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Perspectives · Perspectives

A Mercenary Perspective on Sustainability

Peter Milsom August 14, 2017
I am blessed and cursed with never having had a boss. Despite the image above, I actually consider myself a capitalist and believe that it is vital  to generate jobs and improve the overall economic well being of society. All of that said though, I do believe we need an overhaul because the existing US-based capitalist system is failing us due to poor regulations and legislation (and lobbyists run amok). For decades I have been a serial-entrepreneur and pride myself on being a founding and managing partner of four firms that have been fortunate to have provided considerable employment and opportunities. I remember in the 70s and 80s when it was the fiduciary responsibility of business owners to work with the local economy, business, suppliers and consumers / workers. Not to exploit everyone mercilessly. Though a capitalist, I do have a problem with Milton Friedman's famous argument that corporate managers should:

“conduct the business in accordance with [shareholders’] desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.”

This is one of the reasons I am so proud (and privileged) to be working with GPM Global. One way to facilitate organizations to be better citizens and to be a better catalyst for improvement, is to incorporate sustainability, social responsibility and regeneration into our business principles. When I present I almost always reference what I consider the key drivers of sustainability (not necessarily in this order) from a capitalistic or mercenary perspective :
  • informed risk taking,
  • brand protection, and
  • asset lifecycle value optimization.
Lets look at each one of these in turn.

Informed Risk Taking

I focus a lot on risk management and mitigation (Please refer to the GPM Blog Post "Sustainable Risk Management – Overview"). Once again keeping in mind that a risk is an uncertain event or set of events that, should they occur, will have an effect on the achievement of objectives. A risk is measured by the combination of the probability of a perceived threat or opportunity occurring and the magnitude of its impact on objectives. As opposed to being risk averse or risk seeking, many organizations need to do a better job of taking informed risks. A key part of risk management is scanning the internal and external environment to identify and estimate / evaluate / assess potential risks as outlined below in the red box: One excellent risk mitigation technique is to employ the GPM P5 Impact Analysis model to conduct and internal and external project and organizational assessment to identify potential threats and opportunities and to prioritize those risks based on organizational priorities and potential impacts:  

Brand Protection

The primary purpose of a brand is to increase the total asset value of the company/organization. One of the key concerns of brand management are risks. Once again one can see how integrated these three points are. The ISO definition of brand is outlined below: A brand is an 'intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos and designs, or a combination of these, intended to identify goods, services or entities, or a combination of these, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefit/values. Note: A Brand creates distinctive images, experiences and associations in the minds of Stakeholders, thereby generating additional value above and beyond the base expectations of the product or service in the category(ies) that the brand operates in' (ISO/CD 20671.2 Brand Evaluation - Principles and Fundamentals, Page 3). Brand is obviously key for organizations, and there are numerous examples of negative brand threat that have metastasized recently in the news based on unsustainable project management practices. Two simple examples:

BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

On April 20, 2010, a final cement seal of an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico failed, causing what has been called the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history and taking the lives of 11 rig workers.

For 87 straight days, oil and methane gas spewed from an uncapped wellhead, 1 mile below the surface of the ocean. The federal government estimated 4.2 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf, but BP argued in court that it was much lower. A judge ruled BP was responsible for the release of 3.1 million barrels. (http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/14/us/gulf-oil-spill-unknowns/index.html) On an after-tax basis, BP’s spill costs will amount to $44 billion with the additional charge of $2.5 billion in the second quarter, the company said. “It’s a really scary number,” said Fadel Gheit, oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. “Before the accident, BP had a market capitalization of $180 billion. The accident actually shaved off one-third of the market capitalization of the company. It’s a miracle that the company is still in business.” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/bps-big-bill-for-the-worlds-largest-oil-spill-now-reaches-616-billion/2016/07/14/7248cdaa-49f0-11e6-acbc-4d4870a079da_story.html?utm_term=.d9f32f9f3714) Due to foolish, short sighted and unsustainable project management decisions, BPs market capitalization was $180 billion until the accident shaved off one-third of the market capitalization of the company. Blame BP for Deepwater Horizon. But Direct Your Outrage to the Actual Mistake 5 years after the Gulf oil spill: What we do (and don't) know BP’s big bill for the world’s largest oil spill reaches $61.6 billion Volkswagen Emissions Scandal "Volkswagen AG’s provisions for the diesel-cheating scandal rose to 22.6 billion euros ($23.9 billion), as the German car maker continues to tally damages from the worst crisis in its history" (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-24/vw-s-profit-boost-clouded-by-6-8-billion-diesel-crisis-charge).   "All of a sudden, Volkswagen has become a bigger downside risk for the German economy than the Greek debt crisis," ING chief economist Carsten Brzeski told Reuters. "If Volkswagen's sales were to plunge in North America in the coming months, this would not only have an impact on the company, but on the German economy as a whole," he added. (http://www.businessinsider.com/r-volkswagen-could-pose-bigger-threat-to-german-economy-than-greek-crisis-2015-9). Once again, due to foolish, short sighted and unsustainable project management decisions, Volkswagen's (VW) shares lost almost a third of their value, or about 22 billion euros ($24 billion), since it admitted in September to misleading U.S. regulators about emissions with the help of on-board engine control software (https://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/18/volkswagen-faces-shareholder-claims-over-emissions-scandal.html). VW's Costs Keep Adding Up From Its Worst Crisis Ever Volkswagen is a bigger threat to the German economy than the Greek debt crisis How Volkswagen’s ‘Defeat Devices’ Worked Volkswagen faces shareholder claims over emissions scandal  

Asset Maximization

Assets are defined as (ISO 55000 (2014-03-15) Asset management — Overview, principles and terminology, page 13):

3.2.1 Asset: item, thing or entity that has potential or actual value to an organization (3.1.13) Note 1 to entry: Value can be tangible or intangible, financial or non-financial, and includes consideration of risks (3.1.21) and liabilities. It can be positive or negative at different stages of the asset life (3.2.2).

Note 2 to entry: Physical assets usually refer to equipment, inventory and properties owned by the organization. Physical assets are the opposite of intangible assets, which are non-physical assets such as leases, brands, digital assets, use rights, licences, intellectual property rights, reputation or agreements.

Note 3 to entry: A grouping of assets referred to as an asset system (3.2.5) could also be considered as an asset.

