Skytop Strategies Integrated Thinking Symposium November 5, 2015

1. Developing Core Capacity:
Drivers and Case Studies
Skytop Strategies
Integrated Thinking Symposium
November 5, 2015
William G. Russell, Principal
Jeana Wirtenberg, Ph.D., President & CEO
Transitioning to Green, LLC

2. Transitioning to Green, LLC
Your connection between sustainability and success.
We assist every organization we partner with to…
• Align corporate strategy and operations with financial
resources, risks and profitability.
– Adapting your Purpose for Prosperity.
• Responsibly manage supply chains, material resources,
facilities and products.
– Respecting natural systems.
• Engage employee passions for creativity, innovation
and inspired performance.
– Nurturing your people to thrive.
Introductions

3. Integrated Thinking
Core Capacities
1. Systems Thinking
2. Strategy Development
3. Collaboration and Teamwork
4. Integrating the Bottom Line

4. Systems
thinking
Core Sustainability Concepts
Intergenerational
responsibility
Socio-economic
justice
Enough … … for all … … forever.

5. SYSTEMS THINKING

6. TBL Systems Have Nested Interdependencies

7. Interactions of Complex Social Systems
“Make everything as simple as possible but no simpler.” Albert Einstein
Copyright 2010. Linda Morris Kelley

8. System Boundaries and Edge Effects
Edge effects
PermeabilityCopyright 2010. Linda Morris Kelley

9. Humanity’s unsustainable environmental
footprint
http://phys.org/news/2014-06-humanity-environmental-footprint-sustainable.html
Hoekstra and Wiedmann

10. Exceeding the maximum sustainable footprint?

11. Global Risk Interconnections
World Economic Forum (WEF), “Global Risks 2015,” January 2015.

12. 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals Future-Fit Business Goals
1. End poverty and reduce inequality Living wage, Pay taxes
2. End hunger and improve nutrition Living wage, Pay taxes, Biodiversity
3. Healthy lives and well-being EH&S, Living wage
4. Inclusive and equitable education Employee development
5. Gender equality and empowerment No discrimination, Human rights
6. Sustainable water and sanitation Water
7. Sustainable energy Energy
8. Sustained economic growth and decent work Living wage, Pay taxes
9. Resilient infrastructure Taxes
10. Reduce inequality within and between countries Taxes
11. Resilient, safe cities Taxes
12. Sustainable consumption patterns Customer H&S
13. Combat climate change GHGs
14. Sustainable use of marine resources Water, Biodiversity
15. Sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems Biodiversity
16. Peaceful, just, and inclusive societies Human rights
17. Global partnership for SD (All)
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs

13. Precautionary Principle
“The precautionary
principle or precautionary
approach states that if an
action or policy has a
suspected risk of causing
harm to the public or to the
environment, in the
absence of scientific
consensus that the action or
policy is harmful,
the burden of proof that it
is not harmful falls on
those taking an action.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle

14. Case Example: Healthcare System
“ISE Healthcare Roundtable”
• 11 Hospitals, J&J, BD, Universities, Vendors
• Practice GreenHealth –
– Less Waste, Climate Change, Healthy Food…
• Less Waste
– Blue Wrap Initiative
• Industry, Vendors & University collaboration
– Positive experience for circular economy
– Resource constrained & not addressing more material
Healthcare System opportunities.

15. STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

16. Strategy
• Position the business, and initiatives, in its chosen
industry
• Create sustainable advantage relative to current and
future competition
• Deliver excellent financial returns
https://hbr.org/2013/02/dont-let-strategy-become-plann/
Strategy is related to but not quite the same as planning.
Strategy is the making of an integrated set of
decisions about the future that taken as a whole:

17. One Strategy
Strategy for any given business is singular
• What is our leading/winning aspiration?
• Where will we play?
• How will we make this happen and succeed?
• What capabilities need to be in place?
• What capacities and management systems must be
instituted?
https://hbr.org/2013/02/dont-let-strategy-become-plann/
This one integrated set of choices:

18. Context Matters
• What is the context for the development of the strategy?
– Explicitly stated?
– Implied?
• What are the underlying assumptions?
– Grounded? How?
– Validity checks?
• How well do the context, assumptions and aspirations fit
with
– Core business capabilities?
– Core values?
– Environmental constraints?
– Legal constraints?
– Financial constraints?

