STRATEGIES

KNOWING HOW TO GET BACK

A CAPSIZED BOAT

n an age where uncertainty reigns supreme, the only thing we can be «I sure of is that our lives are changing with unprecedented speed and in totally unexpected ways. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to develop resilience, or rather the ability to face and overcome the difficulties of life, both personal and professional». An American from Missouri, Gregg Braden is considered an authority on making connections between the knowledge of the past and the science, medicine, and progress of our future. In addition to being a lecturer and author of numerous and intriguing international

«THE RESILIENT PERSON FACES ADVERSITY AND ENGAGES IN A COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING. THE WAY OF LOOKING AT A NEGATIVE EVENT CHANGES BY MANAGING TO LEARN FROM IT, WHICH CAN SOMETIMES TURN INTO OPPORTUNITY». A JOURNEY INTO RESILIENCE GUIDED BY THE INSPIRATION OF TWO EXPERTS: GREGG BRADEN AND PIETRO TRABUCCHI.

best sellers, thanks to his ability for finding innovative solutions to complex problems, Braden was an innovation manager for the “Cisco Systems” network in the early nineties, effectively managing the global support team that ensured the reliability of today’s internet.

In this issue of EVOLVE dedicated to the topic of resilience, we started from the philosophical (and practical) thoughts of two experts who have dedicated their lives to research in this field. In addition to having read and extracted snippets from the works of the “visionary” Braden (taken in particular from the essay “The power of resilience”), we interviewed Professor Pietro Trabucchi, psychologist and sociologist, professor at the University of Verona and collaborator of the Center of research in Bioengineering and Sport Sciences of Rovereto, as well as with the Institute of Sports Sciences of Rome. You will read his answers on the following pages.

Over time, Trabucchi - who was the Psychologist of the Italian Olympic Cross-Country Skiing Team at the 2006 Turin Olympics and the psychologist of the National Triathlon Teams for many years - has been involved with training in companies on motivation and stress management. «With the Covid-19 emergency, we have been hit by a crisis of unprecedented impact and magnitude. For those who have the responsibility of people and businesses, the challenge is to accept the fact of having to experience hardships, aware that we might lose some of those privileges we have always taken for granted. The goal is not just to survive, but to navigate these months in a vital and constructive way, finding new ways and energy to start anew despite the climate of uncertainty. In the current context, individual as well as team resilience can really make the difference».

Resilience, says Professor Trabucchi, is the art of getting back on an capsized boat. One wonders, when life capsizes our boat, why do some drown while others struggle hard to get back on it? It is with the verb “re-salio” that the ancients defined this action. The resilient person not only faces adversity but executes a cognitive restructuring. That is, the way of looking at a negative event changes and one manages to grasp the positive elements in it. In many cases, by reacting to opposition, lessons are learned, which sometimes turn into opportunities.

Gregg Braden has also arrived at similar conclusions, convinced that human emotions influence DNA: «The power of resilience is the ability to adapt positively to change. Instead of swimming against the tide, we can express our ability to seize the opportunities that these changes offer us and experiment with new attitudes». Two authors, Trabucchi and Braden, both optimistic yet realistic, recognizing the enormous amount of work needed to enter the new world that awaits us.

From the reading of these essays, a reflection common to both emerges. The key to strengthening our resilience comes from our willingness to recognize the enormous scale of the challenge. Are we prepared to do that? The great journey that faces us today is very different from our experiences of the past: being that we are all engaged in the same excursion, we can no longer choose our partners in this adventure. This is not a trivial thought, but one that takes us into a deeply correlated and interconnected world where every transformation has some sort of repercussion for the entire planet. The globalization of the economy, climate change, the health emergency and economic crises are all factors that make us sailors of the exact same boat.

The good news - as we will see in the following snapshots - is twofold: the first that humans were designed to cope with difficulties and stress successfully. The second is that resilience can be trained and enhanced. The real challenge is getting back on the capsized boat.

RESILIENCE EXCERPTS

CHANGE AS A CHALLENGE

The resilient individual has a series of unmistakable psychological characteristics: he is an optimist and tends to “read” negative events as momentary and circumscribed; he believes that he has a large degree of control over his life and the environment around him; he is inclined to interpret change as a challenge, an opportunity rather than a threat. In the face of setbacks and frustrations, he tends not to lose hope. [Pietro Trabucchi]

NOW EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT

From the collapse of national economies to the emergency caused by Covid-19, from the reality of climate change to the failure of war as a method to resolve human differences. We are at the mercy of a convergence of extreme conditions never before seen. Since everything is now different, the old conceptions of the past will no longer be able to solve our problems. [Gregg Braden] GETTING UP AFTER MISFORTUNES The power of human motivation is astonishing. Other animals do not know how to learn from defeat, hold onto hope in the most unfavorable contexts, get back up and start rebuilding from scratch after misfortune has struck. Resilience is a cognitive ability and like all human abilities it can grow and improve, regardless of one’s natural inclination from birth. [Pietro Trabucchi] TWO TYPES OF DEMOTIVATION It was snowing very hard. Avalanches would soon begin to sweep the slope. “Get out of there now!”. Mr. I Can’t Do It, and Mr. Why Bother, each for different reasons, decided not to move. They ended up being buried by the first avalanche. To develop personal resilience, it is necessary to increase the sense of self-efficacy (“It’s possible for me to do it”) and increase the skills of willpower (“I will hang in there, it’s worth it”). [Pietro Trabucchi]

INTERMEDIATE OBJECTIVES

We cultivate the knowledge of ourselves, knowing that it is cooperation - and not competition - that marks the fundamental law of nature. Taking on more responsibilities than we can reasonably handle is not always effective. We learn to divide big jobs into smaller tasks, giving ourselves intermediate goals and delegating some parts of our tasks to others.

