Learn by Doing: Leading the Sustainability Transformation
“Leadership, like swimming, cannot be learned by reading about it.”
Henry Mintzberg had a point. And there are multiple ways to learn how to swim, but generally it’s best to start at the shallow end of the pool, with an instructor and a lifeguard. Leaders rarely get the opportunity to learn important lessons in such a controlled environment. Until now.
Leading the Sustainability Transformation professional certificate program is a completely online, team-based, global program designed to accelerate leadership competence and confidence regarding sustainability through a 10-week learn-practice-apply cycle. It is designed for sustainability professionals interested in advancing their careers and business leaders who need to understand the impacts of sustainability on the success of their companies and organizations.
The heart of the program—and the thing that distinguishes it from traditional learning programs offered by universities and organizations—is a rigorous simulation, mirroring the complexity of an international company within a complicated ecosystem.
“We believe that leading businesses toward sustainable decision-making is one of the highest-stakes professions of our time, so we’ve used the same simulation-based training techniques used by pilots, military and police to create the simulation,” said Matt Mayberry, founder of WholeWorks and developer of the simulation.
Mayberry has more than 25 years experience developing award-winning leadership development programs based on complex, global businesses, including manufacturing and hospitality.
Rio Negro Bioproducts is the practice field, a new manufacturing site of a fictional paper company, Paper Nation. Set on the banks of the Rio Negro outside of the city of Mercedes in Uruguay, it’s a “green” site in more ways than one. The management team is charged with the responsibility of managing a global business and specifying, building and operating the brand-new site to align with ambitious sustainability goals—all while delivering a rate of return that meets the expectations of investors. Participants take on specific roles within the team—operations, supply chain, EHS, engineering, sales, marketing, IT and HR—all reporting to the senior VP, who has responsibility for the region within a multinational company.
Unintentional consequences
But in addition to the traditional management structure, there is a unique element in the program that provides even more real-world context. “Businesses operate in societies and environments, but for years we’ve taught business strategies as though those things are ‘externalities’ for which we don’t need to account. That’s ridiculous, of course. It’s one of the biggest fallacies that leads to all kinds of ‘unintentional’ consequences which are in fact completely predictable,” said Stuart Hart, who serves as expert contributor, consultant and key content provider for the program.
To account for the perspectives of key stakeholders, the simulation also includes roles from the public sector, including the mayor of Mercedes, the social sector and the local manager of an international nonprofit organization. In total, there are roles for 11 participants, each of whom contributes to the development of the organizational strategy but are required to implement specific decisions through the simulation, unique to their roles.
Participants have access to custom-designed online content, in the form of self-study microlearning modules, guided by a 10-week curriculum. Self-study modules include key areas of content and skill such as stakeholder engagement, finance for innovation and sustainability strategy. And each week, the Rio Negro BioProducts simulation gives the teams an opportunity to experiment with the concepts, practicing what they’ve learned, developing strategies in a virtual workspace to facilitate team collaboration, and then making decisions and deploying resources.
At the end of each week—which represents two years in the life of Rio Negro Bioproducts—the simulation calculates more than 5,000 variables and produces an extensive set of reports for measuring the results against financial, social and environmental objectives.
To ensure the concepts are internalized and applied in real life, the program requires that participants develop individual projects, based on the needs of their organizations. As they develop the projects over the 10 weeks, in parallel with the simulation, they receive coaching and advice from experienced practitioners and facilitators. Ultimately, the projects are subject to a rigorous peer-review process at the end of the program.
“Learn, practice and apply—it’s all-important,” Mayberry said. “And what we’ve found to be most effective is when someone comes to the program with a specific remit from their organization, to learn and practice the principles of sustainability and then to bring back a specific deliverable. To successfully complete the course and receive the certification, individuals must complete their individual project—whether a proposal, report or recommendation for their organization in whatever format serves their home organization best—but it needs to meet the quality standards of their teammates in the peer review process.”
“We need to transform the way we do business,” Hart said. “We can’t treat sustainability like a ‘saddlebag’—hanging off the side of the organization. It’s fundamental. It needs to be integrated into every aspect of the business, from purpose to strategy to operations to metrics. This program gives people the opportunity to learn how to do that.”
This post was originally published via Greenbiz and re-posted with permission. Photo by Paula Prekopova on Unsplash.
About the authors:
John Davies
John Davies is vice president and senior analyst at GreenBiz Group, heading up independent research regarding green strategies and business operations and the sustainability profession. Davies also leads the GreenBiz Executive Network, a member-based, peer-to-peer learning forum for sustainability professionals. The network is made up of senior executives from $1 billion-plus corporations working together to share best practices and lessons learned for implementing sustainable development programs. Davies is an experienced entrepreneur and innovator who has applied his business and management skills to launching start-ups as well as improving the operations of existing businesses, including serving as an advisor to WholeWorks. Davies is a frequent keynote speaker at international events, is well-known for his supply chain and sustainability expertise and is the author of numerous articles in business, industry and educational publications. John received his bachelor's degree from SUNY at Fredonia and his master's degree from the University of Delaware and is an alum of GreenBiz Leading the Sustainability Professional Certificate Program powered by WholeWorks.
Laura Asiala, MSOD
Laura Asiala is the Chief Sustainability Officer of WholeWorks LLC and the Lead Facilitator for ‘Leading Sustainability Transformation’ (LST) Program—in which experienced professionals and leaders accelerate their ability to integrate ESG issues across their companies, creating value and transforming a traditional business to sustainable, via a realistic team simulation. She also curates and edits ‘WholeWorks Connects,’ a publication amplifying the work of leaders in the field of sustainability, including alumni of WholeWorks programs.
She has extensive experience in the field of global, sustainable development having served as the Director of Corporate Communications & Citizenship, Dow Corning (Dow, Inc); Vice President of Public Affairs PYXERA Global; Senior Director, Council of the Great Lakes Region; and Editor, Great Lakes Economic Forum: Online. You can also read her posts on Amplify, an Arthur D. Little Publication, or GreenBiz. She is a recognized influencer and thought leader on corporate social responsibility.
Laura received her bachelor’s degree from Alma College and holds a Masters of Science degree in Organizational Development from Case Western Reserve University. She is an alum of Leading the Sustainability Professional Certificate Program, powered by WholeWorks.
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