How to
Champion Sustainability
… From the Middle
Toronto Sustainability
Speaker Series
June 10, 2009
Bob Willard
bobwillard@sympatico.ca
www.sustainabilityadvantage.com
5-Stage Sustainability Journey
5. Purpose/Passion
Values-driven founder / CEO
4. Integrated Strategy
Enhanced business value
3. Beyond Compliance
Eco-efficiencies
PR crisis
Regulatory threat
2. Compliance
Regulatory enforcement
1. Pre-Compliance
Sustainability Change Process
Step 1: Wake Up and Decide
Sustainability Change Process
Step 4: Develop Strategies
Step 3: Assess Current Realities
Step 2: Inspire Shared Vision(s)
Step 1: Wake Up and Decide
7-Step Sustainability Change Process
Step 7: Embed and Align
Step 6: Mobilize Commitment
Step 5: Build the Case(s) for Change
Step 4: Develop Strategies
Step 3: Assess Current Realities
Step 2: Inspire Shared Vision(s)
Step 1: Wake Up and Decide
TNS A-B-C-D Change Process
Based on “Applying the ABCD Method,” the Natural Step website,
(www.thenaturalstep.org/en/canada/applying-abcd-method).
Step 3: Assess Curent Realities
Sustainability
Vision
Hindering Forces
Key
Executive
Mgmt
System
Cost
Pressures
Budget
Plan
Workload
Change
Fatigue
CURRENT
Hot
Issue 2
Customer
Demand
External
Threat
Key
Executive
Mindset
Hot
Issue 1
Capital
Shortage
External
Threat
REALITY
Regulations
NGO
Actions
Compensation
System
Talent
War
Key
Customer
Helping Forces
Company
Values
Profit
Potential
Hot
Issue 3
Step 4: Develop Strategies
Sustainability
Vision
Key
Executives
Leverage Points
for Action
Circle of
Influence
Circle of
Control
Circle of
Concern
Based on Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
7-Step Sustainability Change Process
Step 7: Embed and Align
Step 6: Mobilize Commitment
Step 5: Build the Case(s) for Change
Step 4: Develop Strategies
Step 3: Assess Current Realities
Step 2: Inspire Shared Vision(s)
Step 1: Wake Up and Decide
The Sustainability “Sweet Spot”
Business
Results
The
Non-Financial
Sustainability Stakeholder
“Sweet Spot”
Interests
New Products and Services
New Processes
New Markets
New Business Models
New Governance Systems
Andrew Savitz, The Triple Bottom Line, Jossey-Bass, 2006
7-Step Sustainability Change Process
Step 7: Embed and Align
Step 6: Mobilize Commitment
Step 5: Build the Case(s) for Change
Step 4: Develop Strategies
Step 3: Assess Current Realities
Step 2: Inspire Shared Vision(s)
Step 1: Wake Up and Decide
7 Leadership Practices
Embed
and Align
Get Credible, Stay Credible
Mobilize
Commitment
Dialogue
Collaborate, Educate, Network
Build Case(s)
for Change
Influence the Influencers
Develop
Strategies
Meet Them Where They Are
Piggyback Existing Initiatives
Practice “Planful Opportunism”
Assess Current
Realities
Inspire Shared
Vision(s)
Wake Up
and Decide
Dialogue
Advocacy
High
Telling
DIALOGUE
Asserting
Explaining
Exploring each
other’s assumptions
to generate meaning
Observing
Asking
Bystanding
Sensing
Clarifying
Interviewing
Low
Low
Inquiry
High
Based on Peter M. Senge et al., The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, Doubleday, 1994
Collaborate, Educate, Network
Government
Agencies
Suppliers
NGOs
Senior Executive
Network
Your Inner Circle
Customers
Networks in Other
Departments
Influence the Influencers
Important
Senior Executive
“No”
Important
Senior Executive
“Yes”
Influencer
“Yes”
Influencer
“Yes”
You
You
Ineffective Approach
Effective Approach
7 Leadership Practices
Embed
and Align
Get Credible, Stay Credible
Mobilize
Commitment
Dialogue
Collaborate, Educate, Network
Build Case(s)
for Change
Influence the Influencers
Develop
Strategies
Meet Them Where They Are
Piggyback Existing Initiatives
Practice “Planful Opportunism”
Assess Current
Realities
Inspire Shared
Vision(s)
Wake Up
and Decide
7 Leadership Paradoxes
7
P
R
A
C
T
I
C
E
S
Embed and Align
Mobilize Commitment
Build the Case(s) for Change
Develop Strategies
Assess Current Realities
Inspire Shared Vision(s)
Wake Up and Decide
You Have to Do It Yourself;
You Can’t Do It Alone
Motivators Inhibit
Commitment
Things Need to Get Worse
Before They Can Get Better
To Get “Hard Results,”
Work on the “Soft Stuff”
One Person’s Dream Is
Another Person’s Nightmare
Go Slow
to Go Fast
Go Small
to Go Big
Do it Yourself; You Can’t Do It Alone
All
Industries
All
Whole Industries
Industry
Whole
Company
Kindred
Spirits
You
Kindred
Spirits
Their
Networks
Their
Networks
Whole
Company
Whole
Industry
The
World?