[Gregg Braden]

RECOGNIZE PROGRESS

Getting in tune with the intrinsic motivations of others, making people feel capable, recognizing their skills and progress: all of this has a much more powerful effect on motivation than resorting to incentives or authoritarianism. Trusting in the abilities of others is a specific behavior, not a wager. It can always be implemented and it bears fruit.

[Pietro Trabucchi]

THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE HEART

There are different types of challenges in life, each of which that can best be solved through various ways of thinking: sometimes with the brain, sometimes with the heart. The mind tends to justify the answers it arrives at, using circular reasoning: a fallacious logical reasoning, in which the premises derive from the consequences and vice versa. Accessing the intelligence of the heart, creating our own heart-brain coherence gives us the power to experience deep states of intuition. [Gregg Braden]

A GIFT WITHIN US

We descend from people who have survived countless predators, wars, famines, migrations, diseases and natural disasters. We are built to live with stress on a daily basis. This is why we have a sort of gift within ourselves, a set of resources inherited from the past that constitute our “resilience”. [Pietro Trabucchi]

A PATH FOR THE “WHEEL”

We are already in the possession of the solutions needed to create those breakthroughs capable of transforming our existence. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Rather, we have to build a “road” of thought that offers a surface on which the “wheel” of solutions can travel. [Gregg Braden]

Texts from:

• Gregg Braden, “Resilience from the Heart”, Hay House Inc. • Pietro Trabucchi, “Perseverare è umano”, Corbaccio • Pietro Trabucchi, “Opus”, Corbaccio

A MOTIVATED LEADER LEADS BY EXAMPLE

n this time of Covid-19, a leader is someone who is able to mobilize people’s intelligence and engagement.

IWith the aim to overcome that sense of disorientation which slows down our actions and absorbs our best helpful emotional energy. Promoter of the concept of resilience, Pietro Trabucchi (Psychologist of the Italian Olympic Cross-Country Skiing Team at the 2006 Turin Games and of the National Triathlon Teams) is currently dedicated to the National Ultramarathon Teams (24h, 100 km and Ultratrail) as well as to numerous athletes of endurance sports, including rowing. The author of several books - “Resisto dunque sono”, “Perseverare è umano” and “Opus” being the best known- Trabucchi is a professor at the University of Verona.

«Resilience, a concept that has been imported into the human sciences - explains Trabucchi - is very useful to explain a series of phenomena. It actually has an engineering and metallurgical origin: in mechanical terms it is the ability of metals and alloys to withstand stress. From a psychological point of view, it is the ability to keep motivation both constant and high, in spite of problems and difficulties. Which, conversely, tend to have a demotivating effect».

By nature, man is not a sprinter, he is a marathon runner. Can we apply this statement to the behaviors that must be implemented in this delicate phase of emergency management? In what context does this aptitude for endurance apply? «Resilience is a transversal theme, present in everyday life. We identify it with precise actions, such as picking oneself up after a crisis, not giving up, accepting difficulties. I am personally involved with it in regards to sport, as resilience is one of the determining factors for athletic success and the building of great performances. But sport is simply an excellent laboratory, one that makes the playing conditions extreme: it shares a great similarity with our everyday lives, in the difficulties of a manager, an employee, an unemployed person, a student. The mechanisms with which we encounter difficulty are the same: if we have to withstand the pressure of a deadline, or face a difficult interview, or manage an economic crisis, the setting changes, but the processes used by our brain are essentially the same». Returning to the marathon metaphor, motivation is a fundamental component in the navigation through this time of crisis. Where does an individual find the motivation to look forward with serenity? Where does a goal-oriented sportsman, manager, person draw motivation from? «Today, we find ourselves in a context without structure, a situation without solid reference points. We need to train ourselves to live with uncertainty. In the past, motivation came from external sources: companies, political and religious institutions, family and school contexts provided reference points and horizons of certainty. Instead, today’s goals are constantly shifting and we can do nothing more than learn to motivate ourselves. Human beings have learned to motivate themselves as a matter of evolution. Before the invention of the bow and arrow, our ancestors survived for a million and a half

INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR PIETRO TRABUCCHI, SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST AND RESILIENCE EXPERT. «HUMAN BEINGS HAVE LEARNED TO MOTIVATE THEMSELVES AS A MATTER OF EVOLUTION. BUT PAY ATTENTION TO INCENTIVES AND TALENT MANAGEMENT: ONLY THROUGH PROGRESSIVE DOSING OF GOALS WE HELP PEOPLE’S SELF-ESTEEM GROW».

years by hunting their prey through persistence: armed only with sticks, they chased antelopes, gazelles and deer for hours - very fast mammals but less resistant than man - until the animal collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Along with physical and biomechanical evolution, this activity changed our cerebral architecture. The motivational areas, which are linked to the prefrontal areas of the brain, have become much more developed and active. The ability to maintain an objective for a very long period of time has been built into us for millennia. This is why we will actually be capable of dealing with the crisis, when one considers the resources that we hold within us to overcome it».