The benefits of asset maximization include, but are not limited to (ISO 55000 (2014-03-15) Asset management — Overview, principles and terminology, page 2):
  1. improved financial performance
  2. informed asset investment decisions
  3. managed risk
  4. improved services and outputs
  5. demonstrated social responsibility
  6. demonstrated compliance
  7. enhanced reputation
  8. improved organizational sustainability
  9. improved efficiency and effectiveness
I have highlighted some interesting benefits above showing how integrated asset management is with risk, brand and sustainability, The maximization of assets is not a common reference in project management with the exception of engineering or engineering economic studies. The focus being on the cradle to cradle asset life-cycle of the new asset is a key component of project management and is tied to business case management and benefits management. Sustainability is a core component of asset management and helps maximize the assets by focusing on the full asset life-cycle cost, risks and benefits. One of the fundamentals of asset management is value management, in that assets exist to provide value to the organization and its stakeholders. "Asset management does not focus on the asset itself, but on the value that the asset can provide to the organization. The value (which can be tangible or intangible, financial or non-financial) will be determined by the organization and its stakeholders, in accordance with the organizational objectives" (ISO 55000 (2014-03-15) Asset management — Overview, principles and terminology, page 3).  

Conclusion

There are many definitions and drivers for sustainability. I have found though that from a business perspective focusing on Risk Mitigation, Asset Maximization, and Brand Protection (not necessarily in that order) helps guide decisions and actions that are critically beneficial to organizations, management, executives, and especially sponsors and project managers. They will help increase organizational value, benefits, profitability, brand and reduce threats and costs.

Perspectives · Competence

The Key Attribute of a Project Manager

Peter Milsom August 8, 2017
I recently enjoyed a discussion on the key attribute of project managers. It started from a conversation about whether a project manager should just do what they were told, or if they should do their best to deliver the greatest value and benefits to the organization. I am biased towards sustainable project management, so the following two interesting and not mutually exclusive observations were focused on. The image above came from the fact that I believe being entrepreneurial and political may be interpreted as two sides of the same coin. Just for reference purposes, there are many words that could be used like characteristic, criterion, differentiator, focus, feature, hallmark, mark, property, quality, trait, but I chose attribute: a quality, character, or characteristic ascribed to someone or something (Merriam Webster).

Entrepreneurial

One perspective came from a Corporate Executive Board (CEB) Project Management Office (PMO) Executive Council report entitled “Making Your PMO Adaptive - A PM–Led Approach to Delivering Business Outcomes”, 2011. It recommended evaluating organizational talent to determine which project managers are Entrepreneurs, Process-Crats, Apprentices, and Laggards (this post is not advocating for this categorization, though it is interesting). There was a suggestion to focus on hiring project management candidates that have the entrepreneurial skills that are difficult to develop such as (from page vii):
  • Stakeholder Partnership
  • Judgment
  • Risk Management
  • Team Leadership
  • Ownership and Commitment
  • Learning Agility
Furthermore, one should “...target entrepreneurial candidates in recruiting — (as) chances are that you will find enough Process-Crats to satisfy your needs while looking for” (from page vii) project management talent.   The rational was that entrepreneurial project managers had a higher chance of meeting or exceeding expectations, which by definition is more sustainable: Personally, I have a bias towards this perspective. Organizations are looking for project managers that will take the hill and get the job done to deliver the benefits. This follows perspectives outlined in the post "Flaws with the Iron Triangle."  

Political

The second observation came from the 2014 IPMA Research Conference in Tianjin China. It was identified that there is a perspective in China that project managers should fundamentally be small "p" political. That is to work the system and relationships to deal with a projects continuously evolving changes and risks. In the west, we often say that programme managers should be political, often describing that as a key differentiator between project and programme managers. I can see rationale though from the projects that I have managed over the past thirty+ years.  There have been some discussions on this, including "Project Politics" by Nita Martin. In the IPMA Individual Competence Baseline 4th Version (ICB4) politics is also frequently referenced. However, the notion that being political as a key attribute of a project manager is intriguing.  

Cultural Differences

Michael Young identified an interesting observation that the entrepreneurial focus is very western and individually based, whereas the political focus is very social or eastern based. There is a fun acronym for "westerners" called WEIRD: western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (Haidt, page 112). I thought this was a telling quote:

Several of the peculiarities of WEIRD culture can be captured in this simple generalization: The WEIRDer you are, the more you see a world full of separate objects, rather than relationships. It has long been reported that Westerners have a more independent and autonomous concept of the self than do East Asians (Haidt, page 113).

Most people think holistically (seeing the whole context and the relationships among parts), but WEIRD people think more analytically (detaching the focal object from its context, assigning it to a category, and then assuming that what’s true about the category is true about the object) (Haidt, page 113).

 

Not Mutually Exclusive

A key point though, is that whether you believe that a project manager's key attribute should be entrepreneurial or political there are interesting similarities between the two and I would argue both are applicable and sides of the same coin. I would welcome any other feedback or perspectives. I realize there is probably no real answer to this, and it is a depends type question.  

REFERENCES

Corporate Executive Board (CEB) PMO Executive Council (2011). “Making Your PMO Adaptive - A PM–Led Approach to Delivering Business Outcomes”. Haidt, Jonathan (2012). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Competence IPMA Project Management Sustainability

