The Power of Regret to Drive Sustainable Action
WholeWorks’ CSO Laura Asiala applies Daniel Pink’s 4 ‘core regrets’ from his best-selling book The Power of Regret to inform and integrate sustainability into business—and to live more sustainable lives.
No regrets? I doubt it.
‘No regrets’ is fallacy. Think about it this way: looking back over your life, is there anything you wish you’d done or not done? And in reflecting, think of this more as an opportunity to either repair or learn, rather than to mourn. Regret is a painful human emotion, but it has a purpose. It can help us be better people.
That’s the finding of Daniel Pink’s best seller The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.
The book is based on more than 15,000 responses to the ‘World Regret Survey,’ which Pink and his team analyzed. With his linguistic training, Pink was able to see beyond what he characterizes as the ‘surface’ risks—educational, romantic, financial, etc. – to come up with 4 ‘core’ regrets: foundation, boldness, connection, and moral.
Let me give you a quick introduction to Pink’s overall work and then apply it to Sustainability.
An Introduction to the Four Core Regrets
Foundation Regret
These are the regrets from not putting in place the practical habits or the fundamental capabilities that give us capacity in the long run. Some of the more common examples for individuals include not completing an education, not saving money, not building or maintaining physical health, etc. They are ‘foundational’ because they are actions that compound over time and build capacity. “Failure to be responsible, conscientious, or prudent result in foundation regrets, which sounds like ‘If only I'd done the work.’”
Boldness Regret
These are the regrets largely from inaction—the things you wished you’d done but were too timid or afraid to take on. They can be romance, business, education—or more—but start with the idea ‘If only I’d taken the chance to…..’
Connection Regret
These regrets also tend to be regrets of ‘omission’—things left undone—and specifically refer to relationships damaged, broken, or lost.
Moral Regret
These regrets are self-explanatory: when you do something—or do not do something-- that is in conflict with your own moral code, you suffer regret. Importantly, Pink’s research recognizes and confirms that moral regrets are based on the respondents’ moral codes, which can differ by religion, location, and/or culture.
These four regrets, Pink argues, operate as a “photographic negative” of the good life. By understanding what people regret the most, we can understand what they value the most. And through that insight, we can transform our regrets into a positive force—individually and collectively.
Four Regrets Applied to Sustainable Business
Let’s apply these to leading sustainably—both from the lens of an individual and also as an organization.
Foundation Regret—What will you wish you’d done now, then?
These are the fundamental things which are required to truly integrate sustainability into business. It includes the tangible commitment to include social and environmental considerations, as well as financial considerations, into business strategy and implementation. To do that meaningfully, requires putting in place appropriate metrics to determine success and guide behavior. And finally, it requires the building of organizational capacity—people, information systems, and processes—over time to deliver on commitments and strategy.
However small, what is one thing that you and/or your organization can commit to sustaining over time that will build your capability to become more sustainable? Building capabilities always takes time, but it creates “gifts that keep on giving.” It’s easy to defer them, but unless you continually tend to capability building it never accumulates. Jim Collins wrote artfully about this in Good to Great, referring to it as the ‘flywheel’. Concerted positive effort over time builds people capabilities, technology capabilities, partnership capabilities, metrics and reporting capabilities, etc. Constant starting and stopping causes organizations to lose both momentum and focus.
Which sustainability capability do you most wish your organization had continually invested in over the past 5 years? That’s one you should commit to start building now.
Boldness Regret—What’s the chance you’ll wish you’d taken?
What are the things you’d wished you said or wished you’d done with regards to starting or supporting sustainable action but didn’t because you feared a loss of prestige, position, or power? Sustainability requires courage. What insight comes from this type of regret, and what do you commit—to yourself—to do next time?
From an organizational standpoint, did you not take action because you feared you would jeopardize today’s business? Even if you could see on the horizon a massive change coming? What first steps could you take to test an approach? Consider the work of Clayton Christensen in The Innovator’s Dilemma: set up strategies to learn, find ways to protect your innovations from the inevitable organizational ‘antibodies’, and hold some change resources in reserve (keeping in mind the constant need to ‘learn and adjust’ when you’re attempting something truly innovative). Consider yourself 5 years from now. Live so that leader has fewer boldness regrets.
Connection Regret—Who will you be sorry you never met nor tried to meet?
Who are the people with whom you believe need to have or do have a voice for consideration as you move forward with your sustainability strategies? Consider traditional stakeholders with whom you may have lost contact. Consider people who have always had a ‘stake,’ but perhaps not one that was recognized. Consider a mentor, friend, or colleague who had a different point of view, which may have caused a riff. Can you reach out to one individual to close that gap and learn something? From an organizational standpoint, which stakeholders do you regret not building a stronger connection with, because you feared they would take you in a new direction? Can you find a way to reach out to them now?
Moral Regret—Does what you do reflect who you are? Or who you want to become?
Business has great power and its successful functioning relies at least in part on another human emotion: greed. Governed and harnessed appropriately, business can drive a lot of good in the world, but it also presents multiple temptations that can cause people to make choices in conflict with their moral code. I would be very surprised to learn if anyone has not experienced a ‘moral regret’ at some point in their career. It’s worth a moment to pause and reflect. Is there an opportunity to repair? If not, what insight comes from this type of regret, and what do you commit—to yourself—to help prevent future moral regrets?
If the regret comes from an environmental, social, and/or governing (ESG) decision, can you reframe the regret into a more positive view of sustainability as contributing value? The essence of creating sustainable value is in addressing the most material ESG issues while returning an expected financial return to shareholders.
The Power of Regret
Everybody has regrets. They are a fundamental part of our lives. But the pain that comes with them has the power to propel positive action, either through the lessons learned from past regrets, or the desire to avoid future regrets—as individuals and organizations.
We can enlist our regrets to make smarter decisions, take better actions, and make the world a more just and sustainable place.
P.S. Read the book. It’s really good.
About Daniel Pink
Daniel H. Pink is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, including his latest, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward. His other books include thebestsellers When and A Whole New Mind — as well as the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. Dan’s books have won multiple awards, have been translated into 44 languages, and have sold millions of copies around the world.
Cover photo by Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash
Laura Asiala, MSOD
Laura Asiala is the Chief Sustainability Officer of WholeWorks LLC.
She led the facilitation of ‘Leading Sustainability Transformation’ (LST) Program and Strategic ESG Program—in which nearly 400 experienced professionals and leaders from 36 countries learned to 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 sustainable business and 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.
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