Stop with the Fluff!

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟: Your Sustainability Strategy needs more than big words, good intentions and lists of goals...

After delving into 'Playing to Win' last week, today, let’s take a look at Richard Rumelt’s "Good Strategy, Bad Strategy" to see what we can learn to further refine our approach to creating our Sustainability Strategies.

Rumelt shows us the common pitfalls in strategy formulation and offers a way to craft genuine strategies. Here’s how these insights might apply to sustainability in real estate:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲:
● Lack of Focus: such as mistaking sustainability reporting for strategy itself. Taking all elements of e.g. a GRI report as guidance might cover a lot of ground but surely won’t help to set a clear focus, and all efforts might become scattered.

● Avoiding the Challenge: Probably the most common issue in the field. Sustainability strategies often gloss over the real issues with a focus on lots of 'achievements' that don’t really make for a great impact. It’s time to clearly articulate the challenges that we face in order to address the elephant in the room.

● Fluff and Jargon: Sustainability is plagued with terminology that often clouds its meaning. The many abbreviations added by legislation and reporting surely don’t help. So let’s aim for clear, understandable language in our strategy. It’s only in the measurable indicators where those should be used.

● Goals ≠ Strategy: Setting ambitious sustainability goals is a good start; but devising a coherent plan to achieve them is another.

𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲:
● Diagnosis: Clearly define which are the sustainability challenges specific to your organisation. What are the concrete barriers that you face when it comes to e.g. achieving energy neutral buildings or circularity?

● Guiding Policy: Think about the approach that you will be taking to address these very challenges. What will you do to overcome the challenges identified in the diagnosis to guide your decision making and direction for actions to be taken.

● Coherent Actions: Aligning actions with the guiding policy. From design to construction, every decision should reflect the sustainability strategy.

● Utilizing Sources of Power: Identify and leverage your unique strengths and advantages where your effort has the most significant impact on your strategic objectives.

So, let’s skip the fluff. Good strategy starts with a thorough diagnosis, follows it up with guiding policies, and executes through coherent actions leveraged by your unique sources of power.