Perspectives · Perspectives

EVM and Agile - Project Reporting

Peter Milsom August 4, 2017

Context

This post was modified from one I developed several years ago for the Mercure AACE 2013 program I took, called W17_PM_EVM-KPI-Reporting. It is a follow on to a recent post "EVM and Agile – Can they work together?".  Once again, this post is not specifically about sustainable change delivery. It does provide useful considerations, tools and techniques for consideration though for project controls in sustainable projects. The original inspiration for this post came from an AACE paper from 1994 and the following two graphics 1. The first graphic demonstrates findings from the mid 90s of a questionnaire distributed to 35 professionals within a large engineering firm demonstrating their understanding of key cost engineering skills. If the results were this poor for a Professional Engineering organization, one can easily imagine what it would be for non-engineering or executives untrained in cost engineering skills. Graphic 1: Survey Data: Staff Knowledge of Key Cost Engineering Concepts (Modified slightly by Author) The second graphic is a recommendation for what and how to present project information to the project sponsor and/or executive. The benefit is that it provides a clear snapshot on the issues that matter most to the executive, and it shows trends. All of this information can be derived directly from the EVMS reports. Graphic 2: Project Summary Status (Modified slightly by Author) These sources highlight a need to ensure the Earned Value analysis and reporting is communicated in an appropriate manner for the Project Sponsor and executive. There are several assumptions being put forward:
  1. The focus will be on IT Enabled Solutions engagements
  2. The change initiative is not of a sustaining or transformational nature (please see Table 1 below)
  3. The Project Sponsor is not familiar with project management (i.e. Agile or Earned Value)
  4. There is a sound business case with quantifiable costs and benefits documented
  5. The organization has the resource capacity and competency; along with organizational maturity (i.e. Level 2 or higher) to employ Agile and Earned Value methods, tools and techniques (please see Graphic 3 below)
  6. The governance structure is of an owner organization, focusing on the means to an end where the primary benefit of a project is achieving or realizing the benefit from the product of the project (i.e. what the project was undertaken to create or change). In most owner organizations the Project Manager does NOT have the formal authority commensurate with their responsibility. This impacts the dynamic between the project manager and the organization and the project manager and the project sponsor.
Table 1: Project Complexity and Risk Level Definitions (Modified by Author) 2 Graphic 3: Key Business Management Practices Operational 3

Problem Statement

Is it possible to improve project management reporting, management analysis and decision support by employing EVM, Excel and Agile in a cost effective and efficient manner? Graphic 4: Dilbert 10/03/2010 4

Development of Feasible Alternatives

There are three possible alternatives:
  1. Demonstrating that employing EVM, Excel and Agile can improve PM reporting, management analysis and decision support in a cost effective and efficient manner.
  2. Proving why employing EVM, Excel and Agile cannot improve PM reporting, management analysis and decision support or it would be to expensive and inefficient to provide value.
  3. Something else.

Development of the Outcomes of Each Alternative

Table 2: Outcome Alternatives (Table supplemented from Sullivan et al for the Author’s purposes) 5

Selection of the Acceptable Criteria

For the purposes of this paper, the acceptable criteria will be defined as: Table 3: Acceptance Criteria (Author’s design) 6

Analysis and Comparison of the Alternatives

Background

The following was also taken from the introduction of the 1994 Arthur Hadnett presentation setting the stage for why improved reporting is key 7: The following was also taken from the summary of the 1994 Arthur Hadnett presentation recommending some changes in how we should conduct our business 8: It is curious how for well over a decade things have not progressed that much.

Project Controls Environment

During the following process, conversations and reporting with the project sponsor and executive will be taking place using the "management by exception" approach. For the purposes of this paper we will focus on the status report for the project sponsor and executive highlighted by the red box: As demonstrated by the following, much of the EVM analysis and reporting can take place in MS Excel:

Preparation

The following section is not for the project sponsor or executive. However, it provides the analysis, traceability and confidence to properly present clear and concise recommendations for the project. The traditional Contract Performance Report (CPR) for EVM is outlined below: The beauty of EVM is that it allows a deep and methodical analysis of the current state of the project: A recommended process is outlined below 14: For example, the current status indicators are important: The issue is that once a project initiates it seldom goes according to plan: Using the plan and actuals to identify variances: And resolving the following questions: A process similar to the following can help with variance analysis: The following performance forecasting is useful: The following future performance forecasting is also useful: The standard EVM reporting chart looks like the following: Which for the project sponsors and executives outlined in the assumptions, would not be understandable:

Recommendation

Every project has different stakeholders, organizational maturity, support systems and nature of the engagement. KPIs and reporting will have to be agreed at the beginning of each project and will evolve throughout.  One recommendation is a project status report called a "project quad" divided into four intuitive sections that provide an executive summary level of information. I. Project Overview: This section provides project charter level information on the quantifiable business objectives, work authorization date, approved capital budget, and the standard project health indicator (now less subjective). II. Current State: This section provides a quick reference for project progress according to plan. The variances are immediately obvious and frequently initiate the discussion necessary to remove barriers to progress. There are advantages to the simpler wording and demonstration of project status on the EVM/Agile type graph below. III. Risks and Issues: The project manager uses this section to provide bulletized statements about barriers to either progress or meeting the approved business objectives. IV. Next Steps: This section is used to either identify the next milestones or for recommendations to bring performance back in line with the plan.

Analysis

Based on this and the previous several posts this grid was filled out.

Selection of the Preferred Alternative

Based on this analysis, Option 1 “Demonstrating that employing EVM, Excel and Agile can improve PM reporting, management analysis and decision support in a cost effective and efficient manner” appears to be the proven and the preferred alternative, based on the assumptions.  Though project is different EVM, Agile and Excel should all be aggressively considered as useful tools and approaches.

What has this to do with sustainable project management?

It obviously depends on the type of project, industry, culture and maturity / competency of the project team, but I have found this support structure and reporting technique to be extremely beneficial for sustainable projects. Once again just a few more tools and techniques for the tool kit.

References

  1. Hadnett, Arthur (1994). Cost Engineering: Making it Work. Available at: http://www.aacei.org/avectramembers/pdfs/18010.pdf. .
  2. TBS (2013). Project Complexity and Risk Assessment Tool v1.4. Available at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pm-gp/doc/pcra-ecrp/pcra-ecrp-eng.asp. .
  3. Alleman, Glen (2011). NDIA Information Systems Summit II – Earned Value + Agile = Success. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/galleman/evagilesuccess-final-v2. .
  4. Adams, Scott (2010). 10/03/2010. Available at: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-10-03/. .
  5. Sullivan, W.G., Wicks, E. M., & Koelling, C. P. (2011). Engineering Economy, pp. 7 – 15, 15th edition, Prentice Hall
  6. Humphreys, Gary (2010). EVMS The Principles, Best Practices and Benefits. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/NASAPMC/humphreysgary. .
  7. Ibid Hadnett
  8. Ibid
  9. Griffiths, Mike (2008). A Better S Curve and Simplified EVM. Available at: http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/2008/06/a-better-s-curve-and-simplified-evm.html. .
  10. Ibid Humphreys
  11. Ibid
  12. Ibid
  13. Ibid
  14. Ibid
  15. Ibid
  16. Ibid
  17. Ibid
  18. Ibid
  19. Ibid
  20. Ibid
  21. Ibid
  22. Ibid
  23. Ibid Hadnett
  24. Kerzner, Harold (2011-07-15). Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards: A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance. Wiley Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Perspectives · Perspectives

EVM and Agile - Can they work together?

