27 January 2012
Here's the latest in my Green Business Confidential podcast series. It's called "Integrate, Integrate, Integrate" which is probably the most important word in green business, so I repeated it!
Or, you can download it here and listen on your MP3 player:
GBC12 Integrate, Integrate, Integrate
You can get the whole podcast series here or subscribe on iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Tags: green business, green executive, integration, podcast
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
16 January 2012
I'm writing this on the East Coast Mainline, charging across the frozen fields of eastern England as the sun casts various tints of orange across the monochrome landscape. I'm on my way down to the bright lights of London to take part on a webinar about engaging customers on how to use your products and services in a greener way. The event is organised by BusinessGreen.com, sponsored by Accor and also includes Marks & Spencer, so I'm in pretty good company.
If you read this in time, you can still sign up here - I'll post a summary on Wednesday for all those who missed it!
Just to give some background - customer engagement is one of the three big challenges for green business I identified back in December. Effectively all those green collar jobs everyone hopes says will emerge from the green economy will be delivering products and services which allow others to go greener. This is the top level of the business case model in my book, the Green Executive. So why is this such a big issue?
Well look at the diagram below (taken from The Green Executive) which shows lifecycle carbon emissions for a variety of generic products - computer, car, food and washing powder - which:
Food is the only common example I could find where the emissions from the use phase (in this case cooking at home) don't dominate the lifecycle. In the case of food this is because of the huge amount of energy required for fertiliser, pesticides and irrigation. But for the other three, the biggest element of the emissions is in the hands of the user.
The washing powder data above came from Procter & Gamble and was the evidence that drove them to create Ariel Excel Gel which allows washing at 15°C - a massive potential improvement in lifecycle emissions. But that improvement hinges on the consumer being able/wanting to wash at that temperature. First up, my A+ rated washing machine doesn't have a 15°C setting and secondly, (on the rare occasions I put a wash on) I'm forever turning the dial from 40°C down to 30°C - the fairies turn it back up when I turn my back. Marks & Spencer may have run a massive "Wash at 30°C" campaign on their clothes, but there is a residual feeling amongst many consumers that warmer = cleaner.
So you can (and must) enable greener behaviour, you can (and must) inform the consumer/customer of the benefits, but that's often not enough to actually change their behaviour. We'll look at that in part 2.
Tags: eco-design, green executive, green products, life cycle assessment, sustainable production and consumption
Posted by Gareth Kane 3 responses
13 January 2012
Here's the video of my book launch for The Green Executive back in June. Given the diverse audience, I focus on the lessons I learnt from the 18 Green Executives I interviewed for the book (people like stories).
Tags: green business, green executive
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
3 January 2012
I've found it weird reading the inevitable deluge of "that was 2011, what will 2012 have in store" articles in the press. The consensus of opinion is that the year just gone was one of the most turbulent in recent times and what will happen in the year to come is likewise extremely hard to predict. The weirdness comes from the disconnect between what I read and what I experienced - 2011 was a brilliant year for myself and Terra Infirma. Here's just a few of the highlights:
Again unlike the predictions for the world economy, the future of the Eurozone or the Middle East, the year ahead for Terra Infirma seems remarkably stable:
So, I hope you'll come with us in 2012 and together we will leave the world in 2013 a more sustainable place than we found it in 2011!
Tags: green executive, terra infirma
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
9 November 2011
One of the things that really impressed me with Dame Ellen MacArthur last Friday (other than the solo around the world sailing stuff) was, despite coming to the topic of sustainability relatively recently, she grasped the fact that the circular, closed loop economy is a much better sustainability model than eco-efficiency. Many so-called experts don't get this.
Nature is inefficient by our standards – how many sycamore seeds are released for every new sycamore tree? – yet it is sustainable. Materials and nutrients travel in solar powered loops and nothing gets poisoned on a grand scale. Efficiency, at best, slows the unsustainability problem down, but doesn't solve it.
In chapters 6 and 7 of The Green Executive, I describe what I call the eco-system model of sustainability and how it can be applied to industry at a macro level. The eco-system model requires all energy to be from renewable sources, all materials to be recovered for re-use in continuous loops and nothing gets poisoned. This model needs to permeate all operations, the supply chain and products/services.
Impossible, you cry, you can't recycle 'X'! Well don't use 'X' then. Or find a different way of doing using 'X' where it can be recovered and reused. Likewise, toxic materials should simply be designed out.
