AECOM Thought Leadership: Taking Risks on our “Pioneering Journey of Sustainability”
By: Gary Lawrence
Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at AECOM
In my last article, I posed the question as to whether the pursuit of truth is even relevant anymore. We have to make difficult decisions today that will shape the future for generations to come. Is the pursuit of truth in the belief that we can actually know the future getting in the way of the decision-making process and preventing us from making progress in solving critical problems?
I left this question unanswered for a very good reason: I don’t have an answer. I was hoping that one of you may have some thoughts on the matter – and I was not disappointed. Reader Cynthia Silverthorn commented, making the excellent observation that individual and corporate motivation may be the key to unlocking change. She observed that we have become accustomed to fully assessing and understanding risk before committing to any action. In this regard, it may be that our huge progress in science has done us a disservice. We have become so good at modeling, assessing, evaluating and documenting risk that when the data is not conclusive, or runs too broad a gamut of scenarios, we become paralyzed, unable to act. We have become too comfortable, too secure