People, Planet, Profits & Projects

Photo:  Creative Commons copyright by James Hedberg

Find some really cool physics animations and photos by James here.

What would it be like if we could make roofing surfaces - even wildly irregular roofing surfaces - into highly-efficient solar collectors?

First of all, for those of you who are a little science-minded (and we're guessing there are a few of you here) you'll want to learn a little more about a new "wonder maerial" called graphene.  Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon.  Want to spend a moment to learn about it?  You know you do.

Have a look at this really nice video from Creative Science, an organization from the UK:

So now that you're familiar with the material, you see there are all sorts of possiblities (read that projects) for what we can do with it.

Especially if the material happens to create electricity when it's sturck by light.  Oh wait!  It does that.  See this link.  Or see this link.

OK, you can see that this has some carbon-fighting applications.  So it's potentially "green".  What does that have to do with project management?  Well, it's actually very simple.  The number of research projects and then actual application-based projects are huge.  This 'wonder material' has reminded those of us old enough to remember, of the advance of silicon as a wonder material, and the cavalcade of electronics that followed that, employing literally millions of project managers and engineers.

So we think this is worth your attention as a project manager.

Stay tuned to this blog - we'll have more.

You may remember that before we sent 2011 off into the sunset and wished it good bye (or good riddance), we played devil's advocate.  Below are some of the objections we hear to planning in sustainability to your projects.   All are real, and all actually have some virtue (it's the ying and yang of PM, we suppose).  We promised that early in 2012 we would play angel's advocate and explain why these objections to resolutions oughtn't, shouldn't, and mightn't make a (negative) difference to you, your projects, planet, people, and profits.

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5.  My project has its own needs and must not be hampered by corporate or other enterprise 'weights'.  I have enough to worry about with my project alone.

We’d actually turn this one right onto its head.  We’d say that if you DON’T take the time to connect your project to the strategic goals of your enterprise, you risk having an “outlier” project which has “success” unto itself, but because of its disconnectedness, is not really contributing towards enterprise success.  Furthermore, your own success as PM and your own career path count on you knowing what’s important to the enterprise.  We suggest you change your thinking.  These sustainability considerations are not weights – okay, well they do carry some weight - think of  them as jetpacks which can help power your project and energize your career.

4.  I don't want to worry about how my project's product/service will be used in the long term - what a bother!  I am a PM – my projects have defined beginnings and endings, and I work in the here and now.

Yes.  You work in the here and now.   And yes, we have to keep our focus on what PMI calls “progressive elaboration” and “rolling wave planning” – where we use the near term to adjust the medium term.  But don’t forget the long term.  And don’t forget the holistic view of your project’s product.  It will help you identify issues and risk you’d be blind to if not considered upfront.  We have real, specific examples of where failing to do this has caused significant failure of the project itself.  We’ve shared these on our blog in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

3. Since my project only runs for a short time, I don't need to run 'the project itself' efficiently.  I just need to get it done.  The operations people can worry about the steady-state.

First of all, we have to give the obligatory answer that “every bit helps”, so that if you do make sustainability improvements within the project, it will contribute, even if in a small way, to the overall global effort.   But the other piece is this.  You are a project manager – that’s a change agent.  Projects are about change, by definition.  So what you do sets a sort of behavioral model for the company.  So even if your efforts to be sustainability-focused are limited, they are likely to be emulated by others you touch in your organization.

 It is true that the steady-state of the project is owned by the operations people.  But you know what?  It’s very much your job as a project manager to empower the operations people to do their job efficiently – you set them up for success, including sustainability success.  Again, if you stay tuned to EarthPM and/or read our book, you will find solid, real examples of these situations.

2. Any money or effort spent to 'green up' my project is money NOT spent on my REAL project.  We’re all splitting one pie, so there is only so much to go around.

The view expressed in this assertion indicates a win-lose situation.  Only thing is…this is not a win-lose situation.  The “pie” – if you wan to keep this analogy – is expandable.  Just as we can give you many examples of how sustainability can enhance an enterprise’s bottom line, there are examples of how a project can actually benefit from money spent to make the project more efficient or ecologically responsible. 

1. They've begun to find planets with similar characteristics to Earth.  So, with regards to the earth and "using it up" -  it's replaceable! So, what, me worry?

