Sustainability in Sports

Apart from my passion and the alliteration, Sustainability and Sports have many other common themes that are quite intriguing. Here are some of my favourite ones -

1. Ajax Football Club's stadium -

Ajax is a footballing giant and when it comes to sustainability, it is an amazing monster. All the seats in its stadium are made from sugarcane and it is one of the few carbon-neutral sporting arenas in the entire world. It uses a combination of wind turbines and 4,200 solar panels to fuel its needs.

2. The world's most sustainable football (soccer) club -
This enviable title was bestowed on Forest Green Rovers from England because it implemented the Gold standard in environmental performance - the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. Some of their initiatives include - sourcing low energy floodlights, using an organic pitch by avoiding manmade chemicals and providing local and organic food for both players and fans at the venue.

3. Artificial turf -
Using recycled plastic, the new generation of football/soccer pitches need neither trimming nor fertilizers. It's cheaper to maintain and better for the environment. Football heavy-weights such as FC Barcelona, Liverpool, Man United etc. have all incorporated it in their stadiums along with dozens of other sports teams.

4. Clothes and cleats -

Major sports manufacturers are using recycled plastic to make shoes, clothes and even football. A football jersey consumes approximately 13 bottles and over 16 million bottles have been successfully recycled through this process.

5. LEED certification -
The Boston Red Sox, Sacramento Kings and many others have LEED-certified arenas. They use solar panels to reduce greenhouse emissions and also utilize wastewater management practices.

Tips for pitch decks

A great business idea becomes even better with a strong pitch deck. There are some great templates at the bottom and some advice on how to use those templates down here - 

1. Zero clutter policy

Too much information is neither good for the eyes nor for the attention spans of most people. An idea a slide is a good rule of thumb and an image or two that can show your point is even better.

2. Simple problem and solution

Provide a simple (not dumbed-down) problem you are addressing that serves as your hook. Then, show what is your solution to the problem and why it is worth investing in. Backing the solution up with a strong business plan + financial projections is almost the norm.

3. The team

You have a great business plan but why are you the best people to execute your plan? Talk about your team, the experience and the relevant and related achievements. This is as (maybe more) important than the business idea itself when the business is very young.

4. The competition

Even if you are Google or Amazon, always mention your competitors. If you think you are in a league of your own with no competitors, you are probably going to fail. Listing your top competitors provides a realistic picture to the audience.

5. Practice your pitch

A good deck becomes unforgettable when used by a masterful presenter. Practice your pitch over and over - pitching to Venture Capitalists isn't the best time to try a spontaneous speech/pitch. Watch TED talks and/or go join Toastmasters - there are enough resources out there to help you hone your public speaking and it is more important than what the prettiest deck can deliver because the investment is not on the deck but on you.  

A few pitch decks worth looking at - 

https://venngage.com/blog/business-pitch-deck-templates/

Best practices for financial planning (and executing)

Financial planning is important, let's start there. However, for non-financial planners (and sometimes financial planners) it can be a source of crippling trauma coupled with a feeling of comprehensive mental breakdown. Or worse.

Worry not, here's some antidote for you i.e. some of the best practices that pretty much apply for both businesses and individuals.

1. Focus on the narrative behind the numbers -
We are expecting a 20% sales increase; you are expecting a 5% raise at work etc. All of that is the easy bit to incorporate in your financial plan. The difficult/important bit is - WHY are you expecting it? The reason, research, story behind the number is critical for any decent business plan.

2. Get buy-in -

A financial plan is useless on its own. The acceptance of the people affected by it is unbelievably important. The members of the family in case of an individual and senior executives in case of businesses are stakeholders whose involvement and acceptance determines the ultimate success of the financial plan.

3. Reduce reliance on yourself and your memory -
One of the most common advice that applies perfectly to financial planning is - automate and eliminate processes. Use online tools that automate your bank transactions, email financial statements to you/your customer automatically are some simple solutions that automate important tasks and frees you and your memory to focus on other important things (such as playing soccer).

4. Monitor and adapt -
If a financial plan is made every year or quarter and not adapted when circumstances change, it is pretty obvious how hollow the effectiveness is going to be.
A financial plan is more of a process than a final outcome. You have to always adapt and improve.

5. Include the how -

To improve the effectiveness of your financial plan - include details of how you plan to get there. Of course, you won't know everything but some details can form a great starting point. An increase in wages is forecasted - include the expected headcount; for an increase in revenue - add a note on new target markets etc.

