Sustainability by design - How we at diffferent are positioning ourselves to be resilient and future-proof
by Laura von Chamier
Ensuring their own future viability has become a key issue for companies. It is about far more than simply surviving in a constantly changing world:
It is about the long-term success of your own company. It is about sustainable growth. And it is about making a positive contribution to society and the environment alongside economic success.
Despite complex challenges, this requires consistent entrepreneurial decisions. It means innovating courageously and at the same time managing the ever faster dynamics of change and risks. Preserving its core, but at the same time breaking away from traditional patterns and allowing change.
We at diffferent have asked ourselves how a company can be built that is sustainable at its core - by design, so to speak. With this in mind, we have fundamentally changed the working model of our strategy consultancy. Three dimensions will be examined in more detail here:
Dimension 1: Business model
Radical customer centricity, dynamic innovation cycles and strategic partnerships
Sustainable business models are characterized by the meaningful integration of new technologies, benefit-oriented innovation, flexibility in the face of market changes and a strategic partner ecosystem. In addition to pure profit generation, they have a positive impact on social and ecological aspects and create added value for society and the environment.
At diffferent, the long-term success of our business units is based on radical customer centricity and rapid innovation cycles: every eight weeks, the current hypotheses and market-oriented activities of each business unit are reviewed for impact.
This allows us to continuously develop the optimal product-market fit for us and ensure that we provide answers to the changing market realities and needs of our customers. Our business divisions pursue market- and target group-specific go-to-market strategies and are based on the key levers for sustainable growth and business: brand, innovation, organization and sustainability.
Our consulting practice is based on the so-called “triple bottom line” philosophy and aims to combine economic success, social justice and ecological sustainability for each individual client challenge.
In addition, we focus on expertise and know where our services reach in the value chain and when we collaborate with the right partners within our network to offer holistic end-to-end solutions.
Dimension 2: Competence
Mastering complexity through multi-dimensional and future-oriented skills profiles
Complexity and ambiguity tolerance, technological competence, adaptability, vision, playfulness and creative thinking, global (responsibility) awareness and ethical behavior, cooperation and teamwork skills, etc. - The list of personal and collective key skills for shaping a sustainable and more liveable future is long.
In order for forward-looking companies to develop answers to the complex challenges of our time, they need people with diverse perspectives, bold ideas and knowledge that transcends specialist boundaries.
At diffferent, our employees therefore deepen their professional excellence in interdisciplinary groups around key areas of expertise such as sustainability management, foresight and data. Through our strength-based approach, we promote multi-dimensional T-shaped profiles that are able to recognize and respond to complex challenges and cross-cutting issues. Changing, interdisciplinary team setups turn our employees into collaboration experts who quickly find their feet in new teams and know how to use the various perspectives and strengths in a targeted manner.
The high degree of personal responsibility and self-management that our dynamic way of working demands trains them to deal with complexity, helps them to focus and increases their ability to reflect and make decisions, which is essential for overcoming complex challenges.
Dimension 3: KPIs and control logic
Long-term orientation through dynamic, holistic corporate management
How will a company define “success” in the future? Which dimensions, beyond sales growth and profit maximization, are used to measure success and which key performance indicators (KPIs) measure progress in these areas? Which management logics offer not only strategic stability, but also the necessary flexibility? What does the process behind this look like and what data needs to be collected?
diffferent is currently redefining precisely these questions. One thing is clear: the KPI and control logic will be dynamic and integrative in order to meet the needs of a learning organization. Our KPIs should take into account the dimensions of the 3 Ps (people, planet, profit) and involve various stakeholders in a participatory manner so that the effort remains proportionate.
Not just surviving in a dynamic world, but actively shaping it
The development of a sustainable company is not a one-off activity, but an ongoing process that requires constant adaptation and further development.
Sustainability by design means that companies integrate their ecological and social responsibility into their core strategy and entrepreneurial activities. They rely on cooperative partnerships and use competence-based synergies as the key to competitiveness. They can adapt their processes, structures and offerings quickly and flexibly to new requirements and promote a culture that is characterized by creativity, a spirit of experimentation, courage, integrity and consistency.
Through our dynamic innovation portfolio, the development of multidimensional competence profiles and the development of an adaptive management logic, we at diffferent have laid a foundation that enables us not only to survive in a dynamic world, but also to actively shape it.
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