Taking the eco-system model a step further, we can look to nature to inspire design solutions - aka biomimcry. Some of my favourite examples in the Green Executive are from the world of biomimcry:
These examples show the need for a change in mindset. The anti-fouling example required a radical rethink of the problem. If you take the eco-efficiency mindset, you will try to trade off the loss in efficiency in moving the ship from the fouling against the impact of toxic anti-fouling paint and will inevitably end up with a messy compromise. The eco-system model says "you can't use poisons at all", so you have to find another way of tackling the problem - hence the innovation. Similarly the eco-efficiency mindset says "recycle only if it saves energy/resources" whereas the eco-system mindset says "close the loop - make it work".
I've said it before and I'll say it again - sustainability is all in the mind. And, as Einstein is said to have said:
"The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them."
The eco-system model requires a different mindset. So are you going to go loopy?
Tags: eco-efficiency, eco-system model, green executive, industrial ecology, industrial symbiosis
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
19 October 2011
One of the key green business challenges is the supply chain. For most businesses 60%+ of their carbon footprint lies in their suppliers. We have now gone way beyond the days of drawing the limit of responsibility around the factory fence - true green businesses have to address the whole supply chain.
But herein lies the challenge. Current supply chains are set up for conventional products and "green" supply chains tend to be weak - single suppliers, hobbyists masquerading as businesspeople, low capacity, high price. If you want to truly transform your business, simply choosing the marginally greener of the available conventional suppliers is not going to get you very far.
The answer is: build the supply chain you need. Easy to say, difficult to do, but here are some ideas taken from contributors to The Green Executive:
• Collaborate to boost demand: Royal Mail claim to have brought commercial hydrogen vans forward by a decade by collaborating with other European postal services;
• Create volume: Marks & Spencer wanted high grade recycled polyester in their school uniforms, but it was expensive due to low volumes. They found by purchasing low grade recycled fibre in bulk for cushion stuffing, they could bring down the price of the high grade material;
• Work with suppliers: go in and help key suppliers provide a better product and service. if you have to, invest in them and beat them into shape;
• Invest in R&D: collaborate with researchers to develop better green solutions;
• Play conventional suppliers off against each other to get the product or service you need;
• Copy InterfaceFLOR who realised that the most sustainable raw material for making new carpets was using old carpets. Can your products become your raw materials?
None of these are simple and many require you to have substantial purchasing power and or investment resources. But building a green supply chain can be, and has been, done.
Tags: green business, green executive, supply chain
Posted by Gareth Kane 2 responses
5 October 2011
Do people trust you?
Do they believe you will do what you say you will do?
Do they believe you are telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Well if you are serious about green business or corporate social responsibility, then trust is the magic ingredient. To facilitate change inside the organisation as a Green Executive, you must be trusted as an individual. To reap the rewards of green business in your marketplace and indeed the jobs market, your organisation must be trusted.
Marks & Spencer is a trusted brand. Its Plan A sustainability programme was developed to protect that trust in the 21st Century.
Apple is trusted to create great products, but it is not trusted on green issues or supply chain working conditions.
Leadership guru Warren Bennis lists Bennis lists five Cs for trust:
How many do you score on? How many would your boss get? The organisation?
If you've got it, cherish, nourish and protect it - it is priceless.
Tags: corporate social responsibility, csr, green executive, leadership
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
5 September 2011
The Green Executive was conceived and written as a manual for the new breed of senior businesspeople who want to guide their organisation to an environmentally sustainable future. So here's a handy checklist of behaviours, knowledge and skills required of green business leaders to give you an idea of whether you've got what it takes.
OK, out of 16, how many did you get? If it's less than 16, then maybe you should read the book!
Tags: green business, green executive, leadership, sustainability strategy
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
23 August 2011
When you read this I'll be off on holiday for two weeks visiting family in Belfast. So we'll be on holiday blogging routine - about twice a week rather than thrice - and the topics may reflect the holiday spirit.
First up, there have been quite a few reviews of The Green Executive since its publication, so I thought I'd do a quick round up.
Elaine Cohen on CSRWire.com said:
"The Green Executive is an essential book for those who want a leadership view of how to make a business sustainable, from how to address the risks to how to exploit the opportunities. The book is nicely populated with models, frameworks and ways to advance, and is pitched exactly right to make it interesting without getting bogged down in academic texts. Using tools that include Gareth Kane's Sustainability Maturity Model or his summary of new and emerging green markets, green executives may just become a mainstream feature of business."
Jessica Shankleman on BusinessGreen said:
"...in his lively new book The Green Executive, a well written manual designed to help business leaders improve the environmental impact of their company."
Nick Smith in Engineering & Technology said:
"But it doesn't have to be this way, argues Kane in his well-informed and public-spirited new book. Why not, instead of tinkering around the edges of sustainability, go the whole hog and make it a pillar of your corporate DNA? There are, as he explains, sound commercial reasons for following this track."