In your book you explain that in today’s life and society, our innermost nature is hindered by extraneous and misleading concepts such as the myth of talent or the overestimation of the power of incentives. «Talent must not become an alibi, an invitation to be passive: it is a predisposition, a pre-requisite. You start with talent but then you must get to work and apply yourself. In companies, I see many young people who feel privileged just for having been selected: after which, their managers complain about them for their attitude of having won destiny’s lottery... I think it is a problem stemming from the educational curriculum: many people lack the ability to resist temptation, the practice of what was once called willpower. What makes the difference is the commitment to a goal. We live in a culture that values taking shortcuts, resulting in incredible personal resources being left unexpressed and unapplied. The same thing happens with regard to incentives. I refer back to research done on people’s brains: when one’s internal system is gratified, dopamine is produced, which slows down the rhythm of the challenge. But the world is raising the bar, and often incentives are not enough to keep up with the current competitive standards. At a certain level, incentives must be more emotional than economic: a person must see beyond, cultivate an intrinsic motivation, draw from inside rather than from outside».

Working in a multinational corporation, how can you work on your self-esteem, even at critical times? «We often don’t have a good relationship with our limitations. But when we become acquainted with them by testing ourselves, we can strengthen our self-esteem. It is a matter of realistic goals: if a marathon runner has very high expectations, when he fails, he will fall from very high. Even among talented youth there is this risk: if managers do not dose goals progressively, and instead fuel unbridled dreams (as happens in the sneaky mechanism of social networks), young people will not be able to generate antibodies against frustration. And eventually their self-esteem will collapse. Leaders must be an example, developing their own ability to make motivation last, in spite of obstacles, difficulties and problems. If the manager of a team demonstrates resilience and an attitude of perseverance, every member of the team will be propelled to work on his own personal motivation: if he can hang in there, then we can too».

You also talk about the importance of building a healthy system of relationships. What are the steps to generate a model that works? «I will refer to my team experience with mountaineering expeditions, where the group comes together through the sharing of a challenging

Pietro Trabucchi

goal. If what we call “relationship maintenance” is lacking, everything may collapse. Some expeditions fail simply because people get into conflict. Human beings influence each other with their emotional state: the sullen or absent boss demotivates collaborators, while a present and empathetic person changes the emotional experience. In any case, I am not proposing a solution sprung from the naive vision of a boss who becomes his collaborator’s best friend. I am saying, as neuroscience teaches us, that the motivation of human mammals is influenced by relationships: and a good boss knows how to build and maintain meaningful and personal relationships with employees while safeguarding norms and roles, just as an experienced coach does with his athletes. People must be listened to and they must be taken seriously. Not for simple “do-goodism”, but because if you don’t, the team won’t be able to reach any challenging goals».

Let’s close by returning to the topic of sport. Why do professional athletes continue to be a great model to follow, even for complex organizations? What should we learn from sports dynamics? «Some athletes are a good model: in their efforts to achieve a determined result, they are able to keep their energy up over a period of time, even in the face of physical deprivation and metabolic deficiencies. I will cite some personal cases. In following Paralympic athletes with their stories of disability and resilience, one is provided with a constant injection of confidence in mankind. Who, more than them, can be an example for being able to get back up after a trauma? And in rowing, the mindset, spirit of resilience and trust in the team has helped Italian athletes to attain world excellence, although our physical baseline is less suitable than the athletic structure of Australian or New Zealand rowers. Finally, biathlon, a discipline where speed and power (of the cross-country skiing component), combined with relaxation and precision (rifle shooting) form a very interesting cocktail in terms of resilience. Let’s take another example from Italian female athletes: in women’s biathlon, our girls are among the strongest in the world!»

HAS COVID-19 CHANGED THE ECONOMIC

SCENARIOS?

INTERVIEW WITH STEFANO NAPOLETANO, GLOBAL LEADER INFRASTRUCTURE & CAPITAL PRODUCTIVITY, MCKINSEY & COMPANY. «TODAY, ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) ISSUES CAN AFFECT COMPANY BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: IN THE POSTPANDEMIC WORLD, ESG IS NOT A FAD OR A FEELGOOD EXERCISE. ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUCCEED IN REINVENTING THEMSELVES WILL LIKELY DISCOVER NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH».

Stefano Napoletano, Global Leader of Capital Projects & Infrastructure, McKinsey & Company he Covid-19 health crisis has had a major impact on the economic

Tsystem. Which economic sectors are suffering most? What are the sectors that will suffer permanent structural impacts, and which will have positive impacts on their growth?

COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on people’s health and well-being on a global scale. One of the most striking features of the pandemic is how broad its impact on consumers’ lives has been. According to our surveys, as consumers experience a prolonged period of financial uncertainty, they intend to continue shifting their spending largely to essentials, such as grocery and household supplies, and cutting back on most discretionary categories, such as apparel and travel. While some sectors will recover earlier as consumer start shopping again, for others the recovery will be longer, such as large events and air travel. More in general, organizations that succeed in reinventing themselves will likely discover new opportunities for growth. An area where companies have already adjusted well is using technology to address changing work environments and to stay competitive. Our survey also shows that organizations that are successfully responding to the crisis have deployed more advanced technologies, digital products, and tech talent to speed up innovation and they expect most of these changes to outlast the pandemic.

