In October I wrote about adding value to the world with your company instead of reducing your impact. (Click here for the article of October) I would like to add to this: set positive goals and start with setting the values. "Don't be a pessimist. The glass is half empty. But don't just be a passive optimist either. The glass is half full. Start with inventory: take scientific stock of your situation. The glass is full of water and air. Then signal your intention for design: I want the glass to be bigger."[1]
When you want to start with eco-effectivity*, start with the values.
Often companies start with setting standards to reach their goals and there is a danger of forgetting to set the values.
"The later you consider values in this process, the less likely values will be considered at all. Metrics, unlike values, are in no danger of being ignored because there will always be some bottom line measurement of whether one is achieving what one set out to do. To look at it in reverse, this plan sets the context for making informed short-term decisions because they are based on inviolable values and principles. These goals actually prompt innovation all the way down the line.
Often companies start with setting standards to reach their goals and there is a danger of forgetting to set the values.
"The later you consider values in this process, the less likely values will be considered at all. Metrics, unlike values, are in no danger of being ignored because there will always be some bottom line measurement of whether one is achieving what one set out to do. To look at it in reverse, this plan sets the context for making informed short-term decisions because they are based on inviolable values and principles. These goals actually prompt innovation all the way down the line.
| Example from the company Steelcase: The caster wheels on an office chair like the Think chair are traditionally made with leaded steel - meaning lead is added to make the metal easier to form into that particular shape. The reason a manufacturer likes the more pliable metal is that it speeds up production: you can get the part quicker. So we went to the factory that makes those wheels and asked if there was any way at all that it could make a caster out of positively defined materials [...] and you know what they said? No problem. It turned out no one had ever asked them to make such a thing and all they needed to do was make simple steel casters - take out the lead. The secret to getting a healthier addition to this chair was simply to ask. If Steelcase had not started with values at the top of their six-point plan, no one might have asked." [2] | Transformed Think chair American furniture manufacturer Steelcase invited chinese designer Jamy Yang to participate in a crossover project based on the classic 'think chair' that was designed by Glen Oliver Low previously for the company. [3] The result is called ‘jiujie chair’, task seating for the office made from an eco-plastic that Jamy developed in 2010. |
What is this six point plan?
- Establish the value or values for your company's engagement with the world.
- Then work with teams to establish your principles (for example the Hannover principles [4])
- Then develop goals to realize those values
- Then develop strategies to meet those goals
- Then develop tactics to execute those strategies.
- And, finally, develop metrics to measure the effectiveness of those tactics. [5]
Working with partners
When working with multiple partners (suppliers, customers, colleagues) it is important to identify the values of each party and protect these values during the process of changing the system.
A nice example:
"Local farmers were going into the Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan to cut down trees for firewood. They were also sending their cows into the forest to graze. The national park served as a rare tiger habitat. As the villagers cut down the trees, the forest receded. And the tigers now found themselves in proximity to herds of grazing cows, which, of course, they attacked for food. To save the cows, the farmers looked the other way when poachers came to kill the tigers for their pelts.
The farmers wanted fuel for themselves and food for their cows. Conservationists wanted to preserve the forest and the tigers. [...] How could one solve a problem with such complex effects? [...]
The Park steward's son, Dr. Govardhan Singh Rathore, who inherited oversight of the park, first set up a health clinic to improve overall conditions locally and build goodwill. Then he helped the villagers breed cows that produced more mil with less feed (less vegetation needed). Then he suggested to the farmers that, rather than cut down the forest for fuel, they gather cow manure and transform it into fuel and fertilizer using biogas plants. The farmers could keep the cows closer to home (and wouldn't have to venture into a forest with ferocious tigers). They could stop cutting down trees. [...] Rathore also planted new trees to replace the ones cut down and paid villagers if they could keep their assigned tree alive. [...] He offered the poachers free education for their children if they stopped poaching and gave them camels to create income from milk and to use for transportation.[...]
Let's look at what happened here: Energy was the needed resource. The farmers valued fuel and cows. The preservationist valued the forest and tigers. Both groups valued success. [...] In this instance, what appeared to be a conflict between a small rural community's modest 'economy' and the ecosystem was resolved by a creative solution."[6]
Positivity
When setting your goals at point 3, speak them out as positive sentences. For example:
"We will run on 20 percent renewable power by 2020 and 100 percent as soon as it is cost-effect."
" We have made a product that, wen used, provides part of a person's daily requirement of minerals." [7]
And very important as well: encourage people's intention:
"No one can get to perfection overnight. But people can be honoured, recognized, and encouraged for having begun in earnest." [8]
When working with multiple partners (suppliers, customers, colleagues) it is important to identify the values of each party and protect these values during the process of changing the system.
A nice example:
"Local farmers were going into the Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan to cut down trees for firewood. They were also sending their cows into the forest to graze. The national park served as a rare tiger habitat. As the villagers cut down the trees, the forest receded. And the tigers now found themselves in proximity to herds of grazing cows, which, of course, they attacked for food. To save the cows, the farmers looked the other way when poachers came to kill the tigers for their pelts.
The farmers wanted fuel for themselves and food for their cows. Conservationists wanted to preserve the forest and the tigers. [...] How could one solve a problem with such complex effects? [...]
The Park steward's son, Dr. Govardhan Singh Rathore, who inherited oversight of the park, first set up a health clinic to improve overall conditions locally and build goodwill. Then he helped the villagers breed cows that produced more mil with less feed (less vegetation needed). Then he suggested to the farmers that, rather than cut down the forest for fuel, they gather cow manure and transform it into fuel and fertilizer using biogas plants. The farmers could keep the cows closer to home (and wouldn't have to venture into a forest with ferocious tigers). They could stop cutting down trees. [...] Rathore also planted new trees to replace the ones cut down and paid villagers if they could keep their assigned tree alive. [...] He offered the poachers free education for their children if they stopped poaching and gave them camels to create income from milk and to use for transportation.[...]
Let's look at what happened here: Energy was the needed resource. The farmers valued fuel and cows. The preservationist valued the forest and tigers. Both groups valued success. [...] In this instance, what appeared to be a conflict between a small rural community's modest 'economy' and the ecosystem was resolved by a creative solution."[6]
Positivity
When setting your goals at point 3, speak them out as positive sentences. For example:
"We will run on 20 percent renewable power by 2020 and 100 percent as soon as it is cost-effect."
" We have made a product that, wen used, provides part of a person's daily requirement of minerals." [7]
And very important as well: encourage people's intention:
"No one can get to perfection overnight. But people can be honoured, recognized, and encouraged for having begun in earnest." [8]
* You can fill in the right word for you: cradle-to-cradle, eco-effectivity, sustainability, etc.
[1] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 214
[2] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 80-81
[3] Chin, A (2011), Jamy Yang Jiujie chair for steelcase, http://www.designboom.com/design/jamy-yang-jiujie-chair-for-steelcase/
[4] McDonough, W (1992), The Hannover Principles, http://www.mcdonough.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Hannover-Principles-1992.pdf, page 5
[5] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 68
[6] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 91-93
[7] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 214
[8] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 215
[1] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 214
[2] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 80-81
[3] Chin, A (2011), Jamy Yang Jiujie chair for steelcase, http://www.designboom.com/design/jamy-yang-jiujie-chair-for-steelcase/
[4] McDonough, W (1992), The Hannover Principles, http://www.mcdonough.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Hannover-Principles-1992.pdf, page 5
[5] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 68
[6] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 91-93
[7] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 214
[8] The upcycle: Beyond sustainability - designing for abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart, 2013, page 215
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