Practical Examples

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These examples focus on three areas using a variety of methods as indicated below:

1. Individual Learning

• Awareness Raising
  • A large motor manufacturer initiated a wide ranging cascade learning programme in 1995 as a part of their drive to improve their environmental performance.This learning has also been passed down the supply chain. A working paper drawing out the lessons from this programme & expanding on what was done is available from Suzanne Pollack. [See also second item under Culture Change]
  • Roots of Success: creating human sustainability at work is a model of personal and organisational sustainability which illustrates how to create growing, renewable output and satisfaction both now and in the future. The model has been developed by Working Vision, a small specialist consultancy committed to sustainability at all levels. This model is now being introduced to businesses in the UK and Europe. More information from Alan Heeks.
• Learning Events and Methods
  • Southampton Environment Centre (SEC) gained sponsorship from the EU for the ADAPT Project to develop training materials to encourage small and medium size businesses to adopt environmental policies and to implement them. The idea is to run a short course for people in small and medium size businesses in a way that can be followed up with computerised support and guidance. In the initial stage the emphasis was on the design of the approach and the materials. The first stage has been completed and the materials are in use. More information from Nick Hutchinson or the SEC.
  • The Call is a new programme providing a powerful learning experience about the ecological and social elements of sustainable development. It can be designed as a 'taster' half day experience, or a longer two or three day event which can be run in-house, as a module on a longer course or as an open programme.  It has had a considerable period of development with a variety of different groups and is fast gaining a sound reputation as a powerful learning experience for people at any level. It is a highly participative programme that taps in to peoples spiritual and emotional responses to the natural world as well as their desire to intellectually and practically understand how to improve their environmental impact. The Call is designed and marketed by Andy McGeeney.
  • Ride For Your Life has been in the development stage for 5 years, as an open 2-day programme. Its themes are self awareness and personal effectiveness. Pioneer clients include: Sedgwick, IBM, Videotron, Saab, Marks & Spencer, Oxford Instruments, Avis, Microsoft, Whitbread, Ashridge Management College and various small companies. Recent In-house programmes with the themes of coaching skills, teambuilding, managing and supporting self and others in challenging, unfamiliar, uncertain, continuously changing conditions. Handling 'empowerment'/ greater freedom and responsibility. Clients include:  Ashridge, Tarmac, and Beiersdorf. Results include: waking up to the ability to go beyond what their 'mindemotions' say is possible. Receiving valuable feedback on issues and patterns and a big increase in team spirit. Participants appreciate being connected to 'life' via wonderful animals! The programme includes elements of skills building, teamwork development and coaching. More information from Paul Hunting.
  • See also Roots of Success under awareness raising.
  • A radically different approach to management development, called business-led management development or real time management development (RTMD) was undertaken with a large commercial service organisation. The approach is similar to "Action Learning" but involves a group of senior managers who work for the same organisation. They tackle live business issues with a view to developing solutions and achieve significant personal development at the same time. The stages involved include individual consultations, meetings with participants, visioning workshops, problem solving, implementation and review. Over a period of several years, the intervention had a profound effect on many senior leaders in the organisation and the way they managed their businesses and this had tangible results. We also learned a great deal from the experience about how to do this kind of work and some of the pitfalls to avoid. We believe the approach we developed has a lot of relevance for dealing with the complex situations that face many organisations as they grapple with a turbulent environment and strive for sustainable development  More information from Bruce Nixon.
  • Developing environmental engineering standards - see Environmental Protection Bulletin No.33. Developing an emissions and waste inventory and reduction plans. Organising and running a range of environmental training courses - see "Environmental Training - an expensive waste of time?" web site. More information from Jim Hopwood.
  • BP Amoco and Electrolux have developed their own educational programmes for use within their companies and brief summaries are provided on their entries on the company statements on SD page.
• Skills Development
  • National Awards in Energy Management are designed specifically to meet the needs of Energy Managers. This award is one of the latest additions to the new suite of vocational qualifications (NVQ level 4) in Management. These awards are delivered primarily as individual development programmes, with occasional half day workshops. A number of Energy Managers are interested in undertaking the award within Sussex and there are some staff to support the programme, but more are needed. The staff role is effectively one of mentor/coach, developing a one to one relationship with the Manager [candidate] and guiding him/her through the development programme, which lasts 12 months. This involves contact by telephone and correspondence and face to face meetings. There may also be a need for occasional contributions to workshops. Tim Hart would be very interested to hear from anyone who has an interest in Environmental Management and has some background and expertise in Energy Management. Training for the particular role will be provided and paid for by the College. More information from Tim Hart.
  • High quality influencing, negotiating and presentation skills are available from Sheppard Moscow Development Services, email.
• Leadership Development
  • Leadership and decision making are at the heart of real progress towards sustainable development. An effective simulation, Fishbanks Ltd (developed under supervision of Professor Dennis Meadows) examines this issue in a very practical way. Participants command different fishing fleets and make decisions about where to fish in the ocean, when to change their fishing boats, how much fish to catch and how to optimise their assets. During the simulation they receive feedback on the progress they are making towards the goal of optimising their assets. When the simulation ends a review of learning takes place. Some 25 experiences of using this simulation has revealed the typical underlying mindsets of senior executives. Strongly held assumptions that are prevalent in business are examined closely. These include the importance of beating other fleets, that information should not be shared, that financial success is often at odds with the health of the environment, and confidence that when problems become apparent there will be time to act. David Ballard, a director of Bath Consulting Group (web site), runs this simulation and can provide more information.
• Coaching and Mentoring
  • A Clearing Bank realised that the organisational changes it was implementing would place a heavy burden on its senior management and require them to lead and manage in new and different ways. It therefore decided to help them develop and sustain their evolving behaviours, attitudes and values by introducing executive mentoring. The mentoring helped them improve their ability to be leaders of the change process; enabled them to exemplify and embody the corporate vision and values; and increased their personal and business performance. More information from Dr Mike Turner.

