The circular economy represents a fundamental shift in how we approach sustainability, aiming to eliminate waste and maximise resources. However, many leaders find themselves stuck in mindset traps or cognitive blind spots that sabotage sustainability initiatives and prevent real progress. These traps are subtle. Recognising them is the first step to breaking free. Let’s explore some common circular economy mindset traps and how to tell if you’re caught in one.
The strategic short-termism mindset trap: a crisis of purpose
You might be stuck in this trap if the circular economy feels more like an optional extra rather than a core value of your organisation. In this scenario, your commitment to the circular economy is minimal — just enough to check the boxes or appease eco-conscious consumers.
Achieving real success in the circular economy often requires working across industries.
Within your organisation, circularity initiatives may get shuffled between departments, often landing in a division with little influence or resources. This lack of serious commitment means no one with sufficient organizational power is truly driving the agenda, and you may find yourself wondering if advocating for the circular economy is worth the risk to your career. Deep down, you know the circular economy isn’t a priority, regardless of what the targets say, and you feel comfortable delaying action because there’s no real pressure from above. Overall, if you’re comfortable optimising for quarterly results at the expense of longer-term sustainability, you’re likely trapped in strategic short-termism.
The paralysis trap: a crisis of belief
Paralysis often occurs when leaders don’t fully grasp the concept of the circular economy or struggle to see how it can be optimised to make financial sense. You may feel overwhelmed by the complexity and uncertain about the potential return on investment. A lack of capacity and a strong aversion to risk can make the whole endeavour feel daunting too.
Sometimes you wish someone could just show you the way, but at the same time, you’re inherently sceptical or hesitant to act when they do. The fear of wasting resources on something that might not move the sustainability needle keeps you from taking meaningful action. Together these factors signal that you may be paralysed by a crisis of belief, doubting the true potential of the circular economy.
The fear of public backlash: a crisis of confidence
This trap revolves around the fear of negative public scrutiny. Perhaps you’ve witnessed other green projects attract unwanted attention from regulators or the press, which makes you apprehensive about the same happening to your organisation. It’s possible that your own company has faced such scrutiny in the past. While you may admit some backlash was warranted, there are instances where you believe the scathing criticism was undeserved.
This places pressure on you to maintain an unblemished record and may make you hesitant to fully commit to ambitious circular economy initiatives. Alternatively, you might find yourself adopting a strategy known as “green hushing.” Here, you embrace the circular economy internally because it is prioritised within your organization, but you deliberately avoid sharing your efforts externally to escape public accountability.
If you find yourself scaling back or avoiding publicising bold circular economy initiatives out of concern for how they’ll be perceived, you’re likely caught in the fear of backlash trap.
The collaboration aversion: a crisis of trust
The collaboration aversion trap ensnares leaders who are hesitant to engage in the level of openness and partnership required to drive true circularity. If you approach partnerships with secrecy, transactional motives or an adversarial mindset, you’re likely caught in this trap. This behaviour might stem from exaggerated fears that your data will be stolen, manipulated, or used against you.
Additionally, you might be wary about collaborating with unconventional allies, such as competitors or other “strange bedfellows,” for fear of losing control. When you do partner, your efforts may be confined to superficial changes aimed at minimising disruption to your value chain. This happens because you prefer to focus on internally driven solutions, even when there are valuable collaborative opportunities available.
Overall, you do recognise that achieving real success in the circular economy often requires breaking down silos and working across industries and internal departments. Yet this feels risky and uncomfortable. If you’re only willing to make surface-level changes without sharing data, pooling resources, or moving beyond narrow self-interests, you’re likely trapped in collaboration aversion.
Breaking free
So there you have it—the four mindset traps that often derail sustainability initiatives: strategic short-termism, paralysis, fear of public backlash, and collaboration aversion. The goal of this article isn’t to criticise leaders, but to motivate them. Recognising these mindset traps is the first step toward breaking free. This means committing to long-term change, embracing complexity, facing public scrutiny head-on, and collaborating deeply and openly. After all, the future economy is a circular one, so why not take the bold steps necessary to drive real, sustainable progress today?
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This article was co-authored by: Franziska Golenhofen, an LSE alum of the Masters in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2019), a Senior Sustainability Solutions Manager at Visa and the co-author of the book: Mastering Disruption and Innovation in Product Management.
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The post Are you stuck in a circular economy mindset trap? first appeared on Innovators magazine.