Florian Kaefer on the Sustainable Futures Blog:
"only a few books really stand out from the crowd... One of those outstanding books comes from Gareth Kane... Sustainability leadership – what CEOs and business leaders need to know in terms of sustainability, is aptly summarized in Gareth’s new book The Green Executive."
And a couple of readers on Amazon.co.uk have left comments (none yet on Amazon.com):
"I would strongly recommend this book to any organisation"
"This book is a must read for businesses everywhere."
Tags: book review, csr, green business, green executive
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
3 August 2011
In sustainability maturity model (above) that sits at the heart of The Green Executive, one of the five key requirements to create a truly green business is the alignment of all processes and procedures to sustainability. This must be the easiest said, hardest to do parts of the whole book.
That's why all of part 3 and much of part 4 are dedicated to this topic - how to get "green" out of the environmental silo and embed it everywhere. And by "everywhere" I mean everywhere: operations, the supply chain, products/services, the entire business model and all the supporting processes like accounting and HR.
One of the trends picked up in the Green Executive is how the cutting edge businesses are going about this. Instead of just creating a green range of products, they are embedding sustainability into their entire product range, deleting those that don't make the grade. Instead of simply adding some green criteria to purchasing decisions, they are building the supply chains they need, discarding suppliers who don't make the grade. In some cases they are redefining the traditional producer/supplier distinction through industrial symbiosis (using other's waste as a raw material) and product takeback (using your own post-use product as raw material), or even the traditional business model through product service systems.
This approach doesn't ask "is X feasible?", but asks "how can we make X feasible?". That's a huge mental shift on both the individual and the organisational level, but to deliver corporate sustainability it's an essential one.
Tags: green executive, green products, supply chain, sustainability maturity model
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
1 August 2011
It is five years to the day that I cast off the chains of an institutional career and set up Terra Infirma. I still remember my outline plan - spend August building a dry stone wall in the garden, start marketing myself in September and hopefully get the first project going in October. In the event the wall took another 18 months to build - half way through the first week the phone rang and I had to put down the stone I was holding, go shower off the dirt and get my suit on for what turned out to be my first client meeting. Exciting times.
The last year hasn't been any less exciting. My second book, the Green Executive has been published, we've launched the Green Academy set of green business webinars and we've landed our first two FTSE 100 clients, which means our strategy of shifting from our early reliance on public funding to large private sector clients is starting to bear real fruit.
Looking forward, we will soon be launching a better registration system for Green Academy, starting to turn the webinar sessions into stand alone learning modules and starting a range of e-books. We are also in negotiation with a number of big name prospective clients. All our other services including this blog and The Low Carbon Agenda monthly bulletin will continue.
So, it just leaves me to thank all our clients, partners, friends, followers, subscribers and workshop participants for another great year. I'm looking forward to meeting more of you (online or offline), so don't be afraid to come and say hello!
All the best,
Gareth
Tags: gareth kane, green academy, green executive, low carbon agenda, terra infirma
Posted by Gareth Kane one response
18 July 2011
I was delighted at the weekend to be sent this amazing picture by Melvin Redeker of him reading The Green Executive while on a kayaking trip around the North Sea island of Noss. Melvin is a business speaker and photographer who has mission to reconnect business with the natural world - you should check out his website here for the wonderful pictures if nothing else.
Well this got me thinking, what makes someone pick up a business book like The Green Executive after a hard day's paddling in the open sea? Well the simple answer is that I packed the book full of stories.
When I started the book I didn't want to regurgitate the same old case studies over again, so I interviewed 18 senior managers/directors charged with transforming their business. These interviews took on a life of their own, so I included a transcript at the end of each chapter as a short intermission called "The View from the Front Line". I found the stories were inspirational - somehow we managed to duck their PR machines' blue pencil of death and got some really personal insights and anecdotes. Virtually all the feedback on the book - reviews and on Amazon - has lauded the interviews.
None of this is surprising - humankind has always revered the story. Very few of us would willingly wade through a book of stats, equations and mathematical proofs, but whole industries depend on stories, from the Take A Break style magazine through to blockbuster movies.
So how can you use storytelling in your green communications? In exactly the same way I used it in the book - sprinkle anecdotes and personal stories through your reports, websites and other publications. One of the interviewees from the book, Julie Parr of lawyers Muckle LLP, used a story of how one partner was taking waste paper away to use as horse bedding in their in house magazine. OK, it's not the most exciting thing they are doing if you are a sustainability geek like me, but for the rest of the world (the people we need to communicate with) it the story is far more engaging than a bar chart or a picture of hands cupping a sapling.
