Everywhere we turn, there is talk about the need for more data on sustainability. Generally, those conversations center on data for corporate disclosures. Increasingly, however, more companies are looking to the data for business opportunities. In a recent post on ESGToday, Simon Weaver, Global Head of ESG Advisory at KPMG International talked about
“interrogat[ing] the data and explore how much sustainability is embedded into the wider strategy. That should include analysis of risks and opportunities. What is your company exposed to? What actions can you take to mitigate those risks? And what opportunities for sustainable growth could help your business in the future? The actions should start from the boardroom – with each leader given responsibility and control over aspects of the broader sustainability goals.”
Makes sense, but not every company has the depth of data Weaver assumes. Does that mean you can’t find sustainability risks, opportunities or business cases? Not at all.
Sustainability leaders, staff and advisors: Sure, hard data is necessary in business decisions, but you don’t have to start your journey with hard data. Instead of sitting behind a computer screen, go talk with humans in your company that interact with other humans important to your company’s business. Your colleagues have a wealth of informal information that can be the initial spark for an idea or insight leading to something valuable. Many a legendary innovation came from intuition or incidental human-to-human interactions. These can come from coworkers who talk with/hear from:
- customers
- suppliers/contractors
- franchisees
- the public/media/activists
- investors/bankers
- insurers
- peers
Not every aspect or nuance of person-to-person conversations is captured in databases, but that doesn’t mean those are unimportant. As an analogy, everyone has sent an email or text where the recipient critically misinterpreted intent, sarcasm or emotion behind the words. Hard data is ultimately necessary, but human knowledge and interactions still hold treasures. Go digging for them even if you don’t initially have data as a map.
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