Energy Consultant

“People have evolved to become extremely good at dynamically adapting to our social environment. In teams, we constantly synchronize and modify our actions and expectations to keep them aligned with those of our collaborators…So managers of virtual teams should have dual, complementary objectives: structure and socialize.”

A passage taken from the Harvard Business Review post, Managing a Virtual Team, which examines the challenges of today’s multi-locational work dynamics.  With more companies expanding globally and offering remote connectivity, the traditional manager must expand upon his/her skills to allow for a broader span of resources.  But what is the optimal solution?  HBR offers some basic facilitation questions for virtual teams and their leaders to consider:

• When and how often do we need to meet face-to-face (FTF)?

• What is the best technology solution for my team?

• How do I coordinate work among dispersed members?

Popular text and research now points towards the power in leveraging internal and external stakeholder knowledge as a business catalyst.  Focusing on the characteristics of today’s leading organizations, our sustainability consulting continuously examines the role that leveraged resources play in today’s business sustainability success.   

For this reason, Taiga Company encourages clients to be aware of the talents of their resources through virtual environments.  Come visit with us to learn how to connect your business through enhanced stakeholder and social media engagement.

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; If you can dream it, you can become it." ~ William Arthur Ward

What do you imagine for yourself?  Is there something you dream of becoming or doing?  In as much as Earth Day is a calling for eco actions, it is also a source of renewed inspiration.  We talk about renewable energy, innovative sustainable business strategies, and employee engagement but at the essence of it all is a quality of human inspiration.  Inspiration in which each of us connect with and renew our spirit is what enables us all to powerfully live our values of sustainability.

For us at Taiga Company, our inspiration is found in nature - and especially so from the view of two wheels.  Also, knows as bicycles.  We call it green cycling and we celebrated Earth Day 2012 by participating in the first race of the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series. The series opened its mountain bike racing season at Lake Pueblo State Park with an estimated 650 riders racing the 66 miles long course that took riders along the state park’s arroyos, single track and bluffs over looking Lake Pueblo, Colorado.

When the connection is made between the natural environment and the actions taken to support the environment, it becomes even easier to continue and expand upon that type of lifestyle.  Hence, one of the reasons we love riding our bikes through natural environments.  

Leading by example, we find the easiest way to promote a sustainable lifestyle to others is by sharing with friends, neighbors, and in the community.  Enjoy the views taken from our Earth Day delight and see if you aren't inspired to go for a stroll!  

Much of the popular text and research reveals that a common characteristic among sustainable organizations is an ability to effectively manage the flow of information across key business stakeholder relationships.  In fact, our sustainability consulting finds that the true business sustainability differentiators are those who understand and effectively manage their supplier and customer relationships.  The question then becomes: How do companies balance growing needs with increasing risk?

In a recent study conducted by CFO Research Services in collaboration with professional consulting services firm Crowe Horwath LLP, the research concludes that third-party relationships are becoming a permanent fixture on the corporate landscape.  With more than half of respondents seeking third party support, there is recognition of increasing business sustainability risk.  

Referring back to our own professional consulting study on the topic, we leverage the post, 3 Pronged Approach to Mitigate Supply Chain Risk with Sustainability.  This text offers guidance on managing risk in the supply chain.  Focused on how organizations can take a more proactive approach, we study a structured three-prong framework to sustainable supply chain risk mitigation.  Key components of this comprehensive advice include:

• Look Beyond the Obvious – Some organizations focus on mitigating risks that are palpable and overlook less-obvious ones.

• Expect the Unexpected – Organizational risk-management plans may deal with known or suspected risks but fail to provide a comprehensive overview of the risks inherent within the supply chain. 

• Practice to Be Perfect – Some risk-management plans are contained neatly in binders and placed on shelves. That doesn’t mean those responsible for implementing these strategies are aware of the origin, likelihood, and severity of risk that exists. Effectively planning for risk requires full disclosure of risks, and all risk-mitigating and contingent actions that may be required, to all who will have to perform such actions. 

Our professional consulting has observed how many leading companies are now realizing the unique value of elevating sustainable supply chain management as a strategic in-house competency.  This evolved perspective is just the beginning of expanded eco awareness and reform in global supply. We believe visibility, engagement, and stakeholder alignment will drive sustainable business practices and begin to address 3rd party risk in the supply chain.