2. Group development

• Teamwork Development
  • See also "Ride for your Life" under Learning Events
• Boundary Management
  • An effective design for learning about managing the boundaries between teams, improving cross-functional cooperation and understanding how intergroup dynamics affect performance has been run several times in different large companies. It works best when it is part of a four or five day course covering teamwork development, intergroup learning and skills awareness raising. Learning is more effective if 12 to 20 people attend, there are two trainers and video is used to aid learning. More information from Colin Hutchinson.
• Appreciative Enquiry
  • Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to organisational analysis and learning that is uniquely intended for discovering, understanding, and fostering innovations in social organisational arrangements and processes. The art of appreciation is the art of discovering and valuing those factors that give life to an organisation or group. The process involves interviewing and storytelling to draw the best of the past to set the stage for effective visualisation of what might be.
    1. We discover and value those factors that give life to an organisation or community;
    2. We envision what might be. Dream together;
    3. We engage in dialogue to help the individual appreciation become collective appreciation;
    4. We construct the future through innovation and action. We design how we will make it happen.

    The benefits of how this works in practice are summarised in the extracts from participants' comments:

    "I have learned that participation helps to find the reality. Participation is the pre-condition of real learning; Learned how to reach to constructive dream/vision through creative group work and portray how and what I feel about us; Group work can be really fun and at the same time constructive by sharing the same Dreams; People are always ready to find flaws - not enough "Constructive" criticism going around; We all are very innovative and we can contribute more in this process; ...Our participation together for our future. Everybody could decide anything; I learned that if we take initiatives & are ready to make decisions as well as take responsibility for them while "Enjoying" ourselves we can make a difference and bring about change for the better; How to minimise a 'Large' amount of work in a short time by providing input from different levels. We could follow it in future for "Dreams"; I learned that if you want to develop something, you have to draw a Dream."

    It was a fantastic experience for everyone who participated. They were surprised by what they came up with: a vision, strategy and plan which is the best it can be, utilised the best of what is and challenges them in the coming years. More information from Patricia Lustig and from the online newsletter.

• Large Group Meetings
  • The head of a university research project investigating SD in the mining industry wanted to bring together key international researchers and sponsors who had widely differing perspectives and attitudes to SD to gain agreement on action to be taken and a common language. The conference was run successfully using facilitation skills that created strong ownership of the process and SD issues by delegates.  More information from Andy McGeeney
  • Shell UK conducted scientific research and gained political approval to dump the redundant Brent Spar vessel in the Atlantic.  They were confronted with widespread protest by Greenpeace and others and their products were boycotted.  They abandoned the plans to dump the vessel and embarked on a dialogue with interested parties to establish better communications and find alternative solutions.  After extensive dialogue they decided to dismantle the vessel and dispose of it on land.  The dialogue process was managed by Pippa Hyam, supported by colleagues from Projects in Partnership, on behalf of the Environment Council. More information from Peter Martin
  • The Energy Saving Trust, among others, has promoted domestic energy efficiency as a means of reducing Carbon dioxide emissions. Projects in Partnership has brought together a wide range of industry partners so that central heating, plumbing, glazing, and insulation installers are trained to explain the benefits to customers. These include immediate costs savings as well as long term reduction in outgoings from energy efficient equipment and installations, even if there is slightly higher outlay. Equivalent developments are being progressed in DIY stores and appliance retailers. More information from Peter Martin or Penny Walker.

  • The MD of a Computer software and components company feared workforce resistance to the introduction of widespread environmental improvements. An Environmental Review was conducted using a participative workshop approach which enabled almost every employee to become involved and make an active contribution. Our expert facilitation helped build employee commitment to the subsequent programme of change. More information from.Andy McGeeney or Peter Martin.

