What makes a green team succeed? It is money? Time? Power? In this case it was none of the these ...
We were very fired up. We had a big first workshop together where we learned, planned, dreamed and got busy doing. We set out on a journey to reduce our organisation's energy bill by 15% in one year. Based on our assessments the retrofits needed to reach this target were decamping over lit areas, a switch off campaign, thermostat control and urn replacement (did you know that an old urn running 24/7 can cost $3000 a year to run?). We also planned a one year retrofit and behaviour change program that involved secret frog awards, education sessions, progress updates for team meetings, events, a competition between sites for the best outcome, support from the CEO/Executive and posters, stickers and emails.
We had four sites to cover and appointed Green Team representatives for each site to guide, challenge, enable and inspire their site on the journey.
After the year was up the power bill results came in. Below are the results. The reasons why provide powerful learning for change makers:
Site One: 11% reduction - this site housed the respected and friendly Green Team Manager and was the site where most Green Team meetings occurred and so had the highest turnout.
Site Two: 12% reduction - this site housed an overly competitive, passionate and boundary pushing Green Team Representative who punched the air when the results came in.
Site Three: 2% reduction - this smaller site swapped Green Team representatives mid year as a staff member left the organisation.
Site Four: 0% change - this site lost their Green Team Representative at the start of the year and took nine months to appoint a new person. It's fair to say that nothing happened.
I recently heard a great description of Leadership: Moral Craft. The moral part is deep within. It's your character, ethics, morals, authenticity and sense of service. When the chips are down and a snap decision is required this is what you rely on to lead. The other part of the equation is craft. It means doing something. You can't be a leader unless you actually DO something. In the case of this great organisation, we found that you can't run a campaign if you're not at the table. They saved a solid $9,000 from their efforts. If the other two sites were along for the ride they would have doubled the result.
I often say to groups that the first step on a journey is to get to the station and to decide to get on the train. We can't be half on a train ...