When sustainability met project management

How innovation can be invigorated by this unlikely combination.

To begin with, sustainability arrived at the party as a kind of moralistic spoiler.

Suddenly, strategically driven, innovative businesses had to acknowledge their share of responsibility for environmental preservation, social welfare and responsible economic growth.

However, the mood music has since changed. A growing number of business leaders is now recognising that sustainability could actually be a springboard towards radical, disruptive change that could generate real value.

On top of this, project management has found a new relevance as a powerful component of the way this theory can be translated into action.

It’s certainly an unexpected development that would be good to explore, starting with how sustainability can make an impact.

Nudges sometimes become pushes.

Incorporating or embedding sustainability into the heart of your business’ operations could have unexpected effects.

Some of the changes might involve a simple tweak or form of adjustment, as a form of compliance, but others could result in a massive strategic adjustment.

For example, you may need to re-think entire systems to devise solutions that are either more socially or environmentally viable.

Which could be disruptive. But could also fire the starting pistol for radical or even revolutionary development that you may not have anticipated.

So suddenly, sustainability moves from being a responsibility to a catalyst.

NPD could become RPD.

Many companies - and yours may be one of them - have well established new product development processes in place.

These may work seamlessly with the methods and structures that the business is at home with.

However, your business may not be at home with radical change and your new focus on sustainability could instigate a sequence of events that may put your NPD processes under stress.

You may have the mechanisms for developing new products that are logical extensions of what you do now but are you ready for radical product development?

You’re much more likely to say ‘yes’ if your project management structure is suitable for this new purpose. By default, project management honours your existing operating system. But, potentially, it can operate with a degree of separation and freedom from baggage. So it can flex and change to this radical new landscape.

As well as orchestrating business as usual, project management can also conduct business as unusual.

You may not have the map but you have the grid lines.

Navigating uncertainty may seem like a leap into the unknown - because, to an extent, it is - but project management can equip you with a structured yet adaptable framework for the journey.

It can enable you to manage risks, allocate resources more effectively and apply methods and practices that help everyone make sense of unfamiliar circumstances.

It can be comforting to lean on what you know when you’re dealing with something that takes you to the edge of your comfort zone.

Making agile and Lean the norm.

Project management can help you implement both frameworks so you can innovate in a responsive and meaningful way at any time.

Agile will help ensure your planning is timely and adaptive to change. Lean will help you focus on optimising processes and cutting waste.

The combination of the two should create a culture of continuous improvement and learning, whilst facilitating the delicate balance between operational strategy and customer focus.

Getting every function functioning in synergy.

Radical change usually requires a major shift in the way departments and facilities work together.

This collaboration is vital because sustainability needs to be a thread that runs through the fabric of the entire business, not just part of it.

Project management can be instrumental in building the necessary bridges and breaking down silos.

Getting everyone on track. The same track.

Project management has a unique perspective because it can adopt a holistic perspective, not limited by a discipline or department.

This can lead to a refreshing clarity when observing how NPD is aligning with sustainability goals.

Project management teams can also access real-time, data-driven insights that can help the organisation make intelligent, enlightened and informed choices. This promotes ongoing reflection, based on what is really happening, rather than what may have been expected or planned.

This, when teamed with agile and Lean practices, can result in increased flexibility in the face of evolving goals and ambitions.

Sharing the learning en route.

Project management is part of the healthy mindset of an organisation that places a premium on continuous improvement.

Lessons learned can provoke changes for the better, whether they are related to successes or failures. And the project management team is best placed to communicate what has been learned.

This means that NPD is a process of non-stop refinement and enhancement, not something set in stone.

A revelation that could change the way innovation is perceived and activated.

To summarise, when sustainability and innovation overlap or combine forces, project management can suddenly morph from managerial practice into strategic enabler.

Project management can equip organisations with the tools, capabilities, methods and frameworks to tackle the challenge of radical innovation, head first.

It can make sure that worthy ideas are transformed from theory into tangible practice, resulting in products, services and principles that can create new value for both businesses and society at large.

As many of the world’s most innovative organisations have realised, project management is a skill to navigate what tomorrow brings, not just today.