Elisa Farri & Paolo Cervini

Strategy and innovation management consultants and authors.

RADAR THINKER

Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2023. 

FAST FACT

Previously partners of ECSI Consulting, named by ALM Intelligence as one of the Top 5 global strategy & innovation consulting firms.

FAST FACT

Farri worked as researcher for Harvard Business School’s Europe Research Centre in Paris. Cervini has worked at HBR Italia.

Ideas

In their September 2022 Harvard Business Review article, ‘How Sustainability Efforts Fall Apart,’ co-written with Gabriele Rosani, they explain how firms are often unable to systematically scale their initiatives in sustainability. The reasons for this, they argue, are the hidden internal enemies, who are resistant to change. These enemies are structure and governance, processes and metrics, culture and leadership, and methods and skills. They outline concrete countermeasures that can be put in practice to fight back against them and achieve sustainability at scale.

Bio

Both are vice presidents and co-leads of Capgemini Invent’s Management Lab, a research center that bridges the academic and business worlds. Farri has worked in strategy and consulting, advising Fortune 500 corporations in transformative projects and supporting executives in becoming high-performing teams. Cervini was formerly a partner and general manager at Tefen and an associate partner at Venture Consulting. They are regular contributors to leading management reviews and business magazines, the author of several Harvard Business School case studies, and speak on strategy and innovation management. They are writing a book on management in the age of sustainability.

Content

‘How Sustainability Efforts Fall Apart’ (with Gabriele Rosani, Harvard Business Review, 26 September 2022) and ‘You Can’t Collaborate Unless You Agree on the Problem’ (with Gabriele Rosani and Alessandro Di Fiore, Harvard Business Review 5 September 2014). Other articles include ‘What Makes a Great Executive Retreat’ (Harvard Business Review, 4 July 2022) and ‘The 5 Things Your AI Unit Needs To Do’ (with Alessandro Di Fiore, Simon Schneider, Harvard Business Review, 15 January 2018).

Media picks

Article-icon

Article:

How Sustainability Efforts Fall Apart

Verdict

“Advancing the cause of sustainability in management practice.”

Stuart Crainer & Des Dearlove, Thinkers50

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date with the latest and greatest ideas in business, management, and thought leadership.

*mandatory field

Thinkers50 will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide news, updates, and marketing. Please confirm that you agree to have us contact you by clicking below:


You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at . We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please visit our website. By clicking below, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Privacy Policy Update

Thinkers50 Limited has updated its Privacy Policy on 28 March 2024 with several amendments and additions to the previous version, to fully incorporate to the text information required by current applicable date protection regulation. Processing of the personal data of Thinkers50’s customers, potential customers and other stakeholders has not been changed essentially, but the texts have been clarified and amended to give more detailed information of the processing activities.

Thinkers50 Awards Gala 2023

Join us in celebration of the best in business and management thinking.