Welcome to the 2012 mountain bike season in Colorado! As big fans of cycling, we're excited that tomorrow, the 2012 race season kicks off!  We'll be in Pueblo, Colorado for Voodoo Fire - the first race in the series of the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series.  

It seems that most people think of bikes as recreation but in our sustainability consulting practice, we encourage employers and workers to consider cycling as alternative transportation as well as part of a sustainable business strategy.  Cycling can be a grand adventure regardless of its purpose.  In fact, we believe there are a million reasons to fall in love with your bike and the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series is one more reason to add to the mix.  As sustainability consultants, we love bike riding because cycling is a great stress release, enjoyable exercise, and is a component of a sustainable lifestyle.   And, it gets us outside to enjoy our natural environment. 

Endurance mountain bike racing in someways mirrors sustainability.  As a racer, riding 60+ miles, it's important to be mindful of your energy use, consumption of fluids, and renewing and replenishing of nutrients post race.  Like our environmental components, if you use up what you have, there isn't much left.  Endurance racing offers an appreciation for nature as well as the human elements of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and the will to preserver.  

We are thrilled to be part of this series as part of our green cycling commitment.

We invite you to join us at the event.  Look for us in the Taiga team kits.  If you can't make it, look for our pictures Twitter or Facebook. Let the 2012 season begin! 

Do you know your waste and recycling facts? 

• The average American office worker uses about 500 disposable cups every year. 
• Every year, Americans throw away enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times.
• Every year, Americans use approximately 1 billion shopping bags, creating 300,000 tons of landfill waste.
• Plastic bags do not biodegrade. Light breaks them down into smaller and smaller particles that contaminate the soil and water and are expensive and difficult to remove.
• Less than 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled each year. Recycling one ton of plastic bags costs $4,000. The recycled product can be sold for $32.
• Consumers in North America and Europe waste about 209 to 253 pounds of food per person every year. The USDA says the average person in the U.S. eats 4.7 pounds of food per day. So that means the amount of food we each waste in the U.S. per year would feed us for about one and a half to two months (44 to 54 days to be exact). 

Shocked by the statistics?  As Earth Day approaches, many are looking for eco actions that can be taken not just on Earth Day, but every day.  Living a zero waste lifestyle is one path to consider.  

Within our eco friendly training we share the intention behind a zero waste lifestyle is to maximize recycling, minimizes waste, reduce consumption and ensures that products are made to be reused, repaired or recycled back into nature or the marketplace.

A quick start to set you on your personal sustainability plan on waste reduction will not only reduce waste, but save you money as well.  But what does reducing waste mean?  When you avoid making garbage in the first place, you eliminate the disposing of waste or recycling it later.  It's the first component of the sustainability concept of the three R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  

Ready to get started but now sure where to begin?  Check out your garbage!  Your garbage gives you clues as to how to reduce waste, save money, and live a more sustainable lifestyle.  

Clue #1: 

This is an easy one.  If you look in your garbage and notice paper, plastic, aluminum, kitchen waste and more all combined together, then your first step towards building a personal sustainability program is to embrace the sustainability concept of recycle.  Separate the paper, plastics, glass, and aluminum into bins and begin a recycling program.  

Clue #2:

Inspect the paper and plastic in your garbage.  Are the paper products you are using made from recycled content?  Do you receive a lot of junk mail? Are you using reusable containers?  What kind of garbage bags do you use?  Take eco action and make a difference.  Address each area and explore ways to reduce your waste as well as make more environmentally friendly choices.  

Following are some suggestions from our eco friendly training classes: 

Reduce Food Waste: 

• Pre plan your meals, buy in bulk, and prepare what you need.
• Compost and turn your old food into healthy soil.

Reduce when you shop and shop with the environment in mind: 

• Purchase products that are returnable, reusable or refillable.  Use reusable and refillable containers in your home instead of disposable items.
• Purchase products with the least amount of packaging.
• Get the most out of what you buy by comparing warranties and cost to repair or replace the item.
• Look for products designed with the environment in mind.  Organic clothing, sustainable furnishings, and solar powered products are just a few examples.
• Rent or borrow instead of purchasing.  Check out the post, Buy or Barter? Best Trading Websites for ideas.

Reduce items at home: 

• Reduce paper consumption- go paperless.  In fact, try using technology to go paperless. 
• Find new life for old furnishings, appliances and clothes.