So go on, what's your story?
Tags: communications, csr, green executive, reporting, storytelling
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
11 July 2011
The central theme of my latest book, The Green Executive, is that 'green' has been elevated from environmental management to business leadership. But what does this mean in practice?
The father of modern corporate leadership Warren Bennis famously said that leadership is 'doing the right thing' and management is 'doing things right'. So leadership is about policy, direction and ambition, management is about delivery, systems and monitoring progress. The two are both essential - there's no point doing efficiently what shouldn't be done at all (to paraphrase another management guru Peter Drucker) and equally, there's no point point in having a sustainability strategy if its execution flops.
When Bennis talked about "doing the right thing" he was talking from a business point of view rather than from a societal/environmental point of view, but his maxim applies perfectly. True corporate leaders understand that their business exists within society and the environment and not in an economic bubble. Here in the UK we have seen a 168 year old newspaper close because its leadership allowed deeply unethical practices to flourish. Tony Hayward of BP took his company to the brink because he didn't understand he was responsible for the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, treating it as an internal problem to be managed.
But those are the stand out cases - many if not most businesses still think they can survive by doing business as usual with a bit of environmental management to keep the wolves from the door. But this is false security - these companies will fall victim to tightening legislation, rising utility costs, more pressure from customers, the bar being raised by competitors and losing out on recruiting the best staff.
On the other hand we have business leaders like Ray Anderson of Interface, Richard Branson of Virgin and Sir Stuart Rose (now ex-) of Marks & Spencer who want to lead huge businesses AND be one of the good guys. This takes leadership both inside and outside the business. When Anderson deletes profitable product lines because they aren't compatible with Interface's Mission Zero strategy, that's leadership. When Nike and Apple left the US Chamber of Commerce over the latter's stance on carbon legislation, they were showing clear leadership.
So that's the question The Green Executive poses: are you going to lead on the environment or simply try and manage the consequences of not doing so?
Tags: environmental management, green business, green executive, leadership
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
4 July 2011
How do you actually embed sustainability into the DNA of your organisation? Well according to my Sustainability Maturity Model (above - click to enlarge), you need the following five elements:
Easy? In a word, no. Sustainability is widely regarded as one of the key boardroom challenges of the 21st Century, but senior executives feel ill-equipped to deliver on it. This is why I wrote my latest book, The Green Executive, and the maturity model is at the heart of the book as you can see if you download this sample chapter.
Tags: culture change, green executive, sustainability maturity model
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
20 June 2011
During the Business of Sustainability sessions last week I was asked about the green executives I had interviewed for my book, The Green Executive - were they doing what they were doing because they felt it was the morally correct thing to do, or was it because it was just good business sense?
The answer of course is "both" - they were passionate about their values AND it was good for the business.
But the reality is a bit more subtle than that. The executives were almost all highly passionate about doing the right thing, but they were astute enough to realise that if what they proposed wasn't good for the business then it wouldn't be sustainable in the small 's' meaning of the word. A dose of healthy business pragmatism was required.
In other words there is a "sustainability sweet spot" where personal passion for the planet and business acumen overlap - see my Venn diagram below.
If you are passionate about the planet, but ignore the business case, then either you will be ignored yourself or ultimately you will damage your business (or organisation). On the other hand, if you are only coming to sustainability from a purely business point of view you will probably lack the vision and perseverance to deliver real change. If you hit the sweet spot then you are a true Green Executive - and this is what sets the guys I interviewed for the book apart from the also-rans.
Tags: business case, csr, green executive, values
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
17 June 2011
Most of my focus this week was on Newcastle Univeristy Business School's Business of Sustainability Week.
On Tuesday, NUBS very kindly hosted the formal launch event for my latest book, The Green Executive. This was a pretty difficult presentation to pitch as it had to entertain everyone from my 20-month old son Jimmy to University Profs. I decided to gloss over the theoretical models and focus on the 18 interviews that underpin the text. Everybody likes stories, so I told the stories I got from seven of them and then pulled out some conclusions. OK, Jimmy lost interest after 5 minutes, but everybody else thoroughly enjoyed it.
I was delighted with really good, penetrating questions. The best was, if, as I had postulated, big retailers were acting as sustainability gatekeepers for consumers, what was in it for them as consumers themselves appear to be reluctant to choose green products over mainstream products? The answer is broader brand protection. While a consumer may not pay a premium for a green product on any single buying decision, the overall perception of a retailer may influence where that consumer decides to shop.
Oh, and the food was really good to boot. Big thanks go out to Fiona Whitehurst and the team at NUBS.
