Consult, Manage, Change

Sustainable practice in ACTION

Sustainable practice in ACTION

Last evening I attended the Winery Tour http://www.thewinerytour.co.nz/dates.html#feb4 at Matakana just north of Auckland City.

The concert was held in the picturesque winery grounds of Ascension Wines http://www.ascensionwine.co.nz/home and it was sold out. As you can imagine with a full house there was plenty of food and wine and drinks being sold to a hungry and thirsty crowd.

As we sat down the concert announcer advised us that the concert organisers together with the winery and their sponsors the NZ glass packaging forum they were running a recycling system for all glass, packaging and general wast at the event.

What struck me was this was not just lip-service sustainability. It was sustainable practice in action. I will tell you how the organisers of the event made it work!

First of all they told the concert goers about what recycling and sustainable practices they where promoting. The concert tour operator had partnered with organisations like the packaging forum http://www.glassforum.org.nz/ and the Love NZ brand http://www.glassforum.org.nz/outabout.html#lovenz to give them the street cred with the audience.

Secondly there where many recycle bins located around the seating. There where 3 bins, one for glass one for paper and one for general rubbish.

However what struck me was that they had recycling ambassadors roaming thru the crowd collecting empty bottles and collecting rubbish. It was great to see audience members rushing up to the collectors with empty bottles and rubbish.

The result of all of this effort was as I left there was hardly any bottles or rubbish littler on the ground so this would make the overnight or next day clean up very easy.

However the day after the concert I had the following questions:
1. Was the mixed rubbish that was collected in bags at the event separated?
2. Where did the general rubbish get dumped?
3. How many bottles or tonnes of glass was recycled?
4. What are the event organisers going about their energy footprint?

So I decided to do some research.

I checked out the Winery Tour web site and on the HISTORY/ABOUT http://www.thewinerytour.co.nz/about.html page it states that the tours waste management is managed by the Glass Packaging Forum.

On the SPONSORS http://www.thewinerytour.co.nz/sponsors.html page the concert organisers tell us:

The Glass Packaging Forum is delighted to be teaming up with the Winery Tour for the third year to provide and promote recycling nationwide.

The Winery Tour will again promote the LOVE NZ brand to its anticipated 50,000 audience nationwide.

Every single glass bottle can be recycled back into new glass bottles or they can even be crushed and used as mulch in vineyards to increase the yield of our grapes. Recycling cans, plastic bottles and paper saves valuable natural resources.

Your bottles and cans can’t recycle themselves, they need your help so- use the blue GLASS recycling bins; YELLOW mixed recycling bins and if it can’t be recycled use the RED waste bins

We are lucky to live in New Zealand. All of us enjoy our environment and scenery. This year around 2500 Love NZ recycling facilities have been put in place on our streets and at events as part of a major public place recycling initiative inspired by the Rugby World Cup. So when you are out and about Love NZ and recycle with care - find out where your local Love NZ recycling bins are on www.lovenz.org.nz
But the above does not answer my questions above.
The glass forum’s home page tells me “The Forum is once again proud to support Civic Events and Classic Hits to manage the waste on the 2012 Classic Hits Winery Tour. NO GLASS from any of the 14 concert locations will go to landfill! We're closing the loop - it's either back to the furnace or into alternative uses”

From my research there is no real time updates on the event recycling scheme. I personally think this would be a good idea.

I have sent an email to the promoters of the event to ask the questions above. I will keep you posted.

It was a great concert event and I fully support the promoters and sponsors for their sustainable efforts.

This post is my entry in the blog competition for World Environment Day. Please tweet this with the hash tag #WED2012 and with reference to @onespec http:\\www.twitter.com/onespec

Advice for us all - From Dr. Alan Weiss

I have recieved my regular Contrarian Consulting email from Alan Weiss and one of his topics was in tune with some discussions I have had recenlty.

Alan is providing advice on how to get things done! Please visit Alan's Blog if the following rings some bells for you.

Alan's advice .............

Here’s how you schedule time to get things done. Let’s say you want to write an article or position paper.

1. Choose the audience you seek to influence, probably those most appropriate for your value proposition. (5 minutes) [Bank lending officers]

2. Choose a topic that will be provocative and timely. (10 minutes) [Identifying the best candidate for safe loans and repeat business]

3. Choose a working title, not something for all the ages. (5 minutes) [Behind the Interview: The Prospect Within]

4. Select 4-6 key points. (10 minutes) [1. The lessons in the first greeting; 2. How to assess behaviors in an interview; 3. The key questions to ask to appraise the business proposition; 4. The key questions you want to be asked.]

5. Write an edgy opening paragraph. (10 minutes) [Why do lending interviews reveal so little about the customer and so much about our own fears? If the objective is to increase business, then we should first increase our own probabilities of identifying and welcoming high potential prospects. That's not usually done with a shaky wooden chair and a bare lightbulb overhead.]

6. Write about each of your points, making sure to include your rationale, an example so that it’s not merely conceptual, and a graphic if it helps explain the point. (20 minutes per point)

7. Write a closing that’s a call to action. (10 minutes). [The next time prospects walk into your office, invite them to sit in a comfortable chair, offer them some refreshments, and remind yourself that they represent opportunity, not threat. Ask yourself how they might speak positively of the experience, no matter what your ultimate decision. That, alone, might increase your business more than you can imagine.]

8. Reassess the title to see if you want to now adjust it. (5 minutes) [The Human Banker—Stepping Out from Behind the Green Curtain]

That entire process above, with six points, requires about two hours. Spread it over four days, and it’s a half-hour a day. Put that in your calendar at 10:30 each morning, and don’t change it, no matter what.

That’s how you get work out. I’ve probably taken a week off the process above for most of you! Stop fooling around, discretionary time is wealth, and you are eroding yours.

© Alan Weiss 2012. All rights reserved.

 

Social Media it is time to set goals and make plans and strategies for the year

What do you want to achieve this year with your strategy and approach to social media and the use of tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook?

To help you clarify your thinking here are some social media predications for 2012

• The use of LinkedIn by recruiters, customers and your competition will continue to grow
• The use of twitter will make a comeback
• Social Media will provide you with information, knowledge and wisdom if used correctly
• Smartphones put the power of social media at your fingertips
• Your clients will demand more from you and expect that you have a social media presence
• Having a social media strategy will become a competitive advantage
• More and more apps will be available to increase your efficicney with posting information to social media sites
• 2012 is the year of convergence your personal and business brands will merge

Business professionals in today’s technology rich environments are presented with many opportunities to market ourselves through many channels. The rise in the past 5 years of social media platforms has provided us with amazing opportunities to leverage our networks both nationally and internationally.

All professionals either independent professionals, teams or companies need to have a social media strategy and approach.

Many business owners and professionals ask me “What sites should I use”? and “How do I integrate all of my social media sites”? In addition, the big question I am asked is “Should I use Facebook for business”?

When it comes to social media strategy often the questions are:

1. Can I use Social Media to increase my sales?
2. Can I use Social Media to increase awareness, of both my business and skill sets?
3. Do I use an independent professional to help aid me through the definition of my Social Media strategy?

Tomorrow is Monday 16th Jan and a lot more people will be back to work. The summer holiday break in New Zealand is fun as we have Christmas and New Year celebrations during the summer break.

Unfortunatley holidays always come to an end and when back to work looms you get to thinking if you like the work you are doing. If you are about to go back to work and you start feeling dread and stress then it is time to change jobs!!

People ask me about work/life balance. Work and life are not two distinct things you can lock away in a box! Work is life and life is work and if you are not enjoying it then you need to make some changes. If you are not looking forward to work then make a change.

Update your CV, register with a recruitment agency, update your Linkedin profile and find a job that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning.

I do not want to see unhappy people at work make the work lives of other miserable just because you are unhappy and dont want to do anything about it!

Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Durban Climate Change Conference - December 2011

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, Durban 2011, brought together representatives of the world's governments, international organizations and global society.

The discussions sought to advance, in a balanced fashion, the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Bali Action Plan, agreed at COP 13 in 2007, and the Cancun Agreements, reached at COP 16 last December.

http://unfccc.int/meetings/durban_nov_2011/meeting/6245.php

So what happened? Was it more talk and no action. Well just about!

A marathon UN climate conference approved a roadmap towards an accord that for the first time will bring all major greenhouse-gas emitters under a single legal agreement.

