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• GreenGov: Three keys to sustainability integration

  November 15, 2011

  The FMYI team traveled to sunny Washington, DC for GreenGov recently to complete the fourth installment of sustainability conference season (GoGreen, GreenBiz Innovation Forum, Net Impact, and GreenGov). The White House Council on Environmental Quality‘s GreenGov focuses on sustainability within a wide range U.S. federal government agencies such as the Navy, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense, Department of Veteran Affairs, Homeland Security, the National Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Office of Management & Budget, and many more.

  FMYI played a role in several ways. The planning team managed the conference using our FMYI platform. FMYI President Justin Yuen moderated a panel on “Green IT and Transformational Possibilities.“ We were also a featured sponsor and an exhibitor. Since we traveled from Portland, we wanted to minimize the footprint of our booth. We were able to fit everything into one normal sized grocery bag. Thanks to the wonderful folks at Capital Bikeshare, we also had a gleaming red bicycle in front of our table to draw interest and to publicize the memberships we raffled off to the lucky winners while raising awareness of our new Change Agents Unite online community.

  Through our many conversations during the week from people stopping by our table, interactions during networking time, attending sessions, and having meetings with agencies in DC, here are the three keys to governmental sustainability integration that I saw:

  1. Clear mission

  
  President Obama’s 2009 Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance sets clear goals for agencies. The GreenGov conference and many new initiatives have sprung up as a result. Instead of a vague mission statement paying lip service to this topic, the Executive Order has very tangible goals that agencies can build plans around to achieve.

  2. Measure your progress

  During the panel I moderated featuring Wanda Gibson (Chief Technology Officer, Fairfax, Virginia County Government), John Tuccillo (Vice President, Global Industry and Government Alliances, Schneider Electric), and Tamim Chowdhury (Realty Specialist, U.S. General Services Administration), everyone focused in on measuring the impact of their efforts. Wanda talked about a “Just Do It” attitude with identifying opportunities to be more efficient and save money. Her efforts won an InfoWorld Green 15 Award for Virtualization and PC power management. John talked about how within a short period of time they were able to save $15,000 annually by cutting energy usage 20% for a 2500 square foot EPA data center. He estimates that there’s $1.1 billion in energy savings opportunities in the U.S. with similarly-sized data centers. And Tamim covered the GSA’s efforts to reduce the footprint of federal office space through space planning and teleworking to achieve $3 billion in cost savings required by President Obama.

  3. Employee engagement

  To scale their efforts, agencies are relying on collaboration across their employee base. The biggest example of this is the Postal Service’s Green Team efforts which saved $27 million last year. Each team has access to a suggested list of projects they can take on, and USPS tracks the trailing indicators that capture the operational savings across the country. The GSA has a sustainability fellowship program to engage and train staff across the agency to create innovative projects. And I gave a brown bag session at the Peace Corps as they ramp up their engagement efforts with staff around the world to create sustainable results in line with the Executive Order.

  We came away impressed by the discipline, resourcefulness, and operational mindset of the different agencies as they identified opportunities and rolled out initiatives to save money, minimize their environmental impact, and engage employees. Many leveraged partnerships with NGOs and the private sector and were energetic innovators. This gives me great hope for creating triple bottom line value on a greater scale, especially considering the footprint and influence of the federal government.

  Onward and upward,
  -Justin

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• Impact and Change: PDX and the world

  November 04, 2011

  NI11 – unforgettable. What better place could hold one of the best sustainability conferences than Portland?

  Portland, Oregon. A city and state that love innovation, creativity and sustainability. A place where David takes on Goliath. A place where sustainability is part of the tattoo industry and the sushi industry. A place where change happens. (And yes, a city where the dream of the 90s is still alive.)

  As president of the Net Impact Portland Professional Chapter here in the host city, I knew we needed to start the conference out right by welcoming people to the heart of Oregon where we are committed to local and sustainability. Best way to do that? With a party of course! Thanks to great businesses and universities (including FMYI, Columbia, University of Oregon, Marylhurst University, Net Impact Portland Professional, OneEnergy Renewables, Bamboo Sushi, Garrett Downen Photography, Vestas, TriLibrium, Perkins & Co., Junk to Funk and Sustainable Business Oregon) who sponsored the “Welcome to Oregon” Launch Party, we introduced more than 900 people to things we love about this town – music, food and fun. It was a party for the ages. FMYI President Justin Yuen made a cameo and rapped about change and B Corps. The party and city are constant reminders that we do business in a different way – with a triple bottom line. A reminder that it is time for a new economy. 