By evaluating the contents of your garbage, there exist the opportunity to make more sustainable purchase choices, to reduce your waste, and to modify behavior to support the environment - not just for Earth Day, but everyday!      

"Sow a thought, and you reap an act. Sow an act, and you reap a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.” Charles Reade

Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously, without one directly thinking consciously about them.    In the world of personal sustainability plans, this unconscious display of habits is a fertile ground of opportunity offering low hanging fruit for eco action.    

The gap between awareness and action may represent the single largest opportunity for global sustainability progress.  While historical efforts have focused on expanding awareness, the recent explosion of information and global interest indicates that the “word is out” on most major issues.   The next step is closing the growing gap between knowledge and personal action.  

To improve in a specific area or program, the process of increasing awareness will yield improvements.  The same applies to living a sustainable lifestyle.  Most of us recognize that change can be tricky:  habits and convenience make it far easier to slip back into the comfortable way of doing things.  However, implementing effective sustainable change does not have to be a laboring process.  The key is conscious awareness.  

Awareness is the tool used to help discover the personal patterns of behavior that offer low hanging fruit for a sustainable lifestyle.  For instance, are you aware of your habits related to energy?  Consider how and when you consume the most energy in your day?  How could you be more efficient? What inspiring eco actions could you take?  

Conscious awareness is key to sparking the eco awareness in a personal sustainability program.  As noted in our eco friendly training, following are aids to assist in raising awareness: 

• Consciously notice what is most inspiring to you about living green and take eco action in those areas.
• Notice your current patterns and invoke curiosity as to which eco actions would be a sustainable substitute.
• Applaud your efforts: small changes add up.  In fact, daily habits have the most impact.
• Observe how new changes become the new habit/ norm.
• Momentum brings visibility to previously inaccessible ideas and behaviors.
• Gain speed: There is ease in taking more eco action.
• Inspire by living the example.

Each day we are presented with opportunities to expand our eco awareness and make informed choices.  The trick to capitalizing on those opportunities is being aware.  Conscious awareness offers us the opportunity to make changes that are inspiring and manageable relative our current life and the process of incorporating sustainability becomes much easier.  Having resources, tips, and ideas accessible makes it easier to keep sustainability top of mind.  Which ones resonate with you?   

• 10 Ways to Green your Cubicle
• I Recycle. You Recycle. We all Recycle.
• What is Your Sustainability IQ? 
• Green Home Office Basics  
• Smart Cycling 
• What Does Sustainability Mean to You?
• Eco Recourses to Gear Up for Bike to Work Week

Remember, every eco action adds up.  Your eco actions matter.  Together, we can all make positive change in our world. Happy Earth Day 2012! 

“New ideas may (and do) spring from any node in the network. That pulling of innovation from the edge to the core is one of the major differences between networked business and traditional value chains. The next step in this evolution will be for network coordinators to reach out to other networks for new ideas they can implement.” -Geoffrey Moore and Philip Lay, Business Network Transformation

Expanding on this concept, the Forbes post, Innovation in Coordinated Business Networks , examines the frameworks of today’s most effective business networks.  With so much discussion now focused on social networks, the article presents a new concept for consideration.  

“Crowdsourcing is the act of reaching out to a large, usually meshed network to solicit members’ ideas that may help us solve a problem or address an opportunity.”

Our sustainability consulting subscribes to the idea that stakeholder engagement success is no longer defined by how well your company communicates its message to the external world.  It is rapidly becoming a critical business sustainability skill and a business sustainability catalyst that is affecting the bottom line. Together business sustainability and social media offer a refreshing and innovative approach. 

To be effective with its business sustainability communications, an organization must have a defined strategy.  This concept should not only be communicated but aligned with the company’s business objectives and resources, including the interests of its key stakeholders and corporate sustainability plan.  Our sustainability consulting offers information and resources to define social media engagement strategies and right fit tools for your business.  Visit with us at Taiga Company to learn more.

When we think of ‘green’ jobs, we often picture a new opportunity, which may require a new set of skills.  This may lead us to believe that ‘green’ jobs are a younger generation career path.  However, withIn our sustainability consulting practice, we encounter professionals at all levels of career development seeking to break into the ‘green’ workspace.  

