SW News 10
Leave your ego at the door
Leave your ego at the door
Leave your ego at the door
If you created a wordcloud of the most popular words in sustainability, collaboration would be right in the middle, writ large. And for good reason. So many of the things we need to do to create a more sustainable and inclusive future require cooperation across supply chains, sectors, and countries.
While in theory collaboration sounds easy, in practice it can be hard. After the initial honeymoon period, problems inevitably come to light as you get into the detail. Things become complicated and emotions can run high. It’s exactly at this point you’ve got to roll up your sleeves, problem solve and keep your eyes on the prize. Good collaborators do this instinctively. They also, crucially, put aside their egos for the greater good.
Over the last month there have been some great examples of successful collaboration in action:
- The pharma industry collaborating on a COVID-19 vaccine;
- US President-elect Joe Biden committing to re-joining the Paris Climate Agreement;
- Institutional Investors issuing an open letter calling on major companies to disclose their climate risk or face potential divestment;
- The UK advertising industry launching
- The Irish manufacturing industry launching circular innovation network,
- The Irish broadcasting sector establishing the Broadcasting Sustainability Network and a sector-wide Roadmap (see more below).
Collaboration is not something that comes naturally to everyone and certainly not to companies. At SustainabilityWorks it's one of our core values and we strive to put it into practice in the way we work. At the end of the day, we all need to learn how to be experts in collaboration. It’s the only way we will solve the challenges we face.
