It is common knowledge that sustainability is a big deal. It is a multidimensional issue that impacts all sectors of society. Companies wrestle with how they are going to respond beyond the obvious of energy conservation and waste reduction, when sustainability begins to blur with corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Some direction and insights are provided in an excellent article, “the Sustainability Imperative: Lessons for Leaders from Previous Game-Changing Megatrends,” by David Lubin and Daniel Esty. This article frames sustainability in ways that organizations can take actionable steps to impact their sustainability efforts (Harvard Business Review, May 2010).
Many readers are familiar with Esty’s landmark book, Green to Gold and his work in the environmental policy arena. Ideas presented in Green to Gold evolve in the Sustainability Megatrends article. Lubin and Esty assert that the current sustainability movement can be viewed as a megatrend as popularized by John Naisbitt in 1982. As such, there are lessons that companies can learn by examining other megatrends such as IT and quality.
Practical advise is presented on what is called “getting the right vision,” “getting execution right,” and “building a sustainable performance system.” They echo what other thought leaders, such as Michael Porter and Peter Senge, are saying about sustainability, in that companies need to start by developing a sustainability vision that is appropriate for them. Porter talks about this in terms of strategy and that a sustainability strategy needs to be aligned with a company’s overall business strategy. A vision or strategy that works for UPS, may not be appropriate for BP, or 3M.
Lubin and Esty correctly emphasis the importance of developing “methods for assessing value” in a sustainability program. New skill sets and fresh ideas are needed throughout the organization. This is presented in terms of updating traditional business tools, such as risk modeling and scenario planning.
The steps identified by Lubin and Esty to develop, implement and manage a robust sustainability program can be mapped on to, and filled out even more completely through a number of approaches in ISO documents, particularly ISO’s evolving generic management system. By using systems thinking and organizational learning tools to develop the sustainability vision, and then management system structures to bring the vision to life, companies can effectively ride the sustainability megatrend with confidence.
© Redinger EHS, Inc. (2010)