tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26170553563105964552024-03-13T04:00:33.659-04:00Sustainable PerformanceSPI helps organizations deliver on their promises of sustainability. This blog shares thoughts, ideas and experiences of SPI and the thought leaders in our community who are working to transform the industry and professional practice to attain ever-increasing levels of excellence.
See more at www.sustainable-performance.orgBarbra Batshalomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12130264282658317759noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2617055356310596455.post-25692981571879341192012-02-02T17:15:00.000-05:002012-02-02T17:15:36.137-05:00How clients rate SPI certification participants<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In 2011, we
surveyed the industry-at-large and published the (mediocre) results in our
newsletter. The conclusion was that
these self-described "green" firms still face many challenges spanning effective
leadership to consistent use of best practice methodologies. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">(see past articles:<i> Mirror, Mirror</i> part 1&2 <a href="http://bit.ly/mirrorone">here </a>and <a href="http://bit.ly/xiFPaC">here</a>) </span>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Recently
we’ve begun compiling another survey, focusing on the aggregated results of the
client and partner surveys of firms who are becoming SPI Certified. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Happily,
those results indicate a higher level of consistent success, conveying their
commitment and demonstrating a consistent level of service. The graph below is
a sneak peak at the aggregated data for one set of questions about project delivery. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the coming months we will share more
in-depth results and our analysis of the success factors behind these promising results.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2CuGhulV_ICYJ5tGjNaaAcPjvVKEDTv1DbdMkgs3nFrKeGgkPxed9ilBl0rG-UAMeW69tQrmZT-ZEItZK5Ws6Q3iY_uHZxjEKGw7zvwSXrNyBAMvPnbtIDDyGPLDSAKRVMIk4E1lmS157/s1600/ProjectDelivery.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2CuGhulV_ICYJ5tGjNaaAcPjvVKEDTv1DbdMkgs3nFrKeGgkPxed9ilBl0rG-UAMeW69tQrmZT-ZEItZK5Ws6Q3iY_uHZxjEKGw7zvwSXrNyBAMvPnbtIDDyGPLDSAKRVMIk4E1lmS157/s640/ProjectDelivery.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Barbra Batshalomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12130264282658317759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2617055356310596455.post-27541515606920249802012-02-02T16:53:00.001-05:002012-02-02T16:53:58.271-05:00Part 2: Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall, Who's the Greenest Firm of All?<br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i> (Reprinted from the SPI blog)</i></span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In this continued article, examining the gap between a company’s green marketing and its’ true capability, I am sharing the results of our “Is Your Firm Green?” survey. My previous posting looked at leadership and project delivery – and noted a shocking discrepancy between how companies portray themselves, and feedback about quantifiable capabilities. Today, I’m sharing the results dealing with two very critical aspects of sustainable practice: <b>Infrastructure</b> and <b>Partnering</b> – the internal foundation upon which projects are built, and the external relationships that are essential for success.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Infrastructure</b> includes support services, tools and resources used on projects, communication protocols, internal design standards, and human resources. As important as leadership is – support is equally critical. A company’s ability to provide appropriate professional development, access to key tools and resources, maintain design standards and quality control processes make the difference between institutionalized capability and “one-off” projects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Leadership and infrastructure are actually linked in an important way. A company that has clearly assigned roles and structure for accountability can ensure that there are people managing all aspects of sustainability - from maintaining appropriate resources and systems to continuous learning. Whether this is lead by a designated “Director of Sustainability” or a matrix Green Team (with authority), critical issues is that they are engaging all aspect of management, operations and project delivery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When asked, staff at all levels within a company had widely ranging observations about available resources and support. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">33% of respondents say they always have the tools and resources they need to implement sustainable design on projects, with the rest of responses scattered between “Never” and “Sometimes”. This represents 67% of the time that project performance may be compromised because of lack of resources.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>17.5% say that internal (green) design and specification standards are used consistently, across all projects.</b> The dominant response, 30%, say that green design and spec standards are used “Sometimes” on projects. This indicates that sustainable design best practices are not part of the <u>core philosophy</u> of the company.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Only 21% say that there are processes instituted in-house for continuous (project based) learning and mentoring. This means that most firms are not leveraging the successes they <u>do</u> have to raise the overall level of knowledge in their companies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">13% claim that HR consistently supports green practice (expectations about green design priorities articulated clearly in employee handbook, integrated into performance reviews and orientation for new employees, and evident in professional development). If company leadership extol the virtues of sustainable design, but those values are not present in documented expectations, performance reviews, etc., then the disconnect speaks louder than the platitudes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A whopping <b>9%</b> of respondents say that there are <u>clear protocols for incorporating sustainability into project management</u> including meeting agendas, formal communications, workplans and other PM tools. The dominant response was <b>35%</b>, who say that consistent protocols for green project management are <u>seldom</u> incorporated. Yet without consistent expectations about communication, managing performance criteria or deliverables and collaboration, project managers are not able to achieve the consistency that owners seek.