People, Planet, Profits & Projects

We know that some project managers are climate change skeptics.  We know that project managers aren’t limited to any part of the political spectrum.  We get that sustainability may seem like a hifalutin, pompous, philosophical idea that just isn’t that, well, project-managy.

We get all of this.

In fact, it’s important that a project manager be a skeptic.  Blindly accepting an overly optimistic estimate, for example, can doom a project.

And yet, take this example: as a team leader, we cannot tell what motives our team members have – we can only observe their behavior.   We need to manage our project teams on that observed behavior, and the best of us look for the root motives to understand and work with team members’ interests.

See: http://www.sparknotes.com/psychology/psych101/motivation/section1.rhtml

Now, take the example and expand it to what we observe (whatever we believe) when it comes to climate change.

Case in point: Boston.  There is a cover story in a recent Boston Globe Magazine entitled, “Getting Ready for Global Warming – Boston Under Water”.  In it, you will find a list of five things that Boston is doing right now to prepare for the effects of global warming.

Every single one of these “things” is truly an initiative which consumes resources, has a definitive start and finish date, is unique and… well..  does this sound like anything familiar?  It should.  Because all five things are projects.

So our point is this.  Wherever you stand on climate change – you believe it, you’re cynical, you’re skeptical, it’s a sham, a conspiracy, whatever – wherever you stand, real projects are being launched that need real project management expertise and real project managers.

So, for example, would you want to be out of contention for a project to redesign buildings so that their first floors are 42 inches above the current 100-year flood level, with all electrical and mechanical systems on the roof, where a surge resistant reef is built around sites along the waterfront, and it is designed to keep working even after a Hurricane Sandy-like superstorm?

Now let’s open up our blinders even further, beyond Boston, beyond the United States.  The EU has just approved more than 280M Euros for new environmental and climate change projects. - 

So you see, whatever you think of climate change…wherever you are on the political spectrum.. if you want to expand your own portfolio of project management opportunities, it may pay to  get increasingly conversant on the topics of climate change risk and the response that businesses are planning.  And executing.  Now.  Right now.

Ignoring this, by keeping your head in the sand, or letting your own views cloud your view of these opportunities could be hazardous to your career.

Thoughts?

We're lucky to be in a field, a discipline, a career - whatever you choose to call it - which has a tremendous, rosy, powerful future.  A recent feature in PM Network has this to say:

"By 2020, 15.7 million new project management jobs will be added around the globe, with an economic impact of more than US$18 trillion."  -PMI's PM Talent Gap Report

This actually puts pressure on organizations to find project managers, having to compete for project managers like you.  Not a bad position for you to be in, eh? 

So here's where it gets interesting to us at EarthPM, where we've been pushing for integration of sustainability thinking into project management with books and blog postings for what seems like a decade.  It turns out that project managers WANT (dare we even say need) to be part of the greater effort of their organization.  We mean "greater" in both senses of the word:

• The greater, larger, bigger picture that evokes the bigger, enlarged, longer term
• The "greater good' - that is, doing things that help the overall human family and our environment

And, as you've seen in prior posts, organizations are striving for that same thing; just look at the mission and vision statements of various companies.  Better yet: look at the mission statement of YOUR OWN company.  We just posted a story about this on our own blog.  Have a look.

But right now, back to "Feel the Power".

Here are some outstanding quotes from the April, 2014 PM Network magazine that we found particularly poignant:

"Project managers thrive when they see the larger organizational strategy and understand how their initiatives affect it. “Project managers have a lot of passion for what they do. They like to feel like they’re part of a greater good and can help organizations achieve their objectives,” says Scott Fass, PMP, managing director of advisory practice, PwC, a PMI Global Executive Council member in Washington, D.C., USA."

So here is a reaffirmation of what we've been saying: PMs do a better job, and even enjoy the work better when they see how their project fits into the bigger picture.  Now - how about that greater-good thing?

"SFE Produksjon lets candidates know of its corporate social responsibility program, especially its focus on green, renewable energy. “Many potential applicants view the positive public image of the company as a favorable trait when considering applying for a position,” says Oyvind Huus, PMP, head of project management, SFE Produksjon, Sandane, Norway."

There it is.  Here's a company (and they are by no means alone) stating directly that companies recruit project managers by putting their 'green side up' on the table and communicating their values to PM candidates, with respect to CSR (in this case the environment).

So, you do the math.

1. Organizations are going to need more and more project managers
2. Organizations are giving increasing value to sustainability as a core objective
3. Project managers are increasingly interested in the greater good
4. Organizations understand numbers 1, 2, and 3, above.

It all adds up to this:

Excel at your job.  Add competency in sustainability.  Get in touch with your sustainability-oriented self and develop strategic, long-term thinking capability (without losing that "get'R' Done" PM attitude).    You'll increase your ability to thrive even further in this environment of high desirability for project managers.

And feel the power!  You are in demand.

As we consider how to integrate long-term thinking into project management, one thing we really need to remember is the project manager as an individual.  Lately our focus has shifted to the program and portfolio manager, because that level is closer to the corporate mission and vision statements. 

