I had to pinkie swear with my nine year-old daughter last night that I would do something for her today. Yes, that little thing you do with your pinkies to let your child know that you will commit to getting it done. These things are important in the life of a nine year-old child!
Pinkie swears are the ultimate form of commitment a parent can give their child. This commitment reminded me of something I heard on Friday at the Sustainability Applied 2011 Conference in Windsor, Ontario.
Cam Metcalf is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center at the University of Louisville. He is a national leader in Pollution Prevention and was a ‘dumpster diver’ before many of us were in diapers! Cam gives honest and animated presentations about P2 and other things environmental for industry.
One of his favourite terms (which most of us have heard time and time again) is the short description for ISO standards: DO WHAT YOU SAY, AND SAY WHAT YOU DO. Period.
The ISO 9000 Quality Management Standards and ISO 14001 Environment Management Standard have been around for a while; they are being joined this week by ISO 50001 – Energy Management Standard. Any way you slice it; all three have the same thing in common: do what you say and say what you do, including 50001 around managing your energy use (generally otherwise known as your carbon footprint – more or less).
I encourage you to check out ISO 50001 – early adoption may help you get a jump on competitors if your customers start asking for adherence to the standard sometime down the road.
Bottom line – think of your management systems like a pinkie swear with your kids – you don’t want to let them down, nor should you with internal and external customers and stakeholders.
Ps. Kudos to OCETA (now known as BLOOM) for hosting a wonderful and valuable Sustainability Applied 2011 Conference last week. I look forward to Sustainability Applied 2012.
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