6. Make it visual -

I know, I know - financial plans aren't the most visual things on our planet. However, some graphs and charts of critical items such as revenue growth, profit margins, customer acquisition etc. can be shown visually to increase impact because human beings are visual creatures. Also, a bit of colour in the usually black and white financial plans (without making it look like the festival of colours) will not be out of place.

How a bit of accounting could do quite a bit for you

Unless you are an accountant, you probably don't love accounting. Even some accountants don't and no one can blame them. No wonder, accounting and most accountants have never made it to the cover of Vogue.
However, smart people such as Warren Buffet endorse it highly and even suggest that one should never pick stocks unless one understands accounting. Even if you don't want to pick stocks, there are other benefits where a little working knowledge of accounting can help out a lot.

1. Managing daily finances
Every company and individual can benefit from making budgets. It helps to plan, organise and better manage the future and keeps you in control. Financial literacy isn't difficult to attain and its benefits are large.

2. Tracking and reporting
There's a lot of truth to - you can't control what you don't measure. Accountants are taught to be obsessed with tracking and reporting. That's almost a daily requirement. For non-accountants, the habit of tracking their goals, habits, time etc. can help reveal patterns that they weren't aware of. Once you know the problem, it becomes much easier to diagnose.

3. Documenting and auditing

Audit documents, expenses receipts, verification of vouchers etc is not the prettiest part of an accountants job. However, these habits and skills ensure records are well maintained and available for future use whenever there's a need. It is easy to over-rely on memory and accountants outsource it to detailed documents. This micro-habit can easily be inculcated by anyone to reduce moments when we kick ourselves for not remembering something vital.

4. Knowing your debits and credits

Like it or not, we have to deal with bankers and other financial service providers. You can get better deals (or at least avoid bad ones) if you can speak their language. Knowing the basics of your debits and credits doesn't take much time and will serve you quite well. Bonus - your CPA will be so proud of you!

5. Planning and forecasting
Finally, scenario planning and forecasting is an underrepresented but vital skill for accountants (and everyone else). This skill can help most others in their jobs and life as well. Give it a try.

Non-business skills (including procrastination) that add value to business skills

Finance, strategy, accounting - all of those are good to know and nice to have. However, to sign the deal, we all need a little more. Some of these non-business skills can be that missing link.

1. A bit of humour -

You don't need to be a comedian (but if you are, good for you). For the rest of us, a safe joke or two (not 8 or 10, it is business after all) can lighten the room. It can elevate you from just another potential client/employee to a friend. Plus, it is easier to do business with people you are comfortable with i.e. friends and share a joke or two with them.

2. A strict cell phone ban -

Unless you are expecting a call for the presidential nomination, do not text, answer or even look at your cell phone. Establishing trust and empathy with eyes on the screen is not possible.

3. No fluff -
Contrary to what we might have experienced in classrooms and even in some boardrooms, fluff won't get us far. Save the jargon, be to the point and let's all get home on time for dinner.

4. Logic and storytelling wins over pretty slides -
This rule applies because the idea is and should always be at the core of the presentation and not the artistic use of PowerPoint themes and 'free' images pawned off the web. (SideNote - certain classrooms are an exception, you know what I'm talking about)

5. Remember to procrastinate a little -

Apparently, ideas tend to be more creative when you take a little time instead of diving right into them. So, go on and take some time to not do what you should be doing...so that you can do it better.
(Scientifically explained (with humour) in this TED talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxbCHn6gE3U)

6. Learn something unrelated -

Having skills that have nothing to do with business skills can be a great asset. It makes great conversation material because even business folks tend to be human after all.
(Suggested learning - Juggling, Rubik's cube and juggling a bunch of those cubes)

Six reasons why the world is not treating climate change as an emergency

Climate change is awful, sustainability is awesome. Although this is pretty well established, it is stupefying how many people don't act on it or have the immense cheek to outright deny it.
Here are my six reasons (with help from sources mentioned below) to explain why the entire world isn't rushing to fight climate change right now (and has more to do with psychology than the science behind climate change) -

1. What's in it for me attitude 

We - as humans - generally think and fend for ourselves (and for our families at best). Thinking for the entire world is neither easy nor common. Moreover, even if we do make that leap, what's the reward I get for fighting climate change? It is difficult to convince someone with more pressing concerns of making ends meet or focused on making a ton of money when the reward for saving the world cannot be individualized.

