Misconceptions and Challenges When Talking About Sustainability

Sustainability is commonly thought about with the environment in mind. Yes, the environment plays an important role when it comes to sustainability. But, the reality is that sustainability is more holistic. There are three common misconceptions when it comes to sustainable development, which I’ve seen play out across various industries:

Sustainability is about the environment

Although incredibly important, the environment is only one part of the bigger picture. There are, in fact, six other stakeholders that we need to consider when carving out our strategy for sustainability.

Profit is a bad word

Profit, in and of itself, is not bad. In fact, the only way to be truly sustainable as a business is to ensure that the business is profitable.

We work with sustainability based on assumed aspirations

Real needs from stakeholders can be very different from what we assume them to be. The lack of buy-in that leaders face usually stem from one key issue: lack of dialogue. Involving stakeholders intimately is what makes sustainable development possible.

With those in mind, let’s dive deeper into how those misconceptions can be addressed.