Sustainability is Free

I remember meeting Philip Crosby, author of the book Quality is Free, in the late 1980’s after a speech at a large computer users’ conference. His topic, as always, was “quality” and he had an audience full of enthusiasts in IT departments and large IT vendors from around the world in attendance; he made the most of his opportunity. We all wanted to go home and “do it right the first time.”

As owner of a software support company, I see the cost of (and I profit from) poor quality in manufacturing software development every day. The costs of support for large systems sometimes exceeds the cost of the initial purchase within five years. What if your software never “broke”? You certainly would pay more up front but you would never pay for “annual support.”

Today I read an article in the April 2010 issue of “Material Handling Management” magazine that mentioned John Nofsinger’s ideas that sustainability perhaps is related to ideas about the cost of quality espoused by Crosby. Quality has indeed proven to be free in the last 20 years, in one way or another: Toyota, known for high quality products, recently had “accelerator problems” that have cost it a fortune. Is Sustainability Free also? That ultimately depends on what does it costs to fail. Remember BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill?

Today (May 1, 2010) I googled “sustainability is free” and found one direct reference on the first page of links: “Sustainability for Free?” at www.productinnovationeducators.com. The article references a study published by Elkington, Emerson & Beloe (2006) which defines the triple bottom line (financial, environmental and societal) and, in a link to a different posting in the same blog, relates it to the “3 P’s” of Profit, Planet, and People.

Here’s a quip attributed Crosby (perhaps via Henry Ford): “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” How do we motivate ourselves and our brethren to act sustainably when no one is looking? That is the question, but first I’ll present my ideas on the 3 P’s.

On the sustainability of profit I have only one thing to add because it’s obvious to me that a company must be profitable first. But apparently making money ethically is not as easy as bending morality, so I’d try to be ethically profitable. In a larger sense, it’s the economy that must be profitable to be sustainable. Economic growth has been a boon to mankind, so I’d say ethical “trade” in general is to be encouraged and the sustainability of humanity’s upward march depends on it (see also “the dark ages”).

The sustainability of the planet is a very long term concept to get your head around, involving not only our impact on its environment, but also the possibility of getting wiped out by an asteroid or a comet. Like profit, it is a given that we need to keep the earth from killing us and us from killing it.

People? Are we sustainable? That question could be taken to mean “as a species”, as in extinction is inevitable for our kind. But, I’ll take the other path about whether or not people can actually keep the first two P’s. And can we “respect” each other? All of us? People may be suckers, as PT Barnum said, but they have the internet and can communicate much faster now. New ideas spread around the world instantly. There is hope that education will filter down to the lowest levels, but it’s a long term deal like the sustainability of “the planet.”

Sustainability means doing it profitably, environmentally soundly, with respect for people, and with the best interests of your community, nation, and world in mind - when no one is looking. Surely the answer to how we motivate ourselves to do this involves not only awareness or Nature but also a conscience. That word con-science means “with science” to me.