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Partnering </b>speaks to the significant relationships between a company and its external partners that they depend on and work with to execute a project. Ultimate success is directly related to the ability of a group of people to perform effectively as a team. This is drastically emphasized in the context of green building, where clear performance targets are articulated and accountability is measured. Too often, architects are unsatisfied with the MEP engineers they work with, but have not found effective ways of addressing their issues. The same is true in reverse. Direct, intentional focus on improving the team relationships has direct bearing on the success of the project in all aspects.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Only 16% of respondents said that their contracts and relationships with partners successfully support sustainable design objectives. The majority say that this is one aspect of professional practice that is usually a barrier to success. Considering that “high performance” (green) design is dependent on a “high performance” team, the prevalent lack of strong team structure and motivation is troubling.<i><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Only <b>9.7%</b> of respondents said that every project employs a management tool that gives all team members a <b>clearly articulated map for collaborative decision making</b>, identifying roles, responsibilities and deliverables for major performance milestones. This is perhaps one of the most disturbing responses of all, considering how dysfunctional collaborations are within the industry. There are many aspects to collaboration that are difficult to manage (culture, mindset, attitude or personality) but the basic use of a collaboration tool that maps critical-path decisions is a fundamental and universally applicable ‘baby step’ towards improvement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is challenging enough to get one’s own “house in order” – and even more complex to look beyond to the next sphere of influence: our partners, who are critical to success. Contractual relationships are already laden with risk, budgets are tight and, especially in the current economic climate, people don’t want to ‘rock the boat’. However, the most successful teams are those in which people have had a chance to evolve and transform their relationships together, over time, to their mutual gains.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">High performance teams, good support systems, strong leadership and a track record on projects – these are all ingredients for success. If you are interested to see where you rank, have your company take the free, confidential survey and measure yourself the way that your clients will measure you – with the SPI framework. This will also help you see where your gaps are, and how you can build a road to success!</span></div>
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<br /></div>Barbra Batshalomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12130264282658317759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2617055356310596455.post-69232449798557123852012-02-02T16:53:00.000-05:002012-02-02T16:53:34.086-05:00Part 1: Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall, Who's the Greenest Firm of All?<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>(</b></span>Reprinted
from SPI Blog)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My last posting spoke about the
difference between a company’s green marketing and their true capability to
deliver consistent, high quality sustainability at an organizational level.
Since then, we published a survey, asking green professionals to honestly
reflect on their perception of their company’s true capability. The results
have been very interesting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the most jarring
observations is how widely perceptions vary, especially within the same firm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why is this important? Well, for
example, if the leadership of a firm assumes that everyone has the tools and
resources they need to deliver a green project, but the design staff ‘in the
trenches’ feel otherwise…that could indicate a critical gap. When looking in
the mirror, it’s important to have different people look at the same reflection
and make sure everyone is on the same page.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I’d like to share some of the
results and observations from this survey. There were different categories in
the survey – this week, I’ll focus on Leadership and Project Delivery and next
week Partnering and Infrastructure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Leadership: </b>It’s critical for company leadership to
visibly champion sustainable practices in a way that is clear to all staff, at
every level within the company. If the
priority is unclear, the message is ambiguous or perceived as being insincere
it will not translate into action and opportunities will be missed. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Only 30% of respondents said that leadership
consistently makes it clear to staff that sustainable design is an integral
part of their job</b>. 27% - an
almost equal amount, rank this priority as “rare to never”. That’s more than
50% of self-labeled green leaders (in A/E/C companies) whose own employees are
unsure of their priorities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Only <b>27.5%</b> of respondents said that clear roles existed with authority
and accountability – whether in the form of a Sustainability Director, a Green
Team (with authority), or spread throughout different roles within the company.
