Sustainability: the Next Megatrend

How Will Organizational Development Contribute?

OD in Los AngelesOctober 27th, 2010Westside Conference Center

Agenda

• Dinner and Networking 6:00 PM

• Program 6:45 PM

Sustainability Topics:

• Sustainability in Business and OD – Ariane David

• Sustainable Transformation – Bill Bellows

• LEED and Customer Service – Jim McPartlin

• Performance Management – Mauricio Mesones

• Walmart’s Sustainability Effort – Nkechi Ndu

• Questions and Dialogue

• Closing 8:30 PM

So, what do we understand “Sustainability” to be?

What short phrase do you think most people would immediately think of if you mention “Sustainable Business”?

So, what do we understand “Our Role” to be?

OD (Organizational Development) is a critical contributor to the successful implementation of Sustainable principles and practices in organizations.

What is Sustainability?

• There is no right definition of sustainability.

• Intuitively we know that if something is sustainable it can go on and on without adverse affects.

What is Sustainability

• Tim Jackson, UK Sustainability Commission: “ Shared and lasting prosperity.” (But he also adds that we’ve destroyed lasting prosperity through unfettered growth.)

• Elisabet Sahtouris, writer: “ I see Capitalism as a pretty natural (in the sense of evolution biology) juvenile economic mode, acquisitive and creative, but believe it is high time to move into the mature cooperative mode if we want to survive current pileup of unprecedented crises.”

• Ray Anderson, CEO and founder of Interface: “ Take nothing (that is not quickly renewable), and do no harm.”

•Depletion of substances extracted from the Earth

•concentrations of substances produced by society

•Degradation by physical means

•people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.

Prof Karl-Henrik Robèrt: In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing

and, in that society...

What is Sustainability - an operational definition

What is Sustainability: Classic Model

Old Model: Concentrated on environment; “ green”.

What is Sustainability: New Model Three Pillars

• Environment: waste/pollution/depletion neutral on a global level

• A new economic model: global vs. local impact

• Social justice that addresses poverty, disease and slavery.

What is Organizational Sustainability?

• Environment

• A new economic model

• Social justice

Sustainable Organizational Environment

Environment: Waste/pollution/depletion Neutral on an Organizational Level

– Extractive to renewable– Wasteful to waste free– Abusive to benign– Fossil fuels to renewable energy– Exploitive to collaborative

Sustainable Organizational Economics

A new economic model:

• Rape pillage and plunder is not a sustainable business model.

• Current calculation:labor + materials + overhead = cost of production

• Sustainable calculation:labor + materials + overhead+ pollution + depleted non-renewable resources + future increased cost of extraction + human cost = actual cost of production

Sustainable Organizational Society

• Social justice: no need to choose between employee well-being and profits

• Providing employees with an environment of– Work satisfaction,

– Meaning,

– Personal growth

– Learning

– Work/non-work balance

• This is where OD comes in!

Sustainability Requires Systems Thinking

• Involves looking the larger system of which we’re a part• Systems are interconnected and cannot be separated

Ask: • In what ways is my system embedded in a larger

system?

• How does the larger system influence my system?

• What influence does my system have on the larger system?

Sustainability Requires Systems Thinking

• Involves seeing the connectivity of our actions through time.

• The conditions today are the direct result of decisions made in the past.

• The decisions we make today will determine where we are in the future.

Ask:

• What impact will today’s choice have in the long run.

I NTERFACE: Ray Anderson’s Quest for Sustainability

Mission Zero:

– zero waste,– zero emissions,– zero use of non-renewable energy

in Interface by 2020.

INTERFACE: Ray Anderson’s Quest for Sustainability

How?

1 . Research and development: greening of all manufacturing processes

2 . Organizational development:– Created a culture which would allow employees to participate– Invites ideas from the rank and file, rejecting none without consideration.– Encourages employees to participate in the formation of strategies and

goals.– Employee satisfaction is a high priority.– Interface attracts and retains the very best talent and employee productivity

is high.– Employee engagement and affinity are high– Absenteeism is low.– Productivity is high

INTERFACE: Results

This year Interface seems to be on track to it’s goal.

– Greenhouse gas emissions were down by 80%– Profits doubled– Fossil fuel consumption down 62%

What Drives an Org. to Care About Sustainability?

C-suite survey of 203 large U.S. enterprises, Feb.-Mar. 2009

What Do Organization’s Believe the Greatest Benefits to Be?

Survey of 1,560 global business leaders

MIT Sloan, Business of Sustainability Report, 2009; http://www.mitsmrezine.com/busofsustainability/2009?#pg20

5. Purpose/Passion Values-driven senior leader

4. Integrated Strategy Enhanced organizational value

3. Beyond Compliance Eco-efficiencies PR crisis

Regulatory threat

2. Compliance Regulatory enforcement

1. Pre-Compliance

Stage Sustainability Org. Journey

Source: Bob Willard – Sustainability Advantage

The Basic Toolkit for the OD Practitioner of the Future…

• Evolutionary Leadership– Knowing how to choose among existing

alternatives as well as how to create new ones

• Systems Thinking– Seeing things in terms of connected

relationships, patterns and processes and not just in terms of separate objects, structures, positions

• Sustainability Strategy– Understanding the objectives of sustainable

business practice and knowing how to design for them