For “Hard Results,” Use “Soft Stuff”
Organizational Systems,
Structures, and Processes
M
A
R
E K
X E
T T
E
R F
N O
A R
L C
E
S
Customer Satisfaction
and Business Results
Products
and Services
Leaders’
Competencies
20-30%
Organizational
Climate
Business Goals
and Strategies
Leadership
Styles
50-70%
Based on a model developed by the Hay Group and IBM
Commitment vs. “Motivators”
Clarity
Relevance
Commitment
Meaning
Involvement
Belgard-Fisher-Rayner Inc. © 1991. Used with permission.
Go Slow to Go Fast
Fast Decision
Executive Executive
Idea
Decision
X
Company
Buy-In
X
X
Sell / Communicate
Faster Buy-In
Executive
Idea
X
Collective Decision
and Buy-In
X
Dialogue / Engagement
Go Small to Go Big
Small
Moves
Big
Shifts
7 Leadership Paradoxes
7
P
R
A
C
T
I
C
E
S
Embed and Align
Mobilize Commitment
Build the Case(s) for Change
Develop Strategies
Assess Current Realities
Inspire Shared Vision(s)
Wake Up and Decide
You Have to Do It Yourself;
You Can’t Do It Alone
Motivators Inhibit
Commitment
Things Need to Get Worse
Before They Can Get Better
To Get “Hard Results,”
Work on the “Soft Stuff”
One Person’s Dream Is
Another Person’s Nightmare
Go Slow
to Go Fast
Go Small
to Go Big
7 Potential Derailers
Embed and Align
Displaying Hubris
Mobilize Commitment
Mishandling Office Politics
Build the Case(s) for Change
Being a “Problem Child”
7
P
R
A
C
T
I
C
E
S
Develop Strategies
Failing to Produce Results
Assess Current Realities
Succumbing to Stress
Inspire Shared Vision(s)
Wake Up and Decide
Changing Everything at Once
Getting Off to a Bad Start
7 PARAD O X E S
Transformational Leadership
Embed and Align
7
P
R
A
C
T
I
C
E
S
Mobilize Commitment
Build Case(s) for Change
Develop Strategies
Assess Current Realities
Inspire Shared Vision(s)
Wake Up and Decide
7 PARAD O X E S
7
D
E
R
A
I
L
E
R
S
5-Stage Sustainability Journey
5. Purpose/Passion
Values-driven founder / CEO
4. Integrated Strategy
Enhanced business value
3. Beyond Compliance
Eco-efficiencies
PR crisis
Regulatory threat
2. Compliance
Regulatory enforcement
1. Pre-Compliance
Nested Dependencies
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
ECONOMY
Based on Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking;
Peter Senge et al., The Necessary Revolution;
Linear Take-Make-Waste Model
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
ECONOMY
TAKE
MAKE
WASTE
WASTE
PRODUCTS
WASTE
Based on Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking;
Peter Senge et al., The Necessary Revolution; Ray Anderson, Mid-Course Correction
Unsustainable Take-Make-Waste Model
ENVIRONMENT
Degradation
of nature by
physical means
TAKE
SOCIETY
ECONOMY
MAKE
WASTE
WASTE
Increasing
concentrations
of waste from
extraction
Increasing
concentrations of waste
from manufacturing,
use, and disposal
PRODUCTS
WASTE
Overconsumption and
undermining people’s
ability to meet their needs
Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking; Peter Senge et al., The Necessary Revolution;
Ray Anderson, Mid-Course Correction; The Natural Step’s four systems conditions
Cyclical Borrow-Use-Return Model
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
ECONOMY
BORROW
LESS
WASTE
USE RETURN
SERVICES
Based on Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking;
Peter Senge et al., The Necessary Revolution
Sustainable Borrow-Use-Return Model
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIETY
Radical resource
productivity
ECONOMY
BORROW
LESS
WASTE
Investment in
natural capital
USE RETURN
SERVICES
Service
economy
Ecological
redesign and
closed-loop
production
Responsible consumption and
support for people’s
ability to meet their needs
Based on Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, and Paul Hawken, Natural Capitalism;
Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking; Peter Senge et al., The Necessary
Revolution; and Ray Anderson, Mid-Course Correction
Reinventing the Economy
•
•
•
•
•
•
Low-carbon economy vs. fossil fuel-based economy
Local supply chains vs. global supply chains
Services vs. products
Responsible consumption / thrift vs. over-consumption
Low / No-growth model vs. “grow or die” model
New ownership models: employees, customers, co-ops,
social venture funds, government funding
• New company purposes: “For-benefit / B-companies,”
“social enterprises,” “fourth sector,” “hybrid companies”
In Summary …
Lead the transformation like any culture change
Can protect & enhance company value
Sustainability is smart business
Relevant to existing business priorities
Opportunity to help reinvent the company
Many willing, helpful partners and networks
Opportunity for leadership … by example
How to
Champion Sustainability
… From the Middle
Toronto Sustainability
Speaker Series
June 10, 2009
Bob Willard
bobwillard@sympatico.ca
www.sustainabilityadvantage.com