Sustainability at the Highest Level
In addition to his position at Dell, Bruno Sarda is also an adjunct professor and a Senior Sustainability Scholar for the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University.
He spent ten years with Charles Schwab working to change how the internet transformed the experience of the individual through the power of technology, and he has traveled the world speaking about sustainability and storytelling, focusing on the business end of sustainability.
Let the Customer Write the Story
Bruno has often had to lead disruptive and transformative change in sustainability over the course of his career. Which leads us to the question: What is his take on creating a sustainable story and identity for Dell?
The customers write the story as much as the company does. By creating initiatives that lend themselves to the sustainability of the environment, the consumer base becomes more empowered to participate.
By identifying the areas that directly impact customers and taking initiative to embrace sustainable options to address these areas, Dell creates a dialogue with customers that includes them in the ongoing storytelling process. (highlight to tweet) This has led to innovations in technology and has reduced carbon emissions.
“Doing these things, even though you might argue from a life cycle footprint perspective it’s not necessarily the most impactful thing, creates really amazing stories for our engineers, for our designers, for our employees, for our customers to really kind of illustrate what’s possible.”
In This Episode
- What happens to technology when a technology company is done with it
- Dell’s sustainable technology innovations and initiatives locally and globally
- Using the power of story to connect sustainability to technology
- Empowering customers to join the story
Quotes From This Episode
“You start with the end in mind and then you make sure you sell the why, not just the what. You try to really describe it, to use stories, to use examples. You try to get people to experience what that future state might feel like.” —@bruno68
“‘Technology isn’t about technology;’ technology is about what it can do and specifically it’s really about enabling human potential.” —@bruno68
“Change is hard, even when it’s change people want. It’s hard because we’re set in our ways. There are routines, there are distractions, there are barriers, there are all kinds of dragons that get in the way.” —@bruno68
“What I found works really well is to get people really excited about the desired outcome. Because if you get excited about the desired outcome, then it makes all the work needed to reach that outcome easier because you can always relate it back to ‘what am I doing this for?'”—@bruno69
“Sustainability is a pathway to something better, a means to the end. It’s not an end in itself.” —@bruno68 (highlight to tweet)
Resources
- www.bsarda.blogspot.com
- Bruno Sarda’s Twitter
- Bruno Sarda’s LinkedIn
- Dell’s sustainable mushroom packaging
- Dell’s Design for the Environment
- www.Businessofstory.com