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Date
We've just returned from the West Coast (sometimes called the 'left coast") of the USA, after a great week at the PMO Symposium in San Diego, California. Our presentation, "Should Your PMO Serve as a Chief Project Sustainability Office" was well received, and although the visit was good, it was short, and it was time to fly back over our magnificent continent and return to the East (right) Coast.
And just around the time of our visit, the Pacific Coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington, along with the province of British Colombia, did something that the corresponding national governments have failed to do.
They agreed on something.
But hey, what's the big deal? How big are these few states and a province? Well, combined, they would be the world's 5th largest economy. That's why it's a big deal.
And what does this pact mean? Further, since you're probably a project manager, what does it mean to you? To us? To your PMO?
Actually, you can easily find out yourself. The document is surprisingly succinct, given that it comes from 4 governments and 2 countries. Have a look at it here.
In this two-page document, the word, 'program' appears explicitly four times, the word 'project' appears explicitly four times and both are implicitly woven through almost each and every paragraph in the document. Here are a couple of paragraphs to illustrate our point:
3. Make infrastructure climate-smart and investment-ready.
The West Coast Infrastructure Exchange (WCX) is demonstrating
how to attract private capital for infrastructure projects while
increasing climate resilience through best practices and certification
standards. To scale up these efforts, the governments of California,
Oregon and Washington will sponsor pilot projects with local
governments, state agencies and the WCX. WCX also works
closely with Partnerships BC, a center of infrastructure financing
expertise established by the government of British Columbia that
has helped to secure financing for over 40 projects worth more than
C$17 billion.
4. Streamline permitting of renewable energy infrastructure.
Meeting ambitious carbon-reduction goals will require scaling up
wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy and effectively
bringing clean power to customers in California, Oregon and
Washington. Drawing on emerging models in California and the
Pacific Northwest, the governments of California, Oregon and
Washington will work with permitting agencies to streamline
approval of renewables projects to increase predictability, encourage
investment and drive innovation.
So the point is this. Just as we said in San Diego, business is getting it (according to MIT/Sloan/BCG research, nearly 50% of all companies have integrated sustainability into their business plans), governments are getting it (witness what's happened with this pact), and it's time for Program Management Offices, Project Management Offices, Best Practices Offices, Centers of Project Management Excellence, Ministries of Superfulous Project Exultation, whatever they are called in your enterprise, to connect up to the power that is clearly at the leadership level and bring it to the project managers in your organizations, who, without any new information will just "keep doing what they are doing" - a particular form of sustainability that we do NOT like.
Yes, it looks like the left coast got it right.
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: November 15, 2013 10:37 PM |
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