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This year feels a little different. As part of my Ego to Eco work, I am in hyper-connecting mode, speaking with a wide range of people from across our industry and beyond. And in these conversations, rather than the usual sense of purpose accompanying the drive to Christmas, there is a distinct edge of the manic. I often think of this time of year like our own time of harvest, all the good ideas planted in the spring, ready to be delivered, but in the swirling uncertainty of emerging from the pandemic and the stark warnings of the latest IPCC report, there is a sense of ‘Did I plant the right crops?’ and ‘Things aren’t quite growing as expected’ and ‘The knotweed feels a tad more rampant than usual’.
So it was perfect timing to head to the MPA’s Annual Conference to reconnect with the Major Projects community and enjoy the novelty of a live event. It had the Association’s signature mixture of speakers who challenge your thinking and plenty of space for discussion, both as part of the formal proceedings and over conference coffee.
It all started with a mind bending gallop through the possible pathways of tomorrow by Rohit Talwar of Fast Future, leaving me not just a little uncertain as to how much I wanted to move toward the incomprehensible possibilities of quantum, tokenisation, and the emerging hybrid humans.
Things came back down to a more reflective pace with Graham Winch walking us though the last 40 years using the lens of the industrial revolutions. Having spent this year immersed in the language of nature, the distinct war-like language we use to describe our history was particularly striking. It led me to ponder what the impact would be, if we reframed our past from a different perspective.
What if we saw the industrial revolutions through the lens of connection and disconnection?
- The opening of the trade routes connected us globally, but potentially it disconnected us from our hyperlocal ties.
- The mass movement of people to cities connected great minds driving the explosion of innovation, but it disconnected us from nature itself.
- The advent of computers connected us to a digital world, reducing time and space, but it has potentially disconnected us from reality itself.
So does it matter how we frame the next period? Would calling it ‘The Great Reconnection’ rather than the next version of ‘The Digital Revolution’ change how we think and act? Rather than focussing on the technological innovations of a particular era, could we take heed of the writing of Ronan Krznaric in the ‘Good Ancestor’ and activate our longer term thinking today, to create a better tomorrow; reconnecting with ourselves, our communities, our future generations and ultimately with our planet.
(For more thinking on the power of language – Is how we envision the future shaped by the language we use? | LinkedIn)
And this theme of short term versus long term thinking followed us through into a rather cathartic session of Room 101, where we had the opportunity to place outdated project management practices into room 101. The Iron Triangle (Time, Cost, Scope/Quality) was enthusiastically thrown in, although not without recognising that it has its place, just not as our primary way of measuring the success of our projects.
But it was Jo Jolly, Deputy Director of the Environmental Agency who in her phenomenal address shifted the mood in the room, injecting a clear sense of urgency to meet the climate and biodiversity emergency. She gave the sobering news that the next IPCC report is likely to reduce our timeframe for acting to the next 4 years, a timeframe which is so short as to make debates over which technology or which framework for systems change almost redundant. In these timeframes, we need to become activators taking collective action within the current system. Jo reminded us that we have more power and agency than we believe and that each of us has a responsibility and the ability to take action, especially as practitioners within Major Projects.
It made me think, what is the climate and biodiversity emergency, if not the most mega of mega-projects?
As David Bent from IFF set out, whilst despair is a natural response to the overwhelming challenge in front of us, the pathway to profound hope is through action.
So the challenge has been set, what is our piece of the puzzle to do and how can the MPA support us in connecting those pieces together?
As a start, I offer up my piece of the puzzle. I along with a wider group have started Ego to Eco. Ego to Eco is a not-for-profit set up to effect industry wide mindshifts from the current ego-centric model to a more eco-aware viewpoint. It is setting out to create a shared space where people can gather across boundaries, share their stories and feel agency to take collective action.
In collaboration with the artist Wolfgang Buttress (The Hive, Kew Gardens), Ego to Eco is creating ‘A Forest’ an ever evolving digital forest which emerges from and responds to conversations answering the question,
‘What does it mean to you to shift from Ego to Eco?’.
Jo Lucas, Director, Co-Cre8
To find out more and take part:
Watch the Pecha Kucha shared at the conference From Ego to Eco – a PechaKucha by Jo Lucas – YouTube
You can read the highlights report from the Association Conference,
Major Projects 2061: Lessons, Ambitions and Practice for the Next 40 Years
here.
Join us on 21st October for: