Leading for Competitive Advantage in the One Planet World

1. The BigQ – Leading for Competitive Advantage in the One Planet World
The One Planet World fitness for purpose rather than the can only grow at the rate at
‘emergent property’ it is; the which their resource intensity
It is clear that the pressure we property a collection or complex can be reduced beyond balancing
are putting the Earth under is system has, but which the the One Planet Equation’.
leading to resource shortages, individual members do not have –
the ‘BigQ’ From this vantage point we can
look dispassionately at the One
In the One Planet World we can Planet World and say what this
no longer say that because a means for us as suppliers and
product or service satisfies, nay customers of its products and
delights the customer, that it services.
possesses ‘quality’ - if it leads to
a ‘loss to society’ overall, as
Gerald Schotman, Chief
Taguchi would say; through
Technology Officer of Shell
economic, social and
recently argued that an
environmental failures.
impending peak oil situation
means the environmental
both in absolute terms and Ask Nature
agenda and customer needs
relative distribution. For many of are no longer incompatible’
us, our experiment in living a This isn’t the way nature does
multiple planet existence on the things. Nature seeks to maximize Resource Intensity
only planet we have is coming to the value added to society that
a close. results from its creation, use and At our starting point on our
disposal of eco-system products journey towards the One Planet
This has far reaching and services, without loss. This is World we have
consequences for how we will the BigQ definition of quality we
‘manage for a One Planet World’ must aspire to. Quality is that 1 = P x C x RI or 1 = 1 x 1 x 1
and the leadership skills it will which
need. And as we move forward from
‘Maximizes the value added to this point, the 1 planet remains
It is often said that the past is society that results from the the same so the right hand
another country, when the creation, use and disposal of product always has to equal one.
‘customer was king’ and the drive products and services at
was ‘quality’, ‘integrated teams’ continually reducing loss. The only way this can happen in
and the work of Deming, Crosby a resource constrained environ-
and the other quality gurus. This is a journey of integrated ment is if the Resource
continual improvement, not a Intensity, (RI) is never more than
Today we live in seemingly destination. 1/PC.
more complex world where the
customer is no longer king, only A Mind Model This is the key to future strategic
the most important ‘stakeholder’ leadership and competitive
in a confusing mix of social, Using the One Planet Equation advantage. We must
environmental and economic Mind Model (OPE) 1 = P x C x
drivers. RI, we are inevitably drawn to its ◦ Seek to eliminate the cannots
consequence; the First Law of ◦ Base our business models on
The Little and the ‘Big Q’
Sustainability the musts.
‘In a resource constrained ◦ Work to continually reduce the
Up until now we have thought
environment, goods and services Resource Intensity of the
of Quality as the ‘Little Q’, as