If approved as scheduled in 2015, the pact will be operational from 2020 and become the prime weapon in the fight against climate change.

The deal was reached after nearly 14 days of talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Are you really interested in the outcome? If so then, the outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention can be found at the following link:

http://unfccc.int/documentation/documents/advanced_search/items/3594.php?rec=j&priref=600006741

Want to know what your country representatives told the meeting? The follow this link:

http://unfccc.int/meetings/durban_nov_2011/statements/items/6584.php

One thing that I can predict is that we should not wait for the Politicians to solve this issue for us! Collective business leadership and action is required.

What are you doing to be the change agent?

Social Media for professionals – networking in the new age

Business professionals in today’s technology rich environments are presented with many opportunities to market ourselves. The rise in the past 5 years of social media platforms has provided us with amazing opportunities to leverage our networks both nationally and internationally.

What is the difference between networking and social media? In reality nothing! Networking involves the use of social media and social media provides many different platforms for networking.

Many business owners and professionals ask me “What sites should I use”? and “How do I integrate all of my social media sites”? In addition, the big question I am asked is “Should I use facebook for business”?

An online network provides unmatched freedom, enabling participants [you and your clients and potential clients] to post inquiries and information at any time and from any place.

Business networking is a marketing method by which business opportunities are created through networks of like-minded business people.

Business networking allows the business person to build new business relationship and generate business opportunities at the same time.

Social networking focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others

Let me cover the three most popular social media/networking sites first.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn started out in the living room of co-founder Reid Hoffman in 2002. The site officially launched on May 5, 2003. At the end of the first month in operation, LinkedIn had a total of 4,500 members in the network.

As of September 30, 2011 (the end of the third quarter), professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate that is faster than two new members per second.

The company is publicly held and has a diversified business model with revenues coming from hiring solutions, marketing solutions and premium subscriptions.

As of November 3, 2011, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 135 million members in over 200 countries and territories. Fifty-nine percent of LinkedIn members are located outside of the United States.

There were nearly two billion people searches on LinkedIn in 2010. Based on third quarter 2011 metrics, LinkedIn members are on pace to do more than four billion searches on the LinkedIn platform in 2011.

If you are in business then you need to have a profile in LinkedIn.

Business is based on relationships

I had the opportunity to attend the Trans-Tasman Business Circle business lunch and networking function today.

The 400+ attendess got to hear from the CEO of Auckland Council and the Mayor on the first 12 months of the new Auckland Council.

The gathered group was a whos who of Auckland business and what struck me was the amount of pre-lunch networking. And this networking was face to face networking that kind of networking that builds relationships and trust.

I had the opportunity to meet some new contacts and using the great apps he now have access to via out smartphone was able to connect to these contacts very quickly using the LinkedIn cardmunch app.

The point here is that online networks and the use of social media can enhance your networking ability. Face to face meetings and networking are not DEAD!

Taking time out

Have been in the nations capital this weekend to attend the IMC New Zealand council strategic planning day www.imcnz.org All so taking time out to relax in the harbour capital.

In these busy days it is important to take time out to work on your business and to take time out to relax.

Observations from taking time to work on the business

Observations from taking time to work on the business

I have just taken the weekend out to work on my business. I have been attending the IMC Australia conference and Alan Weiss Master Class in Melbourne.
To follow are some observations and take-a-ways from the sessions I have attended.
Most things we do have a online reaction
It is not about technology its about PEOPLE
Virtual existence = oxygen for us all
Word of mouth has become WORLD of mouth!
Check out NFC = Near Field Communications
And don’t forget being geoaware
We will all soon know about augmented worlds!
Are you a Premature Price Presenter?
The 3 P’s of strategic Networking are Preparation, Participation and Planned follow-up
Build a tribe – set up a community of practice
Work out what your sweet spot is?
Use proactive framing
This should be your consulting mantra – Prepare, Show up, Do my best and Go home
Your web site is a credibility tool
4 Kinds of objections – No money, No time, No need and NO TRUST only be worried about the last one!

Alan Weiss in Melbourne

I am attending Alan's master class in Melbourne.

Alan tells us that your website is a credibility tool.

If you blog you should post at least 3 times a week. Remember to include text audio and video

Take time to learn

I am on my way to Melbourne to attend a weekend seminar and master class with Alan Weiss. I am taking time out of the business to work on the business. When was the last time you took time out to increase your knowledge, skills and competences??

I am looking forward to meeting new contacts, networking and updating my consulting skill set.

Black Out day 9 Sept

The rugby world cup starts tomorrow. Thanks to Lionel at Taylor McCallum for this great picture. Go the All Blacks.

Great to see all the businesses getting behind the cup and letting staff celebrate.

Amazing to see all the flags flying to support teams and countries.

Farewell Ray Anderson- And Many, Many Thanks for all you Did and all You Showed Us How to Do | Use Celsias.co.nz - New Zealand's guide to sustainable business

RIP Ray - we will miss your vision and leadership.

Ray Anderson , who founded the company Interface, and who was widely recognised for his work on sustainability in business, died yesterday after a long , almost two year battle with cancer. he was 77. Ray was one of the leading  proponents of the place of sustainability  in business. The company he founded in 1973 -Interface-  grew to  be a $1 billion company and the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet.

Farewell Ray Anderson- And Many, Many Thanks for all you Did and all You Showed Us How to Do | Use Celsias.co.nz - New Zealand's guide to sustainable business.

Ethics and beyond - Where do you stand?

The ongoing story and saga of Rupert Murdock reminds us all about ethics, trust, corruption and beyond.

 

The question I have about the tactics that New of the World used is how can the managers and so called leader involved sleep at night? If these individuals had any personal values they would in my mind have to have questioned the ethics of hacking into other peoples cell phone and medical records.

Or am I wrong?? Does the journalism industry by right have to report the news no matter what!

What do you think??

This raises the issue of industry ethics verses personal ethics. How many times in your job are you asked to undertake a task that is counter to your personal ethics? For example if you worked in the food manufacturing industry and you are a vegetarian would you mind selling meat sourced overseas as local produced?

As a Certified Management Consultant CMC, there is a global standard of ethics called the CMC Code of Professional Conduct.

One of the areas that becomes an issue on a regular basis is the confidentiality of client information. For example I was recently on a RFP panel for a client and had consultants approach me for information. These approaches breached the rules of the tender and for the CMC's that approached me the breached the code of professional conduct which states "A Member will treat client information as confidential and will not take personal advantage of privileged information gained during an assignment, or enable others to do so".

Rest assured they got reminded of their obligations, and due to my ethical standards I did not breach the code!

 

So how many times a day do you get asked to breach your own professional code or that of your industry? What stance will you take?

Improving the skills and competency of Management Consultants in New Zealand

 Can you remember when you decided to become a management consultant? How did you build the required skills and competencies to delivery consulting assignments?

In New Zealand, becoming a management consultant can be an accident. Many of us had executive level jobs and then one day we decided to be a management consultant!

Having made the decision to deliver consulting assignments did we ever think that we had the required level of skills and competencies to achieve and deliver the results our clients wanted? I would hazard a guess that if we are honest the answer would be no.

One way to increase your skills and competencies is to join an industry body. New Zealand’s only dedicated management consulting industry body in the Institute of Management Consultants www.imcnz.org 

IMCNZ has a goal and aim to raise and maintain the industry standards for Management Consultants in New Zealand through the provision of skill and competency certification, consulting skills accreditation and continuing professional development opportunities and peer support.

One example of this is the IMCNZ is about to raise the bar with the launch of the IMCNZ Consulting Skills Framework Consulting accreditation.

IMCNZ will be launching the New Zealand Consulting Skills framework on 9 June 2011. The CSF has a focus on a skills framework with five levels of accreditation.

How do you know you have consulting skills and competencies? How do you prove you have consulting skills and competencies?

How do users of consulting services know that they are hiring people with the right level of consulting skills and competencies?

The answer up until now has been that you cannot prove this unless you are a Certified Management Consultant (CMC).

The answer to this dilemma is now here and IMCNZ is delighted to launch the Consulting Skills Framework (CSF) which allows consultants, former consultants, internal consultants, managers, learners and anyone who wants to receive accreditation in respect of consultancy to receive and industry based consulting accreditation from the only authorised body in New Zealand.

