People, Planet, Profits & Projects

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!

Is it okay to be a sustainability poser?  Interesting question if I do say so myself.  I was reading a short interview in our local newspaper recently.  The interviewer was questioning Tim Gaudreau, an “eco-artist”.  You may ask, as I did; what is an eco-artist?  According to his website, “Tim Gaudreau, works in collaboration with like minded colleagues, communities and schools to create public art work meant to challenge conventional thinking and catalyze action around environmental issues.”  That’s about as good as any definition of an eco-artist.  Challenging thinking and catalyzing action around environmental issue as they relate to business and project management is what EarthPM is all about, too. 

Anyway, one of the questions asked of Mr. Gaudreau was “Has environmentalism become a marketing gimmick?”  His answer was; “Yes, but there is a positive side to that, because it advances awareness of these green and social issues.  Corporations are starting to realize it is better for the bottom line if their perceived as caring.”  For the most part, I take exception to the use of “marketing gimmick”, although I understand the implication.   The implication is that ‘the end justifies the means.’  In other words, even if it is a marketing gimmick, it’s okay because it furthers the cause.  I guess that is where I differ some.  I don’t believe that, in this case of environmentalism (or the overarching term ‘sustainability’), the end justifies the means and that perceiving sustainability efforts as marketing gimmicks turns people off.  “It’s just a marketing gimmick therefore; the organization is not really being sustainable.  They just want our money.”  If that is truly the sentiment then “green and social issues’ will not garner much attention.

The more telling of his statement, in my mind, is; “corporations are starting to realize it is better for the bottom line if their perceived as caring.”  I would change that a little to say that most organizations are sincerely trying to improve their sustainability.  Their justification may be the improvement to the bottom line, and one of the drivers, that we at EarthPM have always advocated, is that a major driver of sustainability for an organization is the stakeholder’s increasing awareness of sustainability, whether it be the environment, corporate social responsibility to employees, the community and the world, as well as the sustainability or profits of the organization.  That driver is very real and stakeholders are very smart.

So I would say that environmentalism has become a marketing necessity, rather than a gimmick.  Organizations must use their sustainability efforts to further their cause in a truthful and sincere way.  Or, don’t do it at all because stakeholders are smart and will see it for what it is.

Chapter 4 of our book, Green Project Management, is titled, “A Rainbow of Green”.  In that chapter, we make what we think is one of the most important points of the entire ‘sustainability in PM’ thought process: all projects need to have sustainability thinking integrated.  But we acknowledge that there is a spectrum of projects, some of which don’t have an intuitive sustainability element (perhaps the project of upgrading an accounting software package) and some which have a noticeable sustainability component (perhaps the project of building a new highway segment).  Still others are “green by definition” – that is, they are projects dedicated to reducing contaminants, saving species,  creating better working conditions, or producing renewable energy.

The cover story of UMASS magazine, the magazine for alumni and friends of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has a cover that caught our attention.  Their Summer 2013 issue features a major story on “Climate Change: Searching for Solutions, Local and Global.

If you’re interested in science, technology, engineering, and/or management, you’ll enjoy the story.  As individuals involved in all of the above – plus being on staff at the University level in teaching PM, International Business, Qualitative and Quantitative Decision Making, and of course Sustainability courses, it’s even more intensely interesting to us.

We won’t duplicate the story, but we do encourage you to read it.  What we would like to do is to underline the connection between projects and sustainability in this story, but before we do we want to warn you that this is at one end of that ‘rainbow’ we talk about in our book.  Do not – repeat – do not forget that the aspects of sustainability so obvious in these projects still deserve attention if your project does not (on face value) have any sustainability elements in it.  So we recommend you see these intersections as inspirational but NOT as an excuse that your project is exempt.

First of all, the word “project” is prolific in the article.  The simple fact that the word comes up repeatedly is a reminder of the fact that as PMs we contribute greatly in the efforts at the University level to research, discover, and act on climate problems.

To illustrate this, we zoom in on Rick Palmer,  Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UMass and Director of the Northeast Climate Science Center, of which UMass is a part.  We adapt this text from the article:

Since coming to UMass five years ago, the head of Civil and Environmental Engineering has gotten involved in several new projects. 

1. With the Nature Conservancy, he’s studying the effects of climate change on the Connecticut River.

2. With faculty in Environmental Conservation, he’s helping to design better fish passageways.

3. With researchers at Columbia and Drexel University, he is studying the impact of climate change on urban areas.

4.  Recently spearheaded the successful effort to have UMass lead and host the Northeast Climate Science Center (NECSC).

5. His engineering career began with a project calculating the number of drinking water reservoirs needed by Washington, DC to meet its future needs.

6. The CSRC (Climate System Research Center) faculty is working on a project to examine the impact of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.

7. Another CSRC project is to analyze sediments on the Japanese coast to descover the record of fierce Kamikaze Winds which twice destroyed the Mongol fleet when it attempted to invade Japan 1,000 years ago.

Project, project, project, project, project, climate change, project, sustainability, climate, project, sustainability.  All are incredibly intertwined here.

 “Our primary goal is to help people come to grips with the changes from global warming, plan accordingly, and make good decisions,” Palmer says.

Think about that one powerful paragraph for a moment.  Think about the connection to our discipline no matter what type of PM you happen to be.  The elements are striking:

·         Collaboration between diverse organizations

·         Collaboration even between competitive universities

·         “Coming to grips with changes”

·         Aiding managers and policymakers in making good decisions

Sound familiar?  Isn’t this what you already do on your projects?  If not, you may be in the wrong career.

