In the race to become more sustainable, it’s easy for us as business professionals to be drawn to the allure of quick wins. These are actions or initiatives that promise immediate, tangible results with minimal effort and cost.

Don’t get me wrong – I firmly believe that every positive action matters and quick wins are important too. At the same time, we need to pay attention to not get blindsided by easy-to-implement initiatives.

In this article, I’ll explore why a balanced approach is essential and explain how a more strategic, long-term focus can drive meaningful impact. Examples included!

QUICK WINS BRING SPECIFIC BENEFITS THAT CAN SUPPORT INITIAL PROGRESS

Implementing quick wins in a sustainability program is a good starting strategy. Immediate and tangible benefits will make them do the useful service of demonstrating early progress. And fast!

Here are four benefits I find relevant to note:

1. 📚They serve as an important learning platform for the team, especially if you are just starting with tangible sustainability efforts,
2. 🧑🤝🧑By demonstrating immediate, positive results, they help gain broader organizational support and buy-In.
3. 💰They secure funding as successes from quick wins help justify further investment in larger and more impactful projects.
4. 🚀Quick wins create a sense of accomplishment and progress, motivating the team and building momentum toward more significant sustainability goals.

☘️ A Quick Win Example: In my experience leading a sustainable packaging program for a global organization, we achieved 40% paper weight reduction for the product information inserts only by reorganizing the same content. This quick win motivated the team, confirmed to management that we are on the right path and allowed space for longer-term development projects that later had an even bigger impact.

❓WHERE ARE THE CHALLENGES, THEN?

The above example illustrates why quick wins can be so appealing. However, while they provide immediate results, they often come up with limitations that can hinder lasting impact. The flip side of the story is a few paragraphs below.

We’ll now explore three main challenges of relying too heavily on quick wins in sustainability programs and why a strategic, long-term approach is crucial for meaningful progress.

1) Potential Lack of Strategic Alignment

Sustainability requires a holistic approach that aligns with an organization’s core values and long-term objectives. Quick wins often focus on isolated actions rather than integrating sustainability into the broader business strategy. This fragmented approach can lead to inconsistencies and missed opportunities for deeper, more meaningful impact.

☘️ For example, a company might implement a recycling program (a quick win) without challenging a status quo of a broader issue: reducing waste generation in the first place. True sustainability should encompass the entire lifecycle of products and services, from design and production to consumption and disposal.

🤚🏼Take Away #1:

As opposed to individual sustainability projects, a sustainability program acts as an umbrella for both short-term and long-term initiatives, all aimed toward a common goal and managed under the same framework.

2) The Illusion of Progress

Quick wins can create the illusion of progress without addressing the root causes of unsustainable practices. These measures are often incomplete compared to the deep systemic changes needed to achieve true sustainability.

☘️ In my example above, it seems we achieved a lot; however, the bigger change was achieving a total removal of those paper inserts and replacing them with fully digital information—a change that required longer-term effort and industry collaboration. That significant change was finally achieved two years later.

🤚🏼Take Away #2:

Don’t mistake a quick win for the final victory: Avoid a false sense of accomplishment that could mislead your sustainability ambitions and slow down your organizational momentum toward much more significant accomplishments.

3) Hidden Costs of Lost Time

In our race to position ourselves ahead of competitors and meet customers’ new sustainability requirements, one significant problem with relying too heavily on quick wins is the risk of losing time that could be better spent on developing more complex, impactful solutions.

☘️ In my example above, while we implemented quick wins with the team during the first year, we simultaneously developed, tested, and piloted a more radical packaging solution. This approach allowed us to launch a new plastic-free packaging for an entire category of products immediately after exhausting the quick wins, preventing hundreds of thousands of tons of single-use plastic from entering the market and winning new business that could otherwise be lost or postponed.

🤚🏼Take Away #3:

Ensure that while immediate progress is made, the foundation for substantial, long-lasting sustainability advancements is also being worked on.

A sustainability program structure can help access funds, expertise as well as promote gradual progress that helps securing continuous organization support. This all will speed up your time-to-market with new sustainable solutions and help enhance your competitiveness.

🛣️ THE PATH TO LASTING SUSTAINABILITY

While quick wins have a role in a comprehensive sustainability strategy, they should serve as stepping stones rather than the final goal. Organizations need to focus on long-term, systemic changes that tackle the root causes of environmental and social challenges. Here are a few strategies to consider:

1) 🎯Set Clear, Long-Term Goals: Establish ambitious, long-term sustainability goals that align with the organization’s mission and values. These goals should be specific, measurable, and time bound.

2) 🫱🏼🫲🏽 Integrate Sustainability into Core Business Processes: Sustainability is the responsibility of every function within a business. Ensure that sustainability is embedded into the organization’s strategic planning, decision-making, operations, and performance metrics.

3) 💡 Invest in Innovation and Partnerships: Support research and development of sustainable technologies and practices. Collaborate with stakeholders, including suppliers, customers, and communities, to drive systemic change.

4)  🖥️ Measure and Report Progress Transparently: Regularly monitor and report on sustainability performance using credible, standardized metrics. Be transparent about both successes and challenges, and ensure all communication, especially external, aligns with green claims standards. This approach helps build trust by providing accurate, compliant information that reflects the organization’s genuine progress and commitment to sustainability.

5)  🏡 Foster a Culture of Sustainability: Cultivate an organizational culture that prioritizes sustainability. This includes training and empowering employees to contribute to sustainability goals and recognizing and rewarding their efforts.

In conclusion, while quick wins can provide a valuable starting point, they should not be the end goal. A sustainable future requires deep, systemic changes that are integrated into the organization’s DNA. By focusing on long-term strategies, companies will not only be able to achieve better impact for people and the planet but also make their own business more resilient in the long term.

If you want to know more about how to set up a successful sustainability program, refer to this blog post. 

Author: Martina Balazsova, Managing Director Eko Gravity, November 2024

Martina helps marketing and sustainability teams make packaging and products more sustainable.

Image by Freepik