At last week’s PMI North America Congress, we were lucky enough to be at sponsor DeVry (Keller) University’s booth signing our new book and getting to chat with many project managers about Green Project Management. Between that experience, getting to meet many of the really outstanding contributors – you know who you are – with whom we had only previously communicated electronically, and having President Bill Clinton not only address us as Project Managers, but to specifically challenge PMs to take on climate change, it was a fantastic week.
In conversations during the book signing, many of you reflected on situations in which you work in IT and so, you say, have “no effect” on the environment. Also many of you said that there was nothing besides ‘altruistic’ reasons for trying to change your projects and your companies to do more to work towards sustainability.
We beg to differ. On both counts.
And lo, upon our return, we were greeted with a great feature in Thursday’s Boston Globe business section called, “Taking a Different Measure”, a story about Akamai Technologies’ command center. In the article is a great quote from Akamai’s chief executive, Paul Sagan, when asked:
“I’d say half of my rationale was altruistic, but I was also thinking that the day was going to come when our customers were going to expect us to report our carbon footprint, and their carbon footprint, on our network.’’
That’s funny because we responded to some of you with a very similar answer. We said that half our rationale to create this site and write the book was altruistic, but we also know that this is an area that needs and deserves attention and we want to be there to (successfully) serve the needs of this market. That’s precisely – almost to the word – what Paul Sagan is saying. And the irony is that he really knows serving – after all, Akamai operates about 70,000 servers. Their servers handle peak internet traffic for big name companies – such as Best Buy and ESPN.
The article features a description of how Akamai now includes carbon emissions as a core part of how they measure their performance. And they are actively reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project – which maintains corporate climate change information.
We suggest you read the article, and think again about how you can serve this cause – even if only for 50% altruistic reasons. That’s the reason our book has a tree on the cover – a tree sprouting money. As we assert – it’s the right thing to do, and it will help you do things right.
Chief: Go Green
The Amazon leader has teamed up with Google (Earth), one of the companies we deem “At the Top of Their Game” in our new book. Google Earth is mapping the tribe’s sacred and cultural sites where tribe members hunt and fish as a “way to show the world my culture. Information is power” says the chief. The philosophy is spreading to other tribes in the region, too. The chief also teamed up with Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) to create an economy based on sustainability practices”, something else we at EarthPM strongly believe in. “Three years ago, my people began discussing carbon credits as part of this sustainability message,” said Chief Almir. “Many people believe this will not work, but I see it as an opportunity to better manage our forest and, by extension, to manage the world.” Exactly!
A couple of more things he said that particularly resonate with us, “There’s been a lot of deforestation in the name of development of our country,” he said. “When we sat down and talked about our future, we saw how important it was to bring our knowledge to the rest of the world.”
Many people “do not believe in the message of sustainability, so we bring scientific research to prove it can bring a healthy economy and well-being to the world.”
Chief Almir’s 1,300 tribe members are all vested in a green future, he said. “We get courage and strength to do what we do in the belief that in the long run, we are right in what we are fighting for,” he said, “to create that green consciousness for our future. Resistance can be done through armed struggle, but we believe it works better through awareness.”
We’ll be listening and watching for more information coming out of the region. You can also check out ATC’s website, and here’s more information on Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, including a video.