How to Get People to Change (for the Greener): Part 2

In February 2010, SSC President, Jennifer Woofter, commented on points made by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (of Made to Stick fame)  in an article featured in Inc., How to Get People to Change.  In the article, the authors discussed their new book on change management and Jennifer thought that it was a fascinating look at what it takes for people to shift their thinking and their actions.

What follows are some excerpts from the article, as well as her reflections as a sustainability consultant.

… Microsoft had some very stubborn programmers who thought they were writing brilliant software. But six out of 10 customers Microsoft surveyed couldn't figure out how to use the new feature. When they told the programmers this, their response was, "Where did you find six dumb people?" Microsoft brought the programmers into a usability-testing lab and put them behind a two-way mirror. When the programmers watched a real customer struggle with the software they designed, the programmers immediately started thinking about ways of changing it.

People need to see the final results of their actions.  Take a company field trip to your local landfill and watch people’s eyes open.  Not so radical, but equally effective: show them the electric bill.  Consider posting the electric bill at the front doors every month and you’ll be amazed at how energized people become about turning off those unused bathroom lights. 

Lesson: some people need to see with their own eyes before they will be willing to change their behavior.  Don’t just tell people about the importance of going green—show them.

This summer, we're giving sharing the best articles from the SSC website, going back eight years. The article above was originally posted on February 22, 2010. We'll be back in September with all new content. In the meantime, if you're interested in learning more about SSC, or working with an SSC consultant, please contact us!

How to Get People to Change (for the Greener): Part 1

In February 2010, SSC President, Jennifer Woofter, commented on points made by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (of Made to Stick fame) in an article featured in Inc., How to Get People to Change.  In the article, the authors discussed their new book on change management and Jennifer thought that it was a fascinating look at what it takes for people to shift their thinking and their actions.

What follows are some excerpts from the article, as well as her reflections as a sustainability consultant:

One of the main mistakes is when leaders come up with a new vision but never translate that broad analytical vision into something people on the frontlines can actually execute. I was talking to an entrepreneur who wanted his employees to have a "mindset of customer service." But if you're an employee, when you hear that, all you hear is buzzword, buzzword, buzzword, jargon, jargon, jargon.

Ahh, this could not be more pertinent for the “green” crowd.  Think back to your last conversation—around the water cooler with your climate-skeptic colleagues, or networking at that small business happy hour.  Consultants pitching their wares and inside sustainability champions make the same mistake again and again.  We throw around terms like “sustainability” and “systems thinking” without providing any kind of common context.  Hell, even the term “green” is vague. 

Is it any surprise that we see people nod (and perhaps even agree with us) and yet behavior goes unchanged?  Companies create broad GHG reduction goals, but employees have no idea how to implement them.  Consultants provide slick reports to clients, who quietly place them into a drawer and go about their business.  Green teams create vision statements that speak compellingly of holistic change, but never get traction with the company decision makers. 

While there are many reasons that change doesn’t happen, buzzwords and jargon are certainly one of the main problems.  I challenge you to look hard at the language you’re using to convince people of the importance of sustainability.  Can you explain all the concepts in a way that people on the frontlines can execute?  If not, go back and practice on your loved ones…they have no choice but to sit patiently and listen.

Next time: dealing with stubborn people.  Really, really stubborn people.

This summer, we're giving sharing the best articles from the SSC website, going back eight years. The article above was originally posted on February 11, 2010. We'll be back in September with all new content. In the meantime, if you're interested in learning more about SSC, or working with an SSC consultant, please contact us!

Materialism, Step Aside: A Reflection of the New American Dream

Every once in a while, we ask one of our colleagues to review a sustainability-related book. This time, former SSC intern (and current sustainability consultant in the Bay Area) Diana Wilkinson reviews John Zogby's book, The Way We'll Be.

John Zogby’s book, “The Way We’ll Be” takes a logical and convincing statistical approach to characterizing the new generation of American youth, albeit lacking some essential conclusive elements.  Zogby asserts that the current generation of 18-29 year olds is comprised of passionate individuals with a very progressive social, environmental, and global mindset.  Zogby calls this group First Globals and points out that there is an engrained sense of responsibility to local and global communities that is not present to the same extent in prior generations.  He makes a distinction between this newfound responsibility and broader “liberalism,” making it clear that this generation has decided that the previous decades of avid consumerism are not for them.  Rather, First Globals are aware that they do not exist in a bubble and that their actions have lasting and reverberating repercussions.

Zogby uses his new conceptualization of First Globals as a way to demonstrate to organizations that there is an emergent breed of consumer that requires a new approach to marketing and communication.  He writes, “Money matters, no doubt, to just about all of us to one degree or another, but to many of us, it matters less than we once thought it would.”  This very important consumer group will need to be marketed to with much more than price discounts; it represents a generation that cares about authenticity and has a new vision of responsibility.  Polling conducted by Zogby’s company reveals that, “people are [consistently] well ahead of political leaders in their willingness to tone down acquisitiveness in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”  First Globals are willing to actually engage in the concept of quality over quantity.  They are looking for companies with an inherent sense of good, be it social or environmental, and are eager to hear the larger story.  This means that marketers need to be cognizant that they are speaking to a group with a global mindset and a goal of achieving real and measurable ecological sustainability.

This vision of citizenship in a global community is something that has influenced not only individual consumerism, but also the investing community.  Zogby reveals that, “in every case, the investors opted for companies that are loyal to their communities, pay fair salaries, hire women and minorities, and maintain good environmental standards over simply strong market performance.”  This generation wants to create and live in a more ethical business world, and its constituents are willing to act on these aspirations in order to create the change they desire.

Normally described as a hedonistic group, the First Global generation, as it turns out, has a new and larger understanding of our increasingly global society than most have credited it with in the past.  Zogby uses his book as a tool to demonstrate to companies and their marketers that this group is much more conscious than its predecessors.  Much of the change demanded by First Globals can be accomplished if these groups can work in tandem. The key, of course, will be to find a way to make all of this not just environmentally sustainable, but financially stable as well.

While this book does present many compelling statistics pursuant to the future of the First Global generation, it does not come to any forceful conclusions or specific steps to which companies should adhere.  I would have liked Zogby to use his considerable experience to make some concrete arguments and suggestions so that readers have more key takeaways on how we can all help in the betterment of our global society.