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Username
Barbra Batshalom
Proposer First Name
Barbra
Proposer Email
bb@sustainable-performance.org
Proposer Last Name
BatShalom
Proposer Company/Organization
Sustainable Performance Institute (SPI)
Proposer Phone
(760) 650-2227
Proposer Job Title
Executive Director
Proposer Additional Info
I love doing a session each year addressing the 'human' skills that make or break our ability to be effective achieving technical solutions. I can address a very wide variety of these skills and topics and would be happy to change topic from what I propose here, based on what NESEA staff and/or reviewers think would be more fitting given the rest of what is proposed here, etc!
Proposed Session Description
Why isn’t learning from our work (and continuously improving) “business as usual”, as in software? What would firm management look like if we valued our staff (and treated them) as our prime assets, the way startups do? Integrative design and lean PM have the potential to mimic agile development; benefitting from fast iterations and innovation, but don’t – what could we achieve if it did? …and the “why’s” go on… Before you throw rotten tomatoes, it’s true that some firms have risen to the challenge! 27 even met the AIA 2030 Commitment to reduce portfolio-wide energy by 70%. There are many exemplary projects that prove what IS possible; we can achieve really audacious goals! But we are nowhere near the capability we need to secure the future of humanity on this planet. Owners are demanding increasingly high performance and firms won’t be competitive if they can’t pivot, transform and adopt the habits and disciplines of startup culture. This session is a continuation of last year’s, building on that content, offering new insights and strategies and with new exercises to help participants translate key behaviors into practical strategies and immediate actions to address firm culture, process, systems and performance.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
This session addresses organizational excellence, of which DEI is a critical component. We will have one of the examples/exercises with DEI as a focus ((along with increasing healthy materials, decarbonization and IEQ) but it is not the entire focus of the session. The process of evolving and transforming firm practice is really about incorporating agile “mechanisms” for change - which is a 'muscle' firms need to build so they can take on ANY issue effectively - so this is making firms more 'change-capable' - if we did not incorporate anything about DEI at all, this would still be useful to help firms tackle the issue across the firm more effectively.
Learning Objectives
Understand how to conduct a baseline sustainability assessment of their companies "sustainability IQ" related to culture, systems, processes and project delivery using established industry metrics to identify and prioritize where to focus for improvement.
Learn how to use Change Management strategies to create a sense of urgency and overcome barriers such as buy-in and resistance so that you can truly institutionalize sustainability in your practice.
Develop proven strategies to seamlessly learn from your work (without a lot of "wasted" time) and create the right kind of feedback loops so that you are on a path of continuous improvement and capable of achieving higher goals consistently over time.
Incorporate ‘startup’ behaviors and norms into your practice so that innovation becomes part of your culture and corporate DNA to differentiate your firm and be more competitive.
Has this session been presented before?
Yes
When and Where?
Last year I did the first version of this and since then have been applying it within our work with firms - this year will be a 'part 2' with new content as well as new exercises (and new case studies) - I have also done versions of this over the past year within firms, but not at conferences. Elements of this have been integrated into webinars I've done for AIA National this past year, but not the whole thing.
Session Format
Workshop or skill-building session
Session Format Details
My sessions always follow a similar pattern of introduction of concepts, discussion, break out exercises followed by debrief (where key concepts are introduced) then repeat, break-out/key concepts so it ends up being 50/50 of interaction and content delivery.

Strongest Content Connection - Boston 2022

Comments about your speaker roster
I know that there is often a preference for multiple panelists, but it is not necessary in this session and I know I am able to make it engaging and meaningful for participants (I have been doing 4 hour sessions many times a week during the pandemic, which is much longer, with very high reviews), so hope that won't be held against me :). In my experience, with content like this that really depends on what comes out of the breakout exercises, it's easier for one person to be able to be responsive to whatever comes out and connect the dots from the educational content to their experience!
Anything else you'd like to tell us about your session proposal?
I'd also be happy (together with NESEA) to keep a public Miro board open for anyone to engage with after the conference - with content and (anonymous-ized as desired by individuals) input for community members to share with each other. It's an ongoing issue that firms struggle with!
Reviewer 1
Field, Keirstan
Reviewer 2
Garvey, Amanda
Curator
Veerkamp, Danny
Proposal #
155
Session #
302
Committee Decision
Accepted

Presenters

Full Description
Carbon and equity are among the biggest problems in the history of humanity, yet many design firms have NOT done even the most basic shifts to transform their practice in ways that would enable them to rise to this challenge. Working with firms all around the US (and companies outside of our industry), we see that teams are not even consistently setting energy reduction targets on every project, not updating internal design standards (to consistently build the best envelopes, etc), not updating their specs...the list goes on. This session will not just draw attention to the issues but give very concrete, specific solutions based on lessons learned from all these firms, about how to start TODAY to make changes that will reduce carbon on projects and improve health and resilience. This approach is for anyone – owner, architect, engineer, contractor. Why is important, but what’s been lacking is “how” (change management, leadership effectiveness and other strategic approaches). We've also witnessed that firms that take these actions see improved outcomes within 3-6 months. Every organization needs an “accelerant” to transform practice as fast as possible to fight climate change. We want everyone to raise their bar, so we have a hope!