  As the Net Impact Conference began, Liz Maw (executive director of Net Impact) reminded us all, “You can take the power of business and change the world. This conference is about helping you come up with your own sustainability and impact plan. We want you to Occupy Wall Street, but from the inside.”

  With 7 billion people in the world now (as of Monday!) and a focus on Wall Street, Net Impact is a reminder of the positive impact we can create as individuals and small groups.

  PDX Impact.
  While some people visited Occupy Portland during the conference, the focus at the conference was on creating positive change in business, social enterprise and organizations (not from the outside). Change can happen within the “system.” It is about a new way to do business. It’s about creating goods and services with sustainable resources, as written by an entire culture of sustainability that will provide a similar lifestyle for generations to come. And it’s about Economy 2.0 and B Corporations.

  If we are going to make an impact, we shouldn’t wait until after the conference and risk fading energy, we need to develop deliverables within the conference–action happening during the sessions. I had the honor to help organize and participate in the Portland Impact sessions. It was a great opportunity for attendees to help five Portland-based organizations and businesses with a challenge that can improve an organization.

  (Video by of Sustainable Business Oregon.)

  I had a great time using design thinking practices to address the Bus Project’s challenge about engaging the millennial generation in short and long-term philanthropy. Definitely a challenge the Bus and many other organizations want to solve. Learning about the Bus Project and the other Portland Impact organizations showed me the impact we can create in one community.

  The difference a few hours of collaboration can make to empower a community – whether it be towards clean energy (Focus the Nation), healthier children (Upstream Public Health) or scaling an up and coming business (Portland Pedal Power and GoBox) - is very impressive.

  The power of design thinking and crowdsourcing along with passionate organizations made a difference for the conference experience and to the community.

  Your Grandma’s CEO?

  Justin shared some new insights to his story and that of FMYI. Joined by Jensine Larsen (World Pulse) and James Curleigh (KEEN Footwear), Justin talked about innovative leadership and a new way of doing business. Why in Portland? Think historically – from Lewis & Clark, the Oregon Trail (and I don’t mean the game) to Nike, Columbia and now FMYI, KEEN and World Pulse. Oregon is a place for pioneers and innovative leadership. A place where we build public-private partnerships and live a HybridLife style. Justin’s innovative leadership has been critical to fostering a culture committed to minimizing our environmental impact and mazimizing socital benefit and generating sustainable economic growth. As James Curleigh reminded everyone – “the suits need to trust the t-shirts and the t-shirts need to trust the suits.” Portland may not be a city of suits and ties (evident by the conference attire this year), but we are an innovative community talking about EcoDistricts, partnerships and ways to build a sustainable community and economy. The leadership styles of Justin, Jensine, James and others will make Portland a place people look towards for ideas, innovation and collaboration.

  UNITE.
  How do you capture the energy of 2,600 people interested in making a difference? How do leaders and the next wave of leaders share ideas and innovate? On FMYI. Of course.

  Capturing the energy of the Net Impact Conference (and sustainability leaders from around the world), FMYI launched Change Agents Unite  - a community platform to solve environmental, social and business issues.

  The launch event featured local Change Agents – including Bamboo Sushi (the first certified sustainable sushi restaurant in the world), the Bus Project (helping engage the next generation of leaders in democracy), Junk to Funk Trashion Collective (inspiring positive behavior change by asking people to reconsider their consumption), Oregon’s First Lady Cylvia Hayes, Sec. of State Kate Brown, Rep. Tobias Read and Chair Jeff Cogen (who passed the ban on BPA in Multnomah County the same day!).

  We’ve created a community of change agents, those with innovative ideas, to solve social and environmental issues and to get rewarded for their efforts. We kicked off our Change Agents Unite campaign to a full house of those from sectors of business, government and non-profits, coming together to support and enter this community.

  Let’s continue to create change. Help organizations and make a difference.

  Don’t just talk about the issues, take the energy and UNITE to truly make a difference. Help organizations and businesses with their challenges. Help the Aflac Cancer Center, Mercy Corps, Hope for Haiti, The National Crittenton Foundation and more.

  Change is always occurring. There are movements happening around the world right now. While the attention is being brought to issues the “average Joe” may not have listened to a while back, it is not just about bringing attention to issues, it is about creating positive change.

  Be innovative. Be collaborative. Become a change agent.

  See you at NI12 in Baltimore!