While the post, Are Green Jobs the New High Value Career Track, addresses pursing a ‘green’ career as a natural extension of pairing personal values to that of business sustainability, the post, 25 Exciting Stats on Green Job Growth, explores 25 exciting statistics about employment opportunities that benefit the environment.  Where are all the green jobs?  Noted below are 5 key areas:

• Hydropower is estimated to have the potential of adding 1.4 million jobs by 2025
• The government has created a $2 million green job competition for veterans
• The green construction industry will add 2.3 million workers to its labor force
• The solar industry job growth rate is 6.8%
• The green industry in the U.S. now employs 3.1 million workers

Keep in mind, every job is a green job: it's all in how you do it.  Granted, there are designated "green" jobs out there with "official" titles.  However, if it is making an impact and making a difference that you are truly after, then transforming your current job into a green job is the ticket.  

Businesses around the world are feeling the pressures of rising energy and water costs, as well as the potential costs of emissions.  Leading the headlines today are the impacts rising oil prices are having on business costs across the entire value chain.  Thus, our sustainability consulting asks: how is your company hedging these increasing business sustainability pressures?

“The daily debate over the extent of fuel price rises is further complicated by regional supply issues and unpredictable geopolitical events. We advise companies to use scenario planning and broaden the range of strategic thinking among category managers; help them adjust their plans in response to changing external circumstances.”  -Corporate Executive Board

While business risks and costs are often the primary drivers for behavior change, leading businesses are exploring sustainability concepts to identify opportunities.  Many companies are addressing these risks by exploring the value aspects of proactive strategies. In fact, we have observed a recent shift by individuals and businesses towards more sustainable factors to create a completive position over the competition.  These organizations are focused on:

• Energy availability and reliability
• Reevaluation of traditional energy sources
• Availability and access to renewable energy sources
• Continued technology advancements to increase efficiencies 

Energy management is a business sustainability concept that reduces cost and adds competitive value.  Our professional consulting advises clients to focus on solutions that have immediate and long term impact.  Visit us at Taiga Company  for information and resources to get started today in build energy management into your company’s business sustainability plan.

Growing demand in the world’s largest consuming nation, US electric providers are looking to the sustainability concept of energy efficiency to create capacity.  But what are businesses doing to capitalize on these advances?  Is your company aware of the financial advantages in taking proactive action?

A new report from Pike Research, U.S. Industrial Companies Must Embrace Energy Management to Remain Competitive, examines these very questions.  Targeting the most heavily burden industries, the research explores the latest technologies and the true business sustainability opportunities that await progressive business action.

“New technologies are allowing great insight into energy procurement and use, as well as the management of energy as an input to the industrial process.  At the same time, a variety of assistance programs, plus new standards and certifications, are helping to drive energy performance initiatives into the organizational cultures of companies wishing to gain efficiencies in their industrial processes.”

New sources of energy combined with energy conservation, reduction, and management are essential for business sustainability and a brighter future.  Thus, our sustainability consulting advises clients on ways to incorporate energy efficiency and source control as not only a best business practice but as a true financial  advantage.  Visit with us Taiga Company to learn more.

Want to go green but just don't know where to start?  Well, great news!  You don't have to be a fantastic to live green and you can get started today.  Going green isn't an all or nothing approach -just a simple transition into making better choices that help our planet as well as our pocket books!  In fact, if you think about your life now, there are probably many eco actions that you are already taking. 

In our sustainability consulting, we like to offer fun challenges to our clients to see how many green things they can do in a day.  Wondering what simple actions you can do today to go green?  Enjoy the following list of eco ations designed to bring eco awareness to your daily living and help support living a sustainable lifestyle.  How many eco actions can you do today?  This weekend? 

