Join the Resource Revolution
Our recommended reading for December/January is “Resource Revolution: How to Capture the Biggest Business Opportunity in a Century” by Stefan Heck and Matt Rogers
In the face of an increasingly urbanised and resource hungry world, Heck and Rogers think that individuals, businesses, organisations and countries will need to significantly and radically improve the way we utilise our resources. In order to survive and thrive, we will need a “Resource Revolution”.
The core principles they present are scalable: they can be used to qualify personal purchasing decisions, to drive business strategies and to shape government policy and legislation.
A personal illustration were the choices we made when our family recently purchased a replacement dining suite. We chose to buy:
- a new table from a popular furniture store – made from wood reclaimed from a building demolished as a result of the Christchurch Earthquake
- pre-loved dining chairs sourced locally using the Trade-me platform (thanks Craig “great trade”) – interestingly the chairs (and Craig and his family) were also survivors of the Christchurch Earthquake and had all recently made their way up to Auckland.
Even though I needed the help of my niece to make the winning bid, and we had to manoeuvre our trailer down a steep drive-way, on a crowded and busy Auckland street (where the site of a trailer backing down a drive was worthy of the neighbourhood children’s curiosity), we are happy with our principled purchases. In case you are wondering, our pre-loved dining suite also found a new home.
The principles we adopted: increasing circularity (e.g. upgrade, re-use and recycle products) and the use of “virtual” solutions are detailed in Heck and Rogers’ book. Other principles include:
- Substitute away from scarce resources
- Eliminate waste (i.e. throughout the product life-cycle)
- Optimise efficiency, convenience, safety and reliability
If all this sounds challenging, the book presents a strong case that we have reason to remain optimistic. By embracing the opportunities arising from digital technologies, many strategies can be readily (and seamlessly) implemented to support these guiding principles. For example:
- in product development and delivery (e.g. 3-D printing) and through-out the product lifecycles (e.g. using sensors and smart devices) – to eliminate waste, optimise efficiency and reliability
- in the virtualisation of the development and delivery of products and services (e.g. books, magazines, music – are all increasingly developed and delivered in the digital space)
- in the development of more effective and efficient business models (e.g. Uber and AirBnb)
Please join me and embrace these simple principles; and if you are business leader, consider whether in preparing for a "Resource Revolution" you need to:
- improve your technology awareness and technology governance skills - to better understand the opportunities offered by digital technologies
- develop more efficient and effective decision making processes - to quickly identify and integrate new technologies, tools, and high productivity business models
- create more open, connected and sustainable business models and product/service delivery processes