Radical Innovation

Dean Bellefleur

President, D-Idea

Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Role: Consultant

Rich & Dave's use of the term "intersection" resonated loud & clear with me. For those readers not familiar with Frans Johansson's book "The Medici Effect" you'll not want to miss the significance of the intersection as it pertains to innovation. As a fellow PMP I couldn't resist completing the picture.

Actually Earthpm's interest in packaging projects is a stronger lead into greener packaging than one can imagine.

Think about it, what has the packaging industry and the consumer seen in the way of total solutions to escalating packaging waste, lately? Blister packaging is as prevalent as ever, fresh food continues to be over-packaged, plastic beverage container production lines have not slowed down and of alarming concern are the exposed flaws in municipal recycling programs appearing in the press. (http://www.thestar.com/news/article/661076)

For all the sacrifices the consumer is willing to make even to the point of participating in local recycling programs that converts one's own kitchen into a garbage sorting station, where is the progress? Other than making a few well connected individuals richer in the community, post consumer waste is still garbage today. How did we get hung up on biodegradable as the holy grail?

Incremental solutions are too slow to save the day unless your business case is predicated on "milking the cash cow" and that I believe is the root cause of the global dilemma we face today. It's time for radical innovators to practice a little alchemy and turn packaging waste into gold. There have been a number of solutions proposed & debated on this very site that were effectively radical in their approach. As with the intersection of unexpected fields of application, the competitive advantage goes to those that can deploy radical innovation.

Earthpm's call for greener packaging projects shouldn't be taken lightly, for here is a venue from which to showcase innovation as an integral part of the greener packaging solution.

Dean, Your comments and

earthpm

Co-Founder, EarthPM.com

Location: Andover, MA, USA

Role: Consultant

Dean,

Your comments and insight are appreciated.

We are just getting warmed up, and would appreciate any help we can get with launching EarthPM.

One thing that may help people get a handle on our thinking is a (very draft) set of 5 assertions that we are making. I think they apply quite nicely to packaging projects. Here they are:

1. Smart project managers seek first to understand the green aspects of their projects, knowing that this will better equip them to identify, manage, and identify financial, environmental, and overall project risks

2. Having an environmental strategy for a project provides added opportunity for success of both the project and the product of the project.

3. A project run with green intent is the right thing to do, but it will also help the project team do things right.

4. Looking at a project through an environmental lens increases the Project Manager’s (and the project team’s) long-term thinking and avails the project of the rising “green wave” of environmentalism.

5. Project Managers should think of the environment in the same way that they think of quality. It must be planned in, and the cost of “greenality”, like the cost of quality, is more than offset by the savings and opportunities it provides.

Any other green packaging folks want to comment on how PM and Green intersect?

Rich Maltzman, PMP
http://www.earthpm.com
info@earthpm.com

Radical? Asking "the consumer" to take responsiblity?

NOW, that's radical!!

Here is the root cause of the whole Sustainability problem, nobody sees the problem as their problem. The consumer is lied to over and over again in the media because it's politically, and otherwise, incorrect to hold us (the consumer) accountable for anything. We (the consumer) want safe drugs, fresh veggies, and portable beverages at every corner store. Then we blame the packagers and the packaging industry as a whole for the abundance of packaging materials and waste. It's ridiculous!!

That being said, I also agree that where profit is to be made, creativity and innovation (in a free market) will occur. Overlay this "natural" cause and effect behavior with the guidelines being proposed by SPC, GreennerPackage, etc. to quantify Sustainability claims, now we might be onto something. Trust me, I'm helping clients find the "gold" and doing so honestly.

But, in the long run, no innovation will replace the individual taking part in solving the Sustainability problem.

Now, where's my free health care. I just ate three Big Macs, a large bag of fries, and three beers sitting on the coach watching a baseball game and I'm not feeling well!!

Thanks for letting me weigh in.