Ideas for Change - Because the right idea can change the world » Ecopreneurship

Project management on the edge of chaos

Invited Contributor — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:46:07 +0000

Project management on the edge of chaos

by Arne Vestergaard and Marianne Smedegaard

We have for a number of years taught project managers how to manage people and processes. We have heard stories from many different organisations describing numerous ways to understand and execute projects. It seems that there exists not a single correct way to manage projects, but many possible ways. One thing, though, seems to be characteristic of most of the cases. Top management expects the project manager to have complete control over the project and to have answers to any question anyone might want to ask. In many cases it is also a requirement that the project manager ensures that members of the project group have clear goals and that the development of the project is on schedule.

In this paper we want to explore to what extent the effort to control and direct a project is useful, and to what extent a project can be restricted by tight control. Perhaps there are other concepts for project management that better fit with the complexity and variability that characterise projects in today’s world. Perhaps it is preferable to see projects as a living system rather than strategically and bureaucratically.

A change in perspective of this kind would mean that the project organisation must relinquish the idea of having control over the project all the time and, if they do achieve control, see it as a temporary state of affairs. Some degree of chaos then becomes a necessary (but not exclusive) condition for innovation and for handling complexity and change. In other words, the project manager must place the project on the edge of chaos. In this paper we will try to understand what this means in practice.

Computer recyclers – a scam

taboring — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:54:01 +0000

So called computer recyclers have been scamming the American business, educational, governmental and individual publics for years. The glut of unwanted and discarded electronics equipment (televisions, computers, monitors/other peripherals, printers, phones) is overwhelming and growing every year. Beleaguerd IT and maintenance departments had this problem dumped into their responsiblities starting early in this century, as it became known that such discards were potentially hazardous waste and questionable for disposal in US landfills.
Because there are little regulations in developing nations (India, China, Nigeria, Ghana, Vietnam), a disgusting pollution engendering scrap industry developed. A CRT monitor, fresh from your donation to a charity but still unwanted, can be sold for several dollars, packaged into a 40′ seagoing container with 999 others, and exported to India. There, it is dumped anywhere accessible. Laborers, earning $2 a day if they are lucky, will dismantle it with crude hand tools. They will take the copper yoke and the low grade circuit board from it. The remainder will be left where it lays. That punctured tube contains 4-8 lbs of lead dust (from a coating that absorbs the heat while it was sitting on your desk). This dust will enter the local atmosphere and cause birth defects and respiratory illnesses. Some lead will seep into the ground as it rains, entering and ruining the water table. There is ample evidence of this all over the Web (see www.ban.org for example).
As this problem has been publicized, it has become a topic to discuss as decision makers, those who have to decide how to dispose of their unwanted scrap, try to weigh the options. Unethical compnies, willing to be vague, spin and outright lie, have convinced the great majority of decision makers that they are ‘recyclers’, that they do not export scrap to developing nations, that they do not landfill it, that they do not use US prison labor to process it. The scam has matured such that these charlatans will issue Certificates to these effects. Most decision makers are more conscious of the bottom line than spoiling to investigate the ‘recyclers’. So, if a company tells the decision maker a good tale, offers low cost or no cost solutions and issues a Certificate, that company earns the business over a legitimate recycler, who must pay to process the equipment in the US, thus driving up the costs. The legitimate recycler will word a proper Certificate to warrant that there was no export of landfilling PERIOD, and will list the serial numbers of the disposed equipment to clarify that the company did indeed handle certain equipment properly, if somewhat more costly.
Recent exposes have publicized the polluters; one on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” and a situation in Pittsburgh PA concerning an identified scammer, EarthECycle, documented the scam where the polluters brazenly tell a customer a sales pitch, promising not to export or landfill, then violate that agreement at will. The legitimate recycler, had no chance to get the contract, because he had real costs to incorporate into the sale price.
After a long period of these scenarios playing out, more and more decision makers were demanding rigorous documentation and legitmate recyclers, particularly those called ‘e stewards’, affiliated with the Basel Action Network, were in place to legitimately earn the business of these coscientious decision makers. To that end, BAN e stewards began the organization of a rigorous certification process to establish their legitimacy even further. Thsi process is being developed and will bear fruit in the next 6 months.
Faced with the loss of billions of dollars in potential profits, the group of companies that has long depended on shady, unverified procedures, struck back. They organized. They formed a new organization, an outgrowth of several older organizations, entitled the “World Reuse, Repair and Recycle Association” or “WR3A” for short. In the not so old days, one of the scammers precepts that melded nicely into the ‘sales pitch’ was the use of a reference to the ‘reuse’ component of recycling. Any legitimate recycler agrees that reuse is the most desirable way to recyucle. It reduces costs as the equipment is less expensive and thus available to lower income potential users. It removes the need to use new materials. When donated to non profit agencies, there can be positive tax advantages. Reuse is great!
The polluters have woven reuse into the sales pitch, with a touch of charity often the glue. There is a woman in the e waste disposal industry who has for years solicited the equipment from corporations by telling them that it was going to be used in a far eastern nation to train orphans as technicians, and teach them to refurb CRT monitors for resale. Sounds great!
But, the sad truth is that there is such a glut of CRTs that there is no market for them in any real quantity anywhere in the world, even if they still work and need no repair. It is safe to say that they can usually NOT even be given away in any quantity. So, if a company takes them from a client, either for free or a little charge, how can they process them? Who would pay to ship them to the Far East? How about testing them, storing them, arranging for their distribution IF there was an outlet? And, what about the CRTs that do not work? In India, who will verifiably contract to keep them out of the waste stream? (By the way, this problem includes other electronic discards like computers themselves, CRTs are the best example)
Nevertheless, this new organization WR3A, will attempt to create the appearance of legitimacy with a logo, websites, public relations media. Those of us who know better must work to educate the consuming public to the facts that this is simply an attempt at ‘business as usual’, taking US waste, prolonging the squeezing of a profit from it under the ‘reuse’ battle cry that will continue to result in despicable pollution. Beleaguered decision makers will have WR3A literature to stick in the file to play CYA. However, the result will be the same as it has been. Those of us e stewards who have elected to attempt a business model that does not damage the environment will continue to attempt to educate the public

