Ever Feel Like You Are Re-Learning Lessons Learned?

I know that at the end of every project you include identifying lessons learned as part of the summary process. But I sometimes wonder how long these lessons are retained in institutional memory. In really good organizations they become immediate attention items and targets for process redesign, but in most they are little more than a bullet point statement on an end-of-project PowerPoint brief.

There are ways to be more proactive in making sure these lessons learned are really learned, and not repeated. First, make the review of prior lessons learned a required part of every new project’s launch process. Secondly, make learning (both new knowledge and old lessons) a part of the project scorecard. The increased up front attention and continuing visibility / reporting through the project life cycle will pay off.

Practice What You Believe

In his book Leadership Is An Art, Max DePree told a story about the belief and commitment of the noted English architect, Sir Christopher Wren. Wren once built a structure in London and his employers claimed that a certain span he had planned was too wide and insisted that he add another row of columns for support. Sir Christopher finally gave in and agreed. He added the row of columns, but left a space between them and the beams above.

“The worthies of London could not see this space from the ground. To this day, the beam has not sagged. The columns still stand firm, supporting nothing but Wren’s conviction.”

At the end of the day Leadership is about commitment.

Commitment to your beliefs, so much so that you will choose them over expedience when hard tests come.

Commitment to your people, to be honest with them, even when it isn’t easy.

Commitment to yourself, so that you will have confidence when others don’t.

Leadership is about all of these and more, but mostly it is about how you transfer what you believe into what you DO.

The History and Future of CRE

How are CRE and FM organizations morphing themselves in order to support global enterprises while increasing their service, financial values, and leaning themselves? One answer can be found in the Integrated Resource and Infrastructure Solutions (IRIS) vision of CRE in the year 2010. Sponsored by CoreNet Global, the CRE 2010 study investigated organizational model and infrastructure trends in the industry. Here is a summary of the evolution the project traced and predicted.

Stage 1 (60’s): CRE groups formed, centralization begins, some out-tasking, few vendors

Stage 2 (80’s): Large CRE departments, some out-tasking, few vendors

Stage 3 (early 90’s): CRE departments downsize, increased out-tasking, many vendors

Stage 4 (mid-90’s): CRE downsizes again, smaller number of preferred vendors

Stage 5 (late 90’s): Small and strategically focused CRE staff, small number of alliance partners
accountable for services on a regional basis, second tier vendors support alliance partners

Stage 6 (early 2000’s): Very small CRE staff, small number of strategic partners, second tier alliance partners

Stage 7 (mid-2000’s): Very small CRE staff, a single strategic partner, vendors support single strategic partner

The evolution has been driven in large measure by mergers, acquisitions, and globalization, resulting in corporate CRE departments in large companies that are no longer the doers as much as they are the strategists. More and more we see regional/global strategic partners adding their value to the strategy mix as they leverage their advantages of scale.

If you are wondering how your organization needs to evolve in order to increase its value and remain competitive and relevant, then check yourself against the pathway outlined above. Most global and many large domestic CRE/FM organizations today are in Stage 6. And, you don’t have to be one of the big guys either. As the trends continue the trickle down affects will offer advantages to mid-tier organizations as well.

If you would like to read more about the CoRE 2010 project and how CRE practitioners are putting the concepts to work in real life, see the FM Link article at http://www.fmlink.com/ProfResources/Magazines/article.cgi?Corporate%20Real%20Estate%20Leader:corenet020507.html

Building Information Modeling (BIM) Gaining Momentum

Whenever I see professional societies like AIA put their stamp on something, and big development investments by technology companies, I know my FM world is changing again. If you do not yet understand BIM then take a look at http://www.facilityinformationcouncil.org/bim/about.php and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_Information_Modeling. It’s here, it’s real, and I hope to goodness it doesn’t turn out to be a replay of the early days of HVAC interoperability, when we had multiple protocol standards competing for the marketplace. That does not seem to be the case with BIM, however, since the National Institute for Building Sciences is on point in developing the standards.

One caution, I have seen some information that seems to narrow the definition of BIM, referring to it as a 3D model of the building that can be used throughout the life cycle of the facility. That is true, but it is so much more as well. If you are anticipating a BIM project, then make sure your consultants and providers are up to speed and can deliver the real goods.

For a list white papers, a PDF of the Version 1 Standard, published articles and books on the subject, see http://www.facilityinformationcouncil.org/bim/publications.php .

Data Center Power & Cooling Demands Continue to Rise

If you support data centers then you are most likely scrambling to provide more power and cooling as consumption demands continue to trend up. Gartner studies project a 13% compounded annual growth rate, predicting continuing increases in power consumption. This dynamic is largely driven by the move to blade servers in data centers. Blades are smaller, but also more power hungry. Combine the increased power requirement per server with the ability to pack more servers into a data center by virtue of their smaller size, and you have a double whammy affect.

A couple of my colleagues attended the recent IDC conference in San Francisco and came away with insight on key industry trends. These highlights align with our own experiences as we, like most others, grapple with this issue.

Virtualization of servers (combining multiple applications on one server) is foundational to managing computer center energy consumption.

The new C Class server blades are more energy efficient and allow greater virtualization. Helpful, but marginally so as the efficiency improvements do not reach the levels needed to fully offset increased density. Still, it is a definite step in the right direction.

Greening of data centers is gaining momentum and becoming more important to data center operators and FM’s who support them. In part because of the “greening” of American business, but also because of the financial penalties of not being energy efficient. Users are no longer saying “get me more power at any cost.” Now they are saying, “get me the power I need in the most efficient manner possible.”

For more information on data center issues and trends see the IDC website at http://www.idc.com/ .