Peter Milsom August 4, 2017

Context

This post was modified from one I developed several years ago for the Mercure AACE 2013 program I took, called W15_PM_EVM-Agile-Considerations. My primary focus is split between sustainable organizational project, programme, portfolio and risk management improvement and organizational sustainable change delivery assessments. My project experience has been 30+ years in combining a series of tailored methods employed to manage change delivery engagements. I have experience over the past few  years in incorporating EVM tools, techniques and processes into the project management landscape to improve control and change initiative success. The key is to improve and supplement the support structure and techniques to provide improved reporting for better analysis and informed decision making. There is a concern thought that EVM and Agile are contradictory methods that cannot work together. This post is not specifically about sustainable change delivery. It does provide useful considerations, tools and techniques for consideration though for project controls in sustainable projects. When I originally wrote this post in 2013, my methods experience was the following: Graphic 1: Authors design EVM has been used for IT Enabled engagements for well over a decade (Lett, 1998 1; Fleming & Koppelman, 1998 2; Henderson, 2002 3).  Employing a combination of both EVM and Agile have been employed as well for over a decade (Alleman & Henderson, 2003 4, 5). A few qualifiers are helpful to explain the EVM components as demonstrated below 6:
  • Earned Value Analysis (EVA) - a quantitative project management technique for evaluating project performance and predicting final project results, based on comparing the progress and budget of work packages to planned work and actual costs.
  • Earned Value Management (EVM) - a project management methodology for controlling a project which relies on measuring the performance of work using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and includes an integrated schedule and budget based on the project WBS.
  • Earned Value Management System (EVMS) - the process, procedures, tools and templates used by an organization to do earned value management.
For this paper we will focus on Earned Value Analysis (EVA), with the presumption that the following EVM support structures are in place 7, 8:
  • Organizing - Define WBS
  • Organizing - Identify Organizations
  • Organizing - Integrate WBS & OBS
  • Planning & Budgeting - Schedule Work
  • Planning & Budgeting - Identify Products / Milestones
  • Planning & Budgeting - Set Time-Phased Budget
  • Accounting - Record Direct Costs
  • Analysis - Determine Variances
  • Analysis - Sum Data and Variances
  • Analysis - Manager Action Plans
  • Revisions - Incorporate Change
A few qualifiers for Agile will also be provided. Similar to EVM though there are several components and flavours of “Agile” (Scrum, XP, Test Driven Development, or Feature Driven Development, DSDM, Crystal Clear, etc.) that all "conform" to the Agile Manifesto and Principles 9: Manifesto for Agile Software Development

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

The last sentence is key “while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.” They do not focus on the right as much, but also they do NOT discount it. The Agile Manifesto 12 Principles are:

Problem Statement

Is it possible to “connect the dots” and integrate the Agile and EVM techniques to work together for IT enabled change initiatives to increase the probability of success 10 ? Graphic 2: Dilbert 11/26/2007

Development of Feasible Alternatives

There are three possible alternatives:
  1. EVM in its entirety and Agile in its entirety can be combined
  2. Components of EVM and Agile can be combined
  3. EVM and Agile cannot be employed together

Development of Prospective Outcomes

Table 1: Author’s design

Selection of the Decision Criteria

For the purposes of this paper, the acceptable criteria will be defined as: 1. EVM not contradicting the Agile Principles: 2. The Agile Principles not contradicting the EVM 32 Guidelines (specifically the bolded key Eleven Guidelines)

Analysis and Comparison of the Alternatives

Assumptions

1. Flaws to Overcome Flawed assumptions with EVM 11 Table 2: Modified Slightly by Author Flawed assumptions with Agile 12: Flawed assumptions with Software Development Projects 13: Table 3: Modified Slightly by Author 2. Is it Possible to Connect the Dots? Glen Alleman has suggested the following “Core Principles” for “Connecting the Dots” between EVM and Agile 13, 14 : Table 3: “Core Principles” for “Connecting the Dots” 3. Positioning Agile and EVM The author positions Agile as a Team Management or Work Package methodology, with a higher project management container.  EVM provides an overall support structure to ensure control, reporting and analysis that can be supported by Agile.

Analysis

The following demonstrates that the key EVM Guidelines have an associated non-conflicting Agile Approach 15: The following demonstrates that Agile points of View do not contradict EVM Points of View 16: The following shows that it is possible to “align” the Agile Manifesto Principles and the EVM Guidelines without conflict: “In summary, agile processes give you the option of producing a reasonably complete definition of scope at the start of the project. That’s exactly what we need for EVM – we need overall targets for scope, time and cost so that we can track our progress towards them. You don’t have to set these targets if you just want to do agile; but you do have to set them if you want to do agile with EVM.” As with all methods, none of them provide a silver bullet or colour by numbers approach that guarantees success.  However, with common sense, experience and hard work these methods will reduce uncertainty and improve the odds of successful delivery. Based on this analysis, it is possible to use a combination of both EVM and Agile components without contradiction, and in fact providing superior project control in certain circumstances.  This may not be possible in all situations, but with IT Enabled Solutions of a reasonable size nothing has been identified to not use both methods.

Selection of the Preferred Alternative

Based on this analysis, Option 2 “Components of EVM and Agile can be combined” is the preferred alternative. The follow on paper will explain how specifically in reporting.  

What has this to do with sustainable project management?

It obviously depends on the type of project, industry, culture and maturity / competency of the project team, but I have found the EVM / Agile support structures to be extremely beneficial for sustainable projects. Once again just a few more tools and techniques for the tool kit.

