“Drilling Up”: A Series of Sustainability Dispatches from Inside the Toughest Challenges in the Resource Sector

“If you want to work on the big stuff, sweat the small stuff”

“Leading without owning”

“Go slow to go fast”

“Going forward by working backwards’

‘‘If you want to engage differently externally, you have to think and act differently internally”

“Process is product; form is substance”

“A good way to a good place”

“Two ears and one mouth send one message”

“The world is a village; the village is a world”

“Values are the lens through which we see the world, and the world sees us”

“Values are who we are; power is what we can do to each other”

“People act in accordance with how they perceive their interests; changing perceptions is the energy of negotiations”

“Safespace”

“What you see depends on where you stand”

“Think big and small, not big or small”

“Being ‘open’ is the essence of dialogue”

“Dialogue is about discovering and discussing the reasons behind what we do, and won’t do; we all have ‘our reasons’”

“Seeing the road ahead takes both high beams and low beams”

“The river that divides the land gives the land its strength”

“Government – too small a word for too big a thing”

“Governments think slowly, and act clumsily”

“Governments think programmatically, not transactionally”

“Organizations are just a bunch of people; institutions are just old organizations”

“Sustainability is an ‘order of magnitude word’ – like capitalism and socialism, freedom and democracy – that can embrace many things in different ways in different places at different times”

“Being good is good, but not good enough: what creates value is doing and being seen to do good by others who see the world differently than you do”

Is the “ostensible problem” the ” real problem”? Problem solvers know that is the most important problem.

December 6, 2024
Mid Atlantic Ridge near Reykjavik as it works its way across Iceland.

Dispatch 4: The SEO* Starts Digging: Exploring the “Cracks” Within the Company and Beyond

“If you want to work on the Big stuff, sweat the small stuff.”  MEMO  From: Paola, Senior VP of Sustainability and Engagement* (“SEO”)  To: Joe, CEO, […]
November 22, 2024
Drilling up - Dispatch 3

Dispatch 3: The CEO’s Dilemma: The Cracks Inside Are On The Move

Knowing the Problem is the Problem Roger, the manager at Granger Mine, had recently entered into an agreement to purchase all the fuel required by the […]
November 15, 2024
Drilling up - Dispatch 2_ The Trojan Horse inside ESG_ The Cracks Hidden Within the Organization.png

Dispatch 2: The Trojan Horse inside ESG: The Cracks Hidden Within the Organization

“You cannot think and act differently externally if you do not think and act differently internally.”  The destruction of the sacred caves at Juukan Gorge in […]
November 14, 2024
Drilling up - Dispatch 1_ The Case for ESG+1

Dispatch 1: The Case for ESG+I

“It’s time to put the I into ESG!” This was the call to action from Indigenous Tahltan Elder Allen Edzerza, a prominent leader, colleague, and friend, […]