That's still valid, and we think it's an important shift.

But it made us stop and think: are we doing this because of the positions of Program and Portfolio Management only, or is it because of the people who are at these levels?  Or is it a little of both?

WIth that in mind, we'd like to open a discussion about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and how it relates to project management, and of course how it relates to long-term, big-picture thinking in project management.

This cannot be a thorough treatment of the subject - for that you'll have to wait for our upcoming book and assessment tool (The Sustainability Wheel).  But we want to get our readers and blog followers used to this topic because it's important to us (and we think, to you, too).

Read through the following, adapted from public sources, inlcudig Wikipedia.  Do a little thinking - about yourself, your favorite project managers, your most - and least - successful peers, and how these four sets of Myers-Briggs "temperaments" relate to those projects.

• Artisans (ST) are concrete and adaptable. Seeking stimulation and virtuosity, they are concerned with making an impact. Their greatest strength is tactics. They excel at troubleshooting, agility, and the manipulation of tools, instruments, and equipment.^[3] The two roles are as follows:

·         Operators are the directive (proactive) Artisans. Their most developed intelligence operation is expediting. The attentive Crafters and the expressive Promoters are the two role variants.

·         Entertainers are the informative (reactive) Artisans. Their most developed intelligence operation is improvising. The attentive Composers and the expressive Performers are the two role variants.

• Guardians (SJ) are concrete and organized. Seeking security and belonging, they are concerned with responsibility and duty. Their greatest strength is logistics. They excel at organizing, facilitating, checking, and supporting. The two roles are as follows:

·         Administrators are the directive (proactive) Guardians. Their most developed intelligence operation is regulating. The attentive Inspectors and the expressive Supervisors are the two role variants.

·         Conservators are the informative (reactive) Guardians. Their most developed intelligence operation is supporting. The attentive Protectors and the expressive Providers are the two role variants.

• Idealists (NF) are abstract and compassionate. Seeking meaning and significance, they are concerned with personal growth and finding their own unique identity. Their greatest strength is diplomacy. They excel at clarifying, individualizing, unifying, and inspiring. The two roles are as follows:

·         Mentors are the directive (proactive) Idealists. Their most developed intelligence operation is developing. The attentive Counselors and the expressive Teachers are the two role variants.

·         Advocates are the informative (reactive) Idealists. Their most developed intelligence operation is mediating. The attentive Healers and the expressive Champions are the two role variants.

• Rationals (NT) are abstract and objective. Seeking mastery and self-control, they are concerned with their own knowledge and competence. Their greatest strength is strategy. They excel in any kind of logical investigation such as engineering, conceptualizing, theorizing, and coordinating. The two roles are as follows:

·         Coordinators are the directive (proactive) Rationals. Their most developed intelligence operation is arranging. The attentive Masterminds and the expressive Fieldmarshals are the two role variants.

·         Engineers are the informative (reactive) Rationals. Their most developed intelligence operation is constructing. The attentive Architects and the expressive Inventors are the two role variants.

So here's our take on this:

Although the MBTI is not a definitive science, nor is it a way to definitively decide who can do what jobs, and although it indicates tendencies and not permanent behaviors, it's fairly common experience that certain types (for example, ESTJ specifically, and Artisans in general) do better, naturally, as project managers. 

But these types (and we're in that category ourselves) are NOT great at the long-term, big-picture thinking needed if sustainability is to be integrated in the project.  It's the Rationals that we need on our teams to point us to this holistic, sustainable view. 

We're doers.  We're focused (as we NEED to be) on getting the project objectives done.  But it's in our own best interest (to say little of the organization, the community, and the planet) to have Artisans around to remind us of 'benefits realization' and the steady-state of the product of our project.

We'll be blogging about this and including this topic in our new book.  But for now, we urge you to share your opinions about this.  Who knows, you may end up being quoted in the book!

Further reading:

Good general info on Myers-Briggs:

http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/

Nice paper which shows a chart illustrating the "best" PM MBTI types.

http://www.surrex-ps.com/whitepapers/The%20New%20Paradigm.pdf

Nice paper at the intersection of MBTI Typing and Project Management by Susanne Madsen (all of her stuff is good!)

http://www.susannemadsen.co.uk/uploads/6/3/2/3/6323088/pm_recruitement.pdf

Paper from PM Journal, June 2013:

MBTI Personality Types of Project Managers and Their Success: A Field Survey (available on PMI.org) site

Photo from http://design-milk.com

You may have missed this story, but here in the US, Democrats 'took to the Senate floor Monday night to talk about global warming and planned not to let up until morning. By midnight, lawmakers had been talking for nearly six hours'.  We suggest that you read one of the stories about this talk-a-thon here.  (This story was published on March 11 by NPR).