References

  1. Lett, Steven H. (1998). An Earned Value Tracking System for Self-Directed Software Teams. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.196.2216. .
  2. Fleming, Quentin W. & Koppelman, Joel M. (1998). Earned Value Project Management A Powerful Tool for Software Projects. Available at: http://www.crosstalkonline.org/storage/issue-archives/1998/199807/199807-Fleming.pdf . .
  3. Henderson, Kym (2002). Implementing Earned Value Concepts on Commercial IT Projects A Practical Approach. Available at: http://www.microplanning.com.au/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=20. .
  4. Alleman, Glen B. & Henderson, Michael (2003). Making Agile Development Work in a Government Contracting Environment. Available at: http://www.niwotridge.com/. .
  5.  Alleman, Glen B. & Henderson, Michael (2003). Agile Project Management Methods Meet Earned Value Management. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/galleman/agile-evms. .
  6. Lukas, Joseph (2008). AACE International Transactions EVM.01 Earned Value Analysis – Why it Doesn’t Work. Available at: http://www.icoste.org/LukasPaper.pdf‎. .
  7. Humphrey’s Gary C and Associates (2011), Project Management Using Earned value, Chapter 30. Establishing the Performance Measurement Baseline, Second Edition, Humpreys & Associates, Inc.
  8. Alleman, Glen (2011). NDIA Information Systems Summit II – Earned Value + Agile = Success. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/galleman/evagilesuccess-final-v2. .
  9. The Manifesto Authors (2001). Manifesto for Agile Software Development. Available at: http://agilemanifesto.org/. .
  10. Adams, Scott (2007). 11/26/2007. Available at: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2007-11-26/. .
  11. Alleman, Glen (2011). NDIA Information Systems Summit II – Earned Value + Agile = Success. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/galleman/evagilesuccess-final-v2. .
  12. Rusk, John (2009). Earned Value for Agile Development. Available at: http://www.agilekiwi.com/EarnedValueForAgileProjects.pdf‎. .
  13. Alleman, Glen (2011). NDIA Information Systems Summit II – Earned Value + Agile = Success. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/galleman/evagilesuccess-final-v2. .
  14. Alleman, Glen (2011).
  15. Alleman, Glen (2011).
  16. Rusk, John (2009). Earned Value for Agile Development. Available at: http://www.agilekiwi.com/EarnedValueForAgileProjects.pdf‎. .
  17. Sullivan, W.G., Wicks, E. M., & Koelling, C. P. (2011). Engineering Economy, pp. 86 – 89.
IMAGE: The image was borrowed from a Slideshare presentation "Agile and Federal Governance - Contracts and EVM" located at: https://www.slideshare.net/RichardChengExcella/agile-and-federal-governance

Perspectives · Methods

The Dangers of Tribalism with Project Methods

Peter Milsom August 2, 2017
The project management industry has spent gazillions¹ on methods, frameworks, standards, training courses, certifications, degrees etc., and despite this there is a perception that our overall competency, capacity and success as a discipline is marginally successful at best. After spending over twenty five years studying, being certified on, and employing a multitude of project, programme, portfolio, risk, benefit, value and business case management methods, frameworks, standards and best practices (over 45ish) it occurred to me that the siloed / stove piped / tribal methods focus is dangerously constraining.  If not in fact damaging.

Not only do we want to belong to tribes, but we will defend our tribes passionately.

Within the world of projects, the notion of tribes is prevalent. We often talk about organizational groups being stove-piped or siloed, but I believe a better descriptor is tribal. Tribes fighting other tribes within organizations for resources and recognition as opposed to working together for the common objectives. Apparently, this drive for belonging to tribes is ancient:

For millions of years, our ancestors’ survival depended upon their ability to get small groups to include them and trust them, so if there is any innate drive here, it should be a drive to get others to think well of us. Based on his review of the research, Leary suggested that self-esteem is more like an internal gauge, a “sociometer” that continuously measures your value as a relationship partner. Whenever the sociometer needle drops, it triggers an alarm and changes our behavior.²

“We deploy our reasoning skills to support our team, and to demonstrate commitment to our team.”³

“People care about their groups… asking themselves not ‘What’s in it for me?’ but rather ‘What’s in it for my group?’ ”4

Project Management Methods

So… what does this have to do with project management methods? Before I start, I will ask for a little leniency here and ask your forgiveness to include standards, methods, frameworks etc. within the methods moniker. I have observed on social media (read LinkedIn and various blogs) impassioned arguments for certain methods and against other ones. Often times these arguments are not only logically flawed but also just downright incorrect. I suspect that in a number of cases this is based on experience. There are many project management method tribes, but for argument's sake lets consider the following: PRINCE2, PMBOK, Earned Value Management, PRiSM and Agile. If your first introduction to project management is from PMI’s PMBOK, and especially if you are working in the Americas where it is most popular, then for you that is the only required perspective of project management. I started that way in the 1990s. Then I learned about another “amazing” method called PRINCE2.

Observations

I learned about PRINCE2 in the late 1990s. Technically it was PRINCE we used because it was a systems development programme for a fortune 100 corporation in NYC and we thought the original method would be best for this environment (I switched to PRINCE2 in the mid-2000s). It had all sorts of fun things like benefits, business cases, excellent governance, interesting roles, and responsibilities. This overhauled my project management perspectives (as MSP overhauled my programme management world) significantly. I then transitioned to the International Project Management Associations (IPMA) model and realized that it was not an either-or situation. IPMA is methods agnostic and advocates for the tools, techniques, processes (or methods) as part of a tool kit. What I liked with IPMA was the multidimensional competency approach to the change delivery disciplines. It was there that I learned about Agile. Technically I follow the Eurasian perspective that agile is for team management and is included within projects, as opposed to the America's perspective that it is actually a project management method / approach / philosophy / software development paradigm. Again though, I can see both perspectives… more importantly though, it is part of the toolkit. Every one of my project team leads gets the DSDM Atern little blue book, and I have scrums every day. It was also during this time that I learned about Earned Value Management (EVM). I originally studied EVM because I wanted the engineering economic theories to improve my value management, benefits management, and business case acumen. That said, again I added a lot of EVM tools and techniques to my tool kit. One interesting observation was that there are a surprising number of similarities between EVM and Agile. What I learned is that for oil & gas, mining, construction type engineering engagements EVM might be best due to its structured approach. Whereas I found PRINCE2 exceptional for IT and transformational engagements due to how it handled continuous change and its focus on benefits and definition of project success. I had a fun engineering project awareness in the late 2000s. My change initiatives have traditionally been IT (hardware and software), government regulatory reporting systems and organizational transformations based. Not “engineering” based. I had the privilege of being part of an IPMA Project Excellence assessment for a city within a city project in Guatemala. I was the process lead. What I discovered, to my horror, was that they used no method (that I recognized) and it was one of the best projects that I had ever assessed. I mentioned this observation to a team mate, who was an engineer, and she effectively laughed at me saying that this project used the standard engineering project approach like every other engineering project for the past several thousand years. More to add to the toolkit. Also, was the realization that different methods were best for certain types of projects. My favourite experience though was with GPM’s PRiSM. What I came to recognize was that my investments in learning value, benefits, risk, project, programme, portfolio, governance, business case, sponsorship etc. had sustainability as the perfect catalyst for all of these disciplines. So I added GPM’s sustainable project tools, techniques and process to my toolkit.