But remember – this is a spectrum, a rainbow.  As the projects move towards the ‘Green in General’ side, the effort to find the linkages, the integration, the interworking with longer-term thinking needs to increase significantly.  And we assert that it’s you – the change-agent project manager that can bring that integration, the gold at one end of the rainbow, to the other side.

Once in a while a book comes along that warrants specific mention.  One book that surely meets that criterion is a recently released book edited by Gilbert Silvius and Jennifer Tharp, Sustainability Integration for Effective Project Management, IGI Global (2013), subtitled A Volume in the Practice, Progress and Proficiency in Sustainability Series.

This book contains 24 chapters of current and important information on sustainable project management.  It also provides an overview of literature on sustainability in projects and project management and a compilation of references.  It a wealth of information.  The unique thing about the book is that Dr. Silvius and Ms. Tharp are joined by some of the most influential thought leaders in the sustainability project management world like; Roland Gareis, Ron Schipper, Tom Mochal and Andrea Krasnoff, to name a few,.  Those people with other thought leaders in the field contribute chapters to the book.  Rich and I were privileged to be asked to contribute a chapter, which we did entitled Project Manager as a Pivot Point for Implementing Sustainability in an Enterprise.  Our contribution highlights the “special importance of the project manager with respect to implementing sustainability at their enterprise.” 

No doubt, it is a weighty tome, physical as well as content.   It is 454 pages (large, textbook type format) including the appendices, index and CV of the chapter authors.  Again, the chapter author’s list reads like a virtual who’s who of sustainable project management authority.  Since we began researching our book in 2007, and ultimately published it in 2010, there have been many books written about sustainable project management, some very good, like Kevin Wilhelm’s Return on Sustainability, How business can increase profits & address climate change in a uncertain economy (Dog Ear Publishing 2009) and as lead author, Dr. Silvius’ Sustainability in Project Management (Gower 2012), and some not so good.  The ones that are not so good do not forward the topic, but rather rehashed know concepts.  As Sgt. Phil Esterhaus of the old TV series Hill Street Blues was fond of saying “Let’s be careful out there.”   There are imitators “out there” with very close titles, so make sure you are getting the real deal!

Sustainability Integration for Effective Project Management is the real deal.  This book ranks in the highly contributory category, with chapters on stakeholder perspective, significant case studies, practical applications of sustainability to projects, and much, much more.  It is well worth the price to add to your personal library or at the least, recommend it for your organization or school’s library.  The front cover says “Premier Reference Source” and that it is.

 If you want to connect with the thought leaders in sustainable project management, all you have to do is review the section “About the Contributors.”  I am not saying that all of the thought leaders in the field are represented there, and I am saying that it is a good place to start.  Most contributors have websites and/or blog sites that are store-houses of information on sustainability in project management.  Anyone of them would be glad to direct you to webinars, seminars and classes for legitimate sustainability in project management training.  As with any subject, it is good to have a guide to help you with your decisions for pursuing additional information.  Again, any one of the experts listed can help, including me and my partner Rich Maltzman.  It is all about forwarding the practice of sustainable project management, or as we say, being “at the intersection of green (or even better, sustainability) and project management.”  

Question: Did the ancient Egyptians recycle?

• Answer:  Not unless you count an entire city

Question: Did ancient Egyptians feel the effects of climate change? 

• Answer: Not unless you count a branch of the Nile silting up – which actually caused the aforementioned relocation of the city.

Of what do we speak?  We’re referring to the Pharaoh Psusennes, pictured above, as told on a recent Public Broadcasting System (PBS) show called ‘The Silver Pharaoh”.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/featured/the-silver-pharaoh-about-this-episode/669/

Here's some of the transcript of the show, adapted a bit for this posting (but not changed in fact or intent):

Among the most extraordinary findings about Psusennes was his relocation of the metropolis of Pi-Ramesse to Tanis. Pi-Ramesse was the fabled riverside capital built by Rameses II. Its location had puzzled archaeologists for years until Montet discovered its ruins in Tanis. However, archaeologists began questioning Montet’s assumption since the river Nile often changed course. Using radar scans along a previously discounted delta settlement 12 miles from Tanis, they discovered the foundation of Rameses’ lost city. Historians knew that Pi-Ramesse became unlivable when the Nile became too silted at this location and around that same time, Psusennes took the throne ordering the city be moved stone by stone to Tanis, over 100km to the northwest of Pi-Ramesses. obelisks and statues, the largest weighing over 200 tons, were transported in one piece while major buildings were dismantled into sections and reassembled at Tanis. Stone from the less important buildings was reused and recycled for the creation of new temples and buildings

Only a king with matchless power and wealth could command such a colossal task.  And only the best project managers, using Microsoft Project 0.00001 or Oracle Primavera 1900BC had a shot at overseeing the undertakings, given the dependencies and scope creep involved.  Imagine the change requests coming in from top leadership!  Talk about a Work Breakdown Structure- this was a Metropolitan Breakdown Structure – literally.

They moved the city to the new branch establishing Djanet (Tanis) on its banks, 100 km (62 mi) to the north-west of Pi-Ramesses as the new capital of Lower Egypt. The Pharaohs of the Twenty-first Dynasty transported all the old Ramesside temples, obelisks, stelae, statues and sphinxes from Pi-Ramesses to the new site.

The root cause of this recycling

It is now known that the Pelusiac branch of the Nile began silting up c. 1060 BCE, leaving the city without water when the river eventually established a new course to the west now called the Tanitic branch.  So as a result of a change in the environment, major projects were triggered.

Knowing what we know about ocean level rise, ice melt, increased extreme weather and other effects of climate change, will we be moving Washington or Tokyo or Shanghai or Prague brick-by-brick?