We're not political.  We're project managers.  We're focused on sustainability - but that doesn't put us anywhere in particular on the political spectrum.  We are advocates for learning and action in this area, and we believe that project managers are change agents, and some of the people in the world with the most power to DO something about making their projects, their programs, and their portfolios more sustainable.  And yes, that does involve the earth, but as our blog title says (look up there right now, folks, look at what it says!) we are looking at and acting on sustaining the social aspects of projects (People issues), ecological connections to projects (Planet issues), and financial longevity of organizations (Profit issues).

Still, it's frustrating to see an important body like the US Senate spend so much time talking and failing to act.  To quote the referenced article, "Democratic leaders have no plans to bring a climate bill to the Senate floor this year, so the speeches were about little more than theatrics. House Democrats pushed through a bill to limit greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming in 2009, then lost their majority the following election. A climate bill led by then-Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry collapsed in 2010 without a vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

So the Democrats have failed to act.  And many of the Republicans have failed to understand.  From the article:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the talkathon amounted to "30 hours of excuses" from senators who think it's OK that "families are losing work because of government attacks on the coal industry."

"Well it's not OK, it's cruel," McConnell said, speaking on the Senate floor before the talkathon began. "It's cruel to tell struggling coal families that they can't have a job because some billionaire from San Francisco disagrees with their line of work."

And so it goes.

But here's the secret, and the good news.  Although we recognize that it would make sense to have some sweeping changes in laws, there are things we can do as project managers to integrate sustaianbiltiy thinking in our projects.  One of the biggest is simply to make the connection from the mission/vision/value statements of your organization to your project's charters.  In an informal poll of 50 project managers in our classes, we found that only 5-8 of them even knew what the mission/vision statements were, and only 2 had seen the commitments made by their leaders to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives.  We project managers - who are so focused on action, milestones, and deliverables - we are not prone to staying in a chamber and talking (while doing nothing) or boycotting that session altogether because we don't even have the sense to recognize the problem (that's our view of Democrats and Republicans, respectively, right now).

So - take some action RIGHT NOW.  Go to your company/organization's home page.  Click on the "About Us" section (or whatever it is called) and look for your leadership's statements on CSR.  You may be very surprised.  And you may be very empowered.  But either way, you will be able to take action which is tied to your leaders' ideas.

And that's more than the US Senate can say.  Or rather, it's more meaningful than anything they can say.

One of the reasons I've stuck with project management as a career choice for 150 years (well, okay it's a little less than that) is the challenge and fun of working across disciplines.  As PMs we have to make the engineers and marketeers play nicely together. 

And, as I said above... this can be challenging and... "fun". 

So we are indeed "silo busters".  This is a metaphor based on the idea of vertical organizations (Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Engineering) as silos (you know, those big tall cylinders you can see on farms to store grain; see above photo) and us as project managers providing the necessary ‘horizontal’ or cross-silo communication and collaboration one needs to have a project succeed.

This same scenario can – and must – take place at the corporate level as well if sustainability is to become part of the fabric of modern business.  Thankfully, it is happening.  From this week’s ‘edie’ report:

There is a growing awareness of how cross-sector partnerships are providing environmental benefits to business, particularly in the automotive industry, says Toyota's Steve Hope,  general manager of environmental affairs and corporate citizenship, told edie that industries are starting to break away from a linear way of thinking and companies leading in sustainability are looking wider than their "own doorstep".

Noticeably, wider industry collaboration is beginning to progress areas of resource efficiency, particularly water and energy, says Hope.

"We've joined the Centre for Industrial Sustainability, headed up by EPSRC. We're involved in various projects but this is where we can discuss these issues with other big companies from different sectors, such as Marks & Spencer's for example.

We’ve seen this ourselves.  As a proud contributor to ECOCAR2, we’ve seenoutstanding, sustainability-oriented, creative, productive collaboration between Government, the auto industry, the IT industry, and 15 great North American universities in their effort to take ‘leap-and-bound’ innovation in the development of a hybrid automobile.  Learn more about ECOCAR2 here.

We also see collaboration between customers and even competitors in the IT industry under the guidance of GreenTouch, where the goal is to to” deliver the architecture, specifications and roadmap to increase network energy efficiency by a factor of 1000 compared to 2010 levels”.  Read more about GreenTouch here.

The point?

The point is that once again, we as project managers are poised to be leaders in the area of breaking silo walls.  We, more than any other discipline, have the ‘muscle memory’ of getting people who don’t normally work together well – to play in perfect harmony for our project purposes.  We just have to bring our game to the next level and get our leaders, even our industries, to participate in collaborative efforts in which sustainability is brought to the forefront.  How do you do that? 

Learn more about sustainability, about CSR, and in particular, learn about your own company’s current commitment to these areas.  Stay tuned right here at People, Planet, Profits & Projects, where we post regularly on this topic and give examples of how companies are collaborating and gaining a competitive advantage by incorporating sustainability thinking throughout their company – and especially – especially – at the project and program levels.

You can also follow EarthPM’s blog where we’ve recently been talking about CVS/Caremark and their efforts to bring their mission/vision to reality with CSR projects – very interesting and important work.

So – strengthen those silo-busting muscles, work out regularly, get the vertical organizations in your enterprise to work together and….get stuff done!  It’s what we do.