50. Making Sustainability the default choice for all

Have you wondered what it takes to make an impact in the sustainability space? What are the challenges and what are the opportunities? What roles do the community and the customer play? We explore these questions with Ganesh Shankar.

Ganesh is a serial entrepreneur in the Sustainability/ ClimateTech space with a career vision towards making Sustainability the default choice for all. He is currently the Founder and CEO of FluxGen Technologies, with a goal of De-Risking Industries from the Water Crisis. He has also co-founded "The Sustainability Mafia" (SusMafia.org) a for-impact organization, with a mission to multiply the impact of sustainability leaders through goal-oriented collaboration . His genuine interest in solving problems for the greater good as well as his motivation to guide and mentor those entering the industry are very inspiring.

Ganesh's Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ganesh-shankar/

Episode length: 36 min | Listen on: Spotify | Google | Apple | More options

Hari's Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hari-dilip-kumar-4b566621/

Mentioned in the episode:

Sustainability Mafia: https://www.susmafia.org/

FluxGen Technologies: https://fluxgen.com/

Industrial IoT course at IISc: https://fluxgentech.medium.com/product-prototyping-in-iot-course-at-iisc-88fc2d32c333

49. What does it mean to be a problem solver in the sustainability space?

<iframe src="https://anchor.fm/throughthecorporateglass/embed/episodes/49--What-does-it-mean-to-be-a-problem-solver-in-the-sustainability-space-e1e1nck" height="102px" width="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>How does someone with an engineering background break into policy design? What does it mean to be an effective problem solver in the sustainability space? How does one contribute to evidence based policy making. We talk about this and much more with Hari Dilip Kumar.

Hari is a generalist problem-solver at heart, with a decade of rich and varied experience in sustainability and social impact. He has contributed significantly to ground-breaking projects recognized globally for innovation and impact by organizations including the United Nations. He cofounded FluxGen, a sustainable technologies company in Bengaluru. He then worked at MicroEnergy International (Germany) on the concept of swarm electrification, and headed research & product development at Solshare, an international joint-venture social enterprise creating clean energy marketplaces in rural off-grid areas of Bangladesh. He also researched systems issues at Public Affairs Centre.

He currently works with startups, corporates, academia & non-profits on a range of sustainable development challenges, helping them with business development, technology & design, and policy analysis & advocacy through Solvesustain a recently founded company.

Episode length: 36 min | Listen on: Spotify | Google | Apple | More options

Hari's Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hari-dilip-kumar-4b566621/

Mentioned in the episode:

Solvesustain: http://solvesustain.com/

Donella Meadows: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donella_Meadows

Limits of Growth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Limits_to_Growth

Going down the rabbit hole: https://thesystemsthinker.com/systems-thinkers-must-go-down-the-rabbits-hole/

The paper from MIT: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4614-3188-6_2

Cal Newport's take on Passion: https://99u.adobe.com/videos/22339/cal-newport-follow-your-passion-is-bad-advice

The tools: Phil Stutsz, Barry Michels: https://www.amazon.in/Tools-Phil-Stutz/dp/0091947413

Mindset: https://fs.blog/carol-dweck-mindset/

IDEO: https://www.ideo.org/

Human Centered Design: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-centered_design

Carbon accounting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_accounting

Evidence based policy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence-based_policy

Initiative for climate action: https://actionclimate.org/

Public Affairs Centre, Bangalore: https://pacindia.org/

48. Thinking out of the box with Dheeraj Pandey

Building game changing products and transforming industries require thinking outside the box, questioning the accepted state of the world and making bold choices. How does one develop this aptitude, attitude and exposure. What are the challenges and what is the cost of making these bold choices?

To delve into these questions, we have with us Dheeraj Pandey, Co-founder and CEO of DevRev, board member at Adobe, co-founder of Nutanix. He is also the co-founder of Param Hansa Values and Param Hansa Philanthropies and is on the board of advisors for the Department of Computer Science at UT Austin. Dheeraj is a true visionary, who constantly questions the status quo and has built companies that have disrupted industry norms.

Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpandey/

Episode length: 36 min | Listen on: Spotify | Google | Apple | More options

Mentioned in the episode:

• Web 3.0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web3

• MAYA - https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/design-for-the-future-but-balance-it-with-your-users-present#:~:text=He%20called%20this%20approach%20the,able%20to%20accept%20and%20embrace.

• Simon Sinek - https://simonsinek.com/

• Deepak Malhotra - https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=189290

• Brene Brown - https://brenebrown.com/

• Mike Robbins - https://mike-robbins.com/

• Nicholas Taleb - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb

• SleepWalkers -https://www.amazon.com/Sleepwalkers-How-Europe-Went-1914/dp/0061146668

• Negotiating the Impossible - https://www.amazon.com/Negotiating-Impossible-Deadlocks-Resolve-Conflicts/dp/1520014635

• Sapiens - https://www.ynharari.com/book/sapiens-2/

• Only the Paranoid Survive - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/72469/only-the-paranoid-survive-by-andrew-grove/