One thing we’ve seen over time is that there are different ways to effectively
create accountability within a firm, but it has to exist somewhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Not surprisingly, <b>86%</b>
of respondents said that “Commitment to sustainability is part of public
marketing materials” but only <b>10%</b>
said that “sustainability goals for projects” were consistently SMART
(specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound) and understood by all
on the team.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">47% said that clear project performance goals were established <u>occasionally</u>
and 33% said it was <u>rare</u>. If
project goals are not clear, or SMART, they will not be achieved and we will
continue to have projects (even LEED projects) that do not score highly in
energy efficiency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Comments varied from the dominant, “sustainability is more of a
marketing term than a design philosophy” to the rarer, but inspiring, “our
commitment to sustainability has not changed our focus and mission for our
business, only enhanced it”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The bottom line is that the baseline
for professional practice in the majority of A/E/C firms today is still
captured by this comment: “We say our goal is to be sustainable, but mainly
it's just lip service. We talk about it, take classes in it, push for LEED
AP's, but mainly <u>only do it if it is required by the client</u>.” This
compromises our ability to deliver a consistently high quality sustainability
service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Delivery<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As mentioned in the Leadership section, only 10% of respondents
said that SMART goals are incorporated into all projects – which indicates a
huge barrier to success. One of the biggest differentiators between a
traditional project and a green project is accountability and the use of clear,
quantifiable performance criteria, which must be set at the beginning of the
project. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>However, only 23% of
respondents said that sustainability is a clearly articulated expectation
within the team from the outset</b> (with 37% saying that it is “usually”),
which means there is about a 50/50 split with the rest who say it’s “seldom to
never” part of the baseline expectations of a project team. On a related note,
it is consistent that only 5.5% of respondents say that they always achieve
clear performance goals on their projects. The dominant response was “usually”
at 28.8%. If I were a building owner, I’d be looking for a team that
consistently achieves clear performance targets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">There is a comparable split when asked how consistently
integrative design process is incorporated into Project Management. 19% say
“always”, 42% say “usually” with the rest saying “seldom to never”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">This may seem slightly better, however, the devil is in the
details. There is still quite a range of difference in people’s understanding
of integrative design. Some consider ID to be defined solely by a kick-off
charrette with a LEED checklist, while others have a more complex, ongoing
definition of collaboration that lasts throughout the project.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">24.7% say that staff have the skills they need to implement
sustainable design – although we did not ask (yet) what specific skills people
are missing. <b>Considering that only 5%
say that they always incorporate life cycle costing</b> into their decision
making, that could represent one example of skills needed to expand (a later
comment said that life cycle is only considered when asked for specifically by
the client).<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">One comment captured a commonly held
sensibility in the architecture profession, “We are working on developing
methods for high performance goals. However, measuring them is outside of the
Architectural ‘box.’ ”. We see this with project performance as well. Very few
firms or teams know anything about the performance of their projects over time
and don’t have the opportunity to use that information as a feedback loop to
inform future decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Many commented that “sustainability is seen as an add on” which
explains why best practices such as life cycle costing and project performance
criteria are not used consistently. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">In some cases, the perception is
reflected well by this comment, “Project time and budget often prohibit
additional ‘feel good’ efforts such as ‘achieving clear performance goals’ (in
water, energy, health, etc)” – <i>I wonder
how many clients consider clear performance goals a ‘feel good’ effort?</i> While I say that with a hint of sarcasm, I
also know that some clients don’t understand that the time invested up front in
identifying clear performance targets, and the paths to achieve them, are the
only way to achieve the results they desire. This may be a mindset challenge on
both sides of the table. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Property owners have become more sophisticated. Government,
university and healthcare clients have told us that they want to see
sustainable design approaches integrated into the design approach for all projects
across the board. If that were the world we lived in, the answers to most of
these questions (if not all) should have been 100% “Consistently”….the items
identified in this survey were aspects of practice that truly green companies
DO answer Yes to across the board. On one hand, these responses indicate a
tremendous shift from just 5 years ago! However, they also indicate that we
still have room for improvement!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>Barbra Batshalomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12130264282658317759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2617055356310596455.post-83934089394701852282012-01-29T14:14:00.000-05:002012-01-29T14:14:01.762-05:00New Year, No Fear!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Every new year brings with it moments of self-reflection
about the past year’s ups and downs and possible resolutions for the coming
year. Like many people, I tend to be
highly self-critical, running down all the ‘failures’ in my head - and then
trying to calm myself by remembering the ‘successes’. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It goes something like this:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I didn’t stick to a regular exercise schedule</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I didn’t attain the perfect work-life balance</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I didn’t start that painting I’ve been sketching for years</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I barely made a dent in my bed-side tower of “must-read” books….</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Luckily, despite those personal disappointments, there
are many professional accomplishments to celebrate from 2011<i>.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On an organizational level, this past year saw the formal
transition from Green Roundtable, which was created to put green building on
the map, to Sustainable Performance Institute – an evolution to focus on the
critical role of <i>organizations</i>.