2. products and services we ◦ Replace products with services
create, use and dispose of. ◦ Design for maintainability Our past has been characterised
◦ Design for reliability as reductionist, but our future
Don’ts and Do’s ◦ Complete the cradle to cradle depends on our being able to shift
loop as far as possible paradigms to ‘systems thinking’,
From this we can say that in the ◦ Mimic natural processes of not managing local time and
One Planet World ◦ Group symbiotic processes costs but creating value and
together managing its flow through the
◦ Energy, water and other ◦ Work to continually reduce the system.
resources will be constrained losses in the
◦ Human resources will be essential processes remaining We have to work to continually
plentiful (improve quality). reduce the combined ‘resource
intensity’ of the essential
And from these come the ‘we Only in this way can we perceive processes that contribute to the
cannots’ how we are to lead for flow of value through the system
competitive advantage in the One
◦ Create growth faster than we Planet World and how we are to This is best viewed as integrated,
can reduce Resource Intensity manage and maintain that continual quality improvement –
(RI) advantage. of reducing the loss in those
◦ Waste or ineffectively invest processes – the BigQ.
resources The Double Headed Coin
◦ Freely transport resources or Future Shock
goods In the Big Q One Planet World
◦ Use a linear system of we have to see environmental and We are suffering from what Alvin
creation, use and disposal social failures as much a part of Toffler called ‘Future Shock’.
◦ Keep creating products and the costs of poor quality as
services that allow unlimited economic ones. That quality and This being a state of confusion
forms of self-actualization sustainability are the two sides of that arises when the past offers
◦ Invest in inflexible the same coin, toss it and you can little guidance to dealing with the
technology, infrastructure and only win. present and the future and we are
buildings
in such a time, where the past
◦ Design for obsolescence
‘first law of sustainability’ - offers few signposts to the future
◦ Use Energy and water
in a resource constrained – when increasing demand for
ineffectively
environment, goods and goods and services meets
services can only grow at the declining resources to create
And the ‘we musts’
rate at which they can be them.
dematerialised.
◦ Evolve our democratic
Tomorrow’s businesses depend
processes to enable process
Business in the 3rd Millennium on their abilities to continually
learning and continual
improvement transform what they do and how
◦ Leave behind the reductionist, It is increasingly being they do it, and to achieve this
compliance approach to recognised that we are coasting to they need a regeneration of the
organizational management the top of many resource curves, mindset that led them to this point
◦ Think local and are at or near the reality of in time.
◦ Educate for RI minimization the OPE deciding our futures
◦ Continually reduce the RI of They must have the ability to
non-essential processes to zero In managing for the future, think beyond the boundaries of
(eliminate them) businesses will have to cope with the organisation to the wider
◦ Replace energy with people this reality. Fortunately humans system and seek to attain their
(Ingenuity and creativity) in are creative and enterprising and organizational outcomes at
processes. These are your some organisations will survive continually reducing resource
customers! and many more will be created. intensity.

3. .Tomorrow’s leaders must
Leading in the One Planet World
have the skills and ability to
Creativity and Ingenuity requires us to be almost
liberate the creativity and
instantaneously adaptable as
ingenuity in their people and
Deming created his circle of individuals, with the vision and
other stakeholders that will
improvement, Plan, Do, Check, skills to create the same
enable and drive change.
Act and it has stood the test of adaptability within the
time but it doesn’t explicitly organizations we serve.
show the need for the creativity
and ingenuity required to drive The resources available to us will
continual improvement, towards paradigm can only lead to the be reducing over time and we
system sustainability. weakening of the links of Eliyahu must marshal them to continually
Goldratt’s ‘Critical Chain’; which increase the supply of goods and
Including these vital ingredients can only be strengthened by services that meet the essential
creates a Virtuous Circle that, seeing these failures as part of a emotional and spiritual needs of
using ‘in process control’ and a our customers.
synergy of an entire an organization’s costs of poor
organization’s stake-holders and quality; of its failure to live up to It is unlikely that there will be
their combined knowledge and the Big Q. many businesses supplying
skills, enables process learning, gratuitous wants in the One
which after sensing and Product or Service? Planet World.
absorbing external signals will
liberate the creativity and Tomorrow’s organisations must Tomorrow’s leaders must have
ingenuity within to drive the think how they can transform the skills and ability to liberate
process design in the direction of what they provide from a product the creativity and ingenuity in
sustainability. to a service. They must think in their people and other
terms of resource ‘stewardship’ stakeholders that will enable and
As the process becomes more and completing the ‘life cycle drive change.
sustainable, the losses are by loop’.
definition minimised, reducing Zero-based thinking
the need for appraisal costs and All stakeholders must be ‘in the
eliminating the costs and risks of loop’ to maximize the ‘value Zero-based thinking, as written
internal and most importantly, added to society’ as the value about by Brian Tracy, is usually
external failures. flows around it; creating a asking the question:
synergy of knowledge and skills
RI of Failure Demand that will drive the Virtuous “Knowing what I know now,
Circle. would I get into this business,
“Failure demand' is caused by a job, or situation again?”
failure to do something, or do As was ever the case we must be
something right for the customer in the right place at the right time, If the answer is yes, continue and
and 'value demand' – is what the doing the right thing, right. The improve; If the answer is no, get
system exists to provide”, - John anticipation of competitor and out of the situation as soon as
Seddon. customer actions makes the possible and start from scratch.
difference between success and
It is evident that such failure failure. Peter Drucker said “what As we coast over the top of the
demand within systems will the customer sees, thinks, oil and other curves, this is the
increase their Resource Intensity believes and wants at any time critical question we must all
and in a resource constrained, determines if value is being answer continuously, both
One Planet World, these will created” professionally and personally to
increasingly be social and live the BigQ.
environmental failures. Instantaneous Adaptability
Managing for the Future
Approaching their elimination
from our current reductionist Tomorrow’s businesses must