Although this philosophy (assumption, really) that the earth has limitless resources has been the basis for much of our carelessness with regards to ecological sustainability (or the lack thereof).  Let’s use this silly assertion above as a way to remind us that as planets go, right now we really only have the one.

And, we reiterate: Have a very pleasant, safe, and fun New Year's and best of wishes to you, your people, projects, profits, and planets in 2012!

As we send 2011 off into the sunset and wish it good bye (or good riddance), we at EarthPM thought this would be a good time to set resolutions for 2012. 

But first...

..before doing something so angelic...

...we thought we'd play devil's advocate.  Below are some of the objections we hear to planning in sustainability to your projects.   All are reall, and all actually have some virtue (it's the ying and yang of PM, we suppose).  Early in 2012 we will play angel's advocate and explain why these objections to resolutions oughtn't, shouldn't, and mightn't make a (negative) difference to you, your projects, planet, people, and profits.

So here they are, people, in ascending order to the NUMBER 1 reason why we need not plan sustainability into our projects.

(insert drumroll here)

5.  My project has its own needs and must not be hampered by corporate or other enterprise 'weights'.  I have enough to worry about with my project alone.

4.  I don't want to worry about how my project's product/service will be used in the long term - what a bother!  I am a PM – my projects have defined beginnings and endings, and I work in the here and now.

3. Since my project only runs for a short time, I don't need to run 'the project itself' efficiently.  I just need to get it done.  The operations people can worry about the steady-state.

2. Any money or effort spent to 'green up' my project is money NOT spent on my REAL project.  We’re all splitting one pie, so there is only so much to go around.

1. They've begun to find planets with similar characteristics to Earth.  So, with regards to the earth and "using it up" -  it's replaceable! So, what, me worry?

Have a very pleasant, safe, and fun New Year's and best of wishes to you, your people, projects, profits, and planets in 2012!

Two strongly-related news stories caught our attention today.

One (from Politico.com) describes the closing of COP17, the UN Climate Conference which completed last week in Durban, South Africa.

The other, (from today's Boston Globe) using that as an opening, is a story about how technology is really the answer and that (as Gomer Pyle used to say: "surprise, surprise, surprise") the diplomats and governments are just not that good at solving problems.

Wherever you stand on climate change (and we're interested to hear just where that is), we hope you'll agree that the field of green technology holds promise for us - as project managers.  Indeed, to quote Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, the "efforts to develop these new technologies need to accelerate to full throttle". 

That means development projects:

• research
• design/innovation
• testing
• trials

That means deployment projects:

• design/implementation
• construction
• training
• conversion

In other words, jobs for us as PMs.

So - sharpen your tools.  Build your 'green vocabulary' and get out there and do what the diplomats and policy makers continue to NOT do, and that's to make a difference.

One way to do that is to check out the job opportunites here on GreenBiz.  Note how many of them are driven by new projects.  That's all we're sayin'.

In this somewhat toungue-in-cheek, somewhat serious post, we address the sustainability role of the project manager by illustrating this with a football statdium.

In particular, we want to draw your attention to the Dallas Cowboys.  After all, this is Thanksgiving season in the US, a holiday celebrated here with a family meal, acknowledging what we're thankful for, and watching lots of football.  In particular, this Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys played the Miami Dolphins (the Cowboys won by one point). In fact, Dallas plays every Thanksgiving in their beautiful new stadium, a finalist in the 2010 PMI Project of the Year Award.

The stadium deserved its Finalist position - the project team did a great job and this post is not meant to be any sort of direct attack on that project.  However we will take a couple of good-natured pokes at it based on some news stories.

First: some context.  It's our assertion that project managers are responsible not only for the execution of the project and its end deliverable, but the handoff of that project to the steady-state.  And we think project managers should have more of a role in assuring that the steady-state, or the "sustained" operation, is successful for the ongoing users of the project's product.

In the case of this stadium, two flaws have shown themselves in terms of steady-state operation.

1. The gigantic TV monitor has actually interfered with play.  See this story. See this story.

2. Premium seating for high-paying patrons has ended up in obstructed views. See this story.

So what could the project manager and team have done?  Did they fully take into account the steady-state operation of the stadium?  Is it really their responsibility?

We're just asking the questions.  We're just raising awareness about this.  Perhaps this is example is extreme, but we want this conversation to take place.  We want this post to be a way to point out that sustainability often has nothing to do with ecology but rather with the general "steady-state".