3 Critical Steps Companies Like LEGO Take to Manage Change

As I’ve written, you can’t just force sustainability. It is, after all, a big change.

But it’s possible to make your business more sustainable with the right approach. Companies like Lego, Patagonia, and Unilever, have managed to successfully integrate sustainability into their businesses, and by studying their strategies, it’s possible to identify three key elements to a successful sustainability implementation.

You’ll need a clear purpose that inspires action, incentives that reinforce values, and governance that ensures consistency over time. 

Align With Your Purpose

Policies and commitments gain meaning when they are paired with purpose. Purpose gives direction and meaning to collective work. And so driving real change in an organization means creating a shared mindset rooted in the company’s values, mission, and purpose.

Bringing purpose into change management demands coherence between what the company communicates and what it actually does.

Strategic choices, innovation processes, and relationships with stakeholders should align with the impact the organization seeks to generate. This alignment strengthens credibility, guides decision making and helps every team understand how their efforts contribute to broader impact. 

Patagonia illustrates how purpose can shape practice. In 2022, the company transferred its ownership to two entities created to channel all profits toward environmental conservation. It also offers the Environmental Internship program, allowing employees to work with environmental organizations while maintaining their salary. These initiatives show how purpose can guide decisions, motivate participation, and nurture a culture grounded in impact. 

Align Incentives With Purpose 

Incentives reveal what truly matters to an organization. A shared purpose and belief is the foundation of change. But belief doesn’t define behavior. What gets measured and rewarded defines behavior.

Integrating environmental and social criteria into performance and compensation systems helps create a culture where sustainability is managed with rigor and consistency. When sustainable results are part of performance evaluation, teams understand that their choices have tangible consequences.

This approach encourages shared accountability, promotes collaboration, and strengthens the link between collective goals and individual contributions. It also ensures sustainability remains central to business priorities rather than confined to specialized departments. 

LEGO advanced in this direction by introducing a carbon indicator tied to annual bonuses for salaried employees. This integration embeds emissions reduction into personal objectives and sends a clear signal: improving environmental performance contributes directly to the company’s success. Such measures turn sustainability into a visible, measurable, and motivating commitment. 

Maintain Accountability With Governance 

While incentives and purpose drive behavioral change, governance provides the third key ingredient: structure.

Governance means defining responsibilities, setting oversight mechanisms, and integrating sustainability in decision-making beyond leadership cycles. Incorporating sustainability into governance strengthens alignment between business goals and the actions needed to achieve them. 

A solid framework enhances coordination, facilitates progress tracking, and promotes accountability. It also positions sustainability as a strategic dimension of the business, integrated into long-term planning, risk management, and talent development. 

Unilever exemplifies this approach. The company embeds sustainability into decision-making through dedicated committees and regular performance reviews. It also relies on an independent advisory council that brings external perspectives and ensures transparency. This model allows environmental and social objectives to be managed with the same rigor as financial results.