You do not have to be a practicing consultant or a member of IMCNZ – it’s open to all people who want a Consultancy qualification and it also provides a training and development path

The CSF is an excellent tool with which to:

1. Enable any consultant wishing to assess their skills and competencies as a consultant to use the tool
2. Provide a Personal Development programme for any person who undertakes self assessment
3. Assess the actual skills of applicants to the IMCNZ or to allow progression through membership levels.

The framework delivers consistency through a common language and reference point for skills, competencies, knowledge and experience.

If you are consulting then please take a look at getting accredited.

If you are purchasing consulting services then demand your consultants have certification or accreditation.

What is wrong and right with Public Transport??

 
Today I left the car at home and took the bus to the office in Auckland. The weather today 16 May in Auckland is very autumnal with strong wind and passing showers. Not that entrancing when a warm dry car awaits my use in the garage!

The 10 minute walk to the bus stop was nice apart from the down pour – lucky I grabbed the umbrella before I left the house.

The bus was on time – and the driver very polite. The smart card system worked. It is being replaced with the “snapper” card. The new readers where on the bus but the system is not live yet.

At 7am in the morning the traffic was light and before I knew it I was in Newmarket to change busses as the one from my suburb goes to the transport hub Britomart and due to the rain I wanted to go to the Aotea square (mid-town). I did not have to wait long for the connection but was not impressed that I had to pay another fare?? The driver told be that I was not able to transfer?

I arrived at my destination on time and the total cost of my journey was $5.20

For my return home this evening I will find a direct bus that will cost me $5.60

By not bringing my car I have saved a $13 parking fee and the petrol and running costs of my car.

 So what was right about using public transport today?

•  Bus arrived on time to pick us all up at the bus stop
• Arrived on time at my destination
• Got to meet my neighbours at the bus stop
• No stress of driving
• Got to look out the window
• Possibly reduced my carbon footprint for the day?
• One less car on the Auckland roading system today

 In my opinion, this is what was wrong about using public transport today?

•  Integrated ticketing on one platform for all modes of public transport is a must
• Printing out a timetable needs to be simplified
• Needed to transfer to get to my destination
• Was not able to transfer my original fare to my transfer bus
• Might have caught the flu from all the sick and coughing people on both busses
• Total journey time was double the usual

So how many of you use public transport? Have you started to use public transport again due to the rising cost of fuel? What are your views on cost verses convenience?

Please let me know your thoughts?

 

Manage change, be the change!

In recent days I have observed a number of poor examples of change management! Let's face it change is constant. As professionals we need to lead change and be the change. We are asked more often to be change agents. How many of us have reviewed our change skills lately? Have you read a book on change? Have you attended a course or online e-learning opportunity? The average NZ manager is poor at leading change and this has an impact on our business productivity. So how do we raise the standard?? We need to share ideas, up skill and most of all take a leadership position on change management. What are you going to do today?

Work Life Balance? What's to worry about?

 

How many of us work more than 40 hours a week? How many of us work when we get home? Addicted to your iPhone or emails?

I have been asked recently about how to create work life balance. The easy answer is work and life are the same thing they do no happen in tangent or concurrently! Work is part of your life just like family, relationships, exercise, commuting, relaxation time and holidays.

The NZ Department of Labour tells us "Work-life balance is about effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and other activities that are important to us - including spending time with family, taking part in sport and recreation, volunteering or undertaking further study" http://www.dol.govt.nz/worklife/index.asp

Getting the balance right is a lot up to you and also having an employer that has family friendly policies.

What I want you to start doing is thinking differently and to use a new construct.

We all have 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week and 365 days in a year for our life.

On average work should take up 8-10 hours per day, 40-50 hours a week and 220 - 240 days a year!

The new construct is to plan your life! How many of you have your next holiday scheduled? What are you doing at Queens Birthday, Labour Weekend and your summer holidays? What have you got scheduled this week for relaxation? What are you doing this week for fun? Cant answer this ?? Then start planning and scheduling.

My advice is to use a physical planner (not an electronic device) a 12 month wall planner is the best and start planning a scheduling. For example when you can see your holidays planned out you start to look forward to the holidays and they become fun as you start to look forward to your upcoming holidays. Also by planning in advance you can get some great early bird deals!

By the way want to know how to deal with iPhone or email addictions? Turn your iPhone off when you get home and don’t turn on that laptop! This does work! Better still leave the laptop at work and leave your phone locked in your car!

Networking at the Dubai Green Transport &Logistics Conference

Some people tell me attending conferences are a drag! I say get real conferences are learning experiences. It is all about your attitude. Learning is food for your brain. The networking opportunities are endless. Here I am networking over lunch with conference attendees.

Social Media 101 for Consultants

 

I had the pleasure to present a session to the Auckland Branch of the IMCNZ www.imcnz.org this week on using social media for consulting.

We spent quite a bit of time on the use of LinkedIn www.linkedin.com

I am always amazed that some business people and independent professional can take a somewhat backward and negative approach to using technology!

LinkedIn is your online professional CV its that simple! Having a professional profile online will lead to job and business opportunities, new learnings and to expand your network.

I could list a number of success stories of professionals using LinkedIn.

If you don not understand it then ask a trusted adviser of business friend. Do some research and take a leap of faith and get online before you miss out on all the fun of using LinkedIn. You may even like it and get hooked!!

If you want to see what a profile looks like then follow my link and let me know what you think?

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonshawcmc

 

 

New Year - time for action!

 
Around this time of year everyone is making plans for the year. Have you made any? Have you broken any plans so far?

2011 is the year of action! The biggest problem with us is fear of failure and procrastinating!

So what do you need to do?

1. Have a plan (short and simple and written down)
2. Take action
3. Make it happen
4. Stop having fear or guilt (mistakes give you learning opportunities)
5. Stop procrastinating
6. Take some risks
7. Find a mentor
8. Get you bum off the couch
9. Get regular exercise
10. Have fun

If you are looking for a mentor and you like podcasts then try this advice from Alan Weiss

http://www.contrarianconsulting.com/running-start/

 

 

 

Leadership it is the small things that get noticed and they COUNT!

 I have noticed recently that it is the often small things that count when you are in a leadership position. It reminded me that we all need to undertake some self-reflection and to review if we are making a difference as leaders.

How often do you take the time to give your wider teams members feedback on their performance?

I recently provided some feedback to a team member who is not a direct report to me and I received the following feedback from a third party: “she practically glowed down the phone when she explained the feedback you had provided and she can't believe that someone as busy as you would take the time to provide such positive feedback”.

How often do you say “Thank You”?

You need to take the time to say this more often to your team, direct reports, colleagues and friends. Try it and you will be surprised!

I also want to share some thoughts from Alan Weiss on the human condition of Nastiness. Alan has stated the following in his Balancing Act Newsletter (No. 136: December 2010) www.summitconsulting.com

The human condition: Nastiness

Many years ago I arrived in a city early for a speech, and proceeded to the hotel my client had booked for me. It was 11 am, and the clerk rudely told me that not only were there no rooms available so early, but that I didn’t have any chance prior to 4 pm. I called another hotel, found they could get me in immediately, and went there, since I could clean up after a long journey and be fresh for my speech.

When I called the first hotel to cancel the room altogether, the same rude woman answered the phone. I asked for the hotel manager. When I explained what had happened, he said, incredulously, “We have rooms available, we’re only at 65 percent capacity! Can I get you to return?”

“Not while that woman is working for you,” I said, and wished him luck.

That woman was just nasty, getting her kicks by causing misery to someone else. I’ve seen this with judges, immigration officials, restaurant maitres d’, and “barristas.” There’s a difference among making a mistake, not being competent, and being nasty. I believe that the last condition is the worst.

Some people are nasty because they’re miserable themselves—they failed at something, had a rough break, were disappointed. Others are nasty because they are basically disempowered and are trying to create artificial power to buoy themselves up. Still others are showing off, trying to impress colleagues.

I admit having a hard time dealing with utter nastiness, because it’s infuriating. There’s simply no reason to treat people that way, no matter what your position, no matter how bad a day you’ve had.

However, there is one thing we can do about it: Never resort to nastiness ourselves. Helping others and doing your best might just turn that lousy day around for you. Walk away from nastiness. Let others be miserable by themselves.

 Alan Weiss balancingact@summitconsulting.com

Managing Globalisation – Moving into a global marketplace and aligning yourself with your international trading partners.

 
On Wednesday 24^th November Gordon Shaw from Sempre Avanti Consulting will be presenting at the Organisational Design and Strategy Execution Conference in Melbourne Australia.

