Green Advocates Know How to Create Receptivity to Sustainability: Do You?

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company
Jul 22, 2011 10:15 AM ET

Taiga Company blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Compa…

As anyone knows who has ever tried to start a car with a less than fully charged battery, the energy required to make that initial engine crank is more than the energy required to keep the engine running.  Similar to business sustainability change, the effort required to get change initiated is often the greatest obstacle.    So how do you get business sustainability cranked up and running within an organization?   A challenge with corporate sustainability has been all about changing mindsets and systems.  Businesses often try to sell change to the organization as a way to attain agreement and accelerate sustainable business implementation. Selling change to people is most often not a viable strategy for success.  It creates resistance.     Think about it.  When somebody tells you what to do, do you do it?  Probably not.  No one likes to be told what to do - even when they are up for it.  While sustainable business strategies may further the corporate vision and simultaneously create meaningful work for employees, the employees actually have to be engaged and involved for it to be meaningful.     Within our sustainability consulting practice, we would argue the path of least resistance is the means to getting business sustainability momentum in an organization.  Leadership can pave the way.     Guidelines suggested in our business sustainability programs include the following. Consider exploring each question from the context of Identifying areas of discord - how is this creating resistance in the organization and what needs to change to create receptivity to business sustainability? Click here to learn how to create receptivity to sustainability.   

Home to one third of the earth's trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company's vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the "oxygen for your business".