3. Organisational transformation

• Audits and Reviews
  • See work with a Borough Council on Community Development page.
  • See auditing of safety health and environment example under Setting Standards
• Strategy, Policy and Values Development
  • A programme to introduce whole-system principles and a range of participative methodologies to Andersen Consulting was used to create "communities" within the firm's 55,000 people worldwide: this included providing training in large-group technologies. More information from Romy Shovelton.
  • Rank Xerox have a long history of environmental improvement. A case study entitled "Energy & Environmental Management in Rank Xerox " is available from the European Case Clearing House at Cranfield University Tel:01234 750903 (Strategy). The case study was written by Suzanne Pollack and Richard Tapper.
  • Roots of Success is still being developed but has the potential to be an effective approach to sustainable business strategy.
  • Jacquelyn Ottman created the "Getting to Zero" (sm) environmental innovation process, a proprietary process for guiding cross-functional client teams in the generation of concepts for new products and services that meet customer needs effectively and with minimal environmental impact. She is the author of Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation, 2nd edition (NTC Contemporary Books, 1998), considered the definitive text on the subject, with worldwide distribution. More information from Jacquelyn Ottman.
  • Sustainability Strategy is how Ecos describes its work with companies to develop and implement business strategies to respond to the challenge of sustainability. More than responding to community concerns about the environmental and social impacts of business and industry, Sustainability Strategy is a new way of thinking about how to do business. This approach adds shareholder value and maximises the long–term viability of a business in an ever more complex and competitive global market. Ecos helps companies to develop and implement commercial responses which deliver value in the short- to medium-term while building their capacity to respond to opportunities in the long term.
    
    Examples of Ecos work on Sustainability Strategy include DuPont and Placer Dome and more information is accessible from the Ecos Corporation web site.
  • Appreciative Enquiry - see above - see also the appreciative enquiry online newsletter.
  • When Growing Communities, a small non-profit distributing business, was formed to buy organic produce communally, the first year’s objectives were to do with proving viability and surviving. When it was clear that the ‘box scheme’ was a success and financially self-sufficient, the time came to re-examine some of the other wild ambitions to see which should be turned into reality next! Penny Walker facilitated a series of open, honest but safe sessions for the management group, enabling them to confirm their values, re-write their mission, and frame an outline five year plan.
  • Towards Corporate Environmental Sustainability -  Case Study on Eastern Group. In 1996 Eastern Group decided to establish the nature of the challenge that sustainable development posed for them and used the Sustainable Business Forum approach based on the RIV model. The three main drivers for the programme were complying with the law, stakeholder concern and competitive advantage. Eastern Group have had an Environmental Management System which focuses on "doing things right", they now focused on "doing the right thing". The aims of the project were to inform the strategic planning process, gain support internally and externally and initiate constructive stakeholder dialogue. The Environment Council were asked to help and, together with Eastern Group's Environment Business Unit, the process was devised. This involved three facilitated workshops for managers, managers with stakeholders and managers. There was considerable surprise that the meetings were good natured leading to constructive outcomes in the form of stated intentions. The next phase involved converting intentions into actions and identifying suitable indicators for measuring progress. [Source; Eastern Group Case Study]
• Culture Change
  • After deciding to give a high priority and profile to environmental management, a large motor manufacturer decided to follow up a very successful "Cascade" programme on Total Quality with a similar programme on the environment. A university department with an established programme of Environmental Management courses for managers, was commissioned to develop a seven day programme incorporating all the stages of environmental awareness. A "tutor" group of around 50 managers and specialists from all parts of the company was chosen to take part in the full programme, and to cascade the material, suitably adapted and condensed, through a second "tier" of managers to the whole of the workforce, thereby bringing about a change of organisation culture. One of the outcomes was a programme of environmental training for suppliers, designed and run by the company’s purchasing department, which helped to "cascade" environmental awareness still further More information from Ken Knight.
  • Implementing safety excellence, a shop floor culture change programme that reduced personnel injuries by 70% in 18 months. Leading for Safety, a leadership workshop for supervisors. See "A New Look at Safety Training" web site. Publication of "Our Commitment to Safety, Health and Environment", Exxon Chemicals first public environmental report. More information from Jim Hopwood.
• Indicators of Performance & Setting Standards
  • Introducing and auditing Integrated Safety, Health and Environment Management Systems  More information from Jim Hopwood.
  • Draft position paper on Sustainable Development for Architects and Engineers for Social Responsibility. More information from Jim Hopwood.

HOW TO USE THESE CASE STUDIES

Several possibilities can be considered:

• Speak to the contact person to learn how the application might be adapted for different circumstances and organisations. SKILLED PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO CONSIDER VARIOUS WAYS OF WORKING WITH YOU.
• Develop your own tailor-made version, but getting good results usually depends on skilful use of a particular method, which is often harder than it seems
• Seek help in designing a tailor-made version for use in your organisation, which you can then use
• Pick up an idea that can be added to something you are already planning to do
• Some killed people are exploring ways in which different elements described above can be linked together to form an integrated approach from awareness raising, through skills development, teamwork development and on to strategy formation
• In some cases, for example the National Awards in Energy Management,  there may be opportunities to contribute your skills as a trainer or to join a programme as a participant.

Other examples are welcomed!

Please describe your example on the Practical Examples Reply Form. Details about yourself can be submitted from the form accessed from the skilled people page.

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Last up-dated: 25 November 1999