This post is for the attendees to down load the CI Check List.

Download CI consulting check list Org Design Conf Nov 2010

Also to follow is the position paper given to the delegates at this conference.

Purpose

This Position Paper has been prepared to assist you with post follow up reference from the Organisational Design conference. Please refer to the slides.

Introduction

What is culture - Geert Hofstede states – “Culture consists of mental programs that condition individuals’ responses to their environment

Human nature or personality”

CQ References

“People skills for global business – Cultural Intelligence” by David C. Thomas and Kerr Inkson

Klein – “pre-mortem rehearsal” imagine issues / trouble before it happens

“leverage point” a turning point – a small difference that makes a BIG difference!

Operating at a higher level of understanding

Opening up your mind

As simple as showing respect and treating people with dignity and as you want to be treated

TURN DOWN THE ARROGRANCE METER    

Gary Klein “Sources of Power” (1988) “Amounts of expertise limit abilities to build mental simulations”

Cultural intelligence means being skilled and flexible about understanding a culture, learning more about it from your ongoing interactions with it, and gradually reshaping your thinking to be more sympathetic to the culture and your behaviour to be more skilled and appropriate when interacting with others from the culture.

Klein – “scenario fulfilment” – assumptions made to fit a predetermined path.

“antigoals” unwanted outcomes – Klein 1994

EXAMPLE OF CQ - Presenting in Japan

This introductory guide provides an initial understanding of the issues you may face when presenting in Japan. While the focus of this document is on making presentations in Japan, all of the concepts raised in this document apply to presentations in other Asian countries.

Though English is Japan’s second language outside the main cities in Japan few Japanese have encountered a native English speaker. English is taught in Japan at secondary and high schools for 6 years. Most of the post baby boomer generation in Japan can understand (read and write) and speak some English.

Use of Language

It is important to consider your use of language when you are presenting to an audience of non English speaking people or to an audience where English is a second language. You will have to pay attention to sentence construction, technical terms and the use of bullet points within PowerPoint.

Translations

If you are presenting to a bilingual audience then it is strongly recommended that you have any written presentations translated into the native language. There are many translations services that can assist with this.

A point to note here is that literal English translations to another language do not always have a one to one equivalent and may not have the meaning you are trying to convey. For example there is no literal translation in Japanese of “How are you?”

Colour

Depending on the country you are presenting in, you will have to research what colours may offend and to not use these in written or PowerPoint presentations. In Japan it is highly offensive to produce written correspondence (especially someone’s name) using the colour red.

Religion

In any Asian country your audience will be made up of people from a number of different religious backgrounds. You will need to carefully consider your use of language especially the use of humour so as not to cause offence.

In Japan the two major religions are Shinto and Buddhism. The post baby boomer generation in Japan may not practice a religion but with a cultural upbringing based on religion, offence may be caused if religious beliefs are not considered.

Business Cards

The exchange of business cards in Japan is a highly significant event. The business card exchange can set the tone for the rest of the relationship. It is recommended that if you do not have a business card holder that you purchase one before visiting any Asian country.

In Japan it is critical that you keep your cards in a business card holder and when you receive a business card that you examine it carefully and try to pronounce the name. Then make sure you are seen putting it carefully in your business card holder.

Basic foreign language skills

It is highly recommended that before you visit Japan you learn some basic terms and how to introduce yourself. Consider learning the following:

My name is	Watashi Wa (YOUR NAME) dess
Good Morning	o-hayo gozaimass
Good Afternoon	Kon-nichi wa
Excuse Me	Sumimasen
Please	O kudasai
Thank You	Arigato
No Thank You	i-e kekko dess

 It is recommended that you use professional assistance in the preparation of any written or verbal presentation in Japan as you only have once chance to make a good impression.

What signs do you send your customers?

Do you send signs to your customers?If no why? Do you have a web site, blog or twitter?

Do you have physical signs?

 

This evening I gave my business to a motel in Taihape North Island New Zealand - the gumboot capital of the world because the Aspen Court Motel had a SIGN.

6 kilometers from the town there was a sign "Aspen Court Motel - New Motel 6km" and guess what I went past a number of motels and chose to spend my money at the Aspen court.

It go me thinking - what signs are we send to our customers. Whether physical or in cyber-space we need signs to attract customers.

If you can say you have at least 4 of the following signs then you are doing well. If not then you should have more signs!

• Web site
• Blog
• LinkedIn profile
• Twitter profile
• Listing in directory service
• Listed in professional association database
• Company profile on facebook

LinkedIn is currently signing up one new member globally every second! Are you one of them?

 

I had the pleasure of attending Social Media Junction2 in Auckland on 16 November and was a willing attendee of the presentation by Cliff Rosenberg, Managing Director, LinkedIn Australia & New Zealand on the topic "Find the right audience using digital media: How professional and businesses can get the most from LinkedIn"

 

Those of you who know me will know I have been an advocate of using LinkedIn for many years and some of you have attended my LinkedIn mentoring sessions.

Cliff made some very strong points about the power of your personal brand and how LinkedIn is a critical part of you managing your own brand. I hope the following points from Cliff's presentation are of interest to you:

LinkedIn is currently signing up one new member globally every second

The basic LinkedIn account is free

Members have total control of their profiles and what other see

There is real value n having a good network and there is value in maintaining it

Remember to review other daily updates and add your own daily updates

Professional networking is about Brand, Personal Insights and Connections

The key is to separate your professional brand from your personal brand

LinkedIn is your professional network brand and facebook is your social network and brand they should be SEPARATE

We live in the digital age and you need to take control of your personal brand

When was the last time you completed a Google search on you own name? What information was listed

Through Search Engine Optimation SEO LinkedIn profile have high ranking in Google searches

Put the effort in and get your LinkedIn profile to 100% - set aside time and call it business development

Remember that LinkedIn is about your professional network and that your band is now being viewed by head-hunters, recruiter, potential business partners and your future client or employer

The following link will take you to the Fortune Magazine article "How LinkedIn will fire up your career"

 

http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/index.htm  

Feel free to let me know if you have any burning questions about using LinkedIn.

Feel free to contact me on LinkedIn at

 

http://nz.linkedin.com/in/gordonshawcmc   

 

 

Social Media ROI

Listening to a great presentation by Lee Odden on Social Media ROI at Social Media Junction2 in Auckland. How do you connect with your passionate customers?

Novotel sustainability update

Good news
Back in room and the towels did not get changed and same with bed linen,
Well done Novotel Wellington.
Staff trained. Good systems and processes in place.

Hotel Sustainability Test

Ok Novotel Wellington time to test your sustainability practices!
Staying for the weekend and the notice in the shower is to hang up the towels and they won't be changed.
They tell me at Novotel your towels plant trees! 5 reused towels = 1 tree planted
Will they measure up? Have their staff been trained? Or will it be a case of lip service sustainability?
I will keep you posted on developments.

Is drinking coffee bad for the environment ?

Do you feel bad when you get your java fix?
If your coffee is not fair trade does this worry you?
Would you pay more for sustainable coffee?
Let us all know your thoughts.
I am price, quality and taste sensitive first. Does this mean I am bad? No I don't think so. I see examples of fair trade producers being anti sustainable so what do we do?
Make value judgements that's what we do!

Food Miles and Barriers to Entry

Food Miles

Food miles are all about how much of the carbon foot print of a product of service is created by the distance it has travelled. All products and services have unavoidable emissions content simply from the growing process. It has been debated that New Zealand products and raw materials have and even higher emissions content due to our distance from our key markets.

For example: New Zealand merino wool that is exported as raw product and then made into a garment in Milan and then sold in a London High Street. The footprint of the raw material (wool) is included in the final product.

As New Zealand Inc we all need to think about the NZ brand and was we can protect the brand by actions that reduce of brands exposure to adverse international consumer behaviour. The last thing we want is for NZ products and service to be banned and penalised because of the perceived emissions content of our products and services.

The food miles debate in the UK and Europe is very much focussed at grass roots level with the consumers being absolutely focussed and fanatical about carbon content and the number of miles goods have travelled to get to the market.

 

Trade Barriers

The concept of food miles is part of a broader issue of sustainability which deals with a large range of list of environmental issues, including local food. The term was coined by Tim Lang (now Professor of Food Policy, City University, London) who says: "The point was to highlight the hidden ecological, social and economic consequences of food production to consumers in a simple way, one which had objective reality but also connotations."