1. Go for a hike in the woods.
2. Discover how much land area it takes to support your lifestyle with Global Footprint Network
3. Have a picnic.
4. Take the kids to the park.
5. Visit a museum -There are lots of free museums and many others take a donation.
6. Work on an arts and craft project.
7. Go paperless for the entire day.
8. Watch this video on recycling and see how these recycling tips make a big difference in saving our environment while creating green jobs in the process. 
9. Check out fun online games that challenge your eco-socio-political skills.
10. Look around your home and office and unplug seldom used appliances.
11. Learn ways to recycle your junk.
12. Eat an organic meal or purchase some fruits and veggies from a local farmer's market and compost your vegetable scraps.
13. Do some bird watching.
14. Go for a bike ride.
15. Roller blade, Run, Ski, exercise outdoors. 
16. Visit the zoo.
17. Go camping - enjoy the US National Parks system.
18. Apply the 3 R’s to your closet: reduce by removing clothes you no longer wear, reuse and recycle by donating to a local clothing donation.
19. Visit a street fair.
20. Bake organic goodies.
21. Make a birdhouse.
22. Stroll through a public garden. 
23. Work on your own garden. 
24. Take advantage of local cultural events.
25. Clean out your house and have a garage sale.
26. Discover what can be recycled and what cannot!  Can you recycle paint? Hair? Crayons?  Find out here.  Better yet, discover recycling centers near your home by visiting Earth911.
27. Discover the rewarding sensation of volunteering in your community.  Not sure where to start?  VisitVolunteerMatch and enter your zip code and area of interest to find a perfect volunteer match.
28. Discover cycling as part of a sustainable lifestyle and as a rewarding personal adventure. 
29. Take the The 7 Day Green Power Pledge
30. Subscribe to the Taiga Company newsletter or blog.
31. Pick up litter you see as you are walking on the sidewalk.
32. Turn the lights off after someone else has forgotten as they left the room.
33. Collect scrap office paper and bring it to the recycling center.
34. Treat a friend to organic fare at a local sustainable restaurant.
35. Share your favorite green blog with friends….hint…Taiga blog.
36. Volunteer to clean up the break room and use eco friendly cleaning supplies.
37. Feed the birds from a park bench or feeder.
38. Adopt a pet from your local animal shelter.
39. Donate a bag of organic coffee and share with your office.
40. Make a contribution to your favorite charity.
41. Notice and compliment the sustainable efforts other are doing.
42. As Bill Keane said, “A hug is like a boomerang - you get it back right away". Share the green love with a friend- inspire them to eco action. 
43. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for sustainability related news and information.
44. Enjoy getting outside - reconnect with nature and re-discover the joy and appreciation that nature calls forth from each of us.  That inspiration is the fuel that propels us towards living sustainably in our lives and our communities.
45. Reduce your personal emissions.  Not sure how? Read: 5 Easy Online Tools to Reduce Personal Emissions 

Have any fun eco tips to add to the list?  

Because most adults spend a majority of their waking hours at work, a sustainable working environment is critical.  The work site, organizational culture and working environment are powerful influences on behavior.   A component of increasing employee engagement has been wellness programs.  Traditionally, they have been used as instruments to address weight reduction, reduced stress levels, improved physical fitness, health, and well being.  Until recently, corporate wellness programs have been a "nice to have" program.  However, new trends point to wellness programs as "must have" programs as success evaluations of these programs are shifting.  

Traditional evaluations of wellness programs as part of employee engagement strategies have focused on ROI.  Yet to qualify the ROI for wellness programs has been elusive.  There are some notable metrics as mentioned by Elaine Cohen, author of the CSR for HR, “It is estimated that employers spend $13 billion annually on the total cost of obesity. Approximately 9.1% of all health care costs in the United States are related to obesity and overweight. Workplace obesity prevention and control programs can be an effective way for employers to reduce obesity. They can produce a direct financial return on investment (ROI) by lowering health care costs, lowering absenteeism, and increasing employee productivity.” 

However, because financial indicators  of success can be difficult to ascertain, many experts in the field are arguing that VOI (value on investment) is the more comprehensive and inclusive metric because it can be self-defined by the company to include attributes that are important to their own business success.  For instance, in addition to improvements in health care costs and reduction of healthcare claims, a VOI for a company might include recruitment and retention rates, measures of morale, quality-of-life indicators and absenteeism metrics. 

Worksite wellness and sustainability are linked: 

• Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthy employees
• Reduced health care costs
• Decreased rates of illness and injuries
• Reduced employee absenteeism
• Improved employee relations and morale
• Increased productivity 

In as much as worksite wellness is becoming more on the norm and less of the exception, so too is business sustainability.  By providing employees with wellness programs not only provides access to improved health, but it also demonstrates corporate social responsibility. Sustainable business strategies embedded in the core operations of a business captures the benefits a wellness program aims to make and more.   As with any successful program, leadership is critical as is participation and engagement.   Unite wellness programs with the corporate sustainability plan to engage your workforce. 

If you think about it, everything we do every day has an impact on our planet.  Not everyone was raised with eco awareness, so why and when does it start becoming important?  Speaking from experience as a sustainability consultant, I've learned that some families go green because of their children or because it saves money.  Living a sustainable lifestyle may be influenced by one's stage in life or maybe it's because it's Earth Day and you've made a choice to make a positive impact.  

