LAPS: For the long run
The thing about panels is that you can’t walk around on stage - you have to sit still! ?And the chairs - the chairs are rarely comfortable for me, and I try to fight that sinking feeling. I also think about what I will do when the other panelists are talking – would it be awkward to turn sideways to look at them or strain your neck to do so. But then the panel starts, and you realize all of these thoughts disappear the moment you hit start, you are listening, talking, nodding and then time’s up. It goes by fast!
I had the incredible opportunity early this year to participate in the first-ever panel on Sustainability at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).?The other panelists included a Chief Sustainability Officer, a company President, and an SVP of Public Affairs – all from large corporations in the electronics area. It was exciting to share perspective and gain tremendous insights from my esteemed fellow panelists. Unlike the other participants, I am not at the helm of my organization, nor am I a functional leader with a large group reporting to me, or, a sustainability professional, so I valued the uniqueness of the opportunity and was excited to learn and share perspective.
Running start
We started the panel trying to define sustainability. There are of course official definitions, corporate terminology and umbrella descriptions, given that it continues to evolve. I chose to describe it how I explained the essence of the term to my kids when they were in elementary school. Sustainability, I told them is about paying attention to yesterday, today and tomorrow - you have to learn from what happened yesterday and make the right choices, you have to understand what is going on today and make good choices and you have to think about tomorrow and make wise choices. And it was simple enough for them to grasp as kids, and the breadth of what yesterday, today, tomorrow meant, kept growing as they grew older, as the agency they had in learning, understanding and thinking about what constitutes right, good or wise got deeper.
At work, I described that we have a sustainability framework that directs 3M’s efforts to areas where we can make the greatest impact, and an ever-expanding set of sustainability goals are tracked and reported regularly that are organized around this Strategic Sustainability Framework:
I also shared the way sustainability manifests itself at work for me, as a scientist in the lab, working on technology and product development. At 3M, our purpose is to unlock the power of people, ideas and science to reimagine what is possible. We like to constantly challenge ourselves, and I often say to my teams “…the most sustainable product ever made is the product never made!” It’s a message that takes a while to really sink in, but the idea is to elevate our thinking and be more creative about the solutions we can come up with to solve a particular problem. It forces us to think how else we can solve this problem, not just incremental change but leapfrogging or maybe disruptive innovation – something that can have a transformational impact as it relates to sustainability.?
Running through
I was also able to give some examples to make the concept come to life. Especially since every new product that enters 3M’s new product commercialization process has a Sustainability Value Commitment, demonstrating how it drives impact for the greater good. A very relevant example for the CES audience is that electronics displays didn’t have to be made brighter - a product that never needed to be made - because our brightness enhancement films did the job. 3M has been industry leader for optical films inside many consumer electronics for more than 20 years. This includes TVs, cell phones, tablets, laptops, VR headsets, automotive displays and others. Focusing on polarization and light management, these optical films provide the design flexibility for its displays to be brighter -- which leads to energy efficiency of those devices. Through 3M’s advancements in energy efficiency, we have saved about 80 terawatts of power in the last 10 years. That’s enough to power all the human-produced energy on the planet for more than five days!
It was also exciting to talk about our new adhesive offering specially since it was being showcased at the 3M booth at CES. 3M? VHB? Extrudable Tape is a high strength pressure-sensitive adhesive that is not delivered as a tape, but as an extrudable material that provides excellent adhesion to bond two substrates together. This new bonding solution, tailor-made for automation, reimagines tape, providing a faster, simplified, more sustainable solution for manufacturing processes. We have also developed a liquid pressure sensitive adhesive, where again, it’s not a pressure sensitive tape, in that, one doesn’t need to die cut and convert it, which is associated with adhesive and liner waste. Instead, we have developed it in a liquid format and engineered its chemistry, and rheology such that it can be printed exactly where needed and cured to yield an adhesive layer.
I also shared some results of 3M State of Science Index – our original, third-party research conducted by Ipsos that explores the global perceptions of science. We found that three of the top four issues people want science to prioritize solving are related to sustainability. Climate change is an issue the world cares about. As more people experience the impacts of climate change – either directly or through loved ones – the proximity of weather-induced disasters feels ever-closer. 88% globally (vs. 84% U.S.) believe science can help minimize the effects of climate change.
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Running late
The conversation then shifted to what we all hope for the future, to drive sustainability at the pace and urgency it warrants. I took the opportunity to share that from my vantage point I see many in the technical community, across companies, excited to solve for climate challenges. And we firmly believe that we can find solutions to many of the problems, with science, creativity and innovation, be it renewable, recyclable, biobased, de-bondable etc. But the efforts may be relegated to becoming mere science projects if sustainability allyship and advocacy is not actively fostered across the value-chain. Without these partnerships and commitments, any truly groundbreaking innovative concepts that can have a substantial impact on sustainability will likely struggle to see the light of the day. Many circular economy approaches, in particular, largely rely on radical collaboration to achieve scale. There is also the critical need to educate, engage and bring the public along so they can appreciate, adopt, expect and demand climate friendly solutions.
From my perspective, the old models of leadership and frameworks for business may need to change to drive the pace of sustainable innovation - the old playbooks perhaps need to become workbooks, and new chapters written. Current times and the imminent challenges call for greater trust, greater collaboration, and greater urgency to align, not just top to top, bench to bench, but eye to eye on our vision, mission and our roadmaps. We, in the labs, feel empowered and excited to be the inventors and innovators of such technology and look for collective leadership to pave the way. The moment requires the kind of leadership that can handle the dialectical nature of the tensions and contradictions at play and be mindful of the legacy to leave behind. It isn’t just about functional leadership though – we all can step-up and become stewards in our own right and work through the obstacles.
We need to start practicing now, to be in the long run - with individual and collective commitment to run LAPS:
Leadership and legacy... in organizations
Allyship and advocacy... across the value-chain
Partnership and primacy …with the public
Stewardship and diplomacy… within the ecosystem
Sustainability is a team sport. We are all on the same panel. We can’t sit still… every function, every employee, every product, every company has a role to play. Embedding sustainability at the core of the company gives a meaningful purpose and also allows companies to attract the best talent to drive sustainable innovation. At 3M it anchors purpose-driven innovation in our products, manufacturing processes and new technologies – and we’re always trying to do more. All employees around the world, we each have a role in executing our sustainability strategy.
It was an honor to participate and share my viewpoint - I truly believe now, more than ever before in our lifetime, innovation is a lifesaver for business, inspiration is the lifeblood of innovation, and purpose is the lifeline for inspiration.