How to use design thinking to achieve sustainability goals 

Phase 1: Prepare

The first phase focuses on securing buy-in from employees by crafting a compelling change story that explains the reasons and benefits and supports the sustainability journey by “talking the walk.” Early adopters, or front-runners, are essential to testing and sharing success stories, helping build momentum.

Phase 2: Train

In this phase, employees actively engage in learning and practicing new processes and behaviors by upskilling at scale. Whether it’s mastering new tools, adopting new processes, or collaborating with partners, the goal is to equip the workforce to realize the big changes.

Phase 3: Master

The final phase is about realizing the benefits of change. Processes, partners, and employees need time to adapt, and benefits from sustainability strategies typically take time to materialize. Continuous evaluation, celebration of wins, and ongoing improvements all contribute to ensuring long-term success.

Three common pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Underestimating the learning effort required

Many organizations fail to grasp the time, effort, and resources needed to implement sustainability strategies successfully.

Remedy

• Break the change process down into three phases: prepare, train, and master.
• Develop an ambitious yet achievable timeline.
• Formulate the change story (the “walk”).
• Implement a right-size program for upskilling at scale.

Pitfall 2: Poor problem definition

Without a clearly articulated and validated problem statement, sustainability solutions will likely miss the mark.

Remedy

• Double-check your problem definition with the case data and materiality assessment.
• Check your change story with early adopters.
• Collect impact data on your products and services.

Pitfall 3: Lack of stakeholder involvement

Too often, key stakeholders (employees, customers, and partners) are insufficiently involved in the ongoing planning and execution process. 

Remedy

• Engage early, engage continuously.
• Look out for required iterations.
• Communicate frequently to ensure transparency.
• Make your messaging easy to digest.
• Recognize stakeholders’ contributions.
• Bring different stakeholder types together to develop and test ambitions and actions.