Sustainability: Agencies have a lot of ’splaining to do
Marketers of “a certain age” will catch the “I Love Lucy” reference in the headline of this post. But what I’m really referring to are the enormous communications challenges facing federal agencies as they move to implement the Obama administration equivalent of Executive Order (EO) 13423.
EO 13423 requires federal agencies to “lead by example in advancing the nation’s energy security and environmental performance.” Much of this week’s Green Computing Summit in Washington, DC focused on EO 13423—what agencies have accomplished and what remains to be done.
The goals of EO 13423 are pretty extensive considering that the outgoing administration is not widely regarded as being particularly friendly to the environment. Just a sampling of objectives set by the order include:
- Increasing agency purchases of hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles.
- Reducing petroleum consumption in fleet vehicles
- Reducing overall energy intensity by 30% by 2015
- Constructing or renovating buildings in compliance with sustainable practices
- Purchasing electronic products that comply with Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) standards
- Enabling Energy Star® power management features on all computers and monitors
Keep in mind that these aren’t suggestions but mandates; agencies must comply unless President Obama repeals the order. I think it’s safe to say the chances of that are pretty small. The incoming administration is much more likely to think these requirements don’t go far enough.
That means big changes are coming as the government gets serious about sustainability. And the bigger the change, the more vital it is to communicate clearly. Sustainability isn’t rocket science but it’s close. Almost every choice involves economics, science, technology, acquisition policy, and the usual hefty dose of politics. Here, success depends on buy-in, buy-in depends on understanding, and understanding depends on the ready availability of good explanations.
Achieving the goals of EO 13423 involves reorienting behavior that’s been reinforced by decades of practice, policy, and even legislation. So how can government inspire people to feel excited rather than threatened by the prospect of change? How can agencies encourage employees and citizens to become active participants in the process?
The answer is by communicating effectively at every level, every stage and every opportunity. If they’re going to get it done, they have to get it across. The future of the world and of the country may actually depend on it.
Well said. It’s all a step in the right direction.
Do you think that some progressive agencies may learn from the scorecards created to support communication around the President’s Management Agenda? This EO provides a real opportunity to align internal initiatives with objectives and articulate that “strategy map” through a performance management system. In the private sector, there is a growing recognition that the data supporting these measures is a valuable corporate asset. SAS is helping organizations identify additional cost savings (fuel and electricity), forecast areas of largest growth (top 10 list), and model a carbon footprint by building or business unit or service provided. For government leaders, this may be one way to channel positive energy towards accomplishing the mandates.
I think you’ve hit on the single most crucial factor for success with your comment. In his luncheon keynote speech at the Summit, Joe Cascio, the Federal Environmental Executive, described how just a modest incentive (steak dinners!) lit a fire under his people and motivated phenomenal compliance by creating a bit of friendly competition. Implicit in such a competition though is the ability to baseline a starting point and accurately measure performance in order to fairly determine a “winner.” Without good data (hopefully available through enhancements to existing systems), agencies will certainly miss a significant opportunity for channeling positive energy. But beyond that, they won’t know where they started, where they are, or where they’re headed. Mr. Cascio strongly indicated that usable, trustworthy data and effective environmental management systems will be vitally essential to agencies’ effectiveness. They will need scorecarding and other forms of “green intelligence” to develop realistic forecasts, identify scenarios, develop sound strategies, and execute smartly. Otherwise, they’ll be shooting blind and they won’t have much to communicate.