Contrary to what most people think, sustainability is not about cracking some “code” in the hopes of continuing to replicate our success. Sustainability in practice is the process of developing the capacity to continuously start over. This is a fundamentally different way of approaching success in life.
For many, success is something we try to hold on to for as long as we can. This is a natural response and it is a response that insures failure. By holding on we keep feeding back into the system the things we think created the original success – the behaviors, the focus, the people, the goals and rewards. None of this will work because doing so presupposes that the success was achieved either despite of or because of a set of internal and external variables being in place. All we need to do is make sure the variables are accounted for in the same way as with the original attempt. In order to sustain success in this fashion none of the variables – internal or external – can change. And all of them must be known. Not a likely scenario.
Developing the capacity to continuously start over requires a very different kind of focus, it requires a different sensibility to what is going on in the system that supports and holds the elements contributing to success. This is the difficult part – understanding and appreciating that success occurs within a system of elements that are in relationship. In today’s businesses and organizations developing relational capacity is not usually focused on as an integral (I say critically essential) part of the business development strategy – let alone as part of a strategy for sustainable success. More often than not, business approaches its objectives by cataloging the various "parts" or elements of the system that are necessary to operate effectively and then works to assemble and direct them in the most optimal fashion with appropriate leadership and management functions. It's a Newtonian framework that focuses on building the most effective "machine" in a system with the most effective "parts". Sustainability requires a focus on relational capacity that is not just an appreciation and understanding of the nature of systems.
What is relational capacity? What is it that we need to focus on that enables our ability to continuously start over? These are the questions that the next few postings will answer.
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