The 'Everything Everywhere' Trap: Why Most ESG Strategies Fail Before They Begin

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My Sustainable Encounter with Ashwini Mavinkurve

by Albert Schiller

In the corporate rush to save the planet, are companies trying to do everything at once, and therefore achieving nothing of substance?

It is a familiar story. A company, facing pressure from investors or customers, decides it is time to get serious about sustainability. A budget is allocated, a team is assigned, and a flurry of activity begins. But more often than not, this initial burst of energy dissolves into confusion and disillusionment, with little to show for the effort. Why?

In a recent conversation with Ashwini Mavinkurve, a seasoned professional with a rare, holistic view forged across consulting, manufacturing, and finance, she provided a stunningly clear diagnosis. Most ESG journeys are doomed from the start, she argues, because they fall victim to three fundamental flaws, the most critical of which is the "Everything Everywhere All at Once" trap.

The Brittle Foundation

The first and most fundamental flaw is a weak "why." Ashwini observes that most organizations, particularly smaller ones, begin their journey because of "external motivation." The push comes from buyers, regulators, or a new board member. While this may ignite the process, it creates a brittle foundation. "Because there is an external push," she explains with precision, "the starting point itself, the intent itself is not very strong."

The consequence of this is predictable. When the organization inevitably faces a "minor challenge" or a difficult trade-off, the will to persevere is absent. The entire initiative, lacking a core of genuine internal conviction, simply "all crumbles." Without a strong "why," the "how" becomes unsustainable.

The 'Everything Everywhere' Trap

The second, and perhaps most common, strategic error is a catastrophic lack of focus. Ashwini brilliantly uses the Oscar-winning film as an analogy for this corporate chaos. "When organizations start with their sustainability journey," she says, "they are so lost with what is trending that their focus is almost everywhere, but not on what matters the most, which is the most material topics for them."

This is the "Everything Everywhere All at Once" trap. A company, wanting to appear proactive, might launch initiatives in water conservation, diversity hiring, and community volunteering simultaneously, without first analyzing where its most significant impacts truly lie. She provides a sharp example from the automotive sector, where "about 70% of your social and environmental impacts are in the value chain, not so much in the operations." A company that spends five years focusing on its office electricity usage while ignoring its suppliers is, as she notes, spending a "large amount of time and resources focusing on the wrong things."

The Empty Chair

The final misstep is a failure of personnel. Too often, sustainability is treated not as a core strategic discipline, but as an administrative or compliance function. Ashwini notes that in India, it is common to see the responsibility handed to "your HR or your legal or your company secretary because it's a legal compliance."

This is the "empty chair" problem. While these professionals are experts in their own domains, they may not possess the "subject matter expertise which is required when you're doing something as serious as sustainability." The result is that crucial early decisions are made without the necessary knowledge, and by the time the company realizes it needs a dedicated expert, years of valuable time have been lost.

Ashwini’s diagnosis is a clear-eyed warning. Before any company can hope to succeed on its sustainability journey, it must first be brutally honest about its "why," ruthlessly disciplined about its "what," and strategically correct about its "who." This diagnostic clarity is just one facet of her thinking. In our upcoming feature, we explore her more nuanced and surprising insights into the very psychology of the sustainability movement.

So what can we take from her approach?

Questions for Audience Discussion

1. Ashwini identifies three common "missteps" for companies starting an ESG journey. In your experience, which of these three (weak internal motivation, lack of focus, or the wrong people) is the most difficult for an organization to overcome, and why?

2. The blog uses the metaphor of the "Everything Everywhere" trap to describe a lack of focus on material issues. How can a company, especially a smaller one with limited resources, effectively determine what its "most material topics" are to avoid this trap?