Covid-19 is a global pandemic with geopolitical implications. From an economic point of view, is it possible that the Covid-19 has different consequences for the different world’s geographical areas as well? And if so, which are those that will come out better or worse than others?

As knowledge partner of the ISPI ‘Centre on Infrastructure’, focus is given also to the analysis of geopolitical trends. As ISPI points out in its studies, the pandemic is acting as a threat-multiplier for countries that were already struggling with other threats, such as protracted conflicts, economic crises, and climate change. In this context, Africa and West Asia are in a more fragile position. But the pandemic has also exposed the vulnerabilities of wealthy countries: in the Gulf, for instance, where even rich economies are likely to face deep supply disruptions. Regarding the world economic scenario, as ISPI outlines, there are two big threats with a potential global impact: the increasing unemployment that could worsen the crisis of the global demand and the GDP contraction, and the rising global debt that could raise the risk of a new financial crisis.

Over the past six months, large companies have reorganized supply chains, set up remote operations and made difficult financial decisions, many of which demonstrate great resilience. With the aim of rebuilding in the long term, what do you think are the first steps of a path to help companies emerge stronger from the crisis?

In our survey of supply chain executives, 93 percent reported that they plan to take steps to make their supply chains more resilient and less vulnerable to shocks, including building in redundancy across suppliers, nearshoring, reducing the number of unique parts, and regionalizing their supply chains. Today technology – such as analytics and artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, advanced robotics, and digital platforms – is challenging old assumptions that resilience can be purchased only at the cost of efficiency. The latest advances offer new solutions for running scenarios, monitoring many layers of supplier networks, accelerating response times, and even changing the economics of production. Some manufacturing companies will use these tools and devise other strategies to come out on the other side of the pandemic as more agile and innovative organizations. At the same time, as more physical assets are digitized, it is critical to step up investment in cybersecurity tools and teams.

With social distancing, the increase in production automation and agile work, what are the organizational and structural changes that big companies will face?

While remote working was already gaining currency before the crisis, the pandemic and the step-change in use of videoconferencing and other forms of digital collaboration has shown that remote working, where possible, is here to stay. That said, organizations should invest in effective long-term remote-working foundations, revamp their upskilling and retraining approaches, and adopt an agile approach to strategic workforce planning. They should also reimagine the role of offices in creating safe, productive, and enjoyable jobs and lives for employees.

The Covid alarm has accentuated a general awareness regarding environmental issues. From another point of view, in the economic recovery phase where the attention will be focused on growth, do sustainable investment policies for the energy transition risk to become less important?

The simultaneity of the Covid-19 crisis and the climate challenge means that the post-pandemic recovery will be a decisive period for fending off climate change. In the aftermath of Covid-19, a number of factors could slow climate action, among which for instance the easing or delay of environmental regulations in the interest of economic growth, depressed oil prices that make low-carbon technologies less competitive. By contrast, a climate-smart approach to economic recovery could do much to put the world on an emissions pathway that would hold the average temperature increase to a relatively safe 1.5 °C. We need to keep in mind that, not only does climate action remains critical, but the transition to a low-carbon future can drive near-term job creation while increasing economic and environmental resilience. Kevin Sneader, Global Managing Partner at Mckinsey, explains that the pandemic has exposed the deep interconnection between companies and the world in which they operate. Employees, clients and stakeholders expect the company speak out on sustainability issues as well. In the comparison between profit motivation and a company’s social purpose, what has changed since the coronavirus emergency?

Today it’s commonly recognized that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues can affect company business and financial performance. Expectations and scrutiny on ESG topics from investors, consumers, employees, and other stakeholders continue to grow, and taking action in these areas may help companies navigate rising pressure from stakeholders and distinguish themselves from competitors, creating additional value in five important ways: facilitating top-line growth, reducing costs, minimizing regulatory and legal interventions, increasing employee productivity, and optimizing investment and capital expenditures. To a greater extent in the post-pandemic world, ESG is not a fad or a feel-good exercise. Global sustainable investment tops $30 trillion, up 68 percent since 2014 and tenfold since 2004. This acceleration has been driven by increased social, governmental, and consumer attention on the wider impact of companies, as well as by the investors and executives who realize that a strong ESG proposition can safeguard a company’s long-term success.

HAS COVID-19 CHANGED THE ENERGY SCENARIOS?

he Covid-19 crisis has caused a

T

decrease in the demand for almost all resources (mainly coal, oil and gas) and in CO2 emissions. Only renewable energies have withstood the shock wave. According to your projections, how will demand evolve in the coming years? And CO2 emissions?

The impact of Covid-19 cannot be overlooked. Global energy demand is set to decline by 5% this year. To put that in context it is seven times larger than the decline we had as a result of global financial crisis one decade ago. This is the result of strong plunge of global economy but also of measures implemented to curb virus outbreak that have impacted also energy-consuming sectors like mobility ones. INTERVIEW WITH ALESSANDRO BLASI, SPECIAL ADVISOR OF THE IEA (INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. “THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE HAS REMAINED VERY RESILIENT, DESPITE BEING HIT QUITE HARD”. THE IEA ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT ALMOST HALF OF THE EMISSION REDUCTIONS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE THE NET “ZERO” TARGET BY 2050 WILL HAVE TO COME FROM TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE NOT YET COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE TODAY.