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd.  As that day draws closer, perhaps a little history lesson to start?  

Earth Day was first conceived by Sen. Gaylord Nelson in the early 1960s. Nelson worried that environmental issues were not being addressed in the political arena. In his conservation efforts, Nelson organized a nationwide grassroots demonstration in the spring of 1970, to further promote conservation involvement and awareness.   Support for and interest in the activity was immense and the 1970 demonstration became the first official Earth Day. The first Earth Day helped inspire the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts. 

Facts about Earth 

•    Earth's surface area is approximately 196,935,000 square miles.

•    It is made up of approximately 70% ocean.

•    Land mass is approximately 30%.

•    Circumference is 24,901.5 miles.

•    The lowest point is the Dead Sea at 1,302 feet below sea level.

•    The highest point is Mount Everest at 29,028 above sea level.

•    The Earth's diameter is approximately 8,000 miles.

•    Water is 3% fresh and 97% salt water.

•    Earth will travel 1.6 million miles in its annual journey around the Sun, the 4.6-billionth such round-trip. It will rotate about its axis exactly once.

•    The Sun will travel 13.5 million miles around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Here's where my interest in eco awareness and living a sustainable lifestyle kick in:

•    Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to watch a TV for three hours - its equivalent to half a gallon of gasoline.

•    Never underestimate the importance of recycling: if every newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year. Unfortunately only 27% of all American newspapers are recycled.

•    More than 20,000,000 Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of tinfoil. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.

Now that you've read some facts about Earth Day and our Earth, how do you plan to take eco action?  Visit the Earth Day website and pledge your acts of green. 

“The most successful risk-management plans are those that involve input from and education for key stakeholders. Many organizations invest significantly in training programs to improve employee skills, but not in educating employees on inherent business risks and their role in managing and mitigating such risks”.

This quote taken from the recent CFO.com post, Avoid Three Key Supply-Chain Land Mines, offers continued guidance on managing risk in the supply chain.  Focused on how organizations can take a more proactive approach, the author offers a structured three-prong framework to sustainable supply chain risk mitigation.  Key components of this comprehensive advice include:

• Look Beyond the Obvious – Some organizations focus on mitigating risks that are palpable and overlook less-obvious ones.

• Expect the Unexpected – Organizational risk-management plans may deal with known or suspected risks but fail to provide a comprehensive overview of the risks inherent within the supply chain.

• Practice to Be Perfect – Some risk-management plans are contained neatly in binders and placed on shelves. That doesn’t mean those responsible for implementing these strategies are aware of the origin, likelihood, and severity of risk that exists. Effectively planning for risk requires full disclosure of risks, and all risk-mitigating and contingent actions that may be required, to all who will have to perform such actions.

Within our sustainability consulting, we find common characteristics among sustainable organizations to have the ability to effectively manage the flow of information across key business stakeholder  relationships.  While many organizations target immediate value, some of the more well known leading organizations continuously assess the health of their supply base.  This provides for opportunity to immediately determine risk.  In fact, the true ‘business sustainability’ differentiators are those who understand and effectively mitigate the potential derailleurs of supply. Visit us at Taiga Company to learn more.  

Napoleon Hill got it right! "First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.  We've all heard it before, "If you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you always got."  In other words, you can't solve the problem with the same thinking that created it.  Such is the case with climate change, carbon, water, and other pressing world concerns.   

If our traditional thinking and approaches aren't cutting it, then what will?  Can the power of positive thinking make a difference?  Following are 5 ways to think your way to sustainability success. By focusing our thoughts, we can create powerful eco actions. 

1.  The video, "The Happiness Factor" by Shawn Anchor explores the mass conscious belief around success and how that is scientifically skewed.  Within the video, he states we can re-wire our brains to a new definition of success which increases happiness and productivity.  What are the suggestions for rewiring our brains?  Of the five suggestions, two favorites stand out: gratitude and random acts of kindness.

These findings are consistent with what we have blogged about previously.  The post, How Green Gratitude Pays It Forward  explores how gratitude matters.  It mentions,  "adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not."  From sustainability viewpoint, how does one express gratitude?  Consider the qualities of kindness, generosity and willingness.

•    Kindness in a sustainable lifestyle is not only being kind to our planet, but kind to each other.  Compassion for where each of us is in relation to the green path.

