Three Executive Mindsets that Propel Sustainable Innovation

Over the last decade, the world has witnesses a dramatic increase in eco awareness, with a significant shift in the knowledge of the everyday shopper. Evidence of this shift can be seen in the ever increasing number of alternative products and services available to consumers today. While ‘green’ products are flooding the market, the stable brands that will ultimately survive are harnessing consumer expectations and utilizing internal innovation as a major business sustainability driver.

Drilling down further, companies recognize that innovation and new product ideas must utilize a growing number of inputs. This compilation of information can come from ground level employees, customers, consumers and suppliers. It must also consider its environmental and social stakeholders.

Within our sustainability consulting, we find executives with a sustainable mindset to be leading the way.

Curiosity: Just as sustainability provides a powerful organizing principal for business, curiosity is the human counterpart. At its essence, both are an open minded approach - an inquiry as to what might be versus knowing. When you "know" something, curiosity stops. How can ideas flow within a platform of knowingness? As Glen Beaman said, "Stubbornness does have its helpful features. You always know what you are going to be thinking tomorrow." Viewed from the lens of a sustainability consultant, it seems if you are attached to the traditional means of which to grow your business, you might be getting the same results tomorrow that you are getting today.

Willing to Experiment: Louis Pasteur said, "Chance favors the prepared mind" and such is the case with business sustainability. There may not be a definitive right definition of sustainability, but noted in our business sustainability consulting practice, actions speak louder than words and true business sustainability value capture will come from individuals and organizational action. Sustainability principals are universal, but their application in your business and specific circumstances yields unique results. Communicating the "right" definition of sustainability defined by your business accelerates the adoption of sustainable business strategies mainstream. A willingness to experiment, discover what works and continue onwards is a sustainable mindset of executives leading in business sustainability.

Engagement: Within business sustainability programs, engagement is a critical focus. What is engagement really? Ultimately, it is value alignment. Alignment of the corporate sustainability plan with key stakeholders. To focus the corporate ear, business sustainability minded executives are engaging with stakeholders, who have a vested interest in the success of the business and profoundly advance the sustainability conversation via communication and transparency.

At Taiga Company, we understand that business sustainability is a forward moving pursuit, and progressive change requires commitment, resources, and time. Our sustainability consulting works with executives to recognize the importance of a sustainable mindset and change management as a key process in the pursuit of personal and business sustainability.

Comments for Three Executive Mindsets that Propel Sustainable Innovation

Friday, October 22, 2010 by Henk Hadders:: Is sustainable innovation is function of a sustainable mindset of executives ? But what is sustainable innovation and what is a sustainable mindset ? I find the latter a rather curious notion and I prefer to use the concept "open mindedness". We need open-minded executives, who are curious, willing to experiment and engage with stakeholders. In order to close stakeholder-sustainability gaps, we need to innovate, which is based on creating new knowledge. Innovation is more than creating new products alone, it also means social innovation creating new processes, new organizational structures etc. In order to be sustainable an organization needs two things: (1) knowledge of it's impact on the world, and (2) the capacity to learn and innovate in response. I see sustainable innovation as a specific pattern of knowledge processing or learning in place, with specific criteria. This means for me that executives should follow a strategy, that doesn't see knowledge as "a source" (to be squeezed out of worked, to make a profit), or as "resource", but as part of an engineered knowledge ecology in organizations, where open minded workers collaborate in open relationships with stakeholders to close knowledge gaps, create new knowledge of sustainability to close stakeholder-sustainability gaps. But all this also presupposes the existence of "open enterprises", where people self-organize to learn, etc. Most executives I know (have a financial bottom-line mindset) and will hinder such a development, so I think we still have a long way to go. We definitely need a new generation of executives. I guess sustainability and sustainable innovation is a function of open-minded individuals, open enterprises and an open society.