How to overcome the corporate battle of interests (as an obstacle to progress) through sustainability
Individuals tend to overprotect their own interests when it comes to change. This is embedded in our DNA as an instinct of survival. The individuals with attributes that allowed them to get the most of its environments (like gathering food, water or reproductive partners) were the ones who managed to stay alive and preserve their legacy. Manifestations of this primitive survival instinct are to be found nowadays in organizations when employees feel jeopardised by new measures and changes. If the opponents believe their power over resources and assets will be downgraded by a new measure, they will show resilience to change. This could be for example, the introduction of a new software solution, which automates part of their daily operations, or the acquisition of a new business line, which could supersede their own functions. In this case, they will ward off the changes and possibility place obstacles in the adoption of the new decisions, slowing down the implementation or even making it non-viable for the rest of the organization to adopt these measures.
Every organization should look at peoples’ interests and the overall organizational impact before embarking in changes for their organizations that involve multiple stakeholders’ decisions and contributions to avoid long-lasting disputes resolutions and considerable spend of resources. That is why it is critical to invest on organizational or business measures, which will contribute to the improvement of the organization as a whole. Companies need a strong argument on the improvements that a new measure will bring into the organization or its environment and get as many stakeholders as possible on board beforehand. It is important that the individuals involved in the shifting process, believe that there is a common goal to achieve and a purpose to this measure.
In these times where climate change is threatening our live on earth as we know it, a popular motivator factor for people to introduce and accept change is sustainability. If the measures that are presented to the individuals contribute to achieve more sustainable processes, reduce generated emissions or preserve the environment, people are more likely to follow them. Not only many of the stakeholders involved will tend to be routinely in favour of measures that have a convincing sustainable effect, but those for which sustainability and CO2 reduction urgency are not sufficient or important arguments, will most probably follow up on the measures in question, for fear of being judged and left aside by others. The overall cost-time-effort investment in bringing the new measures to live will be reduced with everyone on board, the organization will be able to adopt the necessary changes faster than their competitors and in the end it will increase their probabilities to market success.
One important note to add here is, a company does not necessarily need to adopt all popular measures in the marketplace to become sustainable, but it needs to take the measures and introduce the changes that make sense for its organization. When deciding about operational and strategic changes, an organization can explore how these measures can help to achieve more sustainable processes, increase efficiency and make these measures more beneficial for the organization as a whole. However, it is important to recall that an analysis on conflict of interests do not need to be carried out in all decisions making, but on those new processes or product whose adoption involve multiple stakeholders and considerable resources investment.
I believe that long-term sustainable processes are an investment attitude that will almost certainly bring the highest returns. That is why I strongly recommend that companies build their product and market portfolios with sustainability objectives as part of the agenda.