Alessandro Blasi, Special Advisor of the IEA Executive Director Emissions are set to decline proportionally in 2020 but there is nothing to celebrate on this as it results from a huge medical and economic shock and not from good policies aimed at change trajectory in our sustainability trends. Looking ahead, energy demand and emission trajectory will be function of two main aspects: a) how long and severe will be the pandemic and b) what policies and measures governments will implement to fuel global recovery. Past experiences showed us that in absence

of serious and deep policies, we will resume the previous trend in terms of energy consumption and emissions as soon as the world will come out from the current crisis. In this respect, the pandemic offers a ‘window of opportunity’ to rethink our development model in a more environmental-friendly approach.

Several observers have compared the Covid-19 crisis to the oil crisis of 1973. The economic decline is reminiscent of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Looking at the energy sector as a whole, what elements of resilience have you noticed?

I do not see a parallel between current crisis and the oil shock in 1973. As far as concerns the energy sector, the current situation is determined by exogenous factors and not internal one. The system has a whole has remained very resilient despite it has been hit particularly strong. But deliveries have continued, supplies have not been interrupted and the system has remained operative and reliable. We should all be grateful to millions of workers in the energy sector that during the peak of the crisis and lockdown Hydrogen can play a key role in global clean energy transitions. have continued to operate with great professionalism and dedication in order to keep energy flowing, allowing our society to deliver essential services. IEA Director Fatih Birol has explained how this crisis has highlighted the deep dependence of modern economies on reliable electricity supplies. What kind of policies and investments will governments have to support to steer the global energy system towards a sustainable future? It is correct - the pandemic has highlighted the deep reliance of modern societies on reliable electricity supplies – for supporting healthcare systems, businesses and the basic amenities of daily life. That was a stark reminder of the importance of energy (and electricity) for our society. For a sustainable future there is not a silver bullet or a single technology that can ‘save the world’. Energy is a complicated thing and we need to keep in mind all different aspects. The IEA has offered governments the Sustainable Recovery Plan focusing on cost-effective measures spanning across six key sectors – electricity, transport, industry, buildings, fuels and emerging low-carbon technologies – that if implemented could simultaneously boost economic growth, save and/or create millions of jobs and keep 2019 as the real peak of emissions.

IEA also argues that the chance to develop low-carbon hydrogen technologies cannot be missed. What role may hydrogen play in the global transition towards clean energy? Which are

the areas where it will be mainly used?

Hydrogen can play a key role in global clean energy transitions, but for this to happen; hydrogen production must be low-carbon. Today, practically all hydrogen production is based on natural gas and coal, generating significant amount of CO2 emissions. There are basically two areas for low-carbon hydrogen: the “green hydrogen” – from electrolysis using renewable electricity – and “blue hydrogen” – from fossil fuels whose emissions are captured and stored or reused.

Blue hydrogen today is cheaper than green hydrogen, but as the costs of renewables and electrolysers continue to fall, green hydrogen will become more competitive. In the long run, each country and company will choose between the two options depending on which is cheaper in their own respective context (Ed.: in addition to these, there is a third option, the one of circular hydrogen from waste, developed by NextChem, about wich you can read at page 18). What matters in the end is that the production is low-carbon and affordable and applications can span from industry to transport and other sectors where electrification alone might not be sufficient to solve the climate issue.

What are the other clean technologies alongside hydrogen to get a sustainable, clean, safe and affordable energy system? What does planetary Green New Deal exactly mean?

Thanks to efforts from governments, companies, researchers, and other stakeholders in the energy sector, we have made tremendous progress in clean technologies. In the power sector, solar and wind – including offshore – have seen spectacular decline in costs; electric vehicles, batteries and storage are making important progress and further to hydrogen there is a very important momentum in carbon capture utilisation and storage. Said this, there remains huge scope for governments and companies to scale up efforts in innovation. The amount of spending in R&D for low carbon technologies remain very modest, especially if compared to other sectors like technology one. To accelerate on that front is crucial.

IEA analysis shows that almost half of emission reductions needed to achieve net zero targets by 2050 will have to come from technologies that today are not commercially available yet. The political momentum, the stepping up of many companies on sustainability front and the ultra-low interest rates following quantitative easing can be a fantastic cocktail to finally move on sustainable trajectory.

THE WORKSITE OF

TRANSITION

he coronavirus is not a black swan». This is what Nassim Nicho«T las Taleb, the author of the bestseller “The Black Swan”, that EVOLVE covered in December 2017, said on the subject of antifragility in a newspaper interview. The Lebanese philosopher - who had foreseen an unexpected event capable of overwhelming everything and everyone, changing history - explains that we cannot compare the current Covid-19 pandemic to a black swan. «It lacks an essential aspect - says Taleb - the unpredictability. If we look at the disease itself, years ago the scientific community started giving warnings that sooner or later a global epidemic would break out. And it’s not a black swan because of the collapse of the markets, either: a noticeable correction was in the order of things, because prices were too inflated, both in the USA

Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont and NextChem CEO INTERVIEW WITH PIERROBERTO FOLGIERO, CEO OF MAIRE TECNIMONT AND NEXTCHEM. «TO GET OUT OF THIS CRISIS AND LEAD THE WORLD IN A SUSTAINABLE DIRECTION, IT IS NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE BENCHMARK OF SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL VALUES».

and in Europe. A little ‘drainage’ will only do some good. There have been many such moments, even without epidemics».

