Giusi Meloni - Embracing Sustainable Innovation: A Legacy Perspective

In celebration of the new PMI | Brightline +Thinkers50 book "Driving Sustainable Innovation: How to Do Well While Doing Good," we interviewed some of the book contributors to explore what leaders can do to drive and change their organizations through the lens of sustainability and innovation.
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Giusi Meloni, Organizational and People Growth Consultant, is the author of the chapter “Advocating a Culture of Organization Sustainability”
In this interview, Meloni explores the dynamic interplay between sustainability and innovation. She emphasizes that while sustainability focuses on preserving what exists, innovation inherently involves change.
Meloni posits that combining these two concepts leads to a transformative approach that shifts focus from present performance to legacy-building for organizations, cultures, and societies. She draws parallels with nature, highlighting its inherent sustainability and the recent scientific discoveries that suggest trees communicate within forests.
She underscores the importance of moving beyond traditional notions of progress to embrace a holistic view that considers both our beliefs and values in shaping a sustainable future. She advocates for a systemic change in mindset across all levels of society, from individual to organizational, cautioning against superficial 'greenwashing' approaches that only address sustainability in the context of specific projects or products.
Meloni emphasizes that embedding sustainability into project management is not just about using different tools but about fostering a culture of dialogue, shared values, and collective action. She remains optimistic about our ability to harness human potential and believes in the power of nature as a guiding force for sustainable innovation.
Despite moments of pessimism about humanity's capacity to learn from past crises, Meloni ultimately offers a message of hope and the belief that we are at a critical juncture where strong action is needed to achieve true sustainability.