How to rate the sustainability of your products with 4 simple but profound questions
Sustainability has many facets and therefore it is not a yes/no-question but rather a continuum (“How sustainable is it?”).
These 4 questions can serve as a rating system to rate products and services for their sustainability.
In one of my previous blog posts I stated that you should treat sustainability as a filter to complement the 3 circles of the “Desirable-Feasible-Viable”-Model.
The three circles will help you find innovations that make you successful on the market. The 3 circles answer the question “What is possible?”. But they will also deliver innovations that might or might not be sustainable. Sustainability should be treated as an additional filter to select the most sustainable from all solutions.
How to create a Sustainability-Filter?
We all know that sustainability has many facets and therefore it is not a yes/no-question (“Is it sustainable? Yes or No?”) but rather a continuum (“How sustainable is it?”).
So what can we use as a filter to separate sustainable from non-sustainable innovations?
In the following lines I share 4 questions that can serve as a filter and/or a rating system to rate products and services for their sustainability.
The questions are taken (and slightly simplified) from one of Raz Godelnik’s inspiring posts. I found those questions very profound and inspiring in my daily work in early stage innovation. So full credit to Raz Godelnik for those questions.
The rating system is quickly explained:
If you can answer the first question with a “yes” you get one star, if you can also answer the second question with a “yes” you get two stars and so on.
What I like about these questions is, that they are specific enough to trigger good discussions and to serve as a rating system. And yet they are broad enough to address the different aspects of sustainability and the big variety of products and services.
Question №1
Does your innovation have a net positive impact on the well-being of all key stakeholders?
To answer this question you first have to assess your eco-system
- Who are our key stake holders?
- What is our impact on their well-being?
- Is the net impact positive?
Question № 2
Does it use all types of capital responsibly?
Do not only think of money as capital, but also of human capital, materials, energy, data etc.
So also this question triggers a lot of deep subsequent questions such as
- What capitals does our product or service consume?
- What is “responsible”?
Question № 3
Does it create inter-generational value?
I personally like the twist that the third question takes:
Sustainability means to not only care for the current stake holders and their well-being but also for the next generation and their resources.
Question № 4
Does it fix a dysfunctional system (such as education, healthcare, food etc.)?
The fourth star is reserved for sustainability heroes!
To reach the highest rating of 4 stars, your product or service has to fix (or at least improve) a dysfunctional system. So roll up your sleeves and take the bull by the horns. No more excuses like “somebody else should do something about this big problem”.
Conclusion
No matter where you stand on the continuum of sustainability (or if you are just getting started): This rating system allows you to analyze and account for your current level of sustainability.
At the same time, it gives you the opportunity to plan your next step on your way to the 4 stars of sustainability.