•    Generosity in green living is not only sharing eco awareness and eco resources, but also going above and beyond to inspire, promote, and encourage others on the green path.

•    Willingness in green living is demonstrating your values through eco action and generating results. 

2.  Another approach is appreciating nature.  The post, Nature: The Natural Mood Enhancer, suggest paying attention to the natural world not only makes you feel better, it makes you behave better.  As Albert Einstein said, "It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it."    Viewed from a sustainability perspective, that can take many forms.  As in, caring for the Earth's resources from a physical and material perspective, but also in how our individual thoughts of eco awareness and behavior shapes that caring.  

3.  A third option: the post, 15 Random Acts of Green Kindness explores how kindness and sustainability are intrinsically linked. And, we talk about the The Karma of Personal Sustainability and how our thoughts are shaping our world.

4.  Use the power of words to create a culture of sustainability.  Language can be effective in managing organizational change.  Referencing, the post, Consider Consequences Of Language In Organizational Change, Kevin Barge, professor of communication in the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M, states that our experiences regarding change are influenced largely by the words that we say and the impact of those words on our coworkers. According to Barge, "if people are conscious of the effects their words can have on others, they will be more likely initiate successful change efforts and build productive organizational relationships." 

5.  Finally, focus your thoughts.  “Whatever you focus on expands.” – Christopher M. Knight.   At the heart of sustainable living and sustainable business strategies lies a foundation of innovation; refreshing new approaches that deliver unprecedented results.  While the media and mainstream may be populated with stories of mishaps, failures, blame, and make wrong, have you ever stopped to count the millions of blessings, successes, and things that are going right in our world?  

Whether you share in social networking to connect to people and organizations of like mind and spirit focused on positive eco actions or support others taking leadership responsibility for our global society, respecting nature, promoting universal human rights, advancing education, and supporting social and economic justice, we can all participate in creating a culture of peace by focusing our thoughts and actions.  

What you focus on expands.  Energy follows thought.  Attitudes are contagious.  Why not focus our collective thoughts on the innovative, inspiring results of sustainability success?

Consider the following findings from the Hay Group: Research conducted worldwide shows that leadership contributes to 70% of corporate atmosphere, while corporate atmosphere contributes to 30% of corporate performance. Therefore, leadership can exert direct influence on 21% of corporate performance.   

Sustainable business leaders are evaluating new markets, new products, and going after the most innovative people.  In addition to executive management playing a critical role in the success of a company, business sustainability requires leadership across the entire organization.  While management may ultimately carry the responsibility of sustainable business results, employees have a part to play in the definition and implementation of the company’s business sustainability programs.  Whether led by a sustainability executive or traditional management, a sustainable organization has many teams and key roles for individuals seeking to become leaders.

Enter the role of supply chain professionals. Software Advice's latest blog post, 5 Questions to Start the Sustainable Supply Chain Conversation poses 5 key inquiries: 

1. How can we better measure sustainability?
2. How can we instill sustainability into our suppliers?
3. How can we design more sustainable products?
4. How can we avoid socially-negligent suppliers?
5. Who can we trust to drive sustainability?

The recent emergence of sustainable supply chain management has provided companies with the opportunity to review processes, materials, and operational concepts from a different perspective.  It incorporates the role of the environment in supply chain value creation.  Encouraging you to read the full post here, it explores the five conversations that must occur within supply chain leadership for sustainability to become synonymous with reduced cost, risk mitigation and a socially-responsible business.  How is your organization improving the sustainability of its supply chain?

“Perhaps it is fortunate that varying opinions abound within corporations concerning ‘doing what is right and sustainable’. But regrettably, in relation to sustainable strategies, company leaders rarely encourage and seldom enable enterprise-wide airing of all those diverse points of view. Perhaps leaders avoid the discussions because they fear that the conflicting opinions might impede the company’s ability to execute.”

This lead-in quote was taken from the Environmental Leader post, Seeking Sustainability? Encourage Discussion of Conflicting Viewpoints, which speaks to one of the primary focuses of our sustainability consulting.  How do companies overcome problems stemming from competing corporate priorities, varying levels of commitment and differing perspectives on what sustainable strategies needs to be taken?  The answer is engagement.

