If you haven’t seen the latest modular home designs, you really need to check them out.  If you think you’ve seen it all, you are infor a surprise: They are cool, funky, creative and green!

-There’s the Dice House, a 30’ by 30’ by 30’ cube that produces 90 percent of the home’s energy needs through a photovoltaic umbrella dome.  This dome traps heat, which warms water and heats the home, and with photovoltaic cells, produces approximately 33 kilowatt hours per day.

-Then there’s the Hip Pod House, made from renewable materials

 -The Magma Design LoftFloat, which is completely solar powered

-The Hillside Pod Home, offering 360 degree views

- Straw and Hemp homes, which are airtight, mold resistant and completely carbon negative

- and the Global Sustainable Home by John Farag, which eliminates sewer and water infrastructure by using dry composting toilets and  air-to-water condenser to create fresh water .

If ever there was an industry that needs an overhaul, it is the construction industry.  Most of its practices, from ripping apart and eroding the natural landscape to emitting untold toxins into the soil and air, can be eliminated, or nearly so, in the controlled environment of a modular buildings factory.  Why modular buildings have not gained greater ground in the construction industry is a mystery, but probably due mostly to inertia. Modulars are gaining ground, however. 

Once relegated to rural construction, where it wasn’t economically feasible to build site-built homes, modular homes are now becoming mainstream. 

Once relegated to rural construction, where it wasn’t economically feasible to build site built homes, modular homes are now becoming mainstream.  Not to be confused with mobile homes, which are built to codes generally considered to be of lesser quality, modular homes are built to the same high standards of site homes. They are constructed in factories far away from their ultimate destinations and when completed, are essentially indistinguishable from typical site-built homes. Yet, many agree that modular homes are not only equal to site-built homes, but indeed superior to them.

Consider these advantages of modular homes:

They are economical:  By being built in factories, economies of scale prevail and bulk pricing for materials are passed on to the homeowner. Delivery fees, which are significant for site built homes, are non-existent for modulars. Construction site theft is not an issue, and construction delays disappear. Finally, the speed of construction means a faster return on investment. 

They are environmentally friendly:  Under modular factory conditions, waste is monitored and reduced; with site built homes, the waste can fill several dumpsters.  Airborne dust and pollution are controlled in a factory setting, and workers are protected by state and federal health mandates.  With site-built homes, workers usually have to commute many miles to the worksite, as do delivery trucks, numerous times over the course of several months.  By contrast, the amount of energy spent on transportation with a modular home is reduced to a single delivery. Further, with site-built homes, the lot’s natural vegetation is scraped away so the typical two to ten delivery trucks a day can come and go easily. The land is often further degraded by toxins from engine leaks and spilled solvents. With modulars, toxins are minimized, and there is little disruption to the landscape, as there is no need to remove much, or any, of the natural vegetation.

They are stronger, tighter, more energy efficient:  When FEMA studied the destruction in Dade County, Florida after Hurricane Andrew, they concluded that modular and masonry homes fared best compared to other construction, such as typical “stick” construction.  In addition to being stronger, modular homes are more energy efficient.  Because it doesn’t face the vicissitudes of weather, the wood in modular homes doesn’t warp, leading to tighter construction and better insulation.  And some modular homes are built with solar panels, rainwater harvesting and water saving systems, as well.    

They are cool and customizable:  There are modular commercial, office, industrial, educational and health care buildings too, with designs that range from traditional to ultra contemporary. 

Next time you consider moving to or building a new home or office, look into modular buildings first.  You may be able to get exactly what you want for less cost to you and to the environment.

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If the march of progress is inexorably forward, what happens when we reach the edge of a cliff?  This is the question asked by Yvon Chouinard, septuagenarian rock climber, surfer, founder of the Patagonia outdoor clothing line and philanthropist in the movie 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless.

This beautifully filmed movie features long-time friends Chouinard and Douglas Tompkins, founder of The North Face, and their attempts to save vast swaths of wilderness from the press of development.  It begins with the 10,000 mile sea voyage of Jeff Johnson, a young rock climber inspired by Chouinard and Tompkins, who aims to climb Cerro Corcovado peak in Patagonia, in southern Argentina.  During the voyage, the mast of the sailboat collapses and breaks, and the crew is forced to motor 400 miles to Easter Island (Rapa Nui) for repairs.