Recent findings indicate that it is not only how far the food has traveled but how it was grown in the first place and how it has traveled that is more important to consider. The positive environmental effects of specialist organic farming may be offset by increased transportation, unless it is produced locally. The positive effects of local growing are offset if the grower uses hot houses to grow the product rather than growing outdoors.

But even then the logistics and effects on other local traffic may play a big role. Also, many trips by personal cars to shopping centers would have a negative environmental impact.

As early as 2006 EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has called for a WTO zero tariff agreement on key green goods and rejected the idea of a Kyoto tax as the wrong political approach to securing global agreement on the need to act on climate change. In an audiocast to the 45000 subscribers to the EU's Trade Policy Website, Mandelson argued that trade policy needs to seek to widen and open global markets in the key technologies for addressing climate change. Mandelson called for action at the WTO level and said that all new EU bilateral trade agreements would tackle restrictions to green trade and investment.

 

Business Processes and Competitive advantage

 

Being Green

In March 2008 David Skilling from the New Zealand Institute released the second document related to a low emission New Zealand, called “actions speak louder than words”. The report is focussed on adjusting the NZ economy to a low emissions world.[1]

In the first report the NZ Institute stated that New Zealand should be a fast follower! In this report the NZI talks about the non trivial reputational risk to New Zealand!

Skilling make the point that there will be significant impact on the NZ economy as we adapt to a low emissions world.

The NZI states “NZ needs to begin to reduce its emissions in a meaningful way in order to position it to operate successfully in a low-emissions global economy”.

 

Competitive advantage

More and more we are able to point to examples of “environmentally sustainable” business achieving a competitive advantage by being green.

The NZ Institute states “The aim (of business) is to adjust the NZ economy to a lower emissions mode of operating so that it can compete successfully in a low-emissions global economy”.[2]

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[1] http://www.nzinstitute.org/

[2] http://www.nzinstitute.org/index.php/publications/C32/

Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEP)

 
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEP)

 

The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) is an active, global partnership that works to reduce the barriers limiting the uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, with a primary focus on emerging markets and developing countries.

 

REEEP initiates and funds projects; targeted interventions in two specific areas that offer the greatest potential for developing the market for sustainable energy:

• assisting governments in creating favourable regulatory and policy frameworks
• promoting innovative finance and business models to activate the private sector

REEEP develops and supports policy-maker networks through initiatives such as the Energy Efficiency Coalition (EEC), the Sustainable Energy Regulation Network (SERN) and Renewable Energy and International Law (REIL) sub-networks.

 

The Partnership was established alongside the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. It is now comprised of nearly 300 partners including 46 governments as well as a range of private companies and international organisations.

 

REEEP is supported primarily by governments (Australia, Austria, Canada, the European Union, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, the US and the United Kingdom) and by contributions from the private sector. Robust governance and monitoring structures ensure that all contributions are spent transparently and effectively.

 

http://www.reeep.org/31/home.htm

 

Green logistics

To investigate how your company can improve the socio-environmental performance of its logistics activities or supply chain and to realise a sustainable logistics, you can start with an analysis of the energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions and other air contaminants from the logistics emission sources or of existing supply chains.

This will provide a baseline from which an emission reduction strategy can be developed and performance can be measured over time.

The Green Logistics Consultants Group is an international collaborative network of supply chain consultants with a proven general or specific expertise in areas where companies and/or local and national governments can improve the socio-environmental performance of their supply chains or transport infrastructure.

http://www.greenlogisticsconsultants.com/index.htm

 

 

Green Power

Generation	Details
Gen 1	First-generation technologies emerged from the industrial revolution at the end of the 19th century and include hydropower, biomass combustion, and geothermal power and heat. Some of these technologies are still in widespread use.
Gen 2	Second-generation technologies include solar heating and cooling, wind power, modern forms of bioenergy, and solar photovoltaics. These are now entering markets as a result of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) investments since the 1980s. The initial investment was prompted by energy security concerns linked to the oil crises (1973 and 1979) of the 1970s but the continuing appeal of these renewables is due, at least in part, to environmental benefits. Many of the technologies reflect significant advancements in materials.
Gen 3	Third-generation technologies are still under development and include advanced biomass gasification, biorefinery technologies, concentrating solar thermal power, hot dry rock geothermal energy, and ocean energy. Advances in nanotechnology may also play a major role.

 

US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

http://www.eere.energy.gov/

 

http://www.energy.gov/

 

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) consists of ten programs and several offices that support the office and its mission.

 

Top Emitters of GHGs from Agriculture, Total and Per Capita, 2005 (NZ does not rate)

The WRI Earth Trends web site has been updated with the following information you may find of interest.

For NZ based readers NZ does not rate a mention!

Emissions from agricultural activities account for about 14 percent of global GHG emissions. Major sources of agricultural emissions (methane and nitrous oxide) include soils management (where emissions result from particular tillage and cropping practices, such as fertilizer application) and livestock.

http://earthtrendsdelivered.org/node/342

Top Emitters of GHGs from Agriculture, Total and Per Capita, 2005.

 

Emission Reduction Workshop - Want to attend an overseas workshop??

03.06.2010 - 04.06.2010 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

More details at: http://www.vmacgroup.com/v4/emkl/index.php

How can you move past lip-service energy efficiency?

 
It could be stated that by turning off a light you are being energy efficient! However we know in reality this is not the case. Industrial energy efficiency is the cornerstone of any business based sustainability platform. Energy efficiency can include power, combustible fuels, gasses and water.

Making homes, vehicles, and businesses more energy efficient is seen as a largely untapped solution to addressing the problems of pollution, global warming, energy security, and fossil fuel depletion.

How do you move from transactional energy efficiency to transformational energy efficiency? The key is to imbed a business wide focus on energy efficiency which is captured in your business sustainability plan.

The ultimate goal is to save energy, cut costs and reduce pollution!

 

Trends

Global trends are happening at Country/Government level and at NGO and organisational level.

The International Energy Agency (IEA)[1] is an intergovernmental organisation which acts as energy policy advisor to 28 member countries in their effort to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for their citizens

Governments in many countries are increasingly aware of the urgent need to make better use of the world’s energy resources. Improved energy efficiency is often the most economic and readily available means of improving energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To support better energy efficiency policy-making and evaluation, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is developing in-depth indicators of energy use, efficiency trends and CO2 emissions.

 

Overall Trends[2]

Between 1990 and 2005 global final energy use increased by 23% while the associated CO2 emissions rose by 25%. Most of the growth in energy use and CO2 emissions occurred in non-OECD countries.

Globally, energy consumption grew most quickly in the transport and service sectors, driven by rising passenger travel and freight transport, and a rapid expansion in the service economy.

Oil products remained the most important final energy commodity with a global share of 37% in 2005, driven by their use in transport. Electricity consumption is growing rapidly in many countries; its global use increased by 54% between 1990 and 2005.

Traditional biomass and coal both remain important in non-OECD countries although their shares of total final energy use are declining.

 

Energy use has been increasing more slowly than economic activity in most countries. As a result, global energy intensity, calculated in terms of final energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP), fell by 26% between 1990 and 2005.

The reductions in energy intensity were largest in non-OECD countries, due to a combination of structural changes and efficiency improvements. In contrast, final energy use per capita increased in most countries between 1990 and 2005. This increase was linked to growing wealth which leads to increased per capita demand for energy-using goods and services.

On average, final energy use per capita in non-OECD countries is only 23% of the level in the OECD.

Better understanding of the factors affecting energy consumption, including the role of energy efficiency, requires indicators based on more detailed data than are available in the IEA statistical balances.

However, this more detailed informationis currently only available on a comparable basis for some IEA countries. Analysis with these disaggregate indicators for 16 IEA countries (IEA16) shows that improved energy efficiency has been the main reason why final energy use has been decoupled from economic growth. Without the energy efficiency improvements that occurred between 1973 and 2005 in 11 of those countries,

Energy use would have been 58%, or 59 EJ, higher in 2005 than it actually was. However, since 1990 the rate of energy efficiency improvement has been much lower than in previous decades.

These findings provide an important policy conclusion — that the changes caused by the oil price shocks in the 1970s and the resulting energy policies did considerably more to control growth in energy demand and reduce CO2 emissions than the energy efficiency and climate policies implemented in the 1990s.

 

 
Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3% from hydroelectricity.

New renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels) accounted for another 2.4% and are growing very rapidly. The share of renewables in electricity generation is around 18%, with 15% of global electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3.4% from new renewables.

 

What practical steps can you take?

Aligned to your GHG emissions inventory the first step is to measure your energy usage. Report your energy usage to your senior management team and then to manage your energy usage by setting a number of goals and initiatives to reduce your energy consumption and to become more energy efficient.

 

The key focus will be on your M³ strategy – Measure Manage and Mitigate – this is covered in the section on GHG emission inventories.

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[1] http://www.iea.org/index.asp

[2] http://www.iea.org/papers/2008/Indicators_2008.pdf

The relaunch of Corporate Social Responsibility

 
I have been asked recently if CSR is no longer a focus for business. In recent times GREEN issues for business have been relabeled at PROCESS IMPROVEMENT or efficiency initiatives.

However the fundamentals still remain. CSR and being green is still good for business.

To follow is a recap. Let me know your thoughts!

Corporate Social Responsibility

The key to corporate social responsibility can be encompassed in a new social, governmental and corporate paradigm – Sustainability.

Corporate social responsibility [CSR] has many and varied definitions.

From the mushy

CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society

to the hard edged

There is one and only one social responsibility of business-to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits

We suggest that CSR can be defined as a company’s commitment to operating in an ethical and environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable manner whilst balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders including improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large

Ethics

Corporate ethics in the age of Enron seem to some to be an oxymoron, and many New Zealand companies have missed the mark in the way they have treated customers. This is largely because transactional managers have laid down and stringently enforced rules without providing an ethical and social context in which the organisation is to operate.

It is clear that some form of the ‘golden rule’ should govern corporate ethics. Recent research suggests that treating others well and in a way that you would want to be treated has positive social outcomes.

Organisations need to be completely clear about their ethical position, put in place systems and processes to monitor compliance, engage the hearts and minds of the people with exemplary leadership, and communicate this commitment throughout all the stakeholder communities.

Environmental Sustainability

Organisations need to be completely clear about their position on environmental sustainability, put in place systems and processes to ensure easy compliance, engage the hearts and minds of the people with exemplary leadership, and communicate this commitment throughout all the stakeholder communities.

Economic Sustainability

In the long run, an organisation will only be economically sustainable when it earns enough profit to pay for the total cost of capital.

The concept of economic sustainability is well understood and has been promoted by Peter Drucker since the 1960’s. In more recent times, Economic Value Added concepts, such as those promoted by Stern Stewart, have come to the fore.

It is clear that such concepts must be embedded into the organisation’s business model and clearly communicated to the stakeholder community.

 

 

Social Sustainability

It is in the area of social sustainability that CSR is usually played out.

Government, seeing itself as the representative of society at large, regulates and legislates to control an organisation’s social impact as well as its economic and ethical impact. In an increasing regulated environment, the position that the Government will take needs to be understood and factored into any consideration of CSR. The position government takes is conditioned by ideology as well as political pressure from the public and from other political groups.

Local government see themselves as the representatives of the local communities and thereby can have a similar position as central government. The overtly political approach of central government is conditioned somewhat at the local level by a more common sense approach in local government to getting things done.

Local communities interrelate to organisations as customers and partners, customers when consuming the organisation’s products or services and partners when consuming sponsorship resources.

The way an organisation treats its workforce and their families has many aspects. When an organisation lays off members of the workforce it is likely to receive attention in all areas of social sustainability – the ethics of outsourcing jobs to Asia – the economics of exporting jobs – the impact of government attitudes to free trade – local attitudes to sweeteners to keep jobs in a region, and so forth. Witness the comments made when Fisher & Paykel re-jigged its global supply chain at the cost of 430 jobs in Dunedin.

With an increasing competition for talent, the consideration of an organisation’s impact on the workforce and their families goes beyond social sustainability and affects the organisation’s economic sustainability. Without enough people to get the job done, organisational initiatives are choked off.

The organisation’s position on social sustainability needs to be viewed as a core value of the organisation. Therefore it needs to be lead, sustained, and managed by the CEO and the leadership team.

Sustainable Forestry Bulletin 14 - thanks to MAF

 
Issue 14 - 23 March 2010

Post 89 ETS Applications

It is now too late to apply to register as post-89 participant and get carbon units this year.

However, you may still submit your post – 89 application and once you are registered you will be able to file an emissions return between January and March 2011 for the change in carbon stocks in your forest over the period 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010.

Key dates and reminders for foresters

Deadline for filing emissions returns 31 March 2010

MAF is reminding people who own forest land that the deadline for filing emissions returns is 31 March 2010.

This applies to:

• pre-1990 forest land deforestation (mandatory)
• post-1989 forest land (optional for persons who are already registered as voluntary participants in the ETS)

Surrender of emissions units to meet a deforestation liability can be made in the period 1 January 2011 to 31 May 2011 (at the latest).

For further information visit www.maf.govt.nz/sustainable-forestry or call 0800 CLIMATE (254 628)

Afforestation Grant Scheme tender round for the public pool closes 30 April 2010 - only one round for 2010

The current tender round for Afforestation Grant Scheme funding closes on 30 April 2010. This funding is for afforestation projects between July 2011 and June 2012.

Due to considerable interest in previous rounds and resulting commitments, there is no funding available for establishment in 2010. Also given current interest, there is unlikely to be a further tender round in October 2010.

The AGS is a contestable fund that encourages the establishment of new forests to increase levels of greenhouse gas absorption from the atmosphere. It is part of Government’s wider climate change initiatives.

For more information, eligibility criteria, or to obtain a tender application form:

Visit www.maf.govt.nz/sustainable-forestry

Or call 0800 CLIMATE (254 628)

Consultation - still time to have your say!

A reminder that submissions close at 5.00pm on Monday 29 March 2010 on the following proposed regulations under the Climate Change Response Act 2002. They are specific to the operation of the forestry provisions of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS).

• Pre-1990 Forest Land Allocation Plan Consultation Draft (February 2010)
• Pre-1990 Forest Land Tree Weed Exemptions
• Revised Indigenous Look-up Table Values for Post-1989 Forest Land and Minor and Technical Amendments

Forests, Climate Change and the Challenge of REDD | World Resources Institute

 

Forests, Climate Change and the Challenge of REDD | World Resources Institute

Posted using ShareThis

This is an interesting article that may be of interest to you.

To combat global warming, forests must be part of the solution. How can we make good forest stewardship a reality?

2010 is a crucial year for forests. In March, major donor countries and forest-rich countries will meet in Paris, Nairobi and Manila, each grappling with the same question: how can efforts to reduce deforestation also help tackle climate change? Their decisions, and those following in the next six to twelve months, could channel substantial amounts of money to protect forests. Manish Bapna, Managing Director of the World Resources Institute, answers questions about the current window of opportunity to address both forest loss and climate change, and what is at stake in getting these mechanisms right.

Why are forests important in efforts to tackle climate change?

Forests are one of the greatest environmental challenges—and opportunities—facing the world in the 21st century. Forests are well known for their ability to absorb carbon dioxide, but when they are destroyed they release CO2 into the air. This helps explain why Indonesia, a developing country with high rates of deforestation, now has one of the highest emissions rates in the world.

Forest loss contributes as much as 12-15% to annual greenhouse gas emissions, about the same as the entire global transportation sector. It will be practically impossible to avoid dangerous climate change without addressing this problem. That is why forests must be part of the solution.

Interface Inc CASE STUDY

  

Ray Anderson – the owner

The story of Interface Inc. starts with Ray Anderson, its founder. Graduating in 1956 as an engineer from Georgia Tech in the USA, Anderson joined an industrial conglomerate and rose quickly through the hierarchy. At Callaway Mills, later Milliken, he was involved in developing a joint venture with an English manufacturer of carpet tiles, Carpets International [CI]. When the opportunity arose to work directly with CI, Ray Anderson risked everything to take up that opportunity. In 1973, at 38 years of age he left the security of a corporate job, took on massive debt and risk, and ultimately sacrificed his marriage to run his own business, Interface Carpets.

 

The Initial Product

Anderson first came across the then new idea for carpet tiles in 1969. The idea of modular squares of carpet that could be installed without adhesive and moved around as required was perfectly timed for the growth of the computerized office.

