People, Planet, Profits & Projects

We have based our company on the intersection of sustainability and project management.

And we're hopeless project management professionals who for better or worse see almost everything through a PM's eyes.

Thats' why it was such a surprise this morning - I literally had to rub my eyes - when I saw what looked like an S-curve right under the top, front-page headline story of the Boston Globe.  We're going to provide that graphic for you below to look at, download, and consider. 

But let's start with a mini-lesson on S-curves for our more casual readers.

For this, we turn to Max Wideman's outstanding resource and glossaries of PM, where we can findthat an S-curve is:

"A display of cumulative costs, labor hours or other quantities plotted against time. The name derives from the S-like shape of the curve, flatter at the beginning and end and steeper in the middle, which is typical of most projects. The beginning represents a slow, deliberate but accelerating start, while the end represents a deceleration as the work runs out."

It all looks like this:

As a project proceeds, we track our progress against this S-curve.  The planned progress is called the baseline.  Changes in scope, budget, schedule - any of these must be reflected by formal integrated change control, which (as the picture above shows) involves acknowledging that change and creating a new baseline.

Great!  Lovely.  Now what the bleep does that have to do with the picture on the front of the Boston Globe?  Well, there is a connection.  Turns out, the chart is not cumulative spend of resources but rather temperature from January through December for decades (of Boston data), plotted to show the 'normal' baseline of that pattern and also to show that 2012 was the Boston's (and the USA's) warmest on record.

So although the S-shaped curve's shape was only  a bit of a bizzare coincidence (it had to do with the natrural fact that temperatures in the USA go up from January to December in that particular pattern), the idea of it being a representation of an old baselie and a new baseline was actually seen properly through my tired eyes.  In fact, the last line of the article sums it up well:

It was “a huge exclamation point,’’ said Deke Arndt, chief of the climate monitoring branch at Climatic Data Center. “This is consistent with what we would expect in a warming world.’’

So, just as we have to re-baseline a project when we face reality and acknowlege triggered risks, issues, scope change, and so on, it appears that we have to acknowledge (and we would assert act on) factual information presented to us as PMs - or in this case, folks who happen to live on Earth.  We're both.

Some of the 'new-baseliney' facts from the article:

• seven of the nation's 10 warmest years have taken place in the past years (measurements taken since 1895)
• 443 weather stations in the US recorded the warmest years ever.  1 single station recorded the coolest.
• The new average temperature of 55.3 degrees F beat the former high from 1998 by a ful degree.  So it's not only a new high, but a new high with a singular 'jump'. 

Have a look at the graphic.  Are you a project management nut like me?  Do you see an S-Curve there?  And...once you realize that it isn't, do you get a feeling, like we do, that this is even more ominous than a project going bust?  It's more like an eco-system giving us a 'risk trigger' that something is quite wrong?

At least consider that possibility.

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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!

You have probably concluded, while we are realists and pragmatic (project managers) we have also dedicated significant time to sustainability issues, perhaps to someone, might seem like it could be a little incongruous.  Au contraire, to us it is all about saving resources, whether those resources are people, planet, financial (profit) or any combination including all three.

Every once in a while, although it probably seems more like often, we come across projects that may be questionable in nature.  They may not be protecting one or all of the triple-bottom line.  George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  I found this on reference.com in response to the Santayana quote.  “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it is an old but oh so true saying. The times and players may change but the game always remains the same.That is why we still tell stories like the boy who cried wolf and the three little pigs. (It is) To teach a lesson. Those who have been there and done that before us have given us a valuable blueprint of human behavior. If we ignore the history behind it and refuse to see and apply the lessons they teach, then we doom ourselves to the same fate that they suffered. Live and learn and pass your wisdom down to others to help make their paths a little easier.”

So let’s look at an ExxonMobil/Canadian oil giant Enbridge project.  We’ve all heard about tar sands oil.  According to the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Programmatic EIS Information Center , “tar sands (also referred to as oil sands) are a combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen, a heavy black viscous oil. Tar sands can be mined and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil. The bitumen in tar sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its natural state; instead tar sand deposits are mined, usually using strip mining or open pit techniques, or the oil is extracted by underground heating with additional upgrading.”  It is highly toxic.  A conventional oil spill is an ecological nightmare, but a tar sands oil spill is even worse — more corrosive, highly toxic and much harder to clean up. [1] 

ExxonMobil and Enbridge want to pump that mixture through old oil pipelines from the 1950’s through a major watershed in Maine to reach Casco Bay so that the tar sands oil can then be exported.  As a matter of fact, the pipeline comes within 1000 feet of Sebago Lake, a lake so pristine that it supplies drinking water to the greater Portland (Maine) area without needing to be filtered. [2] A spill, like the one that that occurred two years ago in Michigan, spilling 1 million gallons of tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River devastated the surrounding area.  The EPA is still trying to clean it up.[3]

So sometimes, a project just doesn’t seem like it is worth doing, especially if you have considered the environmental risks associated with the project.  However, we looked at the risk register that the team on the Macondo Well (Gulf of Mexico spill) and the only risk categories populated were in cost, schedule and productionsee www.boemre.gov/pdfs/maps/AppendixJ_RiskRegister.pdf.   So, if that is any indication of addressing environmental risks, Sebago Lake is in potential trouble.  And, to add to Mr. Santayana, let’s not only remember the past, but take our lessons learned and actually learn from them. "Live and learn and pass your wisdom down to others to help make their paths a little easier.”

[1] Lisa Song, "A Dilbit Primer: How It's Different from Conventional Oil," Inside Climate News, 26 June 2012.

[2] Portland Water District, Sebago Lake: State of the Lake 2012

[3] Elizabeth McGowan and Lisa Song, "The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You've Never Heard Of," Inside Climate News, 26 June 2012.