Sustainability: business, life, environment

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.  The post, What is the Quality of Your Sustainability Intent,   addresses sustainability as it originates within each of us at the core or our thoughts, choices, and eco actions.  Questions prompting curiosity on how can our individual actions transform our world:
 
•    What is it that you want to create for yourself and this world?
•    What contribution do you want to make?
•    How can your words, your actions play a role in the bigger picture of sustainability?
 
While it's essential to aspire to big and lofty goals, it's also important to note the resistance that often accompanies transformation.  Successful businesses and individuals recognize that change can be unsettling, and it needs to be understood and managed.  If you force change on people, or even yourself, you often encounter problems. 
 
Sustainable change needs be realistic, achievable and measurable. Before taking action, ask a few questions:
 
•    What do we want to achieve with this change?
•    Why and how will we know that the change has been achieved?
•    Who is affected by this change, and how will they react to it?
•    Is the desired outcome within our control or do we need help?
 
Businesses often try to sell change to the organization as a way to attain agreement and accelerate implementation. Selling change to people is most often not a sustainable strategy for success.  An alternative approach is to align business sustainability with the needs of the employee.
 
•    Focus on facilitating sustainability learning for employee development.
•    Encourage employee discussion about business direction
•    Stage implementation at a rate that is manageable for your workforce
•    Encourage feedback from stakeholders about change management processes
•    Take ownership in the outcome of each step and make improvements going forward
 
At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting works with clients to build sustainability concepts into business core practices and employee personal lives.  We work with individuals and groups to recognize the importance of change management as a key process in the pursuit of personal and business sustainability.