How to create an actionable plan
When you’re trying to make progress on sustainability / impact it can feel overwhelming. There are so many things you could do. It’s hard to know where to start.
To create an actionable plan, you need to break things down into clear manageable chunks. Today, I’ll share some of my favourite ways of doing that by using an example.
Example
Let’s imagine that you work in an office and your task is to create a carbon reduction plan.
Step 1 - look at the data
You can’t tackle everything at once and so it makes sense to start with the areas that contribute the most to your carbon footprint.
If you’ve done a carbon footprint calculation then this should indicate which are the areas with the biggest emissions. Look at the data - what is it telling you?
In our example, let’s assume that the data tells you energy use is a large contributor to your carbon footprint. Given that reducing this is also relatively within your control, you decide to start here.
Step 2 - break it down using a tree diagram
‘Reducing energy use’ is still a big nebulous task. It doesn’t give you clarity on where to focus or what to do. We need to break it down further.
I like to use a tree diagram to do this.
The following image shows how you might break down ‘electricity use’ in our office example:
Step 3 - use small experiments to make progress
Some of the improvement areas you identify might be huge, complex and expensive. What’s the first quick, cheap experiment you can do to learn more?
For example, you might want to explore creating your own source of renewable electricity. Some small initial actions you could take are:
Invite several experts to visit your site and provide advice around feasibility, cost and timeframes.
Speak to similar businesses that have already started generating their own renewable energy – what lessons can they share?
These experiments aren’t going to achieve your objectives on their own. They WILL give you better insight into what you could do to achieve those objectives; and the cost and complexity of doing so.
For more practical advice on how to get clarity on what steps to take to scale up your impact, check out my FREE Scale Up Your Impact Guide: