Podcast

Program Notes

Brian Nattrass addressed an audience of business leaders in Seattle. He talked about his sustainability consulting experiences with Nike, Starbucks and the US Army.

Some companies were advancing toward sustainability long before the idea took off. He says it's hard work, especially when you get past the low-hanging fruit.

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Nattrass says you need to get to know the tiger -- understand your business culture and how sustainability fits into it. But his first example wasn't a business.

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OK, but most businesses aren't charged with protecting national security. How do you get private-sector businesses on board, especially when they know sustainability means making some up-front investments?

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There's revenue opportunity from serving markets that value sustainability, which itself can be a catalyst for innovation within the company. In a global economy, sustainability reduces risk of product liability and penalties for environmental impact. The resulting efficiencies lead to cost reduction. The fifth key is employee engagement...

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If the benefits are that obvious, why do initiatives stall out, or fail? Nattrass explained the importance of making a sustainability initiative something that everyone in the company can relate to.

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He described an exercise that elicited that kind of connection for Starbucks, when Orin Smith was president and CEO...

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Once you have a meaningful initiative that fits the company culture, and some baseline metrics, how does that organizational change take place?

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He went on to describe what he calls the "amoeba model" of change. It's how an amoeba -- the organization -- senses a morsel of food -- the new idea -- and moves toward it.

This is the technology adoption lifecycle model from the 1950s, the familiar bell curve that Geoffrey Moore used in Crossing the Chasm.

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This is the same process used for introducing new products to the market. The enthusiasts or innovators spread the word to early adopters; eventually they're joined by the majority.

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Selling the new idea is easier if the change agents connect it with any of four trends that are important to business.

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Once the organization is on board for change, many companies then need to sell the idea to their customers as part of a product...

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This is all good, practical advice with some great examples. As he drew to a close, Nattrass urged the audience to think beyond simple initiatives and products. If his talk had one theme, it was to take a broad view and think big.

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