Capital projects play a large role in the energy transformation that is taking place, and our children are depending on us to make this transition as efficiently as possible:

• There will be many new production facilities required for EV battery supply chains
• There will be new power generation required such as wind and solar
• There will be new transmission and distribution substations required
• And many more projects for the infrastructure we depend on

Trillions of dollars of capital project investment are required to build this new infrastructure.

However, when 9 out of 10 projects are late and over budget, this is not how we’re going to improve the future for our next generation. If we embark on this transition to invest $1 Trillion in several projects, and we know it’s really going to cost $1.2 Trillion ($200 Billion wasted) due to project inefficiencies, does this sound like a good idea? This is a terrible use of capital – this is irresponsible, and we must do better to protect our children’s future. I can think of a million better ways to spend $200B than to let it “leak” from projects because we can’t do any better…

Why do we accept these inefficiencies on projects? As a society, why are we not demanding better from our project management teams, government officials, and corporate leaders?

Now I get it, capital projects are complex. But what a shame if we just accept the fact that we’re no good at building big things and that this is the best we can do.

I’m not comfortable telling my kids 20 years from now – sorry we tried, but we couldn’t do any better, sorry for being so inefficient with protecting your future, now it’s your problem to deal with.

It is painful to watch projects struggle with problems that we already have solutions for. The CSU frameworks to complete capital project completions and commissioning are well defined, but very few project teams understand how to use these through all stages of projects. This isn’t a commissioning problem – this is a project management problem.

It is all too common that projects struggle at the end to complete commissioning. Instead, project teams must get better project completions processes, starting early in projects, so we can provide a more sustainable future for our children.

While there are certainly lots of challenges on projects, let’s at least fix the problems we already have solutions for – while we address other challenges in parallel. The time for change is now on your current project – not waiting to improve on your next project…

If you’re only interested in a superficial approach to completing capital projects, then this is not for you – your projects are already in trouble.

If you’re interested in protecting our next generation’s future, and need a deeper understanding of the holistic approach (the project management approach) to completing capital project completions and commissioning using industry-leading CSU frameworks and governance, then download our Strategic Guide: Capital Project Completions and Commissioning.

We’ve got a huge challenge ahead of us. The cost of not fixing this now will be much greater in the future.