People, Planet, Profits & Projects

Well, here in the US, we have just ended the year with a hearty debate on the so-called "fiscal cliff", and head into 2013 with not too much solved, mostly just delayed and deferred.

The cartoon above, from Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Toles, shows our view.  We, as a large rock (i.e. Earth), have 'other fish to fry'.  That's not to say that the financial problems of the US or for that matter, the world, are not important.  They are.

But as the drawing aptly shows - with comic exaggeration and irony - we, as citizens of any state or - for that matter, any country - have world-wide problems that we as project managers can help solve.

Recently, one of the LinkedIn groups we participate in had a survey, asking people to summarize Project Management in 3 words.  Hundreds of people chimed in.  There were some good ones:

• Plan, execute, integrate
• People, Profession, Pride
• Who, What, When
• Achievement through others
• Time-bound Satisfaction
• Master Cat Herder

..and so on.

Our contribution was: Ideas Into Reality

That's what we are all about as project managers.  We take an idea and make it real.  We are at that precious intersection of Strategy and Operations.  Which means that we are the ones who can help make a browning world into a greener one - by taking on projects which are oriented towards sustainability, or by molding our existing projects to incorporate sustainability (or both).

Our point in this post: it shouldn't matter where you are in the world.  It shouldn't matter where you lean politically.  You, as a project manager can help make a difference. 

Make it a resolution to stay tuned to this blog and others like it (http://earthpm.com, for one). Join the PMI Global Sustainabiity CoP.  Be aware that beyond the fiscal cliff is a much larger fissure, loaded with both threat and opportunity.

Have a healthy, safe, and prosperous 2013!

English is a quirky language.

Winding - usually pronounced "wine-ding" - is associated with the winding of a clock, or in the case of our post title, winding down, as in closing up and relaxing a project (or a year).

We intend for the title to have a double meaning.  We want you to think of wind as in gust or breeze.  So with that in mind, we're talking about the ups and downs of wind power, as well as using this post as a way to close out 2012 and look forward to 2013.

Our attention was drawn today by a very nice editorial by Derrick Z. Jackson in today's Boston Globe. 

In the article, Jackson laments that the US will be facing the "Fiscal Cliff" and that production tax credits will be on the chopping block.  While Europe moves ahead full blast (pun intended), the American Wind Energy Association is actually predicting a loss of 37,000 jobs without the extension of the tax credits - and this is on top of the 10,000 jobs lost from a peak of 85,000 three years ago.

Let's have a look at some of the comparative statistics.  While Jackson's article did not have graphics representing the figures, we couldn't help ourselves and created some of the world's finest graphics from the data in the article.

Mainly, these speak for themselves.  Look at the investment in the UK between now and 2020.  And have a look below at the comparative percentage of the power produced by wind in Europe and in the USA - and the commensurate project and job creation that goes along with it.

It's interesting (at least for us) to note the comments by project managers in Jackson's editorial.  Project manager Ann Pembroke, from Normandeau Associates of Befrord, NH, said, "It's so disappointing to be surrounded by the number of visionaries here who are deicated to getting this industry going in the US but can't because of divisiveness".  Stuart Clough, of the British-based APEM, said, "Wind will be stillborn.  Many companies will give up on the US".

That's a dreary prediction.  Perhaps we can make it a resolution as project managers to push for more wind power and to end the divisiveness. 

We suggest that you start by becoming informed.  Read Jackson's entire article.  Understand more about wind power and the promise it has both as a renewable source of energy and an engine for more projects (and more PM jobs).  We'll end with the ending of Jackson's editorial:

"For the US wind industry, the question is this: Will Obama's reelection and whichever fiscal plan eventually emerges in Washington keep the turbines spinning - or will the future of energy whirl right on past us?"

If there's one place we hope to see increasing opportunity for Project Managers - especially PM opportunities in the area of sustainability, it's in PMI's own communications.

One of those which is most notable is PM Network magazine.  And in the current issue, threre are a couple of feature stories and sidebars of note which are right at that intersection.

