ISSUES IN DEPTH Quick Tips ISSUES IN DEPTH Quick Tips Tackling systemic challenges in sustainability Based on our conversation with Glen Low, Principal, Blu Skye Sustainability Consultants
Jul 20, 2015
ISSUES IN DEPTH
Quick TipsISSUES IN DEPTH
Quick TipsTackling systemic challenges in g y gsustainability
Based on our conversation withGlen Low, Principal, Blu Skye Sustainability Consultants
What systemic challenge doTHE QUESTION
What systemic challenge do you face?
Climate h
Education reform
change
Sustainable food
systems
Human rights
in the supply h i
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chain
Work togetherWHAT CAN WE DO?
Work together
There’s a growing consciousness of“There s a growing consciousness of the need for collective action that—I think—is unprecedented.
“ “— Glen Low, Blu Skye
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Collective actionONE APPROACH
Collective action
Analytic Thinking
Human Systems
Lastingchange
You have to have the rational and “the emotional; otherwise your solutions are not enduring.
“
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— Glen Low, Blu Skye
Engage the right peopleTIP 1
It’s not having everyone in the
Engage the right people
“ It s not having everyone in the room; it’s having the right people in the room.
“— Glen Low, Blu Skye
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Define the [shared] problemTIP 2
Everyone sees problems from their
Define the [shared] problem
“Everyone sees problems from their unique vantage point. But you need a shared sense of what is the problem.
“— Glen Low, Blu Skye
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Think bigTIP 3
Think big
One of my favorite quotes is from Dwight“One of my favorite quotes is from Dwight D. Eisenhower, who said, ‘If a problem can’t be solved, enlarge it.’ Because
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when you expand a problem, you also expand the value available in the system.
“
— Glen Low, Blu Skyey
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Find the bright spotsTIP 4
Find the bright spots
When you frame things as a problem“When you frame things as a problem statement, it leads the mind to think it’s not possible. But when you think of the
iti d i t it tpositive deviants… it creates new possibilities.
“
— Glen Low, Blu Skye, y
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Make action easyTIP 5
Make action easy
Change requires multi-stakeholder action, “ g q ,not just stakeholder engagement. You need a pathway that enables the system to work together: what I call simple first steps
“together: what I call simple first steps.
“
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
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Keep it personalTIP 6
Keep it personal
Every collective action requires“Every collective action requires individual accountability. There have to be champions, evangelists: people who want to step up who want to leave awant to step up, who want to leave a legacy, and break from the path.
“
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
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