Sustainability: if not now, when?
There’s always an excuse to do nothing. Brexit, the value of the pound, restructuring, a new boss – these are all reasons I have heard recently for stalling on Sustainability.
This makes no logical sense, after all, businesses which take Sustainability seriously are more profitable than those who don’t. They exploit new markets, attract and retain new customers, inspire their employees, cut operating costs and avoid embarrassing compliance breaches.
But logic is not enough – the global political/economic tectonic plates have been shifting significantly of late, and it puts fear into people’s hearts. Some ideas which can help:
- Find equally compelling emotions to work on – fear of prosecution, keeping up with the Jones’s (ie talk about what your competitors are doing), exciting new business opportunities etc.
- Even better, find an opportunity to get that person to work through the business case for action themselves as they’ll believe their own logic more than they’ll believe yours.
- Find an opportunity for an experience for the naysayer, whether that’s driving an electric vehicle or feeling energy inefficiencies (I still remember the blast of wasted heat from a power station I got nearly 15 years ago when discussing districting heating potential) or witnessing waste production. Experience always trumps words and figures.
As I advise my clients, there is always a way, always a button or two to press – you’ve just go to find it.