Conclusion

The following quotes over the years have struck a chord with me:
  • All models are wrong… some models are useful. (George Box, Industrial Statistician)
  • Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien / The better/best is the enemy of the good. (Voltaire)
  • Strive for progress, not perfection.
  • Colouring by numbers does not guarantee success.
I think one of the advantages that I have been fortunate to experience is the number of methods and best practices in integrated disciplines.  The interesting realization was that each of the methods, frameworks, standards and best practices provided different perspectives and tools and techniques to add to the tool box.  Projects and programmes by their very definition are unique, and every instance requires a tailored response to the context and unique landscape.  The following is one of my favourite quotes: The lesson learned is to try not to just drink the kool-aid from one project management method’s tribe or one industry project management method’s tribe. Learn and experience other perspectives to improve your toolkit. As opposed to the individual disciplines the enterprise capacity and capability to consistently and predictably deliver successful change should be the focus.  The management systems, culture and leadership that supports organizational change is key.  The disciplines associated with change delivery are outlined below and form the basis of the support structure: As a final thought, though a little tongue in cheek, in the end the objective is not to obsessively follow a method, but to tailor your experience, training, tools and techniques to get the job done.

Appendix: Then the following represent some of the change delivery “methods”:

 

REFERENCES

1 Rowlett, Russ. (2001). Names for Large Numbers. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from https://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/large.html

I am not aware of any empirical evidence of how much but it is a monstrous sum of money.

2 Haidt, Jonathan. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Page 90. 3 Haidt, Jonathan. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Page 107. 4 Kinder, D. E. 1998. “Opinion and Action in the Realm of Politics.” In Handbook of Social Psychology, 4th ed., ed. D. Gilbert, S. Fiske, and G. Lindzey, 778–867. New York: McGraw-Hill. Page 808.   Carboni, J., Gonzalez, M., & Hodgkinson, J. (2013) The GPM reference guide to sustainability in Project Management. Fort Wayne: GPM Global. Carboni, Joel (2014). The GPM P5™ Standard for Sustainability In Project Management. 1st ed. Fort Wayne: GPM Global. GPM. (2012). PRISM PRojects Integrating Sustainable Methods. Green Project Management Association. Shweder, R. A., and E. Bourne. 1984. “Does the Concept of the Person Vary Cross-Culturally?” In Cultural Theory, ed. R. Shweder and R. LeVine, 158–99. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Turner, J.R., Huemann, M., Anbari, F. and Bredillet, C. (2010), Perspectives on Projects. Routledge, London. Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://www.amazon.com/Perspectives-Projects-Rodney-J-Turner/dp/0415993741/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1442816523&sr=8-2
Methods Project Management Literature

Perspectives · Perspectives

Professionalism, have some.

Dr. Joel Carboni July 5, 2017
Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work on projects large and small, in diverse industries and sectors.  From technology to development, business change, and events. This has given me the insight to project managers from a broad spectrum of focus areas.  The trait that I find to a key factor for success, based on my experience, not just limited to, project management is professionalism. According to The Online Etymology Dictionary, the word was first used in 1846 and using the base definition professionalism is the methods, character, status, etc., of a professional. Methods in this sense, do not mean one’s favorite project approach, PRINCE2, PRiSM, Agile based etc. but more manner by which one conducts themselves and the principles and values that are incorporated into how they do what they do. I have long been an advocate in that honing oneself in how we engage others and carry ourselves can improve success in a multitude of ways.

Queue the dream sequence…

A little while back I was working on a program (a set of related projects that together will achieve a specified objective and not a “big project”) as part had to provide a status report to an executive board on a regular basis. Delivering the report was something that I did with relative ease as I have a Type-A personality and do not get the shakes when I have to speak to individuals of “high” status. I had to leave the country and would have to have a project manager, who was leading one of the projects, fill in for me to report. I interacted with this person often, and they seemed to be polished enough to do the job. I helped this person prepare by having them attend the meeting with me so they could see how I deliver the report and then sat down with them afterward to do some coaching. When I returned, I was told point blank to ensure that I always delivered the report personally as the PM who filled in for me never looked up from his document and read line by line, never making contact except to be pushy with a stakeholder that he had never met. In the end, it came down to the fact that this person, who was stellar at project documentation, worked well with peers, and had many years on me as a PM did not have the acumen to engage high-level stakeholders in a professional manner. Needless to say, I was shocked. This is not the person that I had known or the outcome I had expected. We met to discuss and was assured that there was no nervousness, it was just their “style” to stick to the facts.  This individual wanted to be a top PM but was unwilling to address areas of development that are required to get there and ignored the coaching. In the end, the program achieved its goals and to this day is delivering benefits but this individual did not get to advance as a result when the opportunity was there for the taking.  Had this person understood more that professionalism in this context was lacking and should be taken seriously, the outcome for him, may have been more positive.

So what are some the keys to professionalism?

You can google professionalism and find dozens of lists.  I will outline five that I believe are important.
  1. Attitude – Your attitude in how you go about your work is infectious, and speaks volumes about who you are as a professional. Complaining or getting upset about trivial matters, situations that are out of your control,  or in an uncomfortable situation never improves the situation.  Always maintain a positive attitude, be confident, but not presumptuous.
  2. Integrity – Always be honest and earn your colleagues trust. Lead with a moral compass and treat people equally and fairly.
  3. Clear Communication – When addressing people in the workplace, look them in the eye. Understand your body language and the signals that they send. Speak to them respectfully and clearly.
  4. Appearance – Dress appropriately for the activity you are doing. Attending an important meeting with an “I’m with stupid” T-Shirt is not a good idea. Understanding what is the norm where you are is a must.  What is business and what is smart casual changes depending on where you are in the world?
  5. Owning Mistakes – Everyone makes mistakes. If you make one, own it and work towards a solution. If the mistake affects others or their ability to do their work, help out.