Moving from individual impacts – project based technical assistance and
individual education – to organization and portfolio wide impacts. Clearing up
mass confusion about who we are – with a legacy of projects and programs over
13 years like our former role as the USGBC Affiliate and our NEXUS resource center.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Brand transitions are never easy, but this hard work has
paid off and there are 6 achievements that we are very happy about celebrating
as 2011 draws to a close:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>SPI Evaluation
Criteria</b> created the first industry framework to measure what makes a truly
“green” firm, vs. those that are guilty of “professional greenwashing”. The SPI
Criteria went through a public comment period and peer review and are being
implemented within 13 companies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The SPI
Certification Program</b> awarded its first certification – and we’re proud to
say that it’s to a company that embodies the values of SPI and is a shining
example of excellence in professional practice: Wight & Company. We have
more companies in the pipeline looking to complete certification this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The SPI Leadership
Circle</b>, was launched via LinkedIn, providing a multi-disciplinary peer
community for those responsible for implementing sustainability initiatives
within their firms. LC already has 113 members from 21 states and 6 countries. LC
members participated in bi-monthly virtual meetings and we shared their stories
with the larger community.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>SPI Organizational
Assessments & Report Card</b> was created to help companies find out how
they rank competitively and where they can improve their systems and processes
to achieve higher performance and profitability on sustainability projects. The
Assessments provide valuable feedback with no risk and help put companies on
the path for Certification should they wish to pursue that path.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>A series of “Green
Firm Bootcamp” workshops</b> were conducted around the country, hosted by AIA
and USGBC Chapters. Participants focused on the process and strategies to
effectively institutionalize sustainability within their organizations,
discussed the barriers they face on a daily basis and learned a new framework
to set goals and measure progress. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>First
industry-wide survey “How green is your firm?”</b> highlighted for the first
time the disappointing truth about what’s going on in the (self-selected)
leaders of green building. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not bad. I may not have yet attained the perfect
work-life balance, but the year has certainly not been a waste! </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Which makes me think about how much work is still to be
done.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After talking for literally hundreds of hours with CEOs,
COO’s, VPs, Sustainability Directors etc., and reviewing thousands of responses
to our survey, I find we are much farther from our collective goals than I had
hoped. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">--There is still often a disparity between the
spokespeople who hawk their vision of green firm and the rank-and-file who
execute projects.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">--There are still all too many firms that don’t value
sustainability or understand why it’s important to the business of design and
construction. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">--There are still talented and committed people who are
frustrated in their efforts to help their companies evolve and lack the
professional education to be effective change agents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">--There is still a gap between LEED, 2030 and Living
Building and companies’ ability to deliver.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">--Most of the dialogue in the industry focuses on
technology, metrics, economics and environment. Little is said about process
and transformation. We may talk about IPD, integrative project delivery, or BIM,
but there is little conversation about strategies for change management. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here’s what’s not working:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Leadership is half
baked:</b> leadership is polarized (one is committed to sustainability, another
“thinks it’s a dirty word”), or they are only committed to getting work without
realizing that there’s an need for organizational change, or they speak
publicly about sustainability but don’t communicate the same expectations
internally. All result in confused, frustrated and disheartened staff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Buy-in paralysis:</b>
those that want to get the company to commit don’t have the skills, strategies
or confidence to implement a strategy to get buy-in from peers, leaders etc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Making data matter</b>:
It’s hard to collect and track data, and
even more challenging to report and use that data to inform future decision
making and learning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Crossing
boundaries</b>: internal change is a bear—external change is a grizzly! For green design, effective collaboration
with outside partners is critical and getting partners to change is hard. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Initiatives vs.
