What is a Sustainability Strategy? Is it just a document containing all your targets? Is it something to show your stakeholders? Is it a baseline against which you can measure progress? Or is it something more than that?

I saw this quote from Stuart Cross on general business strategy this morning which applies equally to the subject of sustainability:

A strategy doesn’t just impact the ‘big’ investment choices; it drives a myriad of decisions of actions taken by colleagues and managers from across your organisation on a daily basis. Like a magnet being waved over iron filings, a strategy creates alignment and ensures that everyone is pointing in the same direction.

I really like that magnet analogy and it applies to all the truly great sustainability strategies: M&S’s Plan A, Interface’s Mission Zero or Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan. These transcend mere documents or targets, they become more like a Roman legion’s standard for the troops to follow into battle – and rally around when things go wrong.

Does your sustainability strategy do this? Or does it just tick the boxes?