With this in mind, we asked Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Maire Tecnimont and NextChem, some questions about resilience and post virus reconstruction. Even though Covid-19 has highlighted the fragility of our system, this crisis can become a historic opportunity to lead the world towards a sustainable direction.

«All of a sudden, the pandemic has confronted us with what can happen to the planet when a systemic risk becomes a reality. Apart from the deep sorrow for the victims of this virus and their families, we can draw a positive side from this event: the realization that we can live in a way unthinkably different from how we were used to. We must use the sense of surprise that millions of people have experienced in realizing that smart working actually works, if well organized, to consider the fact that many other things can be done very differently. We need to look ahead in the long term, because it will not be enough to just reduce emissions and energy consumption. We need to change social, economic and financial behaviors and values».

How do we plan a quick and lasting reconstruction?

«By preparing the industrial system for the reduction of risk and economic loss resulting from pollution and climate change and the impact they have and will have on many sectors. National economies will have to become more and more resilient and industrially autonomous, because the Covid-19 crisis is showing us that the oil & gas era has begun its transformation trajectory. Private investment in the fossil fuel sector is no longer as attractive as before, with financial analysts assigning a much higher rating to innovative green technology projects. Albeit with slowdowns and areas of resistance, we are moving towards the fourth industrial revolution: the one where the physical, digital and biological worlds will increasingly become a single entity».

How do you envision the general and Italian scenario in the short term? How should companies and institutions move?

«Maire Tecnimont is a leader in technologies for the transformation of natural resources into both energy and products that are innovative and sustainable: every day, for us, the energy transition means agility, flexibility and internationality. This is why I have the image of a large worksite in my mind, a globally oriented “worksite of transition”. Obviously, it would also be a great priority for Italy, which is the second largest manufacturing country in Europe, to devote its time and resources to defining simplified procedures for those who want to invest. In this context, it is necessary to guide companies on how to use the available resources in order to start long-term projects. The ingredients? On the one hand the ability of companies to create a system, pushing new supply chain agreements with joint platforms for research and concrete application. On the other hand, the ability of institutions to be able to support innovation in this sector when they are presented with workable innovative projects».

Politics and business do not always go hand in hand. How could governments intervene?

«Green platforms are needed so that demand for capital, goods and services can be met by businesses. Governments will have to facilitate more courageous investments in sustainability with rewarding tax incentives for processes that improve energy efficiency, the carbon footprint and recycling technologies. There is still a lack of regulatory infrastructure and incentives to support the production of goods made from organic and non-fossil-based raw materials, as well as chemical products made from recycled waste. By acting for innovation we make industries more competitive and less exposed to future systemic risks».

In terms of resilience, is green chemistry a viable solution to ensure self-sufficiency?

«With green chemistry we can create a basket of locally produced goods, available within the country and able to provide greater autonomy in terms of raw materials, products and energy. The energy transition is an opportunity: every company knows that where there are new paradigms to explore, innovation and business grow. The birth of NextChem is going in this direction: to position ourselves in a promising market, the one of technologies for the low-carbon and circular economy. Waste is the oil of the new millennium, although in Italy we are struggling to recognize it on both an institutional and societal level. Let’s recall the Nimby syndrome: it springs up spontaneously every time we think about how to transform waste into resources».

How do we find the right balance to intelligently manage resources?

«The energy transition cannot disregard the development of the circular economy to save natural resources, by recovering as much post-consumer material as possible, a real treasure of precious molecules. This way we will reduce our dependence on other countries for the supply of raw materials. We need to start thinking about the development of green technologies by carefully looking at the biomasses that will be used as a feedstock for industrial transformation processes».

There is still debate whether certain types of waste can be considered biomasses.

«The availability of biomasses is the real challenge for the sustainable economy of the future. To make the circular economy grow, we must make an effort to observe the system with a wide lens, able to detect the symbiotic relationship between different sectors, between agriculture and industry, between the agri-food supply chain and chemistry: what for one is waste, for the other can become raw material». Technically, how does this translate into NextChem?

«Our patented Upcycling technology makes it possible to obtain perfect circularity: it enables the transformation of post-consumer plastic waste into high performance polymers able to replace virgin plastic. Our bio-based technologies for green chemistry can be integrated into existing plants to produce intermediates and biofuels from residual oils and fats. At NextChem, we have developed chemical recycling technologies that enable the production of circular gas, circular hydrogen, methanol and other valuable molecules from non-recyclable plastic or dry wastes. With the double benefit of circularity and CO2 reduction, without neglecting economic sustainability. In collaboration with ENI, we have a project for the refinery in Venice underway, aimed at producing Circular Hydrogen, extracted from the synthesis gas generated by the chemical conversion of waste such as Plasmix (the miscellaneous remnants of the separated recycling, that is difficult to recycle mechanically) and RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel). Again, with ENI, we are also carrying out the project for the Livorno refinery, where we will produce methanol using the same process. I believe that our Circular Hydrogen is an intermediate step towards a sustainable production of green hydrogen generated through electrolysis powered by renewable energy sources».