goals</b>: there are lots of “random acts of sustainability”, but fewer
well-conceived SMART goals that are driving the initiatives. Not a
single
person in our workshops could list their company’s SMART goals for
sustainability – and these are companies recognized for being green
building leaders!
Either the companies don’t have clear goals, or they don’t communicate
them
effectively enough for folks to be able to say what they are and act on
them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>LEED still a 'stretch'</b> (no
rotten tomatoes, please!):<b> </b>For all
the good it has done, those of us in the industry for a long time don’t
perceive LEED to be a “stretch,” but in every workshop I've done, I hear people still trying to </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“get their minds around LEED” (direct quote)</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. In much of the industry, sustainability is still defined by LEED.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This means the focus is
external only (on projects) with no connection to what the ORGANIZATION has to
do to deliver consistent, high quality projects. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The “What” and the
“How”</b>: for those companies who have gotten to a level of commitment that
says ‘we will deliver LEED’, “We commit to the 2030 Challenge” or similar,
there is still a disconnect between the What, or goal, and the How. Many lack consistent methodologies to ensure
quality control around project implementation to support collaborative, high
performance, healthy design. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That’s the bad news. The good news is – once you
understand the problem you can work on a solution!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is where our role as an organization and the 2012
resolution comes in. The 800 lb gorilla
in the room is change management; the process of effectively addressing these
challenges and removing the barriers that lead to long-term, intentional
transformation. We resolve to focus in 2012 on shedding light on this issue,
and helping companies understand how they can be more intentional and effective
in achieving their sustainability goals. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The next article will outline a 'Roadmap for Change' to
institutionalize sustainability, based on recognized tenets of change
management experts. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>Barbra Batshalomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12130264282658317759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2617055356310596455.post-80371333443149547152012-01-29T14:13:00.000-05:002012-01-29T14:13:52.270-05:00Putting the "Management" Back in Change...<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In many ways, LEED has been the tail wagging the dog.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A tool originally intended to define green building
metrics - repurposed as a ‘design’ tool. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An ‘end of pipe’ measuring stick relied on to drive change
in professional practice and collaboration. That can’t end well.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Because sustainability was initially introduced to the
industry through LEED and project implementation, it has taken many of us a
decade to realize that sustainability must start with the organization, and not
the project. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Evidence
of this can be seen in many company’s portfolios, where the
(relatively) small number of LEED certified projects seem to have no
influence over the larger percentage of projects not meeting the same
targets. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Only when sustainability is institutionalized throughout a company
will <u>all</u> of its projects be "green". </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">With
LEED, the first place of engagement was the “front lines”, on project
teams, without a cultural shift at the top levels of organizations.</span>
Because t<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">he project teams were
'temporary', situationally-defined groups, the substantive changes needed to
institutionalize sustainable mindsets and cultures could not be addressed
effectively. Not surprisingly, the
outcome of this change thrust upon transient project teams was a lot of resistance,
the perception of LEED being inextricably associated with stress, anxiety and
cost, and the need (by LEED consultants) to provide an inordinate amount of
'hand-holding' (often beyond the scope of what they were being paid to do).</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Successful implementation of LEED happens only as a result
of long-lasting communities of professionals united by a common culture,
structure and systems.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once your company understands that sustainability is more
than having some LEED projects in your portfolio, and success of a project is inseparable from high
performing, healthy building, you know that internal shifts need to be <b>intentional</b> and change must be
deliberately planned and managed. (Those
whose leadership is divided, who think everything is ‘ok’ as it is, are losing
profit and competitive advantage without knowing it.) </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deliberate change
achieves specific goals (or conversely, if you want to achieve specific goals,
they will likely require deliberate change!)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the corporate business world of change management
models, the two dominant thinkers are Kurt Lewin and John Kotter. The gist of
Lewin’s model is that in order for things to change, the initial status quo
must be broken, a transition must occur and then a new status quo must be
established. Kotter uses an 8 step model, breaking down different aspects of
successful transformation. Here, I will
summarize Kotter’s concept in the context of what I’ve seen work in this
industry. In subsequent articles, I will
dig more deeply into each step, with examples from our work with organizations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">John P. Kotter’s 8 Steps to Organizational
