Sustainability.  Sustainability is pushing  businesses and governments to rethink everything from what light bulb to purchase, to how to attract talent to their organization(s).  Today, I want to look at where we are in this transition from Industrial Age, through Information Age, and now entering what I call the Resource Age.  

Historically, we have been a country that believed that you had to choose between “doing good” and “making money”.  Most CEO’s and Government leaders in this country and others could never see how to do both.  

It was acceptable to do “whatever it takes” in order to show strong financial rewards and balance budgets.  Value was defined as “money made”.  The belief to “do good” was to be a non-profit and the acceptable course of action from the private and public sector was to happily finance or underwrite those institutions.  We got very good being on remote control, both at a citizen/consumer level and business/government.  

In 2008, the game changed.  We watched as “business as usual” started to break apart and sink like the proverbial Titanic.  The first – and in some cases the current – reaction was to make decisions based on fear.  

Historically, when markets slowed and profits diminished, the first answer was “cut employees” and sadly, that still seems to be the most frequent path taken.  

In this information age where data is instant and we operate on 24 hour intervals instead of looking to long term solutions, companies and governments found themselves in the “sky is falling/chicken little” mode, with no “operating manual” to be found.  A market place that had allowed mediocrity to be the norm, watched in horror as their market grew smaller and smaller and expectations of “doing good” gained strength.   What do we do now was a question heard around the world. 

Fast forward to summer of 2010.  Job data from 1950’s-2008 shows that the average length of time it took someone who loses their job to find another one was 10 weeks.  Starting in 2008, that number started increasing.  In 2010, the average is in excess of 30 weeks with no “top mark” reached as yet.  Scary times, but also times of amazing opportunities.  The adage “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger” seems to be a reflection of experiences seen in today’s market place.  

Is “sustainability” the silver bullet to make this country and the planet healthy again?  If all of us replace our light bulbs with high energy efficiency ones, will that make the world a better place?  Maybe a little bit, but the truth from my perspective is not enough. 

What sustainability does do is help with the “less bad” movement and push us back into conscious thinking and living.                

Sustainability = People, Planet, Profit – a great step towards “doing good while making money”.  

-Jyl DeHaven
http://www.greenurbandevelopment.net/