This is one of my personal favorite movie scenes from the movie Office Space.  "I am a people person!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNuu9CpdjIo

Perspectives · Climate Change

Sustainable Development Goal 15 “Life on Land" and Project Management

Dr. Joel Carboni June 24, 2017
This installment in our series on the SDGs focuses on #15 of 17, Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. This SDG has 9 targets which you can read in detail. The short version is to protect all life on land. For this post, I engaged Dr. Eduard Muller, Rector of the University for Cooperation in Costa Rica. UCI is a world leading institute on this topic and we at GPM can’t emphasize enough that simply creating sustainable products is not going to solve the problems we are facing. We must regenerate what has been lost in the process.

Perspective on Regenerative Development

Joel: “Dr. Muller, can you provide your perspective on Regenerative Development?” Dr. Muller: “Regenerative Development gives us the most viable solution to a healthy future and human wellbeing. The global movement towards regeneration has begun and is gaining momentum. The time to join and become a leading person or organization is now!” Joel: “It most certainly has. We are excited about the programs that will launch with the IIPSD and the focus on this topic. Can you share some background from your perspective on how we got to where we are?” Dr. Muller: “Sure.  First, it is important to understand that humankind has taken a dangerous path with its current global development trends. We are in a time of rapid population growth coupled with overconsumption and massive destruction of Nature. These trends, potentiated by technological developments have resulted in human induced impacts even in the most remote places.” Joel: “Overconsumption and Population Growth has a direct correlation to climate change.  What do you see as a key driver?” Dr. Muller: “Climate Change is accelerating and increasing in magnitude and consequences making it impossible to be in denial. Communication has never been better, faster and cheaper. We are flooded with alarming news from around the world yet we are continuing to promote degenerative development.  While population has grown four times in 100 years, consumption per person has increased nine times, that means that we are extracting 36 times more resources than a century ago.” Joel: What are some concrete things that can be done? Dr. Muller: In order to reverse the damage and allow for life on the planet to continue – though with changes – we need to implement regenerative development, based on a holistic approach that integrates six layers:
  1. Regeneration of functional landscapes, where we produce and conserve, maximizing ecosystem function;
  2. Social strengthening by community organization and development, to cope with adaptation to climate change and reduce sumptuous consumption patterns;
  3. A new paradigm for economic development where people matter more than markets and money, measured according to the well-being of humans and all life forms;
  4. Conservation and valuation of living culture which is the necessary bond for community life, where local knowledge, values, and traditions are shared within family, friends and the community as a whole, giving meaning to these terms;
  5. Rethinking and redesigning current political structures so they reflect true participatory democracy without the influence of money and power and especially fostering long-term vision and actions that seek increased livelihoods and happiness and not only gross income; and most importantly
  6. Fostering deep spiritual and value structures based on ethics, transparency and global well-being to allow humanity to live in peace with itself and Mother Earth.

Resource Scarcity

As Dr. Muller pointed out, we are at a time where population growth and overconsumption is contributing to global problems regarding resource availability. Unless we place a significant emphasis on regeneration, resource scarcity will become an impediment to our way of life. It is because of the growing scarcities in resources that the business community must act and project management, a profession that exists to drive change,  take the lead, It was this thinking that drove us to establish the International Institute for Peace and Sustainable Development or IIPSD.

On Project Management

What does all of this have to do with project management?  Maybe the question should be what doesn't it have to with project management? It was raised in an earlier post by Michael Young that we as project managers have an ethical and moral obligation to safeguard our environment. I would go so far as to say that we must look beyond our standard view of resource constraints to consider constrained resources by enhancing our adaptive capacity.  This means to: - Understand the total exposure and risk to the business by mapping material risks and opportunities from your projects - Take into account the total asset lifecycle in our decision making - Engage project stakeholders and advocate for biodiversity loss prevention and regeneration as KPIs for project success.

A Short Clip

This video provides a sobering view of the importance of carbon emission reduction.  We must understand the reality of what is happening around us and work to regenerate what has been degraded. We don't have any other option. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rivf479bW8Q
Climate Change Global Goals Regenerative Development SDGs

Perspectives · COP21

We Have Redoubled Our Commitment to the Paris Agreement (and we are not alone).

Dr. Joel Carboni June 11, 2017
GPM is a U.S. based organization with operations all over the world.  Our prime objective is to advance sustainable development advocating a greater attention and focus on value creation in the project management profession. When an event occurs that threatens our ability to, we speak out.  As a signatory to the UN's Caring for Climate initiative and as participants at the COP21 where the Paris Agreement was agreed to, watching the U.S. withdraw was unsettling.
Dante, an Italian poet and moral philosopher  wrote, “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”  As we look around at our peers in the industry and at associations that represent other professions, we have to scratch our head and ask “Where are you!?” Now is not the time to put your head in the sand!

The United States Withdrawal

Before President Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, joining only Syria and Nicaragua, U.S. business voices mobilized and advocated that the country stay. We at GPM, along with 1,000 companies, publicly backed the Paris climate accord, together with companies such as Nike, Tesla, and Starbucks—wrote an open letter to President Trump urging him to stay. In his announcement, Trump claimed that if the United States remained part of the Paris Agreement, it would cost $3 trillion and 6.5 million jobs over the next several decades. The reality is that The solar and wind industries are each creating jobs at a rate 12 times faster than that of the rest of the U.S. economy. The decision to withdraw illustrates the inability of the new U.S. Administration, who claim to be pro-business, to believe that American businesses understand what is important and somehow need protection from change and globalization. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the letter we wrote states this.

Cause for Optimism

I waited a week to write to write this post as I wanted to observe what would happen after the announcement was made and it is encouraging to see that several states and cities have made a public declaration to support the accord and I believe eventually, the federal government will reverse its stance. I think this because along with those state and local governments, the 1000 leading companies, and now hundreds of institutional investors, representing $17 trillion in assets, have put their foot down. We all understand that a low-carbon economy can regenerate what has been lost, reduce the risk of extreme weather events negatively impacting assets and consumers while creating efficiency, innovation, and $avings. I think this because being an architect of a better world means to design and build a future that we all want and it is in everyone's best interest to do so. Read a similar article
COP21 Ethics Paris Agreement Project Management Literature Sustainable Development Goals

Perspectives · Climate Change

Sustainable Development Goal 14. "Life Under Water and Project Management"

Dr. Joel Carboni June 5, 2017
This installment in our series on the SDGs focuses on #14 of 17, conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, "Life Underwater". This SDG has seven targets which you can read in detail. The short version is to protect the water and life that depends on it. Everything from the economic growth of island nations, to vibrant biodiversity, depends on healthy oceans and waterways. The problem is that we don't and all life is suffering. In some organisms, water is 90% of their composition, in humans, it is 60%.  It, therefore, goes without saying that water is life.