19. Questions Matter!
• Must let go of attachments to what was
• Question the basic assumptions (many will
have outlived their usefulness and validity)
• Important Questions elucidate what the real
issues and opportunities are
• Question to reveal possible alternatives
• Ask Big Hairy Audacious Questions!

20. Ask questions that challenge your assumptions
and reveal underlying conditions
www.collaborateup.com

21. Integrated Thinking for Synergistic Solutions:
Water-Food-Energy Nexus

22. Integrated Thinking Strategies:
Resilience in a hotter world
• The Challenge
– Global climate change and increasing constraints on resources will require
companies to fundamentally rethink their strategies, operations, and business
philosophy in order to create new value and thrive.
• The Strategy
– Firms must embrace a new vision by fighting short-termism, basing goals on
science, and pursuing radical innovation; they must place a value on natural
capital (such as clean air and water) and redefine how they measure ROI; and
they must engage in new forms of collaboration with governments, NGOs,
peers and competitors, and customers.
• The Results
– These strategies will create more resilient companies that can manage,
and profit from, extreme volatility. They will also help companies address
society’s largest challenges and create a more prosperous world for all.
By Andrew Winston. Harvard Business Review, 2014
Pivot strategy: Embrace a New Framework

23. Integrated Thinking and Strategy
Case Example: GlobStrat
• Business simulation tool for learning cross-
functional strategic development for triple-
bottom-line market performance
• Over 20,000 participants to date
• Participant outcomes:
– Embedded understanding of linkages between
functional role decisions, constrained financial
resources, product costs and margins
– Embedded understanding of customer intimacy,
product lifecycles and TBL shareholder value.

24. Experiential Learning and Gaming
Company < - - - > Market
Executive Committee CEO view Global Economy
Coporate Team work
Web
based
Industry Competition

25. Integrated Thinking and Innovation Strategy
Which core competencies build your future?
Source: Hamel & Prahalad
New Technologies
Storage, Communication, Image
New Products
T-S, T-C, T-I
T-SC, T-SI, T-CI, T-SCI
Competitive Products on
each market & segment
Integrate manufacturing capacity, customers and innovation!

26. New Sustainable Business Models
Under development by the Strongly Sustainable
Business Model Group (SSBMG).
See www.ssbmg.com/
Today’s Canvas
Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneau,
Business Model Generation, 2010.
Flourishing Business Options

27. COLLABORATION AND TEAMWORK

28. Do it yourself  Can’t do it alone
You
Kindred
Spirits
Their
Networks
Whole
Company
Whole
Industry
All
Industries
The
World
“Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it's the only
thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead ―
“Give me a lever long enough and a
fulcrum on which to place it, and
I shall move the world.”
― Archimedes ―

29. Common Attributes of Collaborative Cultures
 Promote frequent, cross-functional interaction
 Leadership and power are spread through organization
 People are accessible regardless of their level
 Mitigate fear of failure; failures are turned into
opportunities
 Encourage broad input into decisions

30. Common Attributes of Collaborative Cultures (continued)
 Provide opportunities for cross-pollination of people
 Support spontaneous or unscheduled interaction
 Structured and unstructured interaction, as
appropriate
 Formal and informal mentoring
 Available tools fit work objectives

31. 3 Challenges to Collaboration
1. People hold back from contributing
their best work
2. Inadequate conflict-handling skills
3. Poor communication skills abound

32. Appreciation not blame…
Encourage the expression of diverse viewpoints
and opinions
Discuss and assess their relevance, fit, and overall
importance
Judge well and often – in regard to input, actions
and outcomes
Go with the best overall decision, given the
information at hand – including the assessment
of risk and consequences
Recognize the value of the work different people
contributed

33. Cultivating Collective Intelligence
“A life-affirming leader is one who knows how to rely
on and use the intelligence that exists everywhere in
the community, the company, the school, or the
organization. A leader these days needs to be a
host—one who convenes people, who convenes
diversity, who convenes all viewpoints in creative
processes where our intelligence can come forth.”
--Margaret Wheatley