While on Rapa Nui, Johnson learns about the history of the island’s moai – the famous statues of large, stone heads carved by the indigenous population. The moai line the island’s coast, which is no small feat considering the lack of industrial tools when they were created. According to local legend, the problem of transporting these large rocks to every corner of the island was solved by cutting down trees and rolling the rocks on top of them to their destination.  Unfortunately, in each clan’s or tribe’s desire to create more statues than the next tribe over, all the island’s trees were cut down, leaving a denuded landscape void of timber. The population of the island dropped from around 3,000 to 111 people by 1877. (The effects of deforestation on the population, some say, were less than the slave raiding and disease introduced by Europeans, however).

Fast forward to Santiago, Chile. Repaired, the sailboat crosses to the mainland and Johnson lands in Santiago, the capital. Larger than Los Angeles, it is a sprawling megalopolis. To provide energy to its urban population, the Chilean government has “sold” its rivers to power companies, which are rapidly damming them. Further, wood pulp companies have built huge factories next to waterways to provide timber for urban development, poisoning the water and air, and destroying the local fishing and agricultural way of life of the area’s inhabitants.  

This is where Chouinard and Tompkins come in. Tompkins and his wife purchase 2 million acres of pristine, undeveloped land in Chile and Argentina, for the purpose of restoring, protecting and donating as national parks. Tompkins and local vaqueros then join forces and actively protest the construction of dams on two of Chile’s wildest rivers.

The primary consumers of the dam’s power are vast distances away from the dams, and, as pointed out by one Chilean researcher, are so removed from the process that they aren’t really aware of its true cost.

The Chilean saga is not unique – it has been repeated in its many manifestations since the Industrial Revolution.  But how long can it go on?  How long until, like the legend of Rapa Nui, there is nothing left?

Back to Chouinard’s question regarding the forward march of progress.  Many believe that moving toward sustainability requires us to move backward, backward along the path of progress.

As Chouinard points out in the movie, however, when you come to the edge of cliff, you never walk backwards from the cliff edge.  At the same time, you don’t continue moving forward right off the edge of the cliff.  Instead, what you do is turn around and move forward – but in a different direction.

In reality, sustainability is not about going backwards. It is about using what we know now to make ourselves more efficient and more effective in our use of resources, both human and natural.  Sustainability is about being creative, innovative, inventive and forward looking, not about returning to the Stone Age.

Sustainable business practices will improve your company’s profitability, contributing to its bottom line over the long-term.  But it will also contribute to the bottom line of reducing everyone’s “footprint” on the planet, making the planet a better place, for all of us, and our children, over the long-term. 

And don’t think that sustainability is only about big fixes and dramatic action. Small efforts add up quickly. Employees at Park&Co., an advertising agency, decided to limit themselves to one ream of paper per person per year, saving the company paper and saving trees in the process. What can you do to reduce your company’s energy demands?  What processes can you implement to save resources?

Many people believe we have reached a tipping point with the world’s resources—that we are on the edge of the cliff.  Can we turn around and move forward toward sustainability, rather than heading over the cliff?  It is up to us to decide.

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Last week’s blog post “The Challenge of Change” discussed the three steps to change as according to authors Chip and Dan Heath in their book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard (Random House Inc.).

Of the three steps in bringing about change, the second is the most critical. That step is to appeal to the emotions, rather than to the reason, of the people you want to change. If someone agrees to make a change on an emotional level, from their heart, most of the work is already done, and the change will be lasting. That’s because decisions they make will come from the perspective of who they are and what someone like them would do if faced with a challenge like they are facing. 

Any effort at change that contradicts or violates someone’s identity is likely to fail.

The difficulty is finding out what appeals to the emotions of a variety of employees, and what they identify with, as each has his or her own needs and values.

According to the authors, one way to get a number of people “on the same page” emotionally is to create an identity that they all willingly adopt. One example they provide is of a can manufacturing company in Brazil. This company had been in business for many years and was doing well, but management wanted to take the company to the next level. They decided to address all their employees as “inventors” and to challenge them with being on the lookout for new innovations.  When new employees joined the company, they signed “Innovation Contracts.”  “Inventing” became a part of everyone’s job, even though most of the workers had no experience in engineering or mechanics.  Procedures were set up so that submitting ideas was easy.

In 2008, employees submitted 134,846 ideas – an average of 145.2 per inventor!  Most of the inventions were for new products and energy-saving ideas.

Another example provided by the authors was of an accounting department manager who was rigid and uncompromising when he was asked to alter his invoicing and funds disbursement system to accommodate some valued clients. It wasn’t until this manager was taken to the offices of one of their non-profit clients and saw first-hand how his system was negatively affecting them that he changed.  At that moment, he realized he was not being the person he wanted to be – he did not want to be seen, or to see himself, as the “problem.” He identified so much with being part of the “solution” that he became an advocate for them, rather than the opponent he had been, and he innovated changes to his accounting system above what had been requested of him.