Transformation </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Kotter’s steps in bold, followed by my
comments on each):</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1 ESTABLISH A SENSE OF URGENCY</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A critical aspect
of getting ‘buy-in’ is to frame the desired change with a credible sense of
urgency. There are so many competing priorities and issues, anything that isn’t
perceived as urgent will fall below the radar. There are 5 steps to doing this,
from doing an assessment of current conditions to competitive analysis, which
will be detailed in the next article.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2 FORM POWERFUL GUIDING COALITIONS</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Don Quixote
tilted at windmills; effective advocates build coalitions and create a base of
champions who represent different company functions. These people help inform
the case for urgency as well as contribute to a process of broader engagement
which can become viral. There are specific communication skills and strategies
for creating coalitions that achieve results; it’s not enough just to include
those who are already in “the choir”.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3 CREATE A VISION</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Buckminster Fuller
said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To
change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” A powerful vision inspires, excites and
engages people. For a vision to help enact change, it also needs to infer
exciting opportunities and be connected to specific actions that can be taken.
Vision needs to be married directly with “SMART” goals and an implementation
plan that shows employees what will be achieved over time, how, and what
metrics will be used to track success. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4 COMMUNMICATING THE VISION</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deliberate and
comprehensive communication strategies are critical to expanding buy-in,
clarifying confusion and overcoming the discomfort that will certainly be
present as people are generally afraid of change and perceived risk. It is also
a way of demonstrating commitment of leadership and promoting behavior/culture
change throughout the organization.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5 EMPOWERING OTHERS TO ACT ON THE VISION</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Empowering others
requires two main actions: creating a system and structure of accountability
that makes people feel that they ‘own’ the change and are part of making it
happen; and removing the barriers that would inhibit change/compromise reaching
goals. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6 PLANNING FOR AND CREATING SHORT-TERM WINS</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nothing creates
momentum like success. The plan must include short term successes in the areas
that matter most to the company overall. Visible performance improvements,
enhanced client relationships, internal gains – must all be acknowledged and
individuals and teams rewarded for their success. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7 CONSOLIDATING IMPROVEMENTS AND PRODUCING STILL MORE
CHANGE</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Credibility is
key. Helping shift the perceptions of “green” from the fringe to core business
issues means leveraging real successes into political capital and pathways to
change systems, processes and behaviors so that they align with long term
goals. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8 INSTITUTIONALIZE NEW APPROACHES</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Last but not
least, the actual systems, tools, resources, processes and methodologies that
are the daily operations of a company need to be aligned with the new culture.
Although this is very operational, there can’t be enough said about intentional
culture change which is the thread running through all of the above. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In general, both Lewin and Kotter describe intentional
processes that start by identifying the need for change and clearly
communicating why the change is important, continue by a strategic and
methodical engagement of stakeholders as part of the change effort and then
focus on fully integrating changes into the systems, processes and monitoring
of the organization. Both models address culture as well as procedure and recognize
that change must be led, but is <u>not</u> only top down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you don’t think being a green firm means
organizational change, than you should just give it up now, you will never
really be successful and your competitors will leave you in the dust.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you think the % of LEED projects in your portfolio is
a true and complete measure of how green your firm is, you are missing the
point.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And if you think green building is not important (or is a
dirty word, as I've been told...) than you are letting your fears and ignorance compromise your long
term success.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is critical to differentiate between individual
project successes and institutional transformation. Failure to understand the
over-arching systems issues may lead to fixing specific problems without
correcting the thinking that produced the problems in the first place!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Management consultants come and go, and from what I’ve
heard, over-reliance on them can leave cynicism and no lasting change. As with
anything, consultants have their place, but the real measure of effectiveness
and commitment is to see how these efforts are internalized as part of the
company’s DNA. Anyone who has been
successful at institutionalizing sustainability in their firm will tell you
that it requires real change, culturally and otherwise. The question is, how effectively are you
going to take on this challenge? Being informed and intentional can make the
difference between a long, bumpy process that results in “random acts of