On Thursday I was back, this time in the august company of sustainable consumerism pioneer Julia Hailes MBE and Peter White, Global Director of Sustainability at Procter & Gamble. The three of us were judging teams of MBA students who had been set the challenge of encouraging behavioural change in consumers of P&G products. We got 5 really good presentations - it was very competitive and they had clearly done their homework.
After some Dragon's Den-style questioning, we awarded the best overall entry award to Lancaster who had developed a whole suite of interactions for different types of consumer including a Farmville-type viral game to promote sustainable lifestyles. The other award, for best single idea, went to Sheffield who suggested a product code which combined the ideas of a loyalty card and sustainability awareness - the consumer would have to answer sustainability questions before they got their discount points. You'd think we were judging Britain's Got Talent the way the winners exploded with joy - showing what effort they had put in and how seriously they took the whole process. Peter and I gave presentations, but unfortunately I had to leave before Julia's keynote in the evening.
So an excellent couple of events, and I feel I've wet The Green Executive's head properly now.
Tags: green business, green executive
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
2 June 2011
One of the main trends I identified in my new book The Green Executive is the shift from 'green' being the exception to it becoming the rule. Examples include:
The implication of this shift is that directors and senior managers must have a good grasp of sustainability issues, how they impact on the core business and the range of solutions available. Which is why I wrote the book!
Tags: environmental management, green business, green executive, green products, leadership, supply chain, sustainability strategy
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
20 May 2011
Drum roll...
Today is the official publication date of my second book, The Green Executive. Needless to say, I'm extremely excited and proud - the book was started over two years ago it took a huge amount of effort to get the 76,000-odd words down and into the right order.
The central premise of the book is that 'green' is shifting out of its environmental management silo and onto the boardroom table. Survey after survey has shown that executives understand that it is a priority, but don't feel adequately equipped to deal with it. The Green Executive was written to bridge that gap.
The book has four sections:
1. The Business Case for Sustainability: doing nothing is not an option, the case for action, the moral case and green business risks.
2. Context: global problems, global solutions and the green economy.
3. Practical Action: ranging from sponsoring R&D through to redesigning your business model.
4. Making It Happen: integrating sustainability, leadership, strategy, engaging stakeholders, management processes.
At the end of each of the 18 chapters is a short interview with a leading practitioner in corporate sustainability - the big company names include Marks & Spencer, GlaxoSmithKline, Canon, National Express, Procter & Gamble and Arup, plus a huge range of others.
If you want some free extracts and some other goodies, then check out May's special edition of The Low Carbon Agenda.
Plus, I'm running two webinars about the book entitled The 7 Habits of Green Business Leaders at 11am and 2pm British Summer Time TODAY - e-mail me; before 10am if you want one of the last places.
Tags: books, csr, green business, green executive, leadership
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
12 May 2011
My second book, The Green Executive is formally published on Friday next week - 20th May. It seems like an eternity since I started it - I think the first of the 18 'View from the Front Line' interviews were done 2 years ago and the manuscript was pretty much complete last July.
The central premise of the book is that 'green' has shifted from a management issue to a leadership priority, yet research suggests that executives feel ill-equipped for the challenge. The book provides a roadmap for this new breed of Green Executives.
To mark the book's birth, I'm holding online and offline events.
20th May 2011, Webcasts: The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Green Business Leaders. I'm running two sessions at 11am and 2pm - e-mail us to register, making sure you tell us which session you want to take part in.
14th June 2011, Formal Launch Event, Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle upon Tyne, 17:00 for 17:30 with drinks and nibbles afterwards. Again, e-mail us to register.
BTW, this month's Low Carbon Agenda contains loads of content and free downloads relating to The Green Executive. Check it out.
Here's some of the kind words people have said about the book:
“There are too many out there making it up as they go along. Reading the Green Executive will help you see the opportunity amongst the bullshit.”
Dr Stan Higgins, CEO, North East Process Industry Cluster
“It is most refreshing to read a book in which opinions and advice are supported by facts and figures from authoritative sources. As a practical handbook it deserves to be read and heeded by executives from across the spectrum.”
Professor Dermot Roddy C.Eng., FIET, FRSA Science City Professor of Energy Director, Sir Joseph Swan Centre for Energy Research
“A comprehensive, practical and up-to-date view of art of the possible in sustainable business. Built on the author’s insights and those of other practitioners it provides a superb reference for businesses. Doing nothing is no longer an option!”
Ted Shann, Practice Partner, Wipro Technologies
Tags: green business, green executive, seminars, webinar
Posted by Gareth Kane no responses
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