In a separate article in this issue of EVOLVE we will talk with Chairman Fabrizio Di Amato about the Circular District model developed by NextChem and presented to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the States-General of the Economy. What do you think about this project?

«It was an important testimony that the Chairman and Majority Shareholder of Maire Tecnimont, Di Amato, brought to the government table. Our idea of the Circular District includes patented and licensed technologies

in an integrated framework, with significant operational synergies and environmental benefits. It is an effective solution for brownfield industrial sites that need to be decarbonized or upgraded with a more environmentally sustainable footprint. But, also for energy-intensive and traditionally fossil industries, such as steel, glass, waste management and petrochemicals. We are very motivated by the fact that these technologies will provide innovative solutions to the waste problem, which is one of the most complex issues of this century».

Digitalization and smart working. How was the challenge experienced by managers, technicians and employees? Just another step towards organizational resilience?

«The entire company has responded with a great sense of responsibility towards itself and the stakeholders who are watching us carefully. I have repeatedly affirmed my pride in seeing that the Maire Tecnimont Group had already started to go upstream some time ago, training itself in spreading digital culture at all levels and operating in true smart working motivated by agile thinking. Our Group courageously thought about the solution before the problem became evident. Managing the digital development of a leading multinational company in hydrocarbon and green chemistry plant engineering is a complex and motivating endeavor. With more than nine thousand professionals located in over forty-five countries within fifty different companies, designing the future of tomorrow - with all its variables, sometimes even a “black swan” - is for us a task that would... make Taleb and many other geopolitical experts jealous».

Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, specifically urges that clean energy be at the heart of support plans to combat the coronavirus crisis. With the aim of creating a participatory approach, the research world must also be integrated into the drive towards the transition. How can collaboration with companies be strengthened?

«The position of the IEA’s top management is shared by a growing number of economists, experts and business representatives. This is also the goal of the recently formed European Alliance for a Green Recovery, connecting tens of opinion leaders, Institutions and CEOs from overall Europe, as it is the meaning of the recent Manifesto of the Italian Foundation for Sustainable Development (where we are among the Founders), and the message of the Symbola Foundation within its Climate Manifesto, that we also signed. On the innovation side, Maire Tecnimont has been working for a long time with universities and research centers to put technologies that allow for a sustainable transition into practice. Participating in European and national projects, also through open innovation platforms, allows us to intercept ideas and positive energy, of which we then test the applicability at pilot level and on an industrial scale. I believe that the time has come to share with the main decision makers - both institutional and corporate - an important plan for an industrial reconstruction that has a positive impact on the economy, society and the environment».

The headquarters of the Group is in Italy, although Maire Tecnimont is present in forty-five countries. What elements of national resilience can bring inspiration to offices scattered across five continents?

«As Italians we are showing all our propensity to find effective solutions when problems are articulated. We always try to draw new motivation from adverse circumstances. Other countries are very good at coming out of crises through more standard and routine, long-term paths. Over the years, working all over the world, we too have learned that it is not enough to be disciplined: Italian engineers represent an increasingly global excellence because they are disciplined and creative, they are “humanistic engineers”. Probably the extra “something” comes from the ability to draw on problem solving and our basic transversal culture: by trusting our intuition, perhaps more than others, we find alternative solutions that open the way, bringing flexibility and resilience to the system. The women and men of Maire Tecnimont, even before the Covid-19 crisis, have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to make the most of this professional cultural heritage. Now is the time not to be afraid to overcome the existing paradigm, creating the right mix between rational ideas and creative strokes of genius. I am thinking of Taleb, who used to say that resilience is built alongside anti-fragility: uncertainty is not only a source of danger from which to defend oneself, but an opportunity to seek benefits from volatility and disorder, and even from mistakes. I am sure that the bad experience of the pandemic will lead us to look at the future, of our businesses and of people in general, with different eyes. With the view of explorers who already imagine what’s on the other side of the sea they are navigating».

STORIES OF RESILIENCE

he pandemic tsunami arrived suddenly, disrupting the order of

Tbusiness priorities and working practices. Covid-19 forced all organizations to reshape their activities by focusing on concepts still unexplored in the working world, such as social distancing and lockdown. Some companies were better prepared: smart working, remote testing, advanced digital systems and intelligent work organization. These are the companies that, despite the pandemic, continued to tell stories of the goals achieved, reacting to difficulties with promptness, vision and sacrifice.

Obviously, a resilient organization is not created out of nothing, it requires the full trust of the employees towards the managers and vice versa, as well as towards the company itself. At the base of everyone’s motivation, for Maire Tecnimont, is the sharing of the objectives to be achieved and the provision of the best tools to do so. During the pandemic crisis and the restrictive measures that followed worldwide, we received confirmation not only of the motivation but also of the excellence of our people. All of them committed to reacting, transforming and reshaping their daily activities in order to continue their work, respecting deadlines for deliveries and inspections, even in the days of the lockdown when time seemed suspended. Women and men who, at whichever geographical latitude, through teamwork often at a distance, developed creative and innovative solutions to solve problems of various kinds. We are proud of this, but not surprised: we are well aware that the complexity of our work at Maire Tecnimont has long taught us that every day brings a new challenge. And overcoming it has made us and will continue to make us stronger. THE TESTIMONIES OF OUR EMPLOYEES DURING THE LOCKDOWN PERIOD HIGHLIGHT THE RESILIENCE ABILITY THAT HAS PREVENTED OUR PROJECTS TO STOP. HOW DID WE DO IT? HERE ARE SOME STORIES, AMONG THE DOZENS COLLECTED, THAT HAVE SEEN COLLEAGUES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD COMMIT THEMSELVES TO THEIR WORK DESPITE THE DIFFICULTIES.

