People, Planet, Profits & Projects

My brother-in-law is in law.  He's an attorney, in other words.  One day, he was sitting in his (at the time) new Volvo sedan, equipped with what were at the time the newest safety feature - driver's air bags.

He was at an intersection, and had stopped for a light.  The lady approaching behind him also stopped, but at some point, she hit the gas instead of the brake, and hit my brother-in-law at low speed but with some force.

The air bag deployed.  Did it ever.  It deployed right into his rib cage and caused severe rib cage bruising.  Police later told him that had the air bag not deployed, he wouldn't have had any injuries.  He would've been just fine.

So why do I tell you about my brother-in-law-in-law?

Because really, this is a story of risk response (the air bag) and secondary risk (injuries attained from the primary risk response).  And it serves to introduce us to a major intersection of sustainability and PM.  Since PMs manage projects which - by definition - are about change and are -by definition - about uncertainty (since they are unique), we care alot about risk.  Alot.  It's a knowledge area in the PMBOK(R) Guide and a separate certification from PMI (the PMI-RMP(R)).

So we study risk identification, risk triggers, risk response methodologies, secondary and residual risk.  Makes sense.  In the case of my brother-in-law-in-law, the trigger for air bag use is the experience and knowledge of the insurance and safety industry, and in particular, the vehicle in question detecting an impact.  The secondary risk was the injury from the air bag.

Speaking of risk triggers, here is a story about a risk trigger:

Remote Antarctic Trek Reveals a Glacier Melting From Below

We hear about the Arctic ice melting, not much about the Antarctic, partially because of its even greater remoteness.  The team studying this glacier had to travel 1800 miles from an already-remote base station to conduct their research, which happens to correlate perfectly with data from satellites:  ice is melting there at a rate of 2 inches per day.  If this entire glacier, the Pine Island Glacier, were to melt, global ocean rise would be in the order of FEET.  So I suppose we could identify this at least as a risk trigger.

And what about risk response?  The "Whatareyagonnadoabouddit" part of risk management.

Keeping in line with EarthPM's last post about volcanoes, here is an interesting story about risk response to global warming, from today's Boston Globe.

The story begins: The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, a volcano in the Philippines, blasted enough fine particles and sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere to envelop the Earth in a high-altitude cloud for the better part of two months.

When scientists checked in 1992, they determined that the cloud had deflected enough sunlight to cool the planet by about 1 degree.

With the planet warming and the threat of long-term climate change looming, some experts are wondering whether the time may have come to deliberately attempt such ‘‘solar radiation management.’’

So maybe we start expunging particles into the air to cool the planet?

Sounds like an "early generation air bag" to me.

What do you think?

At a minimum, the two stories hoepfully come together to raise your awareness of just how connected Project Management is to the field of risk management.  And because both the expedition to the Antarctic and the experimentationwith 'solar raddiationmanagement' are projects, we again see strong intersections between sustainability and our discipline of Project Management.

Today is celebrated by the Jewish population as Rosh Hashanah, literally, the "head of the year", or New Year.

It is also considered "The Birthday of the World".  This day celebrates the anniversary of the creation of the cosmos and its continuous renewal.  A very "sustainable" thought.

So - happy birthday, Earth!

There's clearly alot to do if we want to keep this "continuous renewal" going.  And although some are "operations" - the way we do things day-to-day, most involve change - and therefore involve PROJECTS.  So they involve us quite directly.   And there are many indications that we have huge problems to overcome when it comes to overconsumption, buildup of greenhouse gases, loss of biodiversity, and so on.

But today is a day to stop and reflect on the positive.  To give ourselves a chance to say, despite all of these things, we have lots to be thankful for and we've come a long way.

And with that we want to wish our Jewish readers a sweet and healthy and happy High Holy Days, a Happy New Year,, and to leave all of our readers of any faith (and any level of faith) with the assignment to consider what is "continuously renewable" in your work and personal lives.

Stay tuned to this blog for more - much more - on what you can do as a project manager. 

The subject of - or rather the question regarding - "what is project success" is fundamental to the evolution of our discipline.

As leaders in the area of sustainability's intersection with PM, we're of course interested in how you - and the rest of your colleagues, as well as your stakeholders, of course, view project success.  It is not as simple as it seems.  It is NOT just about delivering your deliverable, much as you would like it to be.

One simple idea we would like to assert:

Project Success  Project Management Success.

In English: The success of your project is larger (in the largest sense of the word larger) than your success in managing the project.  That is, you could manage a project so that it is within budget, on time, and meets requirements, but also such that the project's product just doesn't cut it.   Alternatively, your project, as assessed by PMBOK(R) Guide criteria, could look like it was produced by the hands of angels, and yet the project's product could fail to deliver benefits to the customers or to the organization, or, yes, we have to add this part, to the planet.  In other words, it would look good on the Gantt chart but not on the (triple) bottom line.

You can actually read about this in the latest edition of PM Network magazine  with an excellent story called "The Value Proposition".

Yet, the many brave authors and thought leaders who have approached this question have come to some important conclusions (like the equation above), but they always seem to come up short in terms of sustainability.  They don't seem to even recognize (until we point it out to them, and then they say "Eureka!") that they are writing about sustainability.

So we thought we'd use a 'green-by-definition' project as an example.

The Tesla Model S is an electric car that has been winning accolades for performance and design.

It's a sleek, sporty, 'muscular' car that makes looking good look good.

But now the Tesla S has just blown away all of its internal-combustion colleagues not in energy efficiency, not in carbon-cutting, nor in looks or acceleration, but in safety.  Safety!  Why?  One reason (there are many): Because unlike a standard gas-fueled engine or even a hybrid, the car does not have a ready source of incendiary liquids to engulf the driver and passengers in flame.