34. Collaboration is holistic and personal
www.collaborateup.com

35. About Collaboration
It is not unlike dancing. In collaboration, one must
pay attention to the whole of the project and the
whole of the team…Anything less is mechanical, a
going through of the motions of a process someone
else set up, check-listing a set of activities
asynchronously, rather than creating cohesively
something of value.
David Coleman and Stewart Levine
Collaboration 2.0. Technology and best practices for collaboration

36. Self-Interest Mutuality
The Team Dynamic of Self-Interest and
Mutuality

37. Attributes of
High-Performance Teams
(especially for sustainability)
Participative
leadership
Shared
responsibility
Aligned on
purpose
High
communication
Future
focused
Focused on
task
Creative
talents
Rapid
response
Source: Robert Kreitner & Angelo Kinicki, Organizational Behavior, Tenth edition, 2013

38. Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Inattention
to
RESULTS
Avoidance of
ACCOUNTABILITY
Lack of
COMMITMENT
Fear of
CONFLICT
Absence of
TRUST
Based on the work of
Patrick Lencioni

39. Example: A threat to Group Effectiveness
• Groupthink
– “a mode of thinking that people engage in when
they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group,
when members’ strivings for unanimity override
their motivation to realistically appraise
alternative courses of action.”
Source: Robert Kreitner & Angelo Kinicki, Organizational Behavior, Tenth edition, 2013

40. Symptoms of Groupthink
Invulnerability
Inherent
morality
Rationalization
Stereotyped
views of
opposition
Self-censorship
Illusion of
unanimity
Peer pressure Mindguards
Source: Robert Kreitner & Angelo Kinicki, Organizational Behavior, Tenth edition, 2013

41. Groupthink Research
and Prevention
• Groups with a moderate amount of
cohesiveness produce better decisions
than low- or high-cohesive groups.
• Highly cohesive groups victimized by
groupthink make the poorest decisions,
despite high confidence in those decisions
Source: Robert Kreitner & Angelo Kinicki, Organizational Behavior, Tenth edition, 2013

42. Case Example:
BASF Market Customer Focus Teams
• Action learning mode: “Anchor in the work that people
do and give them space to practice new behaviors.”
• Seattle Mariners, member of Green Sports Alliance,
pledged to divert 85% of waste from landfills.
• BASF team leveraged its material technology to create
100% compostable snack bags, made from BASF’s
Ecoflex.
• Created successful new product line using biopolymer
technology, now marketed to Universities and sports
teams worldwide.

43. INTEGRATING THE BOTTOM LINE

44. Profitability
Modeling
Profit could
drop by 16-36%
Profit could
increase by 51-81%

45. Revenue
PROFIT
4.Reduced materials
1. Increased revenue
2. Reduced energy
6.Reduced turnover
5.Increased productivity
7.Reducedrevenueand
increasedexpenses
3. Reduced waste
Opportunities RisksIncome Statement
10%
9%
50%
25%
3%
20%
+51 to
+81%
-16 to
-36%Expenses
SUSTAINABILITY CAPITAL
RESERVE
Sustainability Opportunity Model

46. Integrating Bottom Line Case Experiences:
Integrated thinking for finance at Corporate,
Sector, and economy levels, including costs and
benefits of externalities
• Corporation and Communities have no “slack”
– Positive cash flow and profits needed before pivoting
• Governments mislead and have no “will”
– Unrealistic handling of debt; ambiguous missions; burden
shifting to future generations
• Valuing nature and ecosystem services is still a fatal flaw
“blind spot” in the economy
– Unintended consequences of neglecting short- and long-
term impact of natural systems and human consciousness

47. Resources Matter
• Financial
• Environmental
• Social

48. Caring People - Circular Economy – Resilient Strategies
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “Towards the Circular Economy, Vol. 1,” November 2012.

49. Thank You!
William G. Russell
Principal
Transitioning to Green, LLC
Phone: 646-345-8836
wgrussell@transitioningtogreen.com
Jeana Wirtenberg
CEO and President
Transitioning to Green, LLC
Phone: 973-335-6299
jwirtenberg@transitioningtogreen.com
Website: www.transitioningtogreen.com
Twitter: @Trans2Green