My philosophy is one of sustainable abundance. I think the only viable path forward is creating a world where everyone can share in the wealth and the growth that an economy produces, and the production itself is sustainable.
Justin Bean’s first day at the INSEAD Business Sustainability Programme was an eye-opening one. The class was divided into groups to solve a sustainability problem, with each group role-playing a different business within an industry. As each of them strove to advocate for their company’s best interests, no team was able to reach a conclusion.
“There was a very visceral, emotional feeling that everyone took away from the simulation — that we had all failed. We're all supposed to be smart, experienced people coming to one of the best educational institutions on the planet, yet we had all just completely failed on day one.”
But apart from the “emotional humbling” experience, the lesson — that collaboration between industry players is necessary to make sustainability initiatives a success — hits home. The challenge was also a refreshing expansion of perspective and exactly what Justin was looking for.
Standing in the gap between people, the planet and profit
Justin’s interest in doing business for good was piqued back when he was still an undergraduate student. After completing a sustainability-focused MBA at Presidio Graduate School, he entered the startup world, hoping to use smart-city technology to find a balance between people, the planet and profit.
“The startup was looking at the smart parking ecosystem to figure out how to help people stop people driving in circles looking for a parking space, which would reduce both carbon emissions and frustration.
It was a win-win approach to make it more convenient for the consumer, more sustainable for the environment, and to help the city run better.”
This ultimately paved the way for Justin to join and become the global marketing director of his current organisation’s smart city business in 2016. In 2021, he moved to the Environment Business Division, where he describes the work to be similar to an accelerator or incubator: the team builds new solutions and handles the commercialisation of new businesses. This includes everything from research to go-to-market strategy and partnership ecosystem development for new products and services, all with a focus on sustainability.
“Our goal is to look for opportunities in the area of sustainability or that create environmental value. For example, we are currently working on areas such as energy-as-a-service, second-life batteries, the circular economy, and looking for opportunities where we can incubate a business that is synergistic or complementary to initiatives being developed by other business units.”
Years of experience aside, Justin recognised that it had been more than a decade since his MBA.
“The world had changed a lot. Back then we were having discussions on whether solar panels would be cheap enough to compete with the grid, but now we’ve reached grid parity in most places around the world… We’ve also seen such an amazing explosion of sustainability with progress in Fortune 500 companies and even smaller startups...with so much change, I wanted a refresher.”
This led him to the INSEAD Business Sustainability Programme.
Seeing sustainability from different angles
Justin shares that one of the biggest takeaways from the programme was how it helped him “see the forest for the trees”.
Working with classmates from different industries and nationalities helped remove the “blinders” of working in one particular area and open his eyes to new perspectives.
“It helped me see parallels in other areas, and think of new, more creative ideas for how to implement sustainability or find new sustainable business opportunities in my own work.”
For example, he recalls a discussion when the class was brainstorming solutions for sustainability in the North American context. A classmate from Sudan added a new dimension to their conversation by sharing how the ideas would not be feasible in her own country because of its geopolitical context.
“It was a valuable point that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution in sustainability or business. Hence, when we design for sustainability at a global level, we also have to design at the local level.”
A culture of humility and collaboration
Justin believes that these insightful discussions were made possible in part because of the culture at INSEAD.
“I think everyone at INSEAD did a really good job of leaving the egos at the table, and focusing on both making positive change and having thoughtful discussions.”
This was first seen in how the faculty, Professor Karel Cool and Professor Atalay Atasu guided the class.
“They were phenomenal instructors — very friendly and I didn't feel any arrogance or agenda aside from helping students and empowering professionals to go out into the world and be more successful at building sustainable businesses.”
It was also demonstrated by the careful curation of guest speakers, which included representatives from Michelin, EcoVadis and even the Paris Olympics.
“All of them came to the table with a really humble approach to what they were doing. They were grateful to be in their positions and provided helpful case studies, with good information and guidance.”
A relevant course for anyone interested in sustainability
Reflecting on the journey he has taken, Justin believes the INSEAD Business Sustainability Programme is an asset to anyone, no matter where they are along the way of their sustainability journey.
“With the digital revolution, we saw some companies asleep at the wheel. Kodak should have built Instagram, and Blockbuster should have built Netflix… But they missed the boat, while smaller startups saw the digital writing on the wall and took over.
I think we're going to see something similar with sustainability, where companies who don't become sustainable in time will be the Kodaks and Blockbusters of the future. I believe it’s a strategic imperative for any company out there to understand sustainability and have a plan to get there.”
What Justin Bean has to say about the INSEAD Business Sustainability Programme
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