If you think about it, success in the sustainability battle in our society…or do I dare say, success in going BEYOND sustainability, is rooted in behavior change. We focus on technology and inventions because it is easy and a tangible context for us to grasp. But really, when it comes down to it, any significant progress we will make in the direction of sustainability will be rooted in fundamental behavior change. Yes technological solutions can help, but only if they drive fundamental behavior change. An electric car sounds great…but if we keep escalating our demand for convenience and access to the rest of the world…won’t we just drive more? If the hindrances to our escalation behavior are taken away…we still are stuck with the same behavior. This will continue to escalate until we hit the next wall, ceiling, fall off a cliff…or whatever Armageddon metaphor you prefer.
This is not to argue that we should become hermits and deprive ourselves of our needs, wants and desires. Quite the contrary, the point is that product, business, and policy designers need to understand that the key to sustainability is to understand these basic human behaviors. We can either work to change behaviors or better yet, understand the behaviors…and work to satisfy them while alleviating their current consequences.
Back to my car issues…let’s take a look CO2 emissions from automobiles. The simple approach is technology. Electric cars for everybody! No CO2 problems! (Assuming we go to all solar and wind power…yes, a diversion of the problem..but I digress). But, sticking with just the car…is that the answer? Yes…if you only dig so deep. On the surface…a consumers “need” a vehicle. So designers/engineers come up with an electric version. But how does that picture change if we dig deeper? Do we need a car? Or do we really need transportation? Do we need transportation or do we really need groceries, to work in our office, and go to the beach on the weekends? If a designer was asked about groceries, the office, or the beach alone, would they end up with an electric car?
Granted, this dive down into people’s needs can go forever…but the point is as you dive into the behavior of an individual and the needs underlying their behavior, the opportunities to solve those needs and broaden immensely. If one goes deep enough, you can short circuit the environmental issue you have been battling and provide a sustainable solution by taking the environmentally offensive issue/product completely off the table. In effect you are not fighting the consumer’s needs or behaviors. Why would you? Needs and behavior’s are hard to change. Instead you are embracing them and just sending the manifestation of that need down a different path.
To me, that is how you provide real change. In future posts, let’s explore how design thinking approaches can help society down that path.
