Reply To: Exercise 6: 10 People Closer to Your Field
As of August 31: 4 conversations so far, 2 more booked, an explosion of useful feedback that is transforming my project.
1. FEEDBACK
JC
• Problem is clear on the need for an employee. Build more into it, add structure on how employee could approach the company so it is no hassle to get started.
• Develop a questionnaire or disclosure to help person understand how to get involved., such as go to direct manager, find out if the company has as sustainability strategy, sustainability strategy. Interested people may not know how to get started and it is easy to give up when in this state.
• Develop a guidance document that identifies structure, and background to help them id things people could do in their areas that would create company value or be worthwhile personal objectives
• Other advice: the idea of green housing for example, and what will make it stronger? Trying to make sure innovation is not just with the development team. Think about the goal to embed sustainability in every department.
• Need the dollar value of the goal to be defined. Otherwise it is too easy to cut the out the project in cost saving times.
Use innovation infrastructure in company to spark sustainability innovation at all levels. Create a community of sustainability actions inside the company.
• Less focus on recycling, more on integrating into each department
• (example: our product doesn’t include sustainable thinking in the materials used. What can be done about it?
• Consider education program to bring people into sustainability at a higher level than recycling. Define what this could mean and be for the company. Tie back to engagement person who works with them to make connections to their department and key leaders.
CC
• Company sponsor and alignment with sustainability objectives
• SEEN CASES LIKE THIS, Need a central driver to keep the program moving, outside organizational support to help facilitate the process, organize events: exclusive or company open tree planting, clean ups. Work with local non profits, opportunity to participate as an individual or an organization
• PPG is providing outside support to coordinate sustainability events. Some events are closed to members like the materials exchange.
• Could be a combination of internal and external resources (PPG membership model in Ontario). Larger organizations could have their own green team, smaller don’t.
• Communication and a blog to keep people informed, create competition between departments
• PPG helping managers work across their organization. Do you need outside support to help facilitate certain events, continuing the process itself?: tree planting, clean ups
• Can the common role keep all the organization work or should some of it be taken on by ppg or local non profits. This helps when money its tight and things have to be suspended
• Training work shops to work with leaders
• Volunteer days in the organization
MN-LV
• Identify aggregate value to the organization in terms of dollars, employee engagement, productivity, environmental improvement, project leadership.
• Don’t make it feel like homework
• Identify investment needed and develop the opportunity as a normal ‘project’. Value proposition has to make the cut.
• Identify by individual project opportunity
• Grass roots? Is one way to go, but may be much of a value for the company.
• Relying on operations to take Initiative in current program, too busy, little incentive, encouragement from sustainability department but no central role to guide, mentor, provide resources and know how. All up to the initiator to figure it out while maintaining their regular job.
JS
GENERAL
• Frustration is a broad emotion, need to zero in on more specific emotions that speak to the person when you are stating the problem. Hey! That’s me.
• Solution was hard to understand, too much corporate language. Make it more reachable for employees, Try ‘to do sustainable things ….“create working groups to learn from each other how to live sustainably” this will engage more employees.
• The value to the organization is about increasing people retention. Attracting younger employees.
• First engage the audience, then pitch to the organization as needed. Mine it too much of a pitch.
Advice: within the organization, lay out the resources, frame the outcome as a benefit to the organization.
• Pick one audience to speak to start with. “ I’m going to create materials for employees to improve the sustainability of the work place”
• Pilot it, do it yourself with me as the lead role to illustrate an example of how it works, use the experience to create materials for others to follow.
2nd advice: lead someone through to pilot for themselves after you’ve run a pilot and learned from it. Then broker subsequent projects. You shouldn’t be trying to help people do good things, you should be trying to help them be effective which means acting on their true values. Find out what their values are and help them activate them.
3rd advice: avoid judgement.
• That means removing the words no, but, however as the beginning of a response and take out the words good, bad, right, wrong, great, better, worse, should out entirely. These words signify a judgement on the person(s). You are doing good work is a judgement.
• In their place use agree, disagree, like, don’t like. These words are a statement about me as the speaker and what my preferences are.
• Channeling Marshall Goldsmith perspective. ‘Yes but I’m judging positively’ which means it could be a negative imposition of your values on another. The other person has to act according to their values to be the most motivated.
• My own language to myself, ‘I’m improving’ is more good (ie a judgement) versus ‘I’m achieving goals that are important to me’ or ‘I’m improving on my values’
2. IMPROVED PROJECT
Problem: People feel fear and anguish knowing climate change is a problem and want to do something about it. Yet there is little to no opportunity for them to participate in their company sustainability initiatives and they are unsure/afraid of how to start a project of their own.
Solution: Implement working groups where employees learn how to live sustainably and work on projects that make a difference to them and the organization they work for.
3. REFERRALS and known authority ideas
• Offers from all to help further
• Kim Burgess
• Mike Nemeth
• Christiana Figueres-Co-Founder, Global Optimism
• Ganesh Shankar – Founder, FluxGen and The Sustainability Mafia
• Sally Uren, CEO of Forum for the Future
• Alan Busby (spelling?) UK contact
4. REFLECTION
• 7 principles: The quote that, “the solutions you come up with depend on how you see the problem” is relevant to the initiative workshop and the 7 principles. The emphasis on cycles of problem-solution refinement are critical to understanding more about what problem you are really trying to solve and whether you are working on a symptom or a real problem.
• I appreciate more, the idea of starting and working to hone a problem-solution pair rather than trying to come up with the perfect ‘great idea’ in one shot. Perfection and ‘brilliance’ are the enemy of progress and starting versus not.
• The advice versus pitch perspective is a great one. Opens more doors, is less angst full, and turns the dynamic from challenging and judgement to helpful and encouraging, mostly.
• Not anxious about Task #6, this step is much more significant that the others. Challenged to get through it in the time cycle but recognize this is the most value added step toward a successful problem-solution outcome that matters so will keep at it.
• I got the most useful amount of advice from this step, so much so that it is transforming the way I think about the problem and has led to realization of additional pathways toward achieving the goal. I understand the problem and solution much better. All so far are interested in hearing more about the progress.