and perform real calculations that show bottom line impact – or some would say triple bottom line impact.  The good news is that software is available to handle the challenge and is within reach of any growing enterprise.  In a way software gives corporations the ability to think quickly to avoid short term thinking.  Now that’s something to think about.

License to grow

How about the concept of requiring companies to get “License to grow”.  I think this is an interesting concept but clearly fraught with red tap potential.  Could this be a militant reaction or just plan common sense.  I don’t know about the rest of you but if my neighbor wants to build a bigger house or generally change anything it can either be a blessing or a curse but for the most part some sort of permit is required so I’m calmed by the fact that someone is reviewing the merits.  More than most the merit of waste, water and air are top of list.  So – if we apply this to our love of capitalism and growth will it work?  Could we insist that companies get a license to grow based on their sustainability practice.  I think it’s fair – if your company is supporting planetary life – grow – if not – put your capital towards figuring out how to support life….and when you get there – then grow.  Good job there is software solutions that can support a company’s audit abilities around people, planet, profit and help them justify a license to grow.