Many of the sustainability challenges facing the world today can't be solved by just one company. These issues require true collaborative action, focused on creating real value for system participants. But how do you approach such broad challenges? Check out some of our favorite tips--based on our conversation with Blu Skye's Glen Low--for tackling systemic challenges in sustainability.

1. ISSUES IN DEPTH
Quick Tips
Tackling systemic challenges in
g y
g
sustainability
Based on our conversation with
Glen Low,
Principal, Blu Skye Sustainability
Consultants

2. THE QUESTION
What systemic challenge do
you face?
Education
reform
Climate
change
h
Human
rights
Sustainable
food
systems
in the supply
chain
h i
2

3. WHAT CAN WE DO?
Work together
There s
There’s a growing consciousness of
“ the need for collective action that—I
“
think—is unprecedented.
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
3

4. ONE APPROACH
Collective action
Analytic
Thinking
Lasting
change
Human
Systems
have to have the rational
“Youemotional; otherwise yourand
the
“
solutions are not enduring.
— Gl
Glen L
Low, Bl Sk
Blu Skye
4

5. But how
5

6. TIP 1
Engage the right people
It s
It’s not having everyone in the
“ room; it’s having the right people
“
in the room.
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
6

7. TIP 2
Define the [shared] problem
Everyone sees
“ unique vantageproblems from their a
point. But you need
“
shared sense of what is the problem.
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
7

8. TIP 3
Think big
“ One of my favorite quotes isafrom Dwight
D. Eisenhower, who said, ‘If problem
can’t be solved, enlarge it.’ Because
when you expand a problem, you also
h
d
bl
l
expand the value available in the system.
“
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
y
8

9. TIP 4
Find the bright spots
as a problem
“ When you frame thingsmind to think it’s
statement, it leads the
not possible. But when you think of the
positive deviants… it creates new
iti d i t
t
possibilities.
“
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
,
y
9

10. TIP 5
Make action easy
g requires multi-stakeholder action,
q
,
“ Change stakeholder engagement. You need
not just
a pathway that enables the system to work
together: what I call simple first steps
steps.
“
“
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
10

11. TIP 6
Keep it personal
“
“
Every collective action requires
individual accountability. There have to
be champions, evangelists: people who
want to step up who want to leave a
up,
legacy, and break from the path.
— Glen Low, Blu Skye
11

12. Want more?
We dive deep into case studies and more in the
Issues in Depth call.
VIEW THE CALL
p
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