Leading Change Toward Sustainability

POLI 319Class 16 Organizational SustainabilityP. Brian Fisher

Keys to Org Sustainability• How do you transform your organization from top to bottom so that your

vision of sustainability drives everyday decision-making and defines short and long-term success?

• Vision and Leadership are key.

• Vision: exemplary orgs are exceptionally clear about their purpose• Leadership: Effective leaders set the tone, defining their orgs with clarity

of their vision, conviction and commitment.

• Vision provides the goal; principles frame the path

3 Key Principles for Successful Sustainability Org

• 1. Sufficient tension between a desired state and current conditions—constant striving for improvement• No tension, no change basic systems thinking

• 2. people involved in org must have “self-efficacy” must believe they can successfully implement the changes to close the tension gap• Constant learning is the core element

• 3. People must believe that the benefits of the new approach outweigh the downsides by at least 2 to 1. • Participants must see two upsides for every downside to the shift

Focus on Cities• 75% of world’s emissions are from cities• More power at municipal level• Can see across differences easier• Fewer political barriers• Enhances local• Need networked regional approach to be sustainable

• Cities and Organizations are the key to transformation

7 Key Levers for Change to Sustainability1. Alter the thinking, assumptions, beliefs on org functioning2. Alter the planning and decision-making (by getting people

with different attributes and views involved)3. Reorient the vision, goals and guiding principles of org4. Restructure the strategies to achieve goals/mission5. Shift the flow of info to service new sustainability-based

vision, goals, and strategies6. Improve the org’s capacity to learn7. Embed new vision, goals and strategies in standard op

procedure

Chapter 7: Rearrange the PartsFood Group (Jordan, Kayla, Bekah)

Organizing a transition team:• Get the right people to work on a team (most

important step)• Gain clarity on goals & ask the following questions:• Why do we exist?• What are we striving to achieve?• How will we achieve our vision?• Which actions will we take?• When & where will these actions take place?• From what will we learn?• Where will we make the new approach stick?

Clarity over roles

Clarity over rules• Types of decisions:• I: Decide & inform• II: Consult & decide• III: Decide by consensus• IV: Delegate decision

• Decide who plays what role in decision-making so team members don’t misinterpret their level of influence• Take stakeholders into account & keep them in the loop

Good Leadership = The Key to Success

• Hats the leader wears:• Driver- keep team motivated & focused• Connector- ID gaps between issues • Translator- make sure everyone understands principles of

sustainability• Choreographer- stay ahead of the team in order to predict what

needs to be done in the future

Chapter 8: Vision and Guiding Principles

Chapter 8: Change the goals of the system to ideal visions of sustainability

• If we change the goal, we reorient the purposeo Clearly define "new ends" the organization seeks to achieveo Create guidelines for how decisions should be made to achieve them

• Clear visions provides the goals/Principles Frame the Patho Influence the way it operates and is governedo Employees feels secure that everyone is on the same page

• Good visionso Explain purpose behind achieving sustainability o Be relatable to different interests groups

Clarity of Purpose/Reoriented Vision

• Clarity of Purposeo Previous aspirations vs. new desireso Abolish old perspective while forming new ones.o Establish principles for vision.

• How to Reorient Purpose:o Strong leaders with visiono Transition Teamso Decision-making process based on principles

Think backwards to develop visions• Backwards Thinking/ Ends Planning :

o How do you want your organization to look and operate if it were completely sustainable

o then look backwards to the current conditions, and identify the most direct route toward the ideal.

o Eliminates false paths and helps avoid getting trapped by decision-making tools that favour the status quo

o Patagonia, GM

Chapter 9:Restructure the Rules of EngagementAdopt Source-Based Strategies

Parks, Katy, Ben

Linking Incremental Change with Major Innovation• Small and slow improvements combined w/ changes at multiple

levels including people, management skills, systems, energy sources, etc.

• Focused on: people (governance-change) and operations (operational-change)

• Vision > Strategy > Tacticso how team will accomplish worko then, decide which actions

Framework for Strategy Development• How sustainable are we now?

o Assess environmental and socioeconomic footprints inputs/outputs just like any system

o Assess existing patterns of governance• How sustainable do we want to be in future?• Identify operational performance gaps

o Establish goals and measurable targets• How do we get there?

o Eliminate source of problemso Source-oriented solutionso Actions to achieve patterns of governance

• How do we measure progress?o feedback systems (operational/governance)

Develop Implementation Plans

• When, where, and why should actions take place?• Work plans, timetables, assignments, etc.

Indicators of Success• Closed-loop systems• Information flows• Decision-making processes• New power + authority relationships• New ways people relate to each other

Dopplet, Chapter 10:Shifting information flows of a system by tirelessly communicating the need, vision, and strategies for achieving sustainability.

Barriers to Effective Communication

- Technical issues- Inconsistency- Lack of interaction - Secrecy or Fear *Remember to clear any misunderstandings, and to practice

relentless and effective communication!!