Zappos, the online shoe sales company, has a rigorous hiring process, making potential employees go through several rounds of interviews and personality tests. When they have made it to the final stage, potential employees are offered a relatively large sum to not take the job. This last weeding out phase ensures that Zappos only hires the people who have the qualities they are looking for. Once hired, Zappos employees are a part of an exclusive group, with a strong identity of being one of the chosen few to work for the best company in that space.

Aligning the identities of your employees with the values and goals of your company will go a long way towards bringing about changes that last. How can your company reinforce or cultivate its identity and those of its employees to maximize employee engagement?

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You can argue for incremental change if things are good enough. Until they get bad enough, you can’t talk about transformational change.”

–Rick Stansley, chairman of the board at the University of Toledo’s Innovation Enterprises, as quoted by USA Today

Adaption and change are essential to the survival of species. They are equally essential to the survival of companies, especially in environments that are rapidly evolving, such as this “Great Recession” we are currently experiencing.

Yet making transformational changes can be one of the most difficult things an organization can undertake. Many people resist change, for a variety of reasons. They don’t like leaving their comfort zone. They don’t feel the need for or are afraid of change. They don’t see a personal benefit to change. Or they actively disagree with the change.

How do businesses successfully implement change? How do they overcome the resistance that commonly accompanies change? How can they make the changes last over time? According to Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard (Random House Inc.), there are three steps to implementing change:

1. Provide a clear, specific picture of the change to all those who are involved or affected

2. Appeal to the emotions, rather than to the reason, of those who are needed to implement the change

3. Outline the steps or provide a “script” for employees to follow when implementing the change

Providing a clear picture of what the changes will look like gets everyone on the same page. If only a few people in upper management understand what the changes are about, it won’t make any sense to those who are asked to implement the change. Not knowing what the end result is supposed to look like will keep people confused, resistant and immobilized.

But even if the changes are spelled out, illustrated, supported with facts and figures and presented to everyone in the organization, you can still find your organization at a standstill. That’s because the most important element of initiating change is to obtain emotional buy-in. Without emotional support, all the logic in the world will fall on deaf ears.

The power of emotion cannot be underestimated – it is the difference between success and failure in implementing change. In one non-profit, the board and staff had been conducting their affairs in the same way for the past 30 years. Everything was still done manually, without the use of computers. It wasn’t until the organization felt the pain of losing its endowment fund and closing its doors that they moved into the digital age and began to operate more efficiently, despite numerous attempts by a couple of newcomers to convince them to do so much earlier. Finding the right emotional motivator can be very challenging. Some people are motivated by risk aversion (losing market share, losing one’s job), others by the potential of growth (potential for career advancement, more income), and yet others are motivated by doing good (reaching more people who need the organization’s products or services). People can be motivated by multiple, changing emotions, which adds further complexity to the issue. Finding the right motivators is critical, however, even if it means repeated attempts to do so.

Once you have buy-in, you are well on your way! Now, you need to provide goals and steps along the path. Of course, situations are fluid so the steps should not be overly detailed, giving your employees the option to improvise, if needed. Follow-up and feedback are essential, too, until the changes have taken root.

Adapting and changing will not only help your company survive, but indeed thrive, in an ever-evolving environment.

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It seems so simple, almost as if it should go without saying.  But so many of us forget to do it that it is the number one reason employees quit their jobs.  What is this simple thing?  Recognition.  Recognition for a job well done on big projects as well as for small, daily contributions.

Studies have shown that the overwhelming reason people leave their jobs is because of bad managers.  A 2010 Towers Watkins Global Workforce Study showed that 80% of companies in 2009 said that leadership was a top driver for engagement. But “confidence in leaders and managers—particularly their competence and support—is low, especially in terms of interpersonal or “relational” (versus operational) aspects of their roles. Employees appear hungry for an emotional connection to their management teams that they feel is conspicuously absent right now. This is especially disturbing given the central role that leadership continues to play in driving employee engagement.” And the biggest complaint about leadership is that managers ignore their employees.  Why is this such a widespread, destructive phenomenon?

Managers are often not trained to become managers – many are promoted to management positions because they did their prior job well.  Of course, the skills for doing a particular job don’t necessarily lend themselves to knowing how to be a good manager.  Management primarily entails planning, directing, supervising, monitoring a group of individuals to accomplish goals and directives, but very few new managers are given adequate training for these new responsibilities.

