Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 11.2
Sustainability solutions and blunders
Blunder
Solution
1 Patriarchal thinking that leads to a false
Change the dominant mindset through the
sense of security
imperative of achieving sustainability
2 A 'silo' approach to environmental and
Rearrange the parts by organizing
socio-economic issues
sustainability transition teams
3 No clear vision of sustainability
Change the goals by crafting an ideal vision
and guiding sustainability principles
4 Confusion over cause and effect
Restructure the rules of engagement by
adopting new strategies
5 Lack of information
Shift information flows by tirelessly
communicating the need, vision and strategies
for achieving sustainability
6 Insufficient mechanisms for learning
Correct feedback loops by encouraging
learning and rewarding innovation
7 Failure to institutionalize sustainability
Adjust the parameters by aligning systems
and structures with sustainability
Source: Doppelt (2000).
Doppelt bases his analyses and prescriptions on detailed research and explains his
finding with the help of many case studies, interviews and checklists. After identifying
seven major sustainability blunders, he discusses seven interventions, 'the wheel of
change', that should correct them (see
Table 11.2
)
.
Although recent research and debate concludes that leadership and management
in an organizational context are not totally distinct, that a good manager often
exhibits leadership qualities or is able to work with others in order to motivate
colleagues and initiate and adapt to change, for many, there remains an underlying
feeling that leadership is separable from management. Kotter (1996) offers some
clarification here - managers are concerned with planning, budgeting, organizing,
staffing, controlling and problem solving, and leaders with establishing direction,
aligning people, and motivating and inspiring people. Rost (1991) sees leadership
as being concerned with developing mutual purposes in multidirectional relationships,
while management is basically a co-ordinating function, operating in a unidirectional
authority relationship. Leadership is a contradictory, dynamic or paradoxical art
with a strong relational aspect, frequently rooted in the context in which it emerges
or is practised. It may be that this dynamic nature of leadership is fully suited to
the changing realities, pragmatics and dialogues surrounding the theories, hopes and
practices of sustainable development.
Project SIGMA: environmental management and leadership
combined
Project SIGMA (Sustainability - Integrated Guidelines for Management) was
launched in 1999 by the UK Government's Department for Trade and Industry in
partnership with the British Standards Institution, the NGO Forum for the Future
and AccountAbility (the international professional body for accountability). The
overall aim was to provide clear, practical advice to organizations, enabling them
to contribute significantly to the process of sustainable development, helping businesses