 

Growth

By 1996 Interface sales had topped US$1 billion and was represented by sales and/or manufacturing facilities in the US, Canada, UK, Holland, Australia, Thailand, and China. They sell into 110 countries and have a dominant market share with 40% of the world market.

 

Dawning Environmental Awareness

From around 1984, Interface had been involved in a consortium of companies focusing on indoor air quality. One cause of poor indoor air quality is the evaporation of volatile chemicals from the predominantly synthetic based carpets. Interface developed some proprietary products to address the air quality issue but their focus as a company was on legal compliance only.

 

From August 1994, Interface started getting questions from their customers asking about what Interface was doing about the environment. Interface didn’t have any satisfactory answers to these questions so set up a task group that had representatives from all over the business to review Interface’s world wide environmental position.

 

The task group asked Ray Anderson to address its first meeting and give the group an environmental vision. Anderson reported that his vision at that stage consisted of “Obey the law, comply, comply, comply” and he really didn’t have anything to say. At that time one of Anderson’s colleagues sent him a copy of The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken.

He read it and was galvanized. After reading example after example of the unsustainability of conventional business, Anderson prepared a vision statement that he says surprised his staff as much as it surprised him. He set the vision as:

Interface, the first name in industrial ecology, worldwide, through substance not words.

And he set a mission:

To convert Interface into a restorative enterprise, first to reach sustainability, then to become restorative by helping others to reach towards sustainability,

And a strategy:

Reduce, reuse, reclaim, recycle, redesign, adopt best practices, develop sustainable technologies, and challenge our suppliers to move to sustainable best practice.

Now Anderson reports that at the time he was first exposed to Hawken’s work he was searching for some legacy, some ultimate purpose as he contemplated the succession of his business to a younger generation of managers. Given his effective control of the business even though a minor shareholder, he could have made sustainability a crusade without having to make it pay.

 

Increasing Environmental Awareness

Anderson continued to do a whole lot of reading and research into sustainability. He read both sides of the argument for sustainability. This case study provides an updated suggested reading list if you want to read this information for yourself.

From his reading, Anderson found the following information made a compelling argument for sustainability:

 

Rainforest and old growth forest harvesting is unsustainable

Water use is unsustainable, particularly in intensive agriculture/horticulture

Topsoil loss from agriculture and horticulture is unsustainable

Fossil fuel use for transport and electricity generation is unsustainable

The continued emission of greenhouse gases from power generation, transport and agriculture/horticulture will have adverse effects on peoples health as well as the global climate

 

Since then Anderson has made sustainability his personal crusade. He has also found that it has had large positive benefits for Interface’s profitability.

 

Making Sustainability Pay

The more Interface did to improve its environmental position, the better the bottom line impacts. The following are excerpts from Interface’s website.

 

Cumulative Avoided Cost from Waste Elimination Activities (USD in millions)

Interface began its journey to sustainability by focusing on the elimination of waste. At Interface, we define waste as anything that does not provide value to the customer. This includes traditional forms of waste such as off-quality and scrap, as well as nontraditional forms of waste such as overuse of materials, inventory losses, etc.

The cumulative avoided costs from waste elimination activities since 1995 are calculated to be over $372 million.

 

Total Energy Use at Carpet Manufacturing Facilities (energy use per square yard)

Interface has two simple goals related to energy: decrease total energy usage, especially nonrenewable energy, and increase our use of renewable energy.

Total energy used at carpet manufacturing facilities (per unit of product) is down 45% since 1996.

 

Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions (metric tons of CO2)

Our net absolute greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by 82% from our 1996 baseline. 33% from improved efficiencies, process changes, and direct renewable energy purchases. 49% from emissions reduction credits from our LaGrange, GA landfill gas-to-energy project.

Interface calculates GHG emissions in accordance with the WRI/WBCSD GREENHOUSE GAS PROTOCOL. In 2006 and 2007, CO2 emissions for the USA and Canada were independently verified by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as required by our membership in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX).

 

Interface’s Environmental Management System [EMS]

In the early days, Interface used The Natural Step [TNS] process as its EMS. As Interface developed its own expertise, it moved beyond TNS and now follows its own in house EMS. An EMS like The Natural Step attempts to provide a one size fits all approach to environmental management. TNS is one framework among many and adds little value once the organization has commenced its own journey and can gain more leverage from customized approaches.

 

 

Commentary

The Interface Case Study shows that, like any change initiative, leadership is critical to success. Without Ray Anderson’s engagement and then active advocacy Interface would not have commenced and maintained the sustainability journey in such a successful way.

Anderson’s motivation was generated by his desire to leave a legacy. As he aged and handed over more and more of the running of Interface to new managers he conceded that he needed to consider his ultimate purpose. The sustainability journey that engaged Anderson via a process akin to an ‘epiphany’ provided that ultimate purpose and Anderson still travels the world telling his story.

The coincidence between Anderson’s ‘epiphany’ and Interface’s need to address the clients new needs provided the point of leverage which Anderson was able to use to start the changes at Interface.

Anderson’s embracing of sustainability was broad – he didn’t fixate on greenhouse gas emissions [although Interface do measure and manage these]. Instead he viewed sustainability in its widest context and made changes to Interface to embrace sustainability, and move beyond greenhouse gas emissions.

The solid grounding of Interface on sustainability also meant that Interface could address items that don’t feature in a GHG inventory like water usage as part of its total sustainability package.

Anderson also found that the framework, the environmental management system [EMS], in which the Interface programme played out moved from a one size fits all system to a system customized to meet Interface’s needs. The Interface EMS draws on the very latest discoveries in cognitive linguistics such as Appreciative Inquiry and closes the loop on the case – it started with leadership and it ends with Interface renewing its leadership capability by adopting new tools.

 

Suggested Reading List

The suggested reading list gives some books that everyone contemplating a journey to sustainability must be aware of. Reading them is probably a good idea. Also included are some books that present a skeptical perspective on climate change and why a focus on sustainability is much smarter. And finally some books that give cause for hope.

 

Advocates

Hot Topic by Gareth Renowden. Subtitled Global Warming and the future of New Zealand, this is a good introduction to climate change for New Zealanders.

 

Climate Change Begins At Home by D Reay.

Written from a British perspective but doesn’t push solutions tainted by self interest like XX put in name of the NZ book that pushes carbon zeroXX

 

And if you want to scare yourself …

Heat by G Monbiot. Monbiot is described as the scourge of the lying industry, which should give you the flavour of the book.

AND

Climate Wars by G Dyer. The title says it all. Ripping yarn but a bit over the top.

 

Sceptics

An Appeal to Reason by Nigel Lawson. Subtitled a cool look at global warming, Lawson lays out an alternative view and highlights why a fixation on climate change is counterproductive.

 

Cool It by Bjorn Lomberg argues for a sustainability view not a climate change view and suggests some smart actions that could be taken easily by government.

 

Cause For Hope

Cradle to Cradle by W McDonough and M Braungart.

How design could save us.

Biomimicry by J Benyus.

How learning from nature could save us.

 

Are yours up or down??

  Do you measure your GHG emissions inventories?? If so is the trend line down or up??

Here is an example of a trend UP!

German chemical giant BASF's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose by almost 8pc to 29.3mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) last year, the company said in its 2009 financial report.

BASF blamed its purchase of Switzerland-based specialty chemicals firm Ciba, as well repair and installation work at a nitrous oxide (NOx) decomposer for plants in Ludwigshafen, Germany, for the sharp rise.

Lower capacity utilisation also meant the efficiency of its plants declined during 2009. BASF is targeting a 25pc drop in specific GHG emissions, measured per tonne of sales product, against 2002 levels by 2020, although 2009 specific emissions remained flat against the 2002 baseline. Specific GHG emissions had been over 14pc lower than the baseline in 2008, an improvement that has now been reversed.

The firm hopes the newly installed catalysts for breaking down NOx at the Ludwigshafen site, along with reductions from its logistics and transport divisions, will help put it back on track to meet its goal.

The oil and gas division's GHG emissions rise by over a quarter to 1.8mn t of CO2e last year. The division intends to eliminate flaring of unwanted gas from its crude production sites by 2012.

This will hurt them as the European ETS has big penalties for emissions increases.