Veckans intressanta tankar (in swedish only)

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:45:42 +0000

Vår tids utmaningar.

Världen har genomgått en exempellös förvandling de senaste hundra åren. Men befolkningsexplosionen, den oerhört snabba utvecklingen av vetenskap och teknik, liksom den förändrade livsstilen i industriländerna har också skapat stora problem och obalanser.

László Szombatfalvy, som blev ett välkänt namn på den svenska aktiemarknaden på 1970-talet, pekar på bristen på riskvärdering när det gäller de globala problem som nu stundar. De risker som mänskligheten accepterar när det gäller de hot som vi står inför är många gånger större än de vi skulle acceptera inom andra områden som exempelvis inom biltrafiken eller trafikflyget.

I Vår tids största utmaningar identifierar, analyserar och riskvärderar författaren fyra megahot som mänskligheten står inför – miljöförstöringen, klimatförändringen, det politiska våldet och fattigdomen. Han skissar också på möjligheter att bemästra hoten eller åtminstone minimera riskerna.

Läs boken här: http://utmaningar.org/boken/wp-content/uploads/var-tids-storsta-utmaningar.pdf

Help us to dig up the most interesting social innovations!

jon.brunberg — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:56:07 +0000

The world has changed a lot since 1516, when Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia, a tale about the most perfect of republics, an island inhabited by the happiest of peoples (except for those enslaved one may add).

You may argue that we have already fulfilled parts of his vision of the perfect society. That we have developed democracy and spent a lot of efforts building institutions to defend human rights and secure peace that goes further than More could have even imagined.

You may argue that most people in this world have a higher level of freedom, education and income than More’s Utopians.

And still: all these checks and balances, the riches and the freedom is granted only for a minority of the world’s population. There is appalling poverty and starvation in this world. Torture and human rights abuses committed every day. An enormous destruction force that unleashed could wipe out humanity. Corruption and abuse of power.

I do believe that we need to test and use new models, strategies and tools to reduce the suffering in the present and pave way for the transformations that our societies will go trough in the future. New ways of organising our societies and distribute our wealth, new ideas how democracy can be further developed, new models for power sharing and conflict resolution and new strategies for tackling poverty, disease, human rights abuse and environmental issues. In short: ideas for change.

The good news is that hundreds of thousands are already working with social innovation, in theory as well as in practise. My task as an editor for Ideas for Change will be to dig up the most interesting of those projects from a variety of internet-based sources. It is going to be a truly delightful task that I expect to be as enlightning for me as I hope it will be for yourself.