It’s been said that it takes five compliments to outweigh negative feelings from a single criticism. That’s a lot of positive feedback to counteract the negative!  And yet, being ignored completely can be even worse than  being criticized.  People who are ignored by their managers dislike their jobs, and feel that they are not doing anything important.  They feel invisible, their productivity drops, and they are merely at their desks to put in their time until they can find a better job.

Engaged employees, those who like their jobs and who stay with their employer longer, feel like valuable members of a team, that their contributions count.  They are significantly more productive.  Studies have shown that the energy level of engaged employees stays high throughout the workday, while the energy level of unhappy employees falls dramatically from 9 a.m. until they are ready to go home, according to Tom Rath and James K. Harter, authors of Well-being: The Five Essential Elements (Deckle Edge).

In the 2008 Blessing White Study “The State of Employee Engagement,” the correlation between engagement and retention was clear, with 85% of engaged employees indicating that they plan to stay with their employer through 2008. Further, the study states that “engaged employees stay for what they give (they like their work); disengaged employees stay for what they get (favorable job conditions, growth opportunities, job security).”

 The difference between happy, productive and engaged employees and those looking to find another job usually boils down to managers who recognize their employees on a regular basis, versus those who do not.  Some managers use salaries and titles to motivate their employees, but these have proven to be less effective over time than praise and recognition.

Recognition must be genuine and specific.  It must be tied to a particular act or accomplishment.  General statements, such as “good job,” are usually meaningless and ineffective. Better to say, “I really appreciate your comments in the meeting today – you gave us something to think about.”  And while praise should be given on a regular, ongoing basis, it must be sincere.  Saying something just to do so will sound hollow.  If you can’t find something positive to say, either work harder at it, or perhaps you actually have a problem employee.

Recognition for small things goes a long way towards keeping employees engaged on a day to day basis.  But if you want to motivate your employees to go to an entirely new level, consider combining praise with rewards.  Rewards can range from inexpensive gift cards given on a sporadic basis to larger, more expensive prizes for accomplishing major goals. 

Praise, especially when given publicly, combined with valuable rewards, can excite employees to go beyond their normal duties, to think outside the box, and to take “ownership” of their work.  Now, that’s employee engagement!

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Part III:  Today’s Idea Management and Employee Engagement Systems

Everyone is familiar with the image of the suggestion box as the front end of a trash can. Suggestion boxes are, by themselves, of little value. Reaping the benefit of “suggestions,” or, more generally, ideas, requires more than simply writing down a suggestion and putting it into a box. Indeed, the old fashioned wooden suggestion box has come to symbolize the failure of idea and suggestion systems in general. 

 Successful suggestion systems are much more comprehensive and share several common characteristics: 

• They are simple to participate in and all employees are actively encouraged to participate
• All ideas, not matter how trivial, are subjected to a structured process of evaluation that provides rapid feedback
• Ideas that are accepted are implemented as rapidly as possible
• Rewards–whether monetary, recognition or merit based–are made commensurate with the value or benefit of the idea 

Computers helped us in many ways move beyond the simple wooden suggestion box and slips of paper, serving as collection points with electronic forms and storage devices for ideas with databases. As the Internet took hold, organizations could rapidly and cheaply gather input from more and more people. 

Now, taking that process to a whole new level are the Web 2.0 tools, in particular social media tools. They have opened up the suggestion box to internal and/or external stakeholders, enabling robust idea management:  the inventing, refining, commenting on and rapid ranking of ideas in an open forum.

Companies can now make use of their organization’s collective intelligence, engage employees and, in Lincoln’s words, bring that collective intelligence “to bear on decisions as they are made,” in other words, in real time. 

Idea Management has become the replacement term for the suggestion box and associated suggestion systems. As a buzzword, Idea Management has been defined as the practice of gathering and evaluating ideas in a structured fashion, with a goal of selecting the best ideas with the greatest bottom-line potential for implementation.  

Indeed, all suggestion systems that provide benefits of any kind can more broadly be seen as “employee engagement” systems. Such systems foster the ongoing development of employee capabilities, create desire on the part of employees to use those abilities cooperatively for the benefit of the entire enterprise, and then provide the processes, tools and techniques for harnessing and mobilizing increased employee capability and desire. 

The wooden suggestion box was simply a primitive tool for gathering ideas. It was merely the tip of an iceberg. From the beginning, truly successful suggestion systems have relied on much more than just the wooden suggestion box:  They have been comprehensive employee engagement programs.

Read Part I and Part 2 of the Suggestion Box Series by Sally.

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