Innovation as a Green Strategy: State of Green Business panel discussion

During the first panel of today's forum, leaders in green business innovation discussed sustainability in business practices: Will it catch on? Is it a viable business model? Who is the green consumer?

Robert Shelton, Director, PRTM and author, "Making Innovation Work," served as moderator and posed a provocative question, given the forum's coincidence with Groundhog Day: we've seen this happen before -- where oil prices rise, interest in green rises with it, funds get allocated to fund alternative solutions, people motivate and then the price of oil falls and it all falls apart. Will this happen again?

Peter Williams, CTO at IBM's Big Green Innovations was the most optimistic about green as business strategy. "Well, we can make a boatload of money" going green, which is how we know it will be different this time. "You don't have to believe in this -- just sell it. Follow the money," Williams advised. Dawn Danby, Sustainable Design Program Manager at Autodesk, echoed Williams' sentiment. "It's strategic. If you are not looking at conserving resources, you will not be strategic."

From right to left: Autodesk's Dawn Danby, Peter Williams from IBM, IDEO's Valerie Casey, and Robert Shelton from PRTM discuss Innovation as a Green Strategy at the Forum. Photo by Christina Koci Hernandez.

Valerie Casey, Global Practices Head at IDEO, chimed in noting that it may take too long for green to be viable for some businesses to float it. "It's fine for us to say it's strategic, but it takes a long time to see returns on green investments. We hobble ourselves by looking for ROI within 6 months…some companies aren't going to survive 6 months." At IDEO, Casey noted that green is not a specific segment of the business; rather it is "fully integrated into our business models...and the work we do at IDEO"

And what about in a down economy -- how do you make this work then, Shelton inquired. Williams and Darby continued along the same path, asserting that clients will save good money, so sustainability just makes sense.

Panelists agreed that changing the business model is harder than changing business practices, but the business model is of critical importance. Sustainability must be integrated into a business' core operations. For example, Williams noted that if the task of reducing carbon emissions sits with the head of CSR, "I will conclude that the company is not serious about getting it done. If that responsibility sits with head of supply chain or manufacturing then I know they are serious -- they are integrating day to day operations with green awareness."

Understanding the green consumer is not so easy. Shelton pointed out that innovation usually comes from a deep understanding of consumer needs. But this hasn't been so simple in green. Even at IDEO, where getting inside the consumer's frame of mind is central, Casey explained that the green consumer hasn't been entirely identified. "What is the core green consumer demand?...Paul Hawken says, 'a green consumer is a consumer who doesn't buy anything.'"