Have a look at these fascinating stories:

Tesla S roof so strong it broke the crush test machine

Upstart Tesla wins top US safety rating

So to our point.

The success of the project "deliver Tesla S" is not limited to the handover to production.  The PROJECT SUCCESS goes on to save lives of Tesla drivers.  Notice how ths type of sustainability is not related to the environment at all.  It's the 'steady-state-ness' of it all that we are aiming at.  This is also sustainability.

Look for some new, improved, expanded, enhanced presentations and materials from EarthPM which will tackle this aspect of sustainability in project management.

An for your own projects: think about the project's deliverable(s) in the steady state.  What lessons can you learn from the Tesla S?

Note: Image above from CapeCod Times article referenced below.

On August 1, 2013, there was an auction to sell rights to 164,000 acres of federal ocean area southwest of Martha’s Vineyard (an Island off the coast of Massachusetts – see map).

The winning bid went to Rhode Island-based developer Deepwater Wind New England LLC, for a total of $3.8 million. This now gives Deepwater Wind the right to develop wind energy projects in the highlighted area.

It’s pretty big news.  From yesterday’s front page story in the Cape Cod Times, there is this quote from US Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell:   "When you think about the enormous energy potential that Atlantic wind holds, this is a major milestone for our nation".

Also from that story:

Deepwater Wind plans to build a 200-turbine wind farm on the parcels as well as a transmission system from Long Island to Southeastern New England, company CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said.

The transmission system will allow the company to sell into two regional electrical systems as well as providing those systems with greater reliability and flexibility when moving power around to meet needs, he said.

The 200 turbines the company plans to use — each 6 megawatts — would have a capacity of about 1,200 megawatts and the total cost of the project would be about $5 billion, he said.

The estimated amount of power that would be produced is significantly smaller than the federal government's estimates for the area because Deepwater Wind does not plan to locate any turbines closer than 16 miles from the nearest shoreline, limiting the number of turbines, Grybowski said.

The project could be under construction by 2016 and operational as early as 2017, he said.

We bring this to your attention for several reasons:

1. It’s an example of a “Green By Definition” project (a Program, really, because it is a collection of projects which are better managed together)

·   Our book, Green Project Management, defined projects along a spectrum, from those, like this one, which are geared specifically on renewable energy, saving species, reducing waste, and so on.  We like to illustrate that as projects at various points along the spectrum make news.

2. The project already seems to have incorporated ‘lessons learned’ from its neighboring and pioneering wind project, Cape Wind, about which we have blogged many times before.

·   Cape Wind, a 130-turbine project, has been greatly delayed for several reasons, one of which has been its closer proximity to the shore (though still in Nantucket Sound), and its conflict with a slew of stakeholders who have worked together in unexpected ways to delay the project.

3. From a very early review, and from admittedly limited information, the project team seems to have identified and analyzed stakeholders and seems to ready to deal with the risks (both threat and opportunity) that each brings to the table.

·   From the story: The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) still has concerns about offshore wind energy projects, said the tribe's historic preservation officer, Bettina Washington.  "Now this is off where we live day to day all the time," she said about the leasing area's location southwest of the Gay Head Cliffs at the heart of the tribe's lands.  In addition to concerns about the view from tribal lands, there are concerns about the impact on whales that use the area and on potential archaeological sites located on and below the sea floor, Washington said.  Deepwater Wind officials have already been in contact with the tribe about a five-turbine project the company is planning off the coast of Block Island and would work with the tribe on any concerns it continues to have, Grybowski said.  "They're a hugely important stakeholder in the process," he said.  Although the tribe would prefer the turbines be located at least 21 miles offshore, Washington said archaeological concerns are being taken more seriously following the debate over Cape Wind and the areas farther offshore are preferable to Nantucket Sound.

As you can see, Grybowski and Deepwater Wind have done at least some of their PM homework.  And that’s important.  1,000,000 homeowners may be soon counting on this program if they’re going to be able to reliably click on their TV sets to watch the Red Sox!

For a press release from Deepwater Wind, click on their logo below.

Look carefully at the shape above.

Most people see a "U".  And, indeed it looks rather U-ey, doesn't it?

But it's not symmetrical.  It goes up, sharper and further, on the right hand side.  Make a mental note of this.  Done?  OK, proceed with the post.

What you are looking at is the relationship between profit (net economic impact, on the vertical axis) as KLD score increases.  For now, think of the KLD score (the horizontal axis) as investment in sustainability, and of course, sustainable projects and project management.

If an enterprise chooses to "dabble" in sustainability, the money and resources invested are taken from their mainstream efforts, so of course, profitability suffers.  This reaches a trough at a particular point, and then starts to turn around.  But not only does it turn around and rise up, it rises up above the level at which you started.  In other words, if you go "all in" and integrate sustainability, it has not only an altruistic effect but a positive profit effect.

This is one of the reasons our blog is titled, People, Planet, Profits & Projects. 

• People need to make the decision to integrate sustainability into their enterprise.
• They do this for multiple reasons, but one would be for altruism - for a better planet.
• Doing this effects profit (as you see, not in a staight-line fashion).
• Doing this requires projects, affects projects, and is fundamentally different thinking for project managers who are focused by nature on the short term.

This sort of "baked in" sustainabiilty requires that the right flour, eggs, water, milk, and so on, are used and that the recipes, utensils, ovens, and serving platters are coordinated to the overarching goals of a sustainable enterprise.  Sound like project management could help?  You betcha!  Did we take the analogy too far?  Now you're cookin'!

You'll find a great (and concise!) article on this finding at this site on the Network for Business Sustaianbility.  In the article you will learn what KLD stands for and much jore.  The Network for Business Sustainability, by the way, is a tremendous resource for anyone interested in people, planet, profit, and/or projects, which is probably anyone who has read through this posting so far!