In the film Blade Runner (at least the original that I’m familiar with), Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, had a job to do.
From Wikipedia:
The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically engineered organic robots called replicants—visually indistinguishable from adult humans—are manufactured by the all-powerful Tyrell Corporation as well as other mega manufacturers around the world. Their use on Earth is banned, and replicants are exclusively used for dangerous, menial or leisure work on Earth’s off-world colonies. Replicants who defy the ban and return to Earth are hunted down and “retired” by police special operatives known as “blade runners”. The plot focuses on a brutal and cunning group of recently escaped replicants hiding in Los Angeles and the burnt out expert blade runner, Rick Deckard, who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment to hunt them down.
As project managers, we’ve also got jobs to do.
Unless we don’t.
Well, thanks to green energy efforts – and in particular, green energy projects, there should be more opportunities for project managers. Case in point (yes, another ‘blade’ reference) – a recent posting by the energy collective talks about a huge number of green energy jobs coming to Canada, in particular, to Ontario, thanks to huge efforts on solar and wind power projects.
The Ontario government discusses this in detail here in their Green Energy Act in which Ontario has set its intent (and call to arms?) to be the “North American green energy leader”. Here are the Green Energy Act’s main points:
- Spark growth in clean and renewable sources of energy such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass and biogas in Ontario.
- Create the potential for savings and better managed household energy expenditures through a series of conservation measures.
- Create 50,000 jobs for Ontarians in its first three years.
They want to give Ontario the edge.
The key is the 50,000 jobs. These are project-focused efforts. So there will be a lot of work for project teams. And so, there will be many jobs for project managers.
The reference to Blade Runner is mainly from this story in which Siemens will be building a turbine blade factory in southern Ontario. The project managers overseeing the manufacture and distribution of the product from these factories are today’s blade runners.
The moral of this story?
It underlines our assertion that project managers should be learning about sustainability, building their green vocabulary, and practicing looking through their “green lenses”. You can do that by keeping up to date with our blog here at EarthPM and of course by buying and reading our book. It will give you an advantage in the coming years that will (we couldn’t help this, sorry) cut like a knife.
Renewable Energy Resurgence
If you’re a member, make sure you log in and read the online version. You’ll find quite a treasure trove of articles on the subject and you’ll see mention of a strong upsurge in the number of projects starting to take place worldwide in this practice area. Striking examples of project management prowess overcoming obstacles are plentiful, especially in a very well-written article about the Danish Horns Rev 2 project. In particular, read about the way that PM Henrik Lehmann overcame the problem of risk identification for a project taking place far offshore, in icy waters with 10-foot-high waves. Lehmann knew that he didn’t know all of the risks himself and so brought together a team of 50 selected employees with the experience and competency in this area to help brainstorm and identify risk, which of course had the side benefit of gaining buy-in from a diverse set of contributing functional organizations. This is a huge project and the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
At the moment.
Turns out, this will be dwarfed in only a few years by another wind farm which will be thrice the size. Where is this new one to be, you ask? Well, the name will give it away – it’s called the London Array. And we suggest you go have a look at a brief video that will tell you all about it, right on PMI’s web page.
Go here to see that video. And the London Array project site is worth a visit as well.
The inspiring overall message of the issue is the fact that we’re at a sharp upswing in the deployment of these types of projects, “the steepest upward climb to date”, according to Gaynor Hartnell, director of policy at the Renewable Energy Association, London, England. This is the green wave in action and it sits right there – at the intersection of green and project management – an increasingly satisfying place to be.