Our sustainability consulting believes that there is an emerging role of social media for stakeholder engagement and for businesses to communicate their broader corporate responsibility agenda.  With preferences shifting as to how we communicate and exchange information, social media is becoming the transparent, engaging, competitive advantage that business sustainability delivers.   However, to effectively harness the power of social media to create business sustainability value, there are definable keys to success.

• Defining a clear vision of what social media is expected to do for your organization.  What are your social media goals?  Increase website/ blog traffic? Enhance brand image and credibility? Communicate and engage on CSR/ sustainability related topics? 

• Identify stakeholders and online communities.  Stakeholders are a bit easier to identify, but online communities can be centered theme based and centered on sustainability concepts such as recycling, CSR, water, energy, social investing.  Or, they may be geographically based.

• Actively engage.  Social media is an always on platform.  This implies being present to the ongoing conversation: listening, contributing to the conversation, providing timely feedback, and incorporating that information into products, services, and ongoing dialog.

Social media provides individuals, communities, businesses, and non-government organizations the ability to connect with business in meaningful discussion from anywhere in the world in real time.  To focus the corporate ear, business sustainability minded organizations are engaging with stakeholders, who have a vested interest in the success of the business and profoundly advance the sustainability conversation.  

In a perfect world, our world’s energy is powered by renewable sources, business sustainability is the norm, and sustainable lifestyles abound.  While we’re not quite there yet, as a sustainability consultant, I ask, “What if our planet came with care instructions? If it did, would we be better citizens?" 

Sharing our post on Virgin, Green, Sustainability, and CSR: More than Just Business - It's Personal too! we explore the meaning of sustainability, green, corporate social responsibility and green living.  

You are invited to read the full post here.   

Driven by a wide variety of business sustainability goals and objectives, leading companies around the world are searching for value in the supply chain.  Primarily focusing on upstream opportunities, the often less addressed and sometimes forgotten side of the supply chain conversation is the sustainable improvement of outbound distribution.

In our continuous search for new information, our sustainability consulting gathers insight from the GreenBiz article, The Logistics of Greener Supply Chains.   Leveraging the feedback from 322 Chinese firms in a recent logistics survey, GreenBiz explores the factors that influence the adoption of green practices in a lesser known and under recognized market for potential learnings.  Key findings included:

• Complexity: Firms were more likely to adopt green technology and practices when they offered an advantage and were well suited to a business. Complex practices were less likely to be adopted by firms.

• Business Support: Green practices were also more likely to be adopted if firms provided organizational support, such as extra resources and training, increasing employee motivation for adoption and when they were subjected to regulatory pressures and/or received government support.

• Uncertainty: Uncertainty in the business setting, in the form of frequent and unpredictable changes to technology or customer preferences, inhibited firms from adopting green practices.

As the business world actively pursues improvements in the supply chain, many companies are also taking an active role in managing their outbound logistics and distribution processes.  These comprehensive business sustainability programs include not only internal company operations but strategies to address processes that extend beyond the physical boundaries of the business.   Our sustainability consulting seeks out and distributes information to those seeking to make steps towards a sustainable supply chain.  Challenges in emerging markets often provide valuable insight that may be otherwise overlooked.

“When it comes to energy and the environment, most people want to do the right thing. But how many people actually contribute to improving energy use and environmental impact is another story.”

This quote from the GreenBiz post, How Businesses Can Use Games to Spur Greener Behavior, speaks to the heart of most business sustainability concept implementations: transforming thought into action.  Focusing on employee action, the article offers a light-hearted approach to stakeholder engagement.  By applying principals of gaming in a traditional business setting, many companies have already witnessed great success in increased eco awareness.  

Research reveals that leading business sustainability companies place an emphasis on sustainability as an integrated business process change consistent with economic recovery business improvement.  As we have discussed frequently, the key is to create alignment.  The GreenBiz article poses several questions:

• How do we obtain enough information to compare to our peers?
• How do we define the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards to spur action?
• Is your organization driven by social pressures or internal drivers?

Our sustainability consulting finds the gap between awareness and action is often the biggest challenge in the implementation of any change.  In terms of business sustainability progress, the action step represents the single largest opportunity.  We spend a considerable amount of time exploring avenues to accelerate global eco awareness into true impactful business action.  

The concept of gaming presented in the above article may offer one method.  Combined with other social media engagement strategies, your company could not only raise the eco awareness of its business sustainability stakeholders but motivate action.  Visit us at Taiga Company to learn more.