sustainability” and a more streamlined process with measurable results.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>LEED is a program of the US Green Building Council </i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>Barbra Batshalomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12130264282658317759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2617055356310596455.post-37267481637446127792011-12-15T18:09:00.000-05:002012-02-05T11:22:46.906-05:00"Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted - Not Everything That Can Be Counted Counts"<br />
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about indicators of effectiveness. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whether I hear debates about taxes, education or health reform, I find myself feeling frustrated – hearing people take positions but not stop to ask the question, “What indicators can we track to know if we’re being effective?” Or as Einstein once said, "Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted, counts."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In these days of global crises – its becoming increasingly clear that metrics and accountability are critical to chart a course for different outcomes. We are at a new crossroads in time where the desire for information and the technology to deliver it are creating an unprecedented level of freedom (and confusion). Many things are being measured and counted…but are we counting what really counts?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We measure a lot of things all the time for many purposes. What does that measuring get us? What is the purpose of measuring? Is it to know how well we are doing? To inform our path forward? What exactly is the relationship between metrics and effectiveness? </span></div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As an industry, LEED has dragged us (kicking and screaming) to a new level of accountability and forced us to measure performance, yet we still fall short at achieving the level of energy reduction we need to safeguard our future. Effectiveness is the gray area between the intention and the measurement. It’s the “how” part of the equation - that translates between what we are trying to achieve and what indicators we are tracking/ what indicators we look to for feedback.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We have a long track record of counting things that don’t really count, whether we think about our social, economic or education systems. Here are a few examples:</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
<li style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Does the census inform the level of infrastructure development we need to support population growth? Do grades or standardized testing really tell us how effective our schools systems are or how well-educated our children are? Does social security, which is based on income data and not financial situation, really provide for those who most need it?</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Does the level of a corporate CEO’s salary measure their effectiveness as a leader? Do quarterly profit figures really reflect the value of a company and its performance? Do sales targets, which focus on number of ‘sales closed” indicate the quality of those accounts? Do quarterly productivity measurements (GDP of our economy) really tell us how strong our economy is? Do unemployment figures really tell us how healthy the economy is when, sometimes, a drop in employment can indicate that people have given up looking for work?</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Doctors are evaluated by number of patients seen each day, but does that tell us how healthy we are? Length of hospital stays may tell us how efficient an institution is, but not how well we are cared for. Crime rate statistics encourage the construction of jails, but does that mean we are dealing effectively with the root of the problems? Monitoring the percentage of homeownership pushed lenders to give mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them – did that help increase the number of homes?</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What don’t we measure? Does the health of the habitat in our community get reflected in our property taxes? Does the value of our job get reflected in our salaries (teacher, social worker, civil servant)?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So in terms of the building industry and what we count, we are just now (after thousands of years of settlement) beginning to count impact – energy consumption and carbon, habitat encroachment, public health. My concern is that we continue to focus on metrics that won’t account for effectiveness – that our data will not translate into feedback loops that inform our path forward. We need to keep our focus on our goals (resilience of natural systems, public health, sustainable economies) and spend time defining which indicators will be valuable. Biodiversity as an indicator of ecological resilience, human (chemical) body burden as a measure of public health, equitable distribution of wealth as a sign of a healthy economy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In our small corner of the world, we’ve been focusing on the built environment and the ability of design and construction professionals to be an effective part of the solution. We spent 2011 developing a set of indicators and metrics to apply to organizational performance, which tell a company how successful they will be in delivering sustainable design solutions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In our <a href="http://www.nexusboston.org/certification" style="color: #386ab3; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">SPI Green Firm Certification program</a>, we’ve looked at moving “up the pipe” from LEED and the measurement of building performance to the “root causes” and the measurement of organizational capability and collaboration. As the program grows and we observe the changes taking place in all scales and types of organizations, we will continue to search for more indicators and ask better questions. It is our hope that this is one sign of a shifting culture – that all of us collectively are starting to focus on effectiveness and impact and not just what we can count.</span></div>Barbra Batshalomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12130264282658317759noreply@blogger.com0