2. Short-term nature 

Like it or not, most of us are better at making short-term decisions. We'd prefer tangible short-term benefits now and would forgo more lucrative rewards available in the future. The reward here is not becoming extinct (or avoiding catastrophic damage) which should be a great long-term reward but it loses in front of a more comfortable way to access oil and continue driving. Moreover, the reward of our sacrifice today would accrue to the future generations and creates another layer of disconnect.

3. Inherent laziness

Humans are inherently lazy. It makes evolutionary sense to conserve our energy and take the shorter/easier path. Many people don't change until the situation becomes dire, and many tend to stick it out even when it is (case in point - people who stay back despite hurricane warnings). We suffer from an optimism bias that we can "solve" anything; we cured measles, we are curing cancer and we will somehow cure climate change.

4. The framing of climate change

Most people are aware of the dire consequences of continuing with the present way of living and economic activity. However, fast fashion, fracking and fossil fuels continue to dominate our economy. The climate change narrative has failed to capture the imagination of enough people which would lead them to action. Some psychologists suggest loss framing and using emotions instead of only facts to have a bigger impact. Irrespective of the better alternative, reading another scientific study telling us the world is getting hotter by 2 or 3 or 20 degrees won't have enough impact to create positive outcomes.

5. Diffusion of responsibility

This is my personal favourite. While working in group assignments, when there is no accountability/responsibility almost nothing gets done. Unless you have people/companies/governments that are all held responsible and are not allowed to get away with it, it is a little unlikely that material change will take place. The Paris Agreement is a good start but the accountability is pretty hard to measure and enforce (and powerful politicians calling climate change a hoax is so funny that it is sad).

6. Don't want to be first "sucker"

When the going gets tough, very few people are willing to be the first one to take the plunge. However, some companies and countries have taken the sustainability route and experienced great progress (case in point - Patagonia and Costa Rica) but they are treated as an exception or worse ignored.

The situation is pretty clear - change is the only way to solve this planet threatening predicament. Thankfully, scientists have overwhelming evidence on how and what to do with clear steps to be followed to solve this issue. Ironically, the process to get started - which is probably half the battle - seems almost impossible... which is why climate change is not just a problem of science but also a problem of human behaviour and psychology.

References -
1. Kluger, J. (2018, October 08). Why We Keeping Ignoring Climate Change Warnings. Retrieved from http://time.com/5418690/why-ignore-climate-change-warnings-un-report/
2.   Mazutis, D., & Eckardt, A. (2017). Sleepwalking into Catastrophe: Cognitive Biases and Corporate Climate Change Inertia. California Management Review, 59(3), 74–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125617707974

Seven highlights from the world's first ever Blue Economy Conference

Let's start with what is a blue economy? Unsurprisingly, it involves monetizing the oceans... however, in a sustainable manner to improve livelihoods and ocean ecosystem health. It focuses on - amongst other things - maritime transport, fisheries, renewable energy and ocean tourism. The oceans are a great source for growth (and unfortunately, exploitation).

Now, coming to the key highlights from the first ever Blue Economy Conference that took place between 26th and 28th November, 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya:

1. Presence of 18,000+ delegates from 170+ countries. It was co-hosted by Japan, Canada and Kenya.

2. Justin Trudeau announced Canada's suuport to the United Nation's Decade for Ocean Science and announced funding for Friends of Ocean Action Group. He reiterated the commitment to the Canada's Ocean Protection Plan directed towards protecting the coastal regions through investing 1.5 Billion Dollars over a period of five years.

3. Kenya will establish a Blue Economy Bank with an aim to develop this sector.
4. 40 Million Euros are set aside for the development of aquaculture in African countries.
5. Seychelles issued the first every blue bond worth 15 Million Dollars.

6. Sweden pledged 33.3 Million dollars to provide impetus for the transition towards a blue economy.
The strategy is to help achieve SDG - 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resource for sustainable development (although, life below water is much easier to remember).

7. Toyota has pledged investments in renewable energy in Africa and generation of energy from waste in Mombasa.


References -
a. Pscu. (2018, November 28). AU honours Uhuru for world's first Sustainable Blue Economy Conference » Capital News. Retrieved from https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2018/11/au-honours-uhuru-for-worlds-first-sustainable-blue-economy-conference/
b. Wambu, W. (2018, November 28). Pledges to implement key blue economy outcomes. Retrieved from https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001304413/pledges-to-implement-key-blue-economy-outcomes
c. Statement by the Prime Minister on the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/statement-by-the-prime-minister-on-the-sustainable-blue-economy-conference-701468592.html