I almost feel like something akin to an old man in a wooden rocking chair, armed with a whittling knife, as I share this with you. But, here goes….

The early days of working in sustainability programs were something special. Indeed, back in the ‘90s, it felt exciting. Exciting because it felt like corporations were genuinely trying to make a difference when it came to reducing their “footprint”. Instead of just meeting legal obligations with respect to minimising operational impacts on the environment, these were proactive efforts to reduce the use of energy and water, as well as reduce waste generation.

And allowing staff to have paid time to “volunteer” for targeted social causes was seen as a game changer. It created such meaning for staff and people were proud of what their organisations were doing. It felt like a genuine difference was being made. It finally felt like corporations were seeing that such proactive efforts were no longer seen as a cost but were good for business.

I certainly felt that way. Just imagine where this could head!

But Then, Something Happened. Or Rather, Didn’t Happen

I couldn’t give you an exact date. Or who set the precedent. But sometime in the 2000s, some leader somewhere decided that such programs should be driven by their marketing department. Rather than being seen for doing something authentic, something meaningful, a decision was made to promote the programs to customers and just run programs that looked good. Looked shiny.

Rather than consideration of managing the impacts created by organisations’ operations, revenue rather than leadership was the key.

That created ripples that, unfortunately, we feel to this day.

Incrementalism at Our Peril

You must come across stories of the environmental, social, and economic challenges that we face. You must see that we are making few inroads, at best, into these. Put simply, in response, the sustainability field continues to be unsuccessful in positively shifting those social and environmental trajectories.

If anything, we have been witnessing an (un)sustainability – a consequence of a predilection on incrementalism and on addressing symptoms rather than root causes. It has been about specifically sustaining (un)sustainable business as usual.

That hasn’t just made it harder to deal with the global challenges faced and helping the millions affected. It’s a notable problem now for your organisation.

Hold the Line at Your Peril

I think I could stick my chin out and suggest that, irrespective of who and even where your stakeholders are,…the majority of them see how superficial and cynical sustainability programs really are. Indeed, one “skill” I see in communities across the world is just how accomplished they are at sniffing out BS. Consequently, I could talk to you at great length about how often I now see organisations grappling cluelessly with stakeholder outrage. And I also see how many of these organisations have a tab on their website titled “sustainability”.

Instead, I will wrap this us by sharing with you some of the insights that came out of the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report. Perhaps that may shift the superficial thinking organisations have towards sustainability; namely:

• Existential fears – of climate change, war, food and energy shortages – are high within society
• Society wants more societal engagement from business, not less, on issues like climate change, inequality, energy shortages, and workforce reskilling
• Those surveyed across the globe believe it is four times more likely for partnerships between corporations and government to yield optimal resists than business alone.

What does sustainability look like in your organization? Is it an awkward, greenwashed add-on solely for short-term profits?

Has sustainability helped your organisation maintain a sterling reputation?

Is your organisation positioned to deal with a changing world and changing societal expectations? What will your legacy be?

Bio:

Working as a VUCA Strategist, David Ross helps organizations to protect or reclaim their reputation and performance by successfully navigating their organizations through the stormy waters of operating in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. He achieves this by helping to empower leaders and affected stakeholders to find lasting solutions to their most complex and contentious economic, social and environmental issues.

He has postgraduate and graduate qualifications in executive business administration, futures studies, advance conflict transformation, leadership, environmental engineering and ecology.  David is currently writing a book on the leadership required to deliver sustainable development outcomes in a VUCA world and is co-authoring a book with Bob on how organizations can tackle climate change.

For more information, head to: https://www.confrontingthestorm.global/