It’s 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 allow organizations to 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. He evolves the ideas presented in Green to Gold 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. Read More