Jon Brunberg

Stockholm 30 Sep. 2009

Independece is to dare

Book Fair Visitor — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:36:31 +0000

To dare live your life regardless of the expectations or rules of your society. To always work towards reflecting and [...] Related posts:

Putting sustainopreneurship into play in the local and regional context

anders.abrahamsson — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:04:22 +0000

Many of the problems related to the ”sustainability agenda” occur in the local economical context. At the same time, a fresh approach to the problems is required – enters the concept of ”sustainopreneurship” – or ”business with a cause”, in short “entrepreneurship and innovation for sustainability”. Mentioned first time in year 2000, developed further 2003 and onwards, and manifested 2008 in a Wikipedia article, the concept represents that we need to go from old thinking to new doing in taking our burning issues globally and deploy sustainability innovations - mostly locally.

Sustainopreneurship can acquire some facilitating factors through start centres, not just in the context of developed economies, but certainly in developing as well as in emerging economies. These ‘Micro Sustainopreneurial Zones’ could create dynamic synergies that would speed up a process of making sustainopreneurship a proactive force for sustainable development in these geo-social settings – especially if they are focused on triggering proliferation and innovation diffusion aimed at rural modernization. In short – sustainopreneurship can be put into play by first and foremost giving it a playground, physical as well as virtual.

Sustainopreneurship applied in local and regional interaction gives great hope where settings utilize their own embedded natural, social, knowledge and creative capital to solve their unique place- and culture-defined sustainability problems and to find equally unique solutions, turning them into viable business models aiming at self-sustainability, empowerment and independence. Outside, non-colonial, respectful empowerment and micro-intervention should focus on technology transfer (e. g. solar energy, telecommunication, computers, Internet connection), taking place by the terms set by the locals and their formulated needs. The international financial capital coupling the technology transfer should be fuelled through micro finance intermediaries together with localized mentoring for sustainopreneurial businesses from other local and seasoned, experienced people transferring their experiences in order to strengthen tacit knowledge generation in play – on, and with respect to, their own living conditions.

In the end, with these virtual and physical frames as facilitators, a process is created intended to generate a result as illustrated – in contrast to the institutional framing that introduced this chapter – a sustainable world where all local and regional settings are empowered through sustainopreneurship.

/Anders Abrahamsson

Anders is a serial sustainopreneur and has been the driving force in the conceptual development of Sustainopreneurship, and published its Wikipedia article in 2008. He has published a number of publications on this topic, and is currently authoring a popular book on subject, one blog post at a time. Founder of SLICE Services and Publishing.

Ecology + Entrepreneurship = Ecopreneurship

anders.abrahamsson — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:03:43 +0000

Ecopreneurship is a concept that was formed during the nineties. In short, it means innovative behaviour of single actors or organizations operating in the private business sectors which see environmental aspects as core objective and competitive advantage. Ecopreneurs identify environmental innovations and their market opportunity, and successfully implement them into the market.

Taking a deeper look, the word “eco” comes from Greek “oikos” meaning “house”. And “-preneurship” comes from French “prendere”, meaning “to take”. In this sense, it means “to take an initiative”. Unifying these meanings, it could be interpreted that “ecopreneurship” is “to (under)take an initiative to focus or common house”.

A similar term is “green entrepreneurship”. Ecopreneurship in practice could mean to deploy innovations within clean tech, such as renewable energy or finding a production method that minimizes the impact on nature. In this sense, it narrows the focus to just be environmental, where the social impact could be getting less attention.

Ecopreneurship is running a business as if the earth matters. Applying a long-term perspective, it takes both short and long term needs in consideration, focusing the “green” dimension of sustainability.

Some of the largest problems now affecting the world are Acid Rain, Air Pollution, Global Warming, Hazardous Waste, Ozone Depletion, Smog, Water Pollution, Overpopulation, and Rain Forest Destruction. Taking a full look on all the environmental issues collected in a list in Wikipedia, we have 23 main areas, with a full list of about one hundred environmentally-related problems. This reminds us that there are so much more to “fix” in this world, than global warming and the corresponding end of limited, non-renewable resources.

These problems just did not happen overnight, and mainly unintended – but to quote Albert Einstein; “we cannot solve the problems with the same kind of thinking that created them in the first place”. Thus, “entrepreneurship for environment” makes sense, as in “creative organizing for a better, cleaner and greener planet”.

What’s your green business idea?

/Anders Abrahamsson

Going for Good Carbon Offset – Driving Sustainability Innovation

anders.abrahamsson — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:02:48 +0000

When we adress the problem of climate change, one method that usually gets mentioned, is ”carbon offset”. The basic thinking is that you compensate for your action results of CO2 emission by buying different kinds of compensating efforts – to go ”carbon neutral”. There is a strong difference in offset methods, though, and this needs to be prominently addresses. In one end it could just maintain ”business as usual”, investing in methods such as planting trees to absorb CO2 or take the greenhouse gases into the mountains. This does not affect the original source of the emissions – it is ”end of pipe” solutions. What we need is to focus ”beginning of pipe” innovations – and if the offset program focuses on the necessary technology shift towards sustainable distributed energy and mobility scaling, then it is of the better. In fact, then it becomes a main driver and (investment) forces to support this shift, in demand of disruptive sustainability innovation.

