In last week’s article I talked about the advanced practice of telling your sustainability story. Today I’d like to explore that topic a little more.
Inc. Magazine recently ran an article, 11 Tips to Write Your Own Story by Jeff Haden, on storytelling basics from a Pixar artist, and then applied those principles to business and life. I’d like to take it a step further and examine how some of these guidelines can help companies craft a more compelling sustainability story.
#1. You admire a character for trying more than for their success.
From Haden: Trying something easy and succeeding is satisfying in the moment, but ultimately fleeting. Trying something really hard, even if you fail, is something you — and others — will remember forever. Growth is a result of the effort, not the success.
For sustainability: Your stakeholders (employees, investors, suppliers, customers) don’t expect you to be perfect. What they want is to see you really grapple with the complexities of the sustainability challenge. Be transparent about your sustainability challenges — they will respect you for it.
#2. Simplify. Focus. Combine.
From Haden: What you leave out, what you put aside, and what you choose not to do frees you up to do what you really need to do. Try to do too much and you do almost nothing. Do a few things and you can do them all extremely well.
For sustainability: It’s hard to have a comprehensive sustainability program, because sustainability truly touches every single thing we do. So make sure you have systems in place to make effective decisions, but focus your efforts on the two or three major issues that impact your organization. Make that your sustainability priority.
#3. What is your character comfortable with? Challenge it. How does it deal?
From Haden: We fly our true colors in a crisis. Otherwise calm people freak out after an accident. Nice people turn ugly when confronted. Braggarts shrink in the face of danger. What you do under stress defines you.
For sustainability: When something goes wrong — and it always does — with regard to your sustainability plan, your reaction in the heat of the moment will speak volumes about where your organization’s true self really lies. Think about how your key executives will respond to a sustainability crisis and ask yourself: “Do I like how this fits with our sustainability story?”