Tactics are Good, Strategies are Best
By Andrew Robinson, Principal, Sustainability Strategy and Engagement, Green Spark Group
If you have had the opportunity to work on a sustainable production, what did it look like? Was a waste diversion process or system in place? Was it in place both at stages and on location? Were there efforts to reduce fuel consumption or decarbonize? Was production supported by a Sustainability Department or Sustainability Coordinator? Most importantly, can you recall any meaningful achievements?
Each of these aforementioned examples are laudable even necessary tactics yet are insufficient to make production sustainable. Why? Because sustainable production is about changing behaviors, practices and outcomes. It requires more than a series of tactics, or a lengthy checklist; it requires a systemic approach, one that considers internal and external factors, and sets a series of goals that everyone can work towards. Have I lost you?
In simple terms, think of your personal health. If you wanted to improve your health, you could perhaps exercise more frequently, start jogging or swimming, or change certain eating habits. Each of these tactics are valid, but in what way would we know that we have become healthy? How was this defined? In comparison, a strategic approach would include an assessment or measurement of your current health which would help inform a number of goals and objectives to work towards. Tactics could then be identified that would best support the achievement of these goals, as well as measurement tools and indicators to assess your progress. Your strategy could also include communications to friends, family, doctor or colleagues to help support your journey or keep you accountable.
However, while our doctor can support our health goals, our doctor alone can’t make us healthy. Each of us need to work to change behaviors, integrate tools and practices, and track our progress. Similarly, the existence of a sustainability department cannot in and of itself make a production sustainable. Rather, the sustainability department must collaborate with and support the entire crew to help them achieve both the production’s as well as their respective departmental goals. We witness this in practice regularly.
For decarbonization, a strategic approach is how production evolves from the tactic of procuring a handful of EVs or hybrids, to revising their fuel procurement budget, assessing transportation needs, tracking data across locations, transportation, and other departments, and identifying the highest use vehicles that warrant transitioning to EV. Further, all of this effort is informed and assessed relative to a specific goal.
For waste management, a strategic approach is how production evolves from the tactic of sorting waste, to ensuring that a circular approach to material use is applied across departments in order to reduce or eliminate waste within the production ecosystem. It ensures we don’t simply have a lagging indicator relative to how much waste was diverted from landfill, but leading indicators about what materials – and their related embodied carbon – each department was able to avoid using.
Still, the benefits of a strategic approach are not limited to fewer emissions and less waste. They extend to behavior change and a willingness for crew to review practices, materials, vendors and understand that it is their contribution, in concert with the support and expertise of the sustainability department, that truly facilitates a transformation of existing practices for truly sustainable outcomes.
