Despite sometimes losing focus, this book provides some useful green solutions for economic revival

Green Recovery contains what the author, Andrew Winston, describes as “a set of prescriptions for companies that want to stay healthy today and also get ready for the inevitable upturn to come”. Grouping together its suggestions under the four headings of getting lean, getting smart, getting creative and getting your people engaged, Winston makes a strong argument, supported with concrete suggestions and examples, for considering “green” aspects of corporate performance as a core part of business performance, even in these tough times.

The lowest-hanging fruit is tackled first in the “getting lean” chapter, namely the near-immediate cost savings that can be realised through eco-efficiency initiatives. From switching to energy-efficient lighting and tackling energy-greedy data centres to reducing the need for travelling with the use of teleconferencing, the author presents the reader with plenty of shovel-ready projects, nearly all of which, it is claimed, have a payback of two years or less.

One interesting anecdote in this section relates to IT managers’ fear of a “CNN moment”. Clothing company J Crew’s computer servers crashed when Michelle Obama was seen wearing a pair of its gloves on inauguration day, and fears of such surges of online interest have led to overconsumption, with servers idling most of the time, wasting energy.

Measure and reduce

The following chapter, on “getting smart”, also contains much advice of use even in the present situation of ailing cashflows and balance sheets. It begins with a description of the “Prius effect”, which refers to the reductions in resource usage that can be expected when users are presented with, for example, fuel-efficiency data, as on the dashboard of the Toyota Prius.

It then discusses how the collection and analysis data relating to a company’s environmental performance can lead to cost savings and help direct innovation. While this reader was left a little sceptical that environmental data per se is of particular relevance, over and above more general data relating to costs, as is discussed elsewhere in the book, there can be little doubt that this type of data will become more valuable as environmental legislation and consumer interest become ever more exacting. One slightly strange aspect of this chapter was Winston’s naming of a sustainability manager while being explicitly secretive about the company for which he works, which of course can easily be discovered online.

The chapter about “getting creative”, is less impressive. While presenting a reasonably familiar story about disruptive innovations and the value of heretical questions in a clear and nicely digested manner, it was not always clear what specific relevance much of it had to the present economic climate. It presents a nice quote from the president of Xerox about the danger that, by shrinking its budget for innovation in times of crisis, it could score a “near-term victory but lose the war”, but much of what follows relates to business outside the context of the current crisis.

From preparing for looming new environmental regulation to planning for $500-per-barrel oil, much of the chapter has no direct bearing on how companies can survive today. While, for example, the story of Boeing’s experimenting with non-fossil-fuel aircraft is interesting, what has that got to do with today’s economic situation?

The chapter about the fourth strategic area, that of “getting your people engaged”, gets back on track by talking about why the environmental aspect of cost efficiencies can help motivate employees. Winston writes: “Getting lean is moderately exciting, but people will be more motivated if they’re doing it for the dual purpose of profit and environmental concern.” He goes on to suggest that employees can be further motivated with incentives, pay, recognition and the like.

Again, though, much of the chapter is devoted to issues not necessarily related to the current economic situation, such as the political response to climate change and the fact that resources are finite, and may therefore be of little benefit to those readers attracted by the “recovery” aspect of the book’s title.

Green Recovery offers an energetic, concise summary of many of the green solutions that companies should be looking at even in times of crisis. And it provides lots of suggestions and anecdotes that could be of help to sustainability managers looking to make changes for the current economic situation. Like so many business books, the arguments sometimes come across as more rhetorical than watertight and logical, while some of the writing is also quite breathless. But for those on the lookout for a new angle or argument, this book is certainly worth a read.

Green Recovery: get lean, get smart, and emerge from the downturn on top
By Andrew S Winston
Hardcover: 200 pages, $18/£12.99
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Published: August 2009
ISBN-10: 1422166546
ISBN-13: 978-1422166543



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