There are many impactful measures small businesses can take to become more environmentally conscious and sustainable. Thinking of themselves as part of bigger systems which operate from an ecosystemic perspective is one of them. This means not only identifying their stakeholders in Edward Freeman (the philosopher known for his  work on stakeholder theory) terms, but also interacting with them in a meaningful way.

Although there have been many important advances in the field, with companies like Nike adding Global Sustainability executives to their staff, organizations have to be aware of not only how such advances apply to them, but also the tools and methods that they must employ in order to elevate the wellbeing of all.

During the pandemic SAAS tools have gained prominence when dealing with sustainability issues. One of these is Transparent Business, which enables small business owners to integrate teams in a platform where they can not only measure the time for particular projects, but also apply the “so called” glocallity (which means to think global and act local). These kinds of innovations let entrepreneurs not only save CO2 emissions with unnecessary travel and prevent diseases like COVID-19, but also work in highly creative, diverse, multicultural environments by promoting work life balance.

Tools like TB will be important, but they will need integration with other softwares such as Apambu. What is Apambu? It is a platform for managing all sustainability goals in one accessible place. This platform not only consolidates your company’s commitment to society and the environment by facilitating the strategic management of the 5 areas of corporate social responsibility (good governance, social, economic, labor and environmental), but also lets you choose your team, manage your data, build your strategy, and communicate your results online.

As sustainability involves all areas of a company, you can involve your staff and invite them to be part of the change. Integrating the information on the same platform and tracking it through dynamic dashboards, lets you make good decisions with a comprehensive view of the data. This not only increases productivity but also aids in obtaining reports according to legal requirements, attracting ESG2 investments, attaching evidence that ensures traceability and controlling the evolution of the business.

Nevertheless, it will be important to create integrated value with consciousness, which means having a holistic view of the organization in order to achieve sustainability standards, taking into account the resiliency of the members of the company. One specific case is Responsable and its French business owner Gweanelle Gerard, who after the September 19 earthquake in Mexico in 2017, had to redesign the company from within, not only giving psychological support to its staff, but also recreating processes and structures.

Developing generative social fields with deep dialogue that solve the three main divides (ecological, social and spiritual) that exist in our society in Otto Scharmer´s terms  will not only demand an innovative vision with an open heart, an open mind and an open will, but also a rethinking of who I am and who I want to be, as an individual, as a society and as part of a huge ecosystem in order to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

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