Sustainability: A Myth

Sustainability in business has been a popular topic in recent years much to my dismay. In fact, in an interview, I was asked about sustainability to which I responded “When I hear companies talk about sustainability, I know that they already have a problem.” What I discovered later was that sustainability was the questioner’s business. Oops.

While I regret having publicly derided the questioner’s business, I stand firmly by my belief that sustainability is a myth.

Sustainability myth

We cannot sustain the status quo if for no other reason that the rest of the world is moving forward. Indeed, David Deutsch, British physicist and author of The Beginning of Infinity, says “Only progress is sustainable.”

I phrase things a little differently when I tell clients that “complacency is the earliest stage of decline.” Yet, the message is the same…we must move forward; sustaining the status quo is a prescription for failure.

Another message that motivates my clients is “I’ve never seen perfection; there must be a better way.” Implicit in this message is that regardless of how good a company gets at what they do, there’s always a better way…and the first to get there will consistently lead their industry.

Takeways

Do some soul searching by asking yourself “Have I taken my company into sustainability thinking or are we continuing to strive for higher and higher levels of performance?”

If you answer affirmatively to the first part of the question, it’s time to shift to the second half of the question.

Not sure how to do that? The following resources will help you make that determination.

Resources

Making the EXCEPTIONAL Normal program helps you identify and nurture emerging leaders who elevate all around them to higher levels of performance and greater job enjoyment.

Financial Awareness & Strategy program where employees learn to identify opportunities to improve financial results and prioritize these opportunities on the basis of which produces the greatest impact with the least effort. Greater financial awareness = Better decisions.