I would like to adress three areas – solar energy for developing countries, aeroplanes and cars.

Developing countries - solar energy

Shifting kerosene and charcoal as energy sources in developing economies, and increasing access to electricity is crucial for developement. Modern applications of renewable energy sources emerging from “clean tech” can literally (em)power the people! Extending the homework hours for the kids and some extra job hours at home can be made possible through Solar Home Systems, at the same time as the health damaging effects from kerosene lamps are gone. Micro hydro is also an efficient small-scale solution as opposed to the big water dams. Power at family and community level means power to the people, community up, not top down.

Solar energy and other forms of sustainable distributed small-scale infrastructure organized energy forms are financed through E+Co. There you can directly calculate how much an investment in small-scale renewable energy solutions providers mean in CO2 displacement, oil barrels and numbers of people helped to get a solar home system. Here, in this context, Grameen Shakti is worth mentioning, using micro finance as a model to provide villagers with renewable energy. Grameen Shakti have won the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’: The Right Livelihood Award.

Aeroplanes

One of the strongest emission sources is aeroplanes. There is no tendencies that we decrease our travel through flights, with the latest Airbus now swallowing beyond 600 persons and additional tracks are added to airports. What we need is a shift of the means of driving these planes, an area that Virgin Green Fund and Sir Richard Branson has addressed in the billion dollar investment portfolio.

Cars

The technology holding the promise in relative short term to provide a technology shift of cars is the “plug in hybrid”, where you use both electricity with recharging aside fuels such as ethanol, and further along the road maybe a hundred percent electrical car, such as the one developed by Tesla Motors – the Tesla Roadster.

Go Sustainable in Carbon Offset – choose the right program

Looking for carbon offset providers that focus renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement method development is far more sustainable, and generates a change engine empowering the so much needed shift towards a sustainable emission vision of getting to 350 parts per million of CO2 concentration in the biosphere.

/Anders Abrahamsson

–

Note: A guide with evaluation of different carbon offset vendors have been published by David Suzuki foundation.

Work for change in your everyday life!

Camilla Davidsson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:33:43 +0000

I´ve always been interested in a sustainable lifestyle and wanted to do something for a green future, especially after getting children of my own. As a way of working for a green future I started EkoLifestyle, a website with inspiration and ideas for a sustainable lifestyle in a consumers point of view. A sustainable lifestyle is often a way of thinking. It gives you an extra perspective that also enrichens your life. A sustainable lifestyle is a way of living in the moment and making the best of it, enjoying what’s around us and being grateful for what we´ve got. Experience our beautiful nature – most people feel good after spending a day outdoors in the fresh air. Nature and all its resources is a gift that we should appreciate and take good care of.

As consumers we can make a difference in several important areas – at our work, in our homes, how we consume and how we travel. Here are some examples on how we can make a difference and at the same time influence people around us. These ideas are not new but effective.

At work we can try to use less paper and use both sides, let our computers go to energy saving mode or close down when not used and put out the lights when the working day is over. We can drink organic and Fair trade coffee and tea in real cups and avoid plastic.
At home we can try to be more energy efficient. Keep a low temperature in the winter, turn off stand by’s and use less energy and water. Have a TV free day and read a book instead or exercise or just enjoy good company. In Sweden we are fortunate to have good drinking water in our taps so water bottles are not a necessity as it may be in other countries around the world.
As consumers we can try to buy less and throw away less! When investing in something new, look for quality materials that can be recycled or reused. When buying food, look for locally produced and seasonal food. Buy only as much food that can be consumed so you don´t have to throw food away. Why not have at least one day a week without meat and try vegetables instead.
When moving around in the neighbourhood we can try to walk, bike or use public transportation like train, subway or bus instead of using the car. When going on vacation we can go by train or boat instead of by aeroplane.

EkoLifestyle is a swedish website with the same intention as Ideas for change, to collaborate and collect information about sustainable lifestyle and share it with its readers. The website wants to inspire and spread information about good and sustainable products and services. EkoLifestyle is a website for you who wants to feel good and do good at the same time.

Join EkoLifestyle and Ideas for change – help us to inspire and get inspired!

Camilla Davidsson,
is running the web site www.ekolifestyle.se