Brave choices in remote areas

This is shown by a story set in Egypt: a very difficult choice that involved the team engaged in the project of the Kima Fertilizer Complex. «It is March 15 - say Pawan Gambhir (Project Manager) and Mauro Attuati Travostino (Site Manager) - when the Egyptian government announces the closure of the international airport and the suspension of flights, leaving us with two choices: return home to our families at such a complex time or stay and conduct the performance test scheduled for a few days later. Staying meant not knowing when we could return home. But leaving would have meant postponing the long-awaited test indefinitely, putting the plant and its activities at risk. After making a detailed analysis of the situation, in the end our team decided to stay on site

to complete the test on March 22. Self-motivation, commitment and resilience were what made the difference».

The same adaptability and courage convinced the team of the ZCINA GPL Train 4 Project to maintain the isolation of the camp where they work, located in a remote area of the Algerian desert. «To prevent any risk of contamination - explain Alfredo Montigliani (Project Manager) and Davide Roldo (Site Manager) - in addition to adopting the strict HSE guidelines of the Group, all the Friday trips that the staff would make to the nearest city were interrupted. In a nutshell, there was complete commitment to the project, without exceptions».

The importance of high performance and advanced technologies

Stories documenting how the investments and progress made in the technologies shared by the Group have been fundamental to completing complex activities during the health emergency. This is the case in the management of the remote walk around using Smart Helmet, narrated by Enrico Anzoino (Layout & Piping Manager): on that occasion the team members of the PDH Tobolsk project, in the Russian Federation, accompanied the customer to the plant virtually, managing to provide all the necessary technical suggestions.

An experience also shared by Claudio Cristofori, Process Control & Automation Manager: «I am happy to share the latest results on digital technologies and remote connections used during the Baytown Project in Texas. The Tecnimont Automation team planned to perform the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) of the control and security systems of the plant exclusively by remote, with an approach that would contain the overall cost of the project. As a result, we have been able to verify the remote system configuration, performing a complete system test, from the virtual loop check activities to the validation of the control strategy, through to the display-operator check. Following the approach of this remote test, the team has also developed new tools to share the test results internally among the parties involved (EPC contractor, End User, System Vendor) in real-time, allowing us to immediately observe the progress and corrections that need to be made to the system configuration».

Beyond the comfort zone

The difficulties also lead to this: finding the courage to improve and overcome their comfort zones, sometimes taking on new responsibilities. Stefano Scaramelli knows this well, working with Maire Tecnimont in the Amur Gas Processing Plant UI&O Project in remote Siberia. «Due to the travel restrictions imposed by Italy and the Russian Federation, our Site Project Director and the Construction Director are temporarily absent from the site. Therefore, in addition to maintaining my original position as Project Control Manager, I am now acting as Site Director at the head of a staff of 245 people. An experience that has pushed me to make many important decisions to ensure the safety and psychological well-being of our employees».

And precisely to ensure the psycho-physical well-being of workers, Gupta Gopal, communications specialist at Tecnimont India, explains the launch of a communication campaign aimed at employees working from home during the lockdown in India. «The objective is to keep everyone involved, healthy and productive. Our campaign contains a number of messages such as time management, positive attitude, meditation, exercise and even cooking, which can be done either with family members or alone. Our colleagues have received a daily online card with several ideas about the suggestion of the day».

The strength of solidarity

The messages of Tecnimont India’s communication campaign highlight a fundamentally valuable aspect of facing difficulties: the strength of relationships. Here is a story of solidarity, of friendship between two countries, whose title is a proverb: “The man who moves a mountain begins by taking away small stones”. The main characters are KT - Kinetics Technology, a Maire Tecnimont Group company, and China Chemical Engineering, chosen to play the role of Second Construction Company (CCESCC) as subcontractor of the Luanda refinery expansion project in Angola. From the very beginning of the collaboration, the Italian and Chinese teams have established a strong spirit of cooperation that not even the pandemic has been able to affect. China was the first country to face the Covid-19 epidemic, and in that period KT and CCESCC continued to work together to ensure the continuity of the project. Days when our team was always concerned about and interested in the health conditions of our Chinese colleagues. Then Covid-19 spread to Italy. What happened then? CCESCC helped us by sending 5,000 masks by surprise. A gesture of great generosity and solidarity from a country already hard hit by the pandemic.

The best words to close this journey, among the thousand forms that resilience has taken in Maire Tecnimont, are those of the Director of the BCEP project - Baytown (Texas USA), Carlo Bussi: «The people of Tecnimont and their families are strong and resilient. We know how to adapt to changing circumstances, becoming stronger together as we face the new challenges we encounter. We know how to face a Mission Impossible, all around the world: from Milan to Houston, Mumbai to Tampico».