Creating a Sustainable Future: BASF and Hyper Island Lead the Way.
A conversation with Tim Lucas, Head of Hyper Island North America.
Renata, our client and partner at BASF, was entrusted with the significant task of leading digital transformation and intrapreneurship programs across the Americas. Her initiative, “Beyond the Hashtag,” aimed to transcend the common clichés surrounding digital transformation and instill a deeper understanding of its implications. Hyper Island was brought in to facilitate an intrapreneurship program that fostered collaboration between teams from North and South America.
The core challenge was to enable cross-functional teams to work on innovative projects. The project involved approximately 50 individuals forming squads of five to six members, each focusing on five selected business areas. Their mission was to define the parameters of their projects and execute them over the course of four months.
The project progressed to a global scale, with participants from European countries joining the initiative. The primary focus was on digital solutions and their broad implications for internal stakeholders and end customers. Teams were encouraged to discuss and explore challenges, bridging the gap between global offices.
The project’s global expansion opened doors for conversations that spanned continents, effectively building bridges across diverse cultures. This engagement empowered individuals to address challenges beyond geographical boundaries, ultimately contributing to the global outreach of BASF’s initiatives. Building upon the success of this project, the Hyper Island team recognized the opportunity to expand our collaborations.
Hyper Island introduced a new dimension of thinking: planet-centric design.
This approach went beyond traditional human-centric design, incorporating tools and methodologies focused on the well-being of the planet. The concept challenged conventional sustainability wisdom, emphasizing the importance of a planet-centric perspective.
The project initiated future scenario development, creating approximately 20 scenarios for 2040. These scenarios revolved around axes such as attitudes toward the environment and societal cohesion versus breakdown. Teams selected one of these scenarios to work within and explored its implications for BASF. They sought guidance from internal mentors, and senior leaders who identified business-relevant insights.
Using these insights, teams conceptualized new products and services, both internal and external, to prototype and test within the context of the selected future scenario.
The project successfully culminated with teams working on their presentations, scheduled for a global conference with approximately 600 participants.
These presentations highlighted the significance of adopting a planet-centric perspective, which transcended traditional notions of sustainability, offering a fresh approach to building a sustainable future.
BASF’s collaboration with Hyper Island induced a mindset shift among its teams, empowering them with new tools and frameworks. This mindset transition allowed for quicker testing of ideas, exploration of future scenarios, and an enriched understanding of planet-centric design.
Hyper Island’s consistent presence and monthly meta-skills sessions provided teams with the resources to explore new concepts, methodologies, and insights, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. This enabled BASF to extend its digital transformation efforts and integrate a planet-centric approach into its sustainability strategies.
BASF’s partnership with Hyper Island has been a powerful force driving innovation and future-focused thinking within the organization.
By adopting a planet-centric perspective, BASF has embraced a more holistic approach to sustainability, offering a fresh outlook on its role in fostering a sustainable future.
Our work with BASF exemplifies the transformative impact of thoughtful collaboration and a commitment to embracing innovative ideas and methodologies in large-scale organizations.
