Welcome to the University Colorado Denver specialization titled, become a sustainable business change agent. I'm John Byrd and this is Ken Bettenhausen. And together we'll be coordinating this course. Our goal and the way that we’re going to measure whether the course is successful, is that by the time you complete the specialization, you will have created a proposal for a change in your company or organization. This is a lot more than just dropping an idea in a suggestion box. In this class, we’re going to discuss what sustainability is, what some of the important issues are related to becoming a sustainable business. And we'll introduce some of the tools that you'll need to make the business case for sustainability. >> But knowing what sort of changes need to be made is not enough. You also have need to know how to get those changes approved and implemented. That means you need to identify who it is in your company that are the gatekeepers and also how to find people who will help you with implementation and get them excited about your idea. As John mentioned, we hope that by the time you complete the specialization, you'll have a proposal that includes a sound analysis showing why your change is a good idea. And an action plan for implementing that change that makes the business case that will make your gatekeepers happy. Here is something from an article about making companies more sustainable. It was in the MIT Sloan Management Journal. To develop a commitment to sustainability, companies need leadership commitment, an ability to engage with multiple stakeholders along the value chain, widespread employee engagement and disciplined mechanisms for execution. If a company has all this, becoming sustainable should be pretty easy. But what about when a company doesn't have committed leaders, and stakeholders, and suppliers, and employees, nor the mechanisms to implement a plan? Does that mean nothing can be done? No, we firmly believe that one person, one passionate, energetic person can create meaningful change. Over the next several classes, we'll bring in people who did just this. They wanted to make a difference and they did. Part of being a change agent is having the confidence to try. When you have the confidence, combined with sustainability and change agent skills from this course, you will be a powerful force in making your company, and the world a better place. We may be the first two examples of the power of one. Well, of two. We hope that with this class we can create lots of change agents and lots of change. We are two pretty average people, but we want to make a difference. We invite you to join us for a few hours each week for the next several months so that we can help each other make a positive change in the world. Now, let's give you an overview of the course. >> Since you're in this class you probably have some ideas of things you'd like to do. Having an idea is a great start, but to make a persuasive case for change, you have to do a couple of things. There have to be good reasons to make the change. That is, you have to be able to show that the company or organization benefits from the change and that the change has a positive impact, not only on people or the planet, but also on that company's bottom line. Also, if you're going to spend a lot of time and effort, you probably want the change to have as much impact as possible. For the next several weeks [COUGH] we're going to discuss some key concepts in sustainable business. We're going to talk about the big issues facing both business and the world and introduce you to some tools that you can use to make the best case for your idea. We'll also talk to business people about current sustainability trends in their industries and their companies. >> Now after John has covered the core sustainability material, I'll introduce some the important ideas in organizational change. These involve analyzing the organization to identify the people who might support your ideas and the people who have the power to say yes or no, the gate keepers. You need to understand how your idea fits into the larger goals of the company and the gatekeepers needs and ambitions. Finally, you need an action or implementation plan. >> That's how the course will be structured. Now I want you to do something. Do you have an idea about some change you'd like to make at work, or school, or somewhere else? We'd like you to enter it in the next screen, and we'll collect these and to show what you and your classmates are thinking about doing. That may give you even more ideas. >> Well, thanks for being part of the class. We're excited about the possibilities and hope you are too.