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home / links / Articles - "The Sustainability Challenge"
The Natural Step movement, which originated in Sweden, offers a clear conceptual framework for creating such sustainability strategies. Led by founder Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert, The Natural Step has proven to be one of the most effective sustainability movements in the world, aligning diverse social, business, and ecological interests around fundamental scientific principles of natural systems. The Natural Step process has been studied and practiced by corporate managers, urban community members, youth at risk, and schoolchildren; it has been shared via book, audiotape, board game, or CD-ROM with every household in Sweden. It is an approach that does not blame any one sector of society for our current problems, but rather encourages all of us to find ways to contribute to effective solutions. The guiding principles of The Natural Step, known as the "four systems conditions," are derived from the basic laws of thermodynamics: matter cannot disappear, and matter tends to disperse (see "The Four Systems Conditions"). By using the four systems conditions to evaluate whether their products and services are economically and ecologically sustainable, some of Sweden's largest corporations have produced significant changes in their business strategies. For example, the ICA supermarket chain in Sweden was asked frequently by its customers whether its refrigerators and freezers emitted CFCs, which are linked to ozone layer damage. After familiarizing themselves with the four systems conditions, ICA's leadership engaged in a conversation with Electrolux (Eureka in the U.S.), their primary vendor of refrigeration products. Aware that CFCs, a non-biodegradable, unnatural compound, violate systems condition 2, ICA's leaders asked Electrolux what it would cost to eliminate this compound from their existing inventory. After some technical hedging, Electrolux designers answered that it would take 1 billion Swedish crowns (approximately $140 million) to convert to soft freons -- another persistent and unnatural compound, but one that is thought to be less damaging than CFCs. The CEO's response was, "You want me to invest 1 billion crowns in a product, of which the only thing I know for sure is that it is doomed to failure?! Please come up with a more suitable alternative." Electrolux, which had not previously encountered The Natural Step, subsequently phoned Dr. Robert and asked him to come "talk about your damned systems conditions." A short time later, the Electrolux team announced the development of an interim compound that does not harm the ozone and that is now successfully being manufactured and marketed as a "green" refrigerant. The company is also well on its way to producing a refrigerant that is biologically harmless. As a result of its work with Dr. Robert and his colleagues, Electrolux has begun employing The Natural Step method throughout the company, and is now using the four systems conditions as a framework for its strategic planning process. Integrating Sustainability Strategies and Organizational Learning While the four systems conditions offer a basic conceptual framework for creating sustainable business strategies, they do not provide a specific process whereby those principles can be used to develop and implement such strategies. This is where the disciplines and tools of organizational learning can help. For example, the tools and methodology of systems thinking provide a means to test the long-term implications of policy decisions on the wider environmental system, Systems thinking can also provide an overarching framework for understanding the industrial, governmental, and environmental interactions that play a role in sustainable development (see "The Sustainability Challenge"). An overall increase in industrial productivity (such as the U.S. has experienced for most of the 20th century) leads to a reinforcing cycle of economic growth and profitability (R1), but it can also lead to an accumulation of industrial wastes in the environment. In the U.S., this has led to heightened regulatory pressures designed to reduced waste. At the same time, increased consumer awareness of the environmental impact of production is leading to emerging new market opportunities in terms of "clean" technologies (B3), which, for those companies that invest in them, can lead to profitable alternatives to unsustainable production techniques (R4), However, the subsequent increase in regulatory compliance costs can constrain profits (B2), which can potentially limit industry's ability to invest in "clean" technologies (R4). The disciplines of team learning and mental models also have much to offer in that they can help generate more informed, productive conversations. In the ecology/economy debate, dialogue skills of genuine inquiry, deep listening, displaying one's own line of reasoning, and respect for other viewpoints are critical, as are the ability to surface our mental models and to inquire into those of other people (see "The Power of Mental Models"). Through the use of dialogue and role-playing, we can gain deeper understanding of diverse points of view and bring out new ideas and solutions that a single point of view might not have produced. In a recent learning laboratory at a petroleum company, for example, role-reversal, dialogue, and consensus-building tools were used to develop a new framework for environmental leadership. As part of the workshop, employees from the environmental engineering division took turns role-playing the traditional contestants in the environmental debate: "Government Bureaucrats," "Tree-Hugging Environmentalists," and "Big Bad Business." By humorously taking on their worst perceptions of each other, participants were able to see beyond the stereotypes that they had placed on their professional adversaries. In the dialogue that followed, the engineers gained insights into the motivation, logic, and humanity of the various stakeholders, and were better able to understand the validity and utility of each point of view, even if the perspective challenged their own position. The engineers found that their subsequent meetings with EPA representatives on a difficult Clean Air Act project were significantly enhanced in terms of quality of communications, creativity of thinking, and efficacy of solution generated -- all as a result of their experience in the workshop. |
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