Your team is divided on sustainability in process design. How will you navigate conflicting viewpoints?

Once you have a clear understanding of the different viewpoints, the next step is to bridge the gaps between them. This involves finding common ground and areas where synergies can be built and compromises can be made if needed in the best interest of the process. The goal is not to eliminate differences but to create a shared understanding and a unified approach that has a positive impact on the overall business. Actionable: Facilitate workshops or brainstorming sessions that encourage collaboration between team members with differing views. Use techniques like Brainstorming, Affinity diagrams, and SWOT analysis to identify and understand the difference of opinions. One should be smart enough to turn conflicts into advantages.

To navigate conflicting viewpoints on sustainability, find common ground where both sides can agree on key principles. Emphasize shared goals like long-term efficiency and resource optimization that resonate with different perspectives. This approach helps unify the team and paves the way for balanced solutions.

The next step is to to establish clear decision criteria that will guide the team in evaluating sustainability initiatives. These criteria should reflect the organization’s values, goals, and resources, as well as the sustainability objectives being pursued. Decision criteria might include environmental impact, cost-effectiveness, feasibility, and alignment with company values & stakeholder. Actionable: Develop a decision matrix that weighs the importance of various factors such as environmental benefits, cost savings, long-term viability, and stakeholder impact. Use this matrix to evaluate proposed sustainability initiatives objectively.

The pilot is a mini version of full-scale production, often done to understand underlying risks, if any, and also to evaluate the results achieved. When the team is divided, starting with pilot projects can be an effective way to test different approaches to sustainability. Pilot projects allow the team to experiment with new ideas on a small scale, gather data, and assess the effectiveness of each approach before committing to a full-scale implementation. Actionable: Select a few sustainability initiatives that reflect different viewpoints within the team and run them as pilot projects. Monitor the outcomes closely and use the results to inform future decisions and bridge any remaining divides.

Test sustainability initiatives on a small scale to show their real world impact and feasibility. This hands-on approach allows team members to see the benefits and challenges firsthand, facilitating a more informed and open discussion about how to integrate these practices into broader process designs.

Sustainability is a long term affair, it is an evolving field, and what works today may not be the best solution tomorrow. Encourage a culture of continuous learning within your team by staying updated on the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in sustainability. Continuously learning will help to align the team’s understanding and approach to sustainability over time. Actionable: Organize regular training sessions, webinars, or discussions on emerging sustainability trends. Encourage team members to share articles, case studies, and other resources that can contribute to the team’s collective knowledge. Remember Kano model, what could be delighter today, will be basic for tomorrow same works with Sustainability as well