Amid the current economic downturn, threat of tariffs, recession uncertainty, and delayed EU regulations, the market has shifted. While it isn’t exactly what we’d choose at thinkPARALLAX, it’s pushed us to reevaluate what’s working — and how we can better serve the most pressing problems facing leaders today.
We’ve been through this before (eight years ago, to be exact), so we’re more prepared this time, with a wide breadth of expertise and fresh ideas to meet the moment.
Lately, we’ve been innovating:
- We evolved our climate risk assessment process to launch a 12-week Climate Risk Sprint to help companies prepare for SB 261 quickly before the end-of-year deadline
- We’ve embedded team members into client orgs that can’t hire full-time
- We’ve created new sustainability trainings to help leaders, marketing, and sales teams communicate about sustainability without getting companies in legal trouble
- And we’ve reimagined our approach to sustainability reporting to help companies navigate CSRD alignment, balancing the need for financial-grade disclosure without losing their great storytelling
We've learned a lot from our work on these new services and the dozens of conversations with clients who are also navigating this shift. We wanted to share some of our takeaways in case they would be useful to you and your business.
For company leaders
- Clearly communicate the ROI of this work to your C-suite, your investors, your customers, and your employees (make the case that’s it’s not a nice-to-have, it’s essential)
- Get crystal clear on your stakeholder’s expectations of your company and deliver that—regardless of what’s happening with politics and the world around you
- Audit disclosures before regulators do
This could look like repurposing report content to simplify your next cycle or developing best- and worst-case plans for your climate initiatives based on different funding and regulatory timelines.
For consulting firms
- Repackage services to solve today’s most urgent problems (compliance, retention, cost-efficiency)
- Partner with complementary firms to offer bundled solutions
- Stretch your team and re-evaluate your services and skills
If you’re a consultant hoping to collaborate or a company looking to move forward, let’s talk. And remember: stretching might feel awkward at first — but it beats standing still.
Here’s to stretching,
Jonathan Hanwit
CEO, thinkPARALLAX