Remember that if you want external help to measure your GHG inventory be sure to use a firm that is:

• Independent
• a member of a suitable professional body such as a Certified Management Consultant
• can demonstrate they have experience in GHG measurement
• understand all of the relevant standards

Highs and lows of GHG measurement

You might think that measuring the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would be a priority. If you did think that, though, you would be wrong

Mar 4th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

IN NEGOTIATIONS on nuclear weapons the preferred stance is “Trust but verify”. In negotiations on climate change there seems little opportunity for either. Trust, as anyone who attended last year’s summit in Copenhagen can attest, is in the shortest of supplies. So, too, is verification.

http://www.economist.com/science-technology/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15603891.

Is it still worth being carbon neutral?

 
The GREEN focus seems to have lost some of its shine when it comes to the business case for sustainability. Or has it?

 

If you take a business process improvement focus then the simple act of measuring and managing it makes you GREEN by default?

 

You may say “how so” Well like so many initiatives you can take to be green ans sustainable they are also business process improvement tasks as well.

 

The simple act of measuring and monitoring the amount of KwH of energy you consume over a 12 month period gives you a baseline to start the management of your consumption. Once you have the baseline you can look at initiatives that can increase efficiency, reduce waste and save money.

 

There are still three main aspects to achieving carbon neutrality. Measure Manage and Offset.

 

Measuring emissionsis the essential first step in effecting behaviour change and managing emissions.

 

Gather accurate information on the greenhouse gas emissions linked to energy and electricity use, transport (including domestic and international air travel), and waste sent to landfill.

 

Reducing emissions - Reduction planning is an essential part of the carbon neutrality process. It involves identifying opportunities to reduce emissions.

 

Offsetting unavoidable emissions - offsetting emissions without having made plausible efforts to reduce emissions will compromise the credibility of your Carbon Neutral approach.

 

Offsetting for the sake of it helps no one.

 

An alternative you purchasing carbon credits is to use the would have set aside for carbon credits and use this on efficiency and reduction initiatives.

 

For more help on this we suggest you take a look at the WRI’s GHG Protocol accounting standard.

 

http://www.ghgprotocol.org/

WRI is adding up emission targets

 

The WRI sent on an email recently highlighting the Quantified economy-wide emissions targets for 2020.

This information is worth taking a look at. New Zealands contribution is list along side all the other countries that have made emission targets.

The WRI states:

"On January 31, Annex 1 (industrialized) countries wishing to associate themselves with the Copenhagen Accord were required to register their emission reduction pledges to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

WRI has analyzed the Annex I pledges received so far, as well as pledges by countries that have yet to associate themselves with the Accord. This analysis provides a preliminary picture of where the world stands post-Copenhagen".

Check out the list of country pledges HERE. (opens a PDF) We come in less than Russia!

The question we have to ask is "will these pledges make any difference?"

What is the answer?

 

 

 

WRI Summary of the Carbon Limits and Energy for America's Renewal Act

http://www.wri.org/stories/2010/02/wri-summary-carbon-limits-and-energy-americas-renewal-act

Climate Skeptics Unite

 
If you have completed any research on Green issues and climate change then you will know that there are two camps! The believers and the skeptics.

For balance reasons to follow is a link to some interesting stuff on A Layman’s Guide to Man-Made Global Warming

We suggest that if you want to have your own opinions then you need to read and research on both sides of the climate change debate.

This information states: "The purpose of this paper is to provide a layman’s critique of the Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) theory, and in particular to challenge the fairly widespread notion that the science and projected consequences of AGW currently justify massive spending and government intervention into the world’s economies.  This paper will show that despite good evidence that global temperatures are rising and that CO2 can act as a greenhouse gas and help to warm the Earth, we are a long way from attributing all or much of current warming to man-made CO2.  We are even further away from being able to accurately project man’s impact on future climate, and it is a very debatable question whether interventions today to reduce CO2 emissions will substantially improve the world 50 or 100 years from now".

 Lets us know what you think of the information and videos.

Think-tanks take oil money and use it to fund climate deniers

Check out the story on the Independent.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/thinktanks-take-oil-money-and-use-it-to-fund-climate-deniers-1891747.html#

An orchestrated campaign is being waged against climate change science to undermine public acceptance of man-made global warming, environment experts claimed last night.

The attack against scientists supportive of the idea of man-made climate change has grown in ferocity since the leak of thousands of documents on the subject from the University of East Anglia (UEA) on the eve of the Copenhagen climate summit last December.

Free-market, anti-climate change think-tanks such as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in the US and the International Policy Network in the UK have received grants totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the multinational energy company ExxonMobil.

What about your WATER FOOTPRINT?

We all know the importance of measuring your GHG emissions inventory. The only way to MANAGE your emissions profile is to have a base line measurement and to instigate specific initiatives to REDUCE real GHG emissions.

 

So in 2010 what are you doing about your WATER FOOTPRINT?

 

Water is a scare resource! As business users of water, we need to get smarter at managing our water usage! Are you including your water usage in your GHG inventory?

 

If not the following may help.

 

 

 

The Water Footprint Network [WFN] http://www.waterfootprint.org has launched its Water Footprint Manual, it is 131 pages covering a comprehensive set of methods for water footprint accounting. It shows how water footprints can be calculated for individual processes and products, as well as for consumers, nations and businesses, and includes methods for water footprint sustainability assessment and a library of water footprint response options.

 

WFN is a non profit foundation striving to promote the transition towards sustainable, fair and efficient use of fresh water resources worldwide, by advancing and applying the "water footprint" concept. The network has more than 80 partners (January 2010) from all relevant stakeholders in water resources management.

 

This information will be a great help to all of us who need to make a start in including water usage in our GHG inventories.

Scientist defends climate report despite slip-ups http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10623534 A report by the United Nations' expert panel on climate change, which is under fire for the sourcing of its information, has been defended by a New Zealand scientist who contributed.

It is very hard to agree or support Jim!

Walking to work! Know your rights!

Some of the readers of this BLOG may walk to work rather than taking the car. A good sustainable option.

I am doing the same at present as I have a 20 minute walk each way to the office each day.

 
In the last few days I have been amazed at the number of times vehicle do not give way to me on Pedestrian Crossings and on curb crossings.

I needed to know my rights! Also as a driver in the weekends the research should help me be a better driver!

THE NZTA web site has a section called Information for Pedrestrians - I read it and way amazed to find out the rules including:If you are within 20 metres of a pedestrian crossing or traffic signals, you must use the crossing, footbridge, underpass or pedestrian traffic signals to cross the road.

DID you know the following:

Q I was walking past a Petrol Station and a car coming out of the station nearly knocked me over. The driver did stop but maintained that he had the right of way and had expected me to stop to let him past.
Who has the right of way on a driveway crossing a footpath?

A. Clause 4.4 of the Land Transport (Road Users) Rule 2004, states:-
Giving way when entering or exiting driveway
A driver entering or exiting a driveway must give way to a road user on a footpath.

So as you can see walkers have rights too!

Auckland Transport regional delivery?

 
If you live in the Auckland Region you will hopefully know about the new Auckland Council that is created on 1 November 2010.

But do you or the rest of the country know a new Regional Transport Agency is also created on the same day! Yes 1 November will see the creation of Auckland Transport.

What is it and how will it work??

The best summary is on the Ministry of Transport web site.

In their summary they state:

The Bill establishes a statutory regional transport authority to be known as Auckland Transport.

The Bill establishes a statutory regional transport authority to be known as Auckland Transport. Auckland Transport will have a Board of up to eight voting members, including up to two Councillors nominated by the Auckland Council. The New Zealand Transport Agency will be able to nominate a further non-voting member.

Auckland Transport will be accountable to the Auckland Council who will appoint the board and govern it like a Council Controlled Organisations under the Local Government Act 2002.

The Bill makes the Auckland Council responsible for setting the strategic direction for the Auckland transport system through the Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy and in providing funding to Auckland Transport. 

Auckland Transport will be responsible for the management and control of Auckland’s local roads and public transport system, including responsibility for preparing the Auckland Regional Land Transport Programme.

Auckland Transport will control:
- Local roads fence-to-fence
- Public transport services
- Public transport assets owned by the Council

The Auckland Transition Agency is leading the work. They tell us:

A discussion document issued by the ATA in relation to draft organisational structure and staff transition processes has been released to employees of existing local government organisations. The discussion document and a summary in the 2 November 2009 edition of the Transition Times employee newsletter are available on this site. Part 4 of the discussion document, the Draft Organisational Structure - Auckland Transport Agency, was released by the ATA on 20 November 2009.

More announcements are due in a few weeks - watch this space.