The Stellar Approach

Introduction

Let's start with a recap of the current situation: The good news is that sustainability1 has emerged as a major issue in the world of business and the economy as a whole. The not-so-good news is that to get to this point took 50 years from the first widely publicized warnings about the danger posed by climate change.

But we're getting there. At the latest since the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, sustainability has been steadily gaining ground as a relevant and publicly recognized issue of political, economic, and societal importance: The world is scrambling to find effective measures to curb the climate crisis. The EU has announced the Green Deal. CO2 emissions are being priced, and new taxonomies and reporting standards for the economy are being rolled out. What's more, in many businesses, sustainability is such a high priority that it practically dictates the transformation agenda. Under the banner of "the sustainability transformation," companies have begun to set sustainability goals, draft decarbonization strategies, make implementation plans, and develop new business models.

So, you might now wonder, with all this happening is the problem effectively solved already? Can we roll our sleeves back down and get our hands undirty?

Not quite. Here's a less-rosy view of our current status: According to a study published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, there's only a five percent likelihood that global warming can be limited to two degrees Celsius by the year 2100.2 Meanwhile, biodiversity loss is happening at a dramatic and almost unstoppable rate. Social inequality is growing worse, a trend further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The net-zero targets for companies, as well as for governments, are mostly still decades away from being hit. And according to the most recent estimate from the Social Progress Initiative, the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals won't be met before 2082 at the earliest.

"As we reflect on the past 20 years, it seems that everything has changed, and nothing has changed." This is how Business for Social Responsibility, a leading U.?S. organization in the field of sustainable economy, described the situation in 2012.

Now, over ten years later, this conclusion may need to be more nuanced as the effects of the climate crisis have become much more visible everywhere, including in Europe and North America. Previously, the brunt of the force was felt by the Global South, which has long already suffered daily consequences from the consumption behaviors of the so-called developed countries.

But at its core, the statement still holds true: Sure, the topics of sustainability and climate protection are being discussed more broadly, and all the relevant players are ramping up their efforts. Yet, global energy consumption continues to break new records, and we're still failing to cut back global CO2 emissions, halt the loss of biodiversity, or decrease social inequality.

Changing the rules while we play the game

Many people in the business world feel that "this sustainability thing" differs from other major challenges we've faced, like the one posed by digitalization over the last 20 to 30 years. This is because, on the one hand, the climate crisis poses a direct and existential threat to humanity.3 And on the other because this challenge raises questions of whether societal and, above all, economic rules need to be fundamentally rewritten to meet key climate targets in the near future. Questions like: What would an economy look like that operates within our planetary boundaries, instead of constantly living beyond its means? An economy that promotes global justice rather than social inequality? Could such an economy even be considered the same one as today? And most importantly: how do we get there without jeopardizing social stability and sliding into societal chaos along the way?

It's kind of a paradox: we need to change the rules of the game while we're playing it. And unfortunately, there are no blueprints, master plans, or ready-made instructions for this. The only thing we know for sure is that, to succeed, we need the collective efforts of many players. We need the people who work on the systems and design legal frameworks: governments, politicians, and administrations. And we need the people who work in the system and can change it from the inside out: civil society, activists, citizens, as well as businesses and other organizations.

Transforming from the inside out

This is exactly where the Stellar Approach comes in. It offers a solution for organizations - actors within the system. It outlines a development path to a possible future state and helps organizations contribute, step by step, to solving the most pressing challenges, thereby also making their own business models more resilient. Importantly, the Stellar Approach recommends a direction to take, rather than dictating the outcome.

Sustainability and regenerativity are not end states to achieve, but processes to maintain. That's because no one today knows exactly what the economy of the future will look like. Many companies don't even know how they'll achieve the sustainability goals they've set for 2030 or 2045. In the Stellar Approach, we've adopted this unknowing and uncertainty into the solution: the organization embarks on a journey and learns along the way. What's useful is continued, and the less useful is discarded.

At its core, the Stellar Approach is built for teams, regardless of whether they're functional, cross-functional, or leadership teams.

This is because teams are where the actual work of the organization happens. They are where decisions are made that can nudge the organization toward a more sustainable direction, or away from it. If all the teams4 in an organization continually make their work more sustainable and regenerative, then the entire organization will also become more sustainable and regenerative. And when the established way of doing things is changed, so too changes the grand culture of the organization, thereby increasing the likelihood of further change. It's like a flywheel gathering momentum.

In the Stellar Approach, we use principles, practices, and virtues to help establish new patterns along the way. In the book, we gradually tie these three elements together.

Stellar Principles

The four Stellar Principles are our guiding stars. As design principles, they give a clear direction for the regenerative journey and help teams orient themselves along the way.

Stellar Practices

The seven Stellar Practices are the equipment that teams need along the way. With these practices, they develop the skills and habits necessary for the journey.

Stellar Virtues

The three Stellar Virtues are inner competencies that help individuals stay strong throughout the transition to regenerative economics.