We are killing our waterways and need to stop it... yesterday.

I read something recently to put all of this into context.  The earth is 46 billion years old (roughly...)  Scaling down to 46 years humans have been here for four hours. The industrial revolution began 1 minute ago and in that time, we have completely polluted our oceans. Boo!!! Why did I use the word completely?  The vast amount of plastics in our oceans is pretty well-documented but have you ever stopped to consider that you might be eating particles of plastic whenever you sprinkled sea salt on your food? A study in Scientific Reports outlines how researchers studied 16 brands of sea salt from eight countries from all over the world and found traces of microplastics in all but one brand.  There is no coast on earth that doesn't have plastic washing up onto it.  The well-documented Great Pacific Ocean Patch is one of many accumulation points where human-made plastic debris collects and it is scary. Plastic was invented in the 1860's and started to boom in the 1940's.  Think back to the scene in The Graduate where Dustin Hoffman gets his career advice.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHGCvJjat1E

We need to reduce our dependency on convenient plastic.  From beer can tabs to milk containers, soda, bottled water, and of course plastic shopping bags.  Some places have created laws to address this and some, like where I live in Michigan prohibits local ordinances from “regulating the use, disposition, or sale of, prohibiting or restricting, or imposing any fee, charge, or tax on certain containers,” including plastic bags, as well as cups, bottles and other forms of packaging. This means individual cities and municipalities are not allowed to ban plastic bags or charge customers a fee for using them. Outrageous!!
The good people at Ocean Crusaders say that "it is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea." You can see some horrifying stats here.

What can Project Managers do to protect our water and biodiversity?

Our P5 Standard for Sustainability in Project Management (which can be downloaded for free) speaks to specifics.  Much is what we covered in our post about clean water and sanitation las August.  It bears repeating though that in terms of water quality from a project impact perspective is the impact on water quality that the project and or the project’s product will have on the habitats and species (biodiversity) affected (throughout the total asset lifecycle).

There is a great example of a brewery that has developed Edible Six Pack Rings.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YG9gUJMGyw

  As a project manager, we have the absolute responsibility when reviewing the project's business case to ask "Is this the best way to realize the intended benefit? What are the impacts?  If there are potential impacts to life under water we MUST document the risk and costs and recommend a better solution.  (By costs, I am not just referring to dollars but natural capital.) If we do not change our way of thinking and behavior, we will continue to destroy our oceans, waterways, the life that depends on it and eventually find its way to your dinner table in some way. We can also do nothing and continue with business as usual.  You will have to get used to saying "Please pass the salt... I mean, the plastic" though...  
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Perspectives · GRI Reporting

Are Projects Material to Non-Financial Reporting?

Dr. Joel Carboni May 23, 2017

The Rise of Sustainability (Non-Financial) Reporting

I am often asked what I do for a living.  When I explain that I work in sustainability I usually get an "oh, ok." followed by a "what does that mean?"  Therein lies the challenge.  Sustainability is a broad topic.  For us at GPM, we address global environmental, economic, and social challenges by advancing sustainable project practices on a global scale.  It is through our advocacy that organizations can improve their triple bottom line.  One of the keys to this is transparency which means sustainability reporting. According to KPMG research, almost 400 regulations, guidelines, codes-of-conduct, frameworks and other reporting instruments – both mandatory and voluntary - across 64 countries were identified in 2016. The previous research in 2013 identified 180 instruments across 44 countries.
Wim Bartels, KPMG’s Global Head of Sustainability Reporting & Assurance and a lead author of the report said:  “The underlying trend is clearly up over the last 3 years. The average number of reporting instruments per country we studied has shot up by about 50 percent since 2013.” (src)
The challenge in sustainability reporting is what to include and what not to include.  This is known as "materiality". To be more precise, materiality is a measure of the estimated effect that the presence or absence of an item of information may have on the accuracy or validity of a statement. Materiality is judged in terms of its inherent nature, impact (influence) value, use value, and the circumstances (context) in which it occurs. (src) One of the key benefits that organizations realize by leveraging GPM training through our Partners and adopting our P5 Standard (which is free) is that by doing so, they can include projects in their sustainability reports.

Are Projects Material to Sustainability Reporting? YES!

The global reporting initiative, the gold standard for sustainability reporting which has over 10,000 organizations supplying over 40,000 reports in their publicly searchable database, lists product responsibility with the graphic shown below. The chart lists 4 economic, 12 environmental, and 30 social aspects by which product sustainability reporting should be based on.

Context is everything.

The majority of organizations report on their products from a supply chain perspective using the above elements to measure against.  The problem with this approach is that products do not appear from thin air.  Projects bring them to life. Looking at the graphic below, a sneak-peek at our 2018 PRiSM model, it illustrates that in a product cradle to cradle lifecycle the development of the product (see the blue boxes at the bottom) accounts for a tremendous amount of effort and that effort has impacts. It is the impacts that should be included in the sustainability report.   If organizations do not factor in the social, environmental and economic impacts that the project aspect of their products that they are reporting on, then their report is only telling a portion of the story.  Products do magically make it from idea to supply chain.  Products are the result of projects and the work should be material to reporting.

Still not convinced?

My first-grade son attends Village Oaks Elementary in Novi, Michigan.  He brought home an activity that he did in school last week that blew me away.  He was asked to list the consequences of changing land. (His handwriting is actually better than mine... #sad)   In building houses he listed a positive consequence as people have a place to live and a negative consequence is it takes away homes for animals.  When I asked him what he meant, he told me that cutting down trees to build the houses will impact forest animals and insects who depend on them for housing. If our children are being taught to consider the importance of the impact of change while corporations do not feel that impacts from change are material to reporting, there is a clear disconnect that needs to be addressed.

Our P5 Standard can help you do this.  Download it today!

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