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One CEO’s Trip From Dismissive to Convinced
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By Bruce Posner
Fall 2009
Reprint 51114
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Volume 51, Number 1, pages 47-51, 5 pages
Primary Topic: Sustainability
Secondary Topic: Corporate Strategy
SummaryIn 1994, when Interface Inc.’s founder and CEO Ray Anderson began to think about his legacy, it made
him uneasy. Deep down, Anderson realized that the business model of the commercial carpet manufacturing
company he had founded 20 years before was based on “digging up the earth and turning petroleum
and other materials into polluting products that ended up in landfills” — not something he
wanted his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to remember him by. So at age 60 Anderson broke with the old model and began anew. Standing up to naysayers (whose ranks included associates, suppliers
and Wall Street analysts), he set out to transform Interface from a traditional business built on consumption
and waste to one whose focus — that is, beyond profitable growth — would be zero waste
and restoring the earth.
Since the start of the journey, Anderson and his associates have confronted technical barriers that no
one could have anticipated. But inch by inch, kilowatt-hour by kilowatt-hour, recycled pound of carpet
by recycled pound of carpet, Anderson’s vision has moved closer to reality. In addition to becoming
increasingly efficient in its energy and materials usage — for example, 89% of Interface’s global electricity
and 28% of its total energy come from renewable sources — Interface prides itself on its ability to turn
an increasingly large percentage of its carpet into new product. It is also proud of the influence its sustainability
efforts are having on other companies. This article presents a timeline showing how Anderson’s
“mental model” changed and how he and his company moved along the road to sustainability. |
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