  Change agents unite,
  Graeme

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• The time is now for the new economy

  October 24, 2011

  With the world events in the news recently, these questions have been on my mind a lot these days.
  • Are we at the brink of a new era in our global economy?
  • Will the Arab Spring, natural disasters around the world, the debt crises, the information revolution online, shifting demographics, and other emergent trends result in fundamental change with our economic system?
  • Are we entering an “Economy 2.0” phase where collaboration, sustainability, and technology are changing how the game works?

  I blogged on this topics a few years ago in a series of posts:

  • Economy 2.0
  • Blueprint for Economy 2.0
  • Collaborate and Listen
  • Sustainable Sustainability
  • Check your Tech
  • Economy 2.0 and You

  Here in America, we’ve been hearing more about discontent with the economy, whether it’s the Tea Party’s political pressure and Occupy Wall Street protests, both of which are triggered by unemployment figures that haven’t improved and the feeling that the establishment isn’t serving their needs. As I hear this, I immediately start brainstorming about solutions. We hear there’s a problem, and we see some evidence of it around us. But how do we start to fix it?

  The scope and variety of these challenges demand widespread innovation. Everyone has a role in trying out new ways to address the opportunities they see around them in if the current approaches aren’t working. Or apply strategies that have worked for another sector and in a different industry. I’m reminded of this quote from Phil Knight, founder of Nike:

  “The trouble in America is not that we are making too many mistakes, but that we are making too few.”

  With budgets tight and the flow of capital restricted, we must look at ways to more efficiently use resources through cooperation from leveraging business networks for not just discussions, but also partnering on business deals more frequently. For individuals trying to make ends meet, collaborative consumption is on the rise. As Generation Y (otherwise known as the “Millennials”) begins to have more of an influence, we’re going to see technology used to bring people together and create transparency of information in ways we can’t imagine right now.

  And through these new ways of working together and thinking, the way our economy works today is going to fundamentally change forever. It’s not going to be easy to make the shift, but I would argue that the best way forward is to leverage models that have worked, only in new ways. This will make it easier to achieve change. I’ll be sharing details of the plan in the coming months. In the meantime, in the wake of the passing of one of America’s greatest innovators, I’ll leave you with this quote from Apple’s Think Different campaign:

  “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.“

  -Justin

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• Collaborating at the Innovation Forum

  October 18, 2011

  I’m back from San Francisco after a great experience at GreenBiz’s Innovation Forum. My take? The GreenBiz team did a wonderful job intentionally creating an interactive conference full of thought leaders who are defining what’s next. You can watch some of them by viewing the videos posted online of select plenary sessions from Nike’s Hannah Jones, GE’s Mark Vachon, and Steelcase’s Dorothea Seebode.

  From brainstorming at the tables led by Nicole Boyer after insightful remarks from speakers, to interactive workshops that enables attendees to delve deeper into opportunities and challenges, having Krys Freeman on stage behind a laptop stoking the Twitter conversations, plenty of networking breaks, the fun Go Game “green” scavenger hunt through San Francisco (see the photos and videos posted above), the GreenBiz team successfully turned this conference of 250 people into an interactive event. By the way, shout out to “Team Woodstock” (Amanda, Jasper, Jennifer, Joel, and Kelly) — although we finished second to last, we had a blast =)

  My workshop on “Enhancing Collaboration through Digital Tools” which was summarized on GreenBiz.com helped me get a sense of the challenges organizations are experiencing with online collaboration. Despite the onslaught of new features and new players in the industry, there remains the same age-old barriers to adoption at work which include too many emails in the inbox, enterprise platforms that people are required to use that are too difficult to figure out, and lack of clarity with the business case. I enjoyed addressing the barriers based on our seven years of online collaboration experience and painting a picture of what’s next with creating communities for action.

  At the end of the conference, I came away with ideas for how to scale our impact, and with a greater network of change agents to help make it happen. Some of the burning questions about sustainable innovation shared by participants that we’ll try to solve in the coming months and years together:

  • How do you make it intuitive?
  • How do you institutionalize innovation and idea generation?
  • How do you move from process to culture?
  • How do you create focused innovation?
  • How do we connect ideas with people with money?
  • How do we balance short term with long term economic success?
  • How do we approach individuals to create change and keep them engaged?
  • How can we produce more attention for the good disruptive leaders?
  • How do we encourage tapping into real needs?
  • How do we get the accounting right for true costs?
  • How do we allow room for failure?
  • How do we change the business model?
  • How can we create more “spear in the chest” moments?
  • What is the vision for success and what we can do together?
  • How do we get the messaging right?

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  -Justin

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