4. Education for system RI through a natural and emotional
◦ Satisfy emotional and spiritual reduction, the BigQ, will be an wish to deal with the symptoms
need rather than gratuitous integral part of the organizational are having their efforts dissipated.
wants learning of those businesses, and
◦ Satisfy essential needs in the the new ones created, that will The OPE makes clear the effect
lower orders of Maslow’s successfully transition to the One our addiction is having and
Pyramid Planet World makes explicit the action needed
◦ Employ people rather than to create the One Planet World –
energy Leaders for ‘Future Advantage’ to continually reduce the resource
◦ Create or use renewable will intensity of all the products and
energy and other resources services we consume.
◦ Minimise water use or create ◦ Remember Deming’s adage
the technologies that do that ‘Survival is not This is the real challenge we face
◦ Create and deploy climate Compulsory’ for a business, or if we are to create an economic
stabilising and mitigation the human race. future that is more equitable,
technologies
◦ Understand that time is not on whilst eliminating the risks of
◦ Be increasingly local
our side. environmental and social failures
◦ Provide a service rather than a
◦ See the future as a challenging in its creation.
product
adventure and not an
◦ Practice lifecycle stewardship
impossible challenge. We want as organizations,
of their resources
communities and societies to
◦ Manage value rather than cost
Conclusion – Future Advantage continually improve the ‘quality
◦ Be able to operate at
of our lives’ and this can only be
continually reducing resource
intensity This article is predicated on four achieved, logically, by
tenets continually improving the
Leading and managing for the ‘quality’ of the products and
future means understanding that ◦ That we are addicted to the services we create and consume
the One Planet Equation and the hugely ineffective use of over their life-cycle.
world it is creating will arrive energy and other resources
whether we choose to ignore it or ◦ That most current discourse is We must ‘Do the Right Thing’ –
centred on the ’symptoms’ our be effective in our use of
not; that the BigQ is an
addiction causes – climate resources and ‘Do it Right Every
opportunity and a challenging
change, environmental, social Time’ – be efficient in our use of
adventure.
and economic failures those resources. This is a
◦ That human beings are, and Journey, not a destination and has
Learning and Teaching
have been, creative, ingenious at its core the need for an effort of
and enterprising since the ‘quality improvement’ driven by
In the One Planet World we must
dawn of our species. human creativity that the world
learn what our customers are
◦ That ’our’ future is ‘our’ has not yet experienced – the
uniquely able to teach us if we
problem – that the Earth will
are make maximum use of the BigQ
most probably manage very
resources available to us in the well without us.
creation use and disposal of our We face many challenges to
goods and services. achieving this, not least, the
Most other sources are
economic failure we are now
concentrating on the problems
This learning must be experiencing and the natural
our addiction is causing from a
instantaneously part of our response to ‘fight the last war
’symptoms’ perspective, which
‘Virtuous Circle’ of improvement with obsolete weapon’s’ but we
appeals to many, as it gives the
to ensure continual process have no option but to enter the
appearance of concern, whilst
learning and Resource Intensity future and we must envision what
putting off action until tomorrow.
reduction. this future will be.
Many have a genuine desire to
see immediate change but

5. Human ingenuity and enterprise
will ensure that some societies
and organizations will exist and
thrive as we attempt to ‘keep
ahead of the oil curve.’
All future ingenuity, research,
education, legislation and
incentives must be directed to this
end.
©Derek Deighton and Jackie Ansbro
Trailblazer Business Futures 2009