So, it’s Valentine’s Day, 2011.
And to celebrate it here on EarthPM, here’s an unlikely couple:
(cue the Dating Game theme)
The Dow Chemical Corporation
and
The Nature Conservancy
What’s their love connection?
What could Dow Chemical and The Nature Conservancy have in common as interests? Where will they go on their second date? Are there wedding plans in the future?
We can’t answer all of these -but we can tackle the first question.
Below is a list – courtesy of Andrew Wilson’s excellent blog – of the attraction between these two sweethearts.
- Human life support: Earth’s natural systems provide “ecosystem services,” such as purifying water, enriching soil, providing natural infrastructure that reduce floods and protect assets (think wetlands on the Gulf Coast), and providing clean air and a stable climate (here’s a fun video on these services). The long-standing, best estimate on the value of ecosystem services has been $33 trillion annually, roughly the same order of magnitude as the global economy.
- Climate and carbon market value: The world’s forests and farms can sequester carbon that could be worth billions in a carbon markets (however, the prospect of a functioning carbon market in the U.S. is very low in the near-term).
- Self-interest: Species provide us medicine and sources of food. We find species that result in blockbuster new drugs to fight heart disease or cancer, for example.
- Business continuity: All companies depend on natural services, such as water, either directly or in their supply chains. For a business wanting to, say, expand a facility, integrating the value of this input into investment decisions will be critical.
- Inspiration, best practices, and biomimicry: Over billions of years, Nature has found the most efficient way to do things. Think of spider silk as a model for strong, flexible fibers or a shark’s ultra-efficient movement through water, which has inspired everything from Speedo’s now-banned swimsuits to Airbus’ more aerodynamic plane fuselages. (See 15 cool biomimicry stories.)
- Innovation: By cataloging our dependencies on nature, we can identify opportunities for better products and services, such as Bayer’s drought-resistant crops (Note: Bayer is a client of mine).
- Risk reduction: Managing your nature-sourced supply chain well can help avoid headaches and possible litigation. Gibson Guitars found this out the hard way in 2009 when the Fish and Wildlife Service raided the company for allegedly using illegally harvested rosewood in its instruments (giving an ironic twist to the word “ax“).
You see?
They have a LOT in common.
And we, as project managers, those of us lucky enough to take the goals of enterprises like Dow and turn them into reality, had better get acquainted with the ways in which business is (ahem) getting together with partners like The Nature Conservancy. We may even be able to be matchmakers - helping to build partnerships like this. We are, after all, change agents.
You can read about another such love story in The Necessary Revolution, in which the courtship of Coca-Cola and the WWF is featured.
Who said it?
Here’s a challenge for you. We’ll provide some quotes below and have you match them up with the tree-hugging, eco-terrorist, liberal radical socialist lunatic who made the statement.
Answers are at the bottom of the post.
1. “We can’t solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”.
2. (speaking in reaction to climate change) “we are headed to a world of inescapable mutuality and a future that is truly alien to us”.
3. “It took a real wake-up call to start to think beyond the four walls and pay attention to the larger (eco) system”
4. “Businesses need to wake up to the fact that the economy is the wholly-owned subsidiary of nature, not the other way around”.
5. (speaking of issues such as climate change) ” you need to get out in front of it because if you are not out in front of it, you’re going to get plowed under”.
6. “I don’t know what color this company is going to be in the future, but I can assure you it will be some shade of green. The CEO title in the future may stand for Chief Environment Officer”.
7. “[we] must work together for common sustainability goals that transcend individual commercial objectives and we must approach this with a sense of urgency”
8. “People are flocking to work on (environmental) issues for two reasons. First, very smart technical people often have a bias towards environmentalism and sustainability. Second, they relish the opportunity to work on the most advanced technology. They’re naturally drawn to doing this work.”
Now. Put your seat belts on.
Ready?
None of these quotes come from raggedly-clothed, bearded, sandal-wearing, radical eco-terrorists. Match them up and you’ll see that leaders of industry – and by definition, those overseeing the portfolio of programs and projects which you manage, are at least speaking this way and we believe are sincere. And even if they are not, they are leading the portfolio (with the possible exception of a guy named Albert). So you don’t need to grow a beard, buy sandals, tear your clothes, or join Greenpeace to be a green project manager. Read our book (okay…okay…one of us does have a beard, but it’s neatly trimmed and very professional-looking) and you’ll see that our perspective is similar to what you see in these quotes.
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