And we'd like to draw your attention to them.

First, let's talk about Japan, using a statistic that we think will amaze you.

Japan has 50 nuclear power plants, which used to generate a third of Japan's energy.  Right now, two of them are operating.  That's right.  Two.

From the article:

"The government is pushing that radical shift in power with a new tariff that requires utilities to purchase renewable energy at fixed rates for 20 years. As hoped, those premium rates are prompting a surge in green energy projects.  The simultaneous meltdown of three nuclear reactors and the profound threat of radiation left a possibly indelible mark on the political consciousness with regards to energy infrastructure,” says Andrew DeWit, PhD, a professor in the School of Policy Studies at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan.  Less than three months after the tariffs took effect on 1
July, more than 33,000 renewables projects had received approval, according to Reuters.

Thirty-three thousand renewables projects, approved in just a few months.

To put this in monetary terms - which we should indeed do, Bloomberg New Energy
Finance predicted Japan’s investment in solar, wind and other forms of eco-friendly energy could jump to US$17.1 billion this year—nearly double the 2011 figure.

So that's one story.  But wait, there's more.

There's a sidebar about the effects of 'Superstorm Sandy' on metro New York City and the efforts to protect it from future storms.  From that article:

"City officials are reviewing a bevy of proposals for projects aimed at protecting against flooding from “superstorms,” such as October’s Hurricane Sandy. That storm knocked out power in New York for days, flooded streets and the public transit system, and killed more than 40 people in the city.  Most of the proposed projects focus on higher sea walls and more storm barriers, according to Fast Company. One early frontrunner is a project to install three moveable barriers under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that can close under threat of storm. The gates would, in theory,  protect large sections of the city and the neighboring state of New Jersey.

The hefty price tag— an estimated US$10 billion— scuttled the project when the idea was first floated eight years ago, but it is only one-fifth the estimated cost of cleaning up after the most recent disaster. "

And that's not all.  There's even more.

This one comres from the drought which has plagued the USA. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranked the drought among the nation’s six worst since the late 1800s.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that as of October, about 80 percent of U.S. agricultural land was affected.  This is the most severe and widespread drought in more than 50 years.

From this article:

The USDA and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are responding with US$5 million in grants for projects designed to help farmers and ranchers build resiliency into their production systems, leaving them better equipped to deal with future droughts.The grant program “provides a bridge between researchers and farmers,” says Wayne Honeycutt, PhD, deputy chief for science and technology at NRCS, Washington, DC, USA. “It connects proven research from universities to what landowners need.”

So, there are 3 articles from one issue of PM Network which tells a great story with which to end 2012 and look forward to a great 2013.  So we wish you all success and opportunity in 2013 and beyond.

Cheers!

Do you know the expression, "the elephant in the room"?

If you don't, as a project manager, it's an important one.  Read about it here.  It means "an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. It also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss."

Sound familiar?  In projects, one of our key jobs is to point this out. 

"Hey everyone", you need to say, "what about this key project threat?".  When you do this, you are pointing out an elephant in the room.

So, think about an elephant for a while.  Big, huh?  Huge, even.  Largest living terrestrial animals.  Nice.  A little odiferous, perhaps.  Anyone have any room deodorant or air freshener?

Now, imagine a bunch of them.  Say a hundred.  Or a thousand.  Wow, that's a lot of weight.  1,000 elephants would weigh about 4,000 tons. 

Now get ready for the mind-blower.  Imagine 95 billion elephants.  You can't do it.  It's incomprehensible.  Inconceivable.  Ninety-five billion elephants.

Yet, that's the weight of the ice being lost per year from Earth's poles.  This article, based on recent scientific data, shows that the amount of ice being lost is somewhere between 290 and 379 billion tons per year, up by a factor of three since the 1990s.

We all know that there are cyclic changes in weather.  And of course we need to be open to the possibility that this is cyclic.  But a tripling of this kind of weight in such a short time seems beyond the realm of siimple probability.

