Sowing the seeds of sustainability change within organisations: The importance of working the ‘social’ soil

In response to a failure to meet global targets, sustainability goals are fast becoming a part of organisations’ responsibilities, requiring systemic transformations of people and process. Sustainability transition research often focuses on micro-level agents or the macro-level systems in which they function. The bounded nature of this approach means that socio-cognitive interdependencies remain underexplored. Applying a socio-cognitive thematic analysis to data collected with sustainability consultants exposed the cognitive work involved in organisational sustainability transitions alongside the social psychological factors underpinning this work. Results revealed transitional stages of reflection, measurement, and direction to be driven by the social psychological drivers of shared values, common language, and collective action. Building on these findings, we present a conceptual guide to navigating organisational sustainability transitions.