You work in a specific job role in an organisation, let’s say ‘Sustainability Manager’ for example. In other organisations around the country and the world, people are doing exactly the same job role (usually). They’re facing the same problems, doing the same things, and looking for the same support that you are.
There’s always an online network to support you, such as a message board, a Facebook group, or an email news ring. Using these services is going to put you into contact with other people from other organisations that do the same or similar jobs. You can benchmark targets, compare techniques, and share best practices.
You can generate ideas from these peer networks just by simply talking to your peers about the problems that they are facing. You probably have some sort of relationship already, but if you haven’t, this is a great way to build rapport.
You can get in touch with your peers and talk about your organisation, the role and the problems that you also face. They will open up about similar problems. Be sure to listen carefully to what they’re saying because as they specify their problems and explore the problems, you are going to start generating ideas for solutions.
The more peers you talk to, the better. These professionals are educating you on the problems that they’re facing, and that you’re probably facing as well. They’re giving you their insights, a new perspective, which can then inform your idea-generating process.
Talk to them, link up with them, have at chat at events, email them, call them, grab a coffee, and build up a rapport. You’re mining them for a problem, but that doesn’t mean you can’t build rapport and professional friendship. It’s going to make you better at your job, and better at starting a sustainability business. You’re sharing the best practices, and these people are going to possibly become a sales target once you launch.
It's so simple. Just get together! Get chatting. Try any of these to kick off the convo
and then go deeper with
If you have this type of convo with lots of people you start to join dots and relise the issues that everyone is facing can be the same and you are in a perfect position to develop ideas to fix them!
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