To us, it looks like an elephant in the room.  An obvious problem that people seem to continue to gloss over.  And by people, we of course mean project managers.  And those are some of the most influential people in the world, in terms of getting things done and being change agents.  That's what we do!  We find elephants in the room.  We execute projects, which make ideas real!  We are the ones that launch products which in turn are used in the steady state and consume resources, so we have a unique chance to affect those products-of-projects.

If you needed inspiration for your work as a project manager, you need only to imagine an elephant in the room.  Or 10, or 1,000, or a million, or a billion.  Or 95 billiion of them.

Remember this.  Elephants, after all, never forget!  Nor should project managers.

NOTE: We know this posting comes across with a strong message about climate change, and we know that not all project managers necessarily believe in it.  To those people we say two things:

1. Not a problem.  We urge you to check the science, but we have no issue with you if you don't believe in it.  We only have an issue if you deny our second point.

2. It's still important to integrate sustainabilty on your project because it still will help you (for one of many examples) identify threats and opportunities.

We've combined two stories we've recently encountered to share with you some ideas that we feel work their way back into the realm of project management. 

Be patient - we think it's worth it.

The first story- the one which lends us the name of our posting - covered a recent event at Duquesne University at which Cradle-to-Cradle author William McDonough and Green to Gold author Andrew Winston addressed attendees with talks on sustainability.

From the BBC article:

Architect and author William McDonough said that businesses need to shift their focus from just reducing emissions to optimising positive impacts such as material use.

Arguing that eco-designers have an important role to play in stimulating a more ethical business environment, he said companies needed to offer products that pose no risk to society and that become nourishment for something new at the end of their useful life.

Emphasizing that "less bad is still bad", McDonough questioned: "Why don't we start designing things so we understand what's going to happen next?"

There it is.  The design is key.  Using sustainability principles in the design is important.  As project managers, we often only get involved in the design if the project IS the design.  We are blogging and writing to promote the changes and a tenedency to think sustainably in both product/service design AND in projects where the design is "thrown over the wall" to a team meant to execute it into a steady-state product or service. 

In the case of design, we urge you to read books like Cradle to Cradle and Green to Gold but also to take advantage of software like that produced by Sustainable Minds and others.  You can see reviews of such software in this review by LinkCycle.

This takes us to the other story of interest, one about the Namib Desert Beetle.  This is the Namib Desert Beetle, by the way, very different than the delicious and tasty Namib Dessert Beetle, best enjoyed with strawberries, cognac reduction, and whipped cream.

In any case, this story - and others like it, discuss how designers are using biomimicry to inspire design of wanter extraction by taking advantage of the way this particular critter survives in the desert.

From the article:

NBD Nano (the company featured in this story) aims to mimic the way a beetle survives in an African desert to create a self-filling water bottle capable of storing up to three litres every hour.

The insect harvests moisture from the air by first getting it to condense on its back and then storing the water.

Using nature as an inspiration for technology, known as biomimicry, is increasingly widespread.

The company using the Namib Desert Beetle, NBD Nano, is using its name in their company identity.  Their mission statement:

NBD makes use of a nano-scale surface to enhance water condensation. Mimicking the Namib Desert Beetle, our nanotechnology can be used to collect water in the most arid regions of the world.

You may not be working in a company like this - what we at EarthPM would call a "green by definition" company.  But that doesn't mean you can't 'plant the bug' in the ear of your design team(s).  That doesn't mean your project cannot seek ideas like these in execution.

Doing this is not without rewards.  To return the the first story - the one taking place at the sustainability conference at Duquense University. At that conference, Procter & Gamble (P&G) was recognised with an award for its sustainability achievements.

P&G's associate director of global sustainability Jack McAneny accepted the award and spoke about the company's long-term commitment to using 100% renewable energy and making products and packaging entirely from recycled materials.

This translates into sales.

So we can see that putting effort into sustainable design is not only less bad, it's good!