Keys to Good Information

1. Understand your audience2. Frame messages carefully3. Keep it simple4. Make it important & memorable5. Employ catchy tags, slogans, logos6. Be relentless 7. Be transparent8. Be interactive, not didactive9. Highlight sucesses

Keys to Good Information

10. Keep it fresh11. Use symbols, heroes, stories12. Be a straight shooter13. Have fun

Altering info. flows: -personal interaction preferred- "leaders must lead"- Department, unit and transition team meetings

Chapter 11Correcting the feedback loops--encouraging and rewarding learning and innovationAiden GilbertBennett Jones

• “To overcome obstacles, the organization's feedback and learning mechanisms must be altered so that the skills, knowledge, and understanding of employees and stakeholders continually expand. As understanding grows, people will find ways to overcome the barriers” (198).

• The recognition of innovation is key to changing the feedback and learning mechanisms, and fostering further creation and innovation

Thesis

• Improving sustainability data systems• “What are we seeing to achieve and what do we need to know to

measure our progress toward sustainability?” (201).• Data barriers• Data Information Knowledge

• Financial barriers• R&D• Time• Economies of scale

Possible Barriers to Innovation

• Policy barriers• “Command-and-control paradigm= tries to mitigate negative

effects of the linear take-make-waste production model” (207).• Staffing barriers• Need for educated staff and managers• Education is not sufficient by itself

So many barriers…

• Levels of learning:• Individual• Team• Organizational

• Continual learning overcomes barriers• Learning not for the acquisition of specific skills

Changing feedback loops

• Make it safe to try new things• Be okay with failure• Reward innovation with recognition• The barriers are not unique to sustainability

Encourage Innovation

Chapter 12Adjusting the Parameters

DoppeltGreen Building Project Group

“Adjusting the parameters”

• Alignment resolves issues of integration and coordination that lead to siloing and fragmentation

• “Alignment MEANS organizational systems, structures, policies and procedures now embrace & jointly buttress continued progress toward sustainability… Learning & innovation must be given sufficient time to flourish to allow successful operational methods and governance patterns to be discovered. Once the right set of though processes and behavior emerges, however, the process of aligning sustainability throughout the organization should begin.” (p. 230)

• Must Alter the Prevailing Mental Model

• Authority/Power can NOT change values/norms = resistance, alienation, and reduced morale

• Alignment Factors: Leadership, Vision, Goals, Tactics, Structures, Communications, Strategies, Info & employee involvement mechanisms – each offering the same message of sustainability with consistent, mutually reinforcing signals.

• Alignment• GOAL: “help each unit understand what others are doing and what others need of them to produce

their deliverables” (p.244)• “Consistent and mutually reinforcing signals must continually bombard employees and stakeholders

until they find it impossible to think or behave in unsustainable ways.”• “Cannot be achieved unless org. is governed as system”• Effective Co-ordination and integration

Structures• Divisional

• Clusters a number of diverse functions beneath one roof based on product, service, market segment or geography

• Functional• Groups formed from specialization of functions

• Matrix• Hybrid of functional and divisional approaches

• Network• “semi-independent groups form to accomplish specific tasks and disband when the tasks are

accomplished. New groups then form to take on specific new challenges.”

• Internal Measurement System• Measure all key objectives that create value for the organization on its

march toward sustainability.”• Human Resources • “people are the primary resources, not components to be

mechanically added or discarded as needed”• Learning and growing enhance efficiency• Reward systems that are aligned with organization’s sustainability vision,

goals and strategies.”

• Obstacles• 1. no commitment/ clarity• 2. no progress through the phases of sustainable change process• 3. architecture that influences organizational performance sends

mixed directions

Chapter 13Aligning Governance

Employees• 51% are not satisfied with their jobs

• Unhappy employees are not as productive

• Financial issues are #1, but beyond that:• Immediate supervisor• Clearly defined expectations• Ability to cultivate natural abilities (fisher: be creative)• Role• Meaningfully engaged in decision-making

Governance to Change• Empowerment is talked about more than implemented; most

organizations are still built on patriarchy (top-down and power exercised through hierarchical management).

• Employees are more like assets

• Must provide key leadership and direction, give authority/power, provide resources and demand accountability; otherwise, frustration sets in

5 Characteristics of Sustainable Governance

1. Follow a vision and set of principles focused on enviro and human wellbeing

2. Continually produce and widely distribute info necessary for continual learning and measuring progress toward vision

3. Engage all those affected by the activities of org4. Skillfully distribute resources equitably 5. Provide people with freedom and authority to act within an

agreed-upon framework

Chapter 14: Conclusion

6 Common Denial Mechanisms1. We don’t have to do that2. We already do that3. We tried it and it didn’t work4. The successes are mostly anecdotal and we’ll wait for more

hard data5. It is too….costly, time consuming, complicated, etc6. It’s _____ fault, not ours

4 Common Positive Signs1. Unbinding Optimism and Curiosity

2. A future orientation

3. Consistency and Doggedness

4. Whole-Systems Perspective

Lessons from Book• Enviro and socioeconomic problems are symptomatic of deficiencies in

governance and leadership poor mgmt which tends to lead to failure overall

• Sustainability is determined as much by the way an organization operates as by what it produces

• Wheel of Change (7 strategies for intervention) apply to all types of orgs, and to creating social and political change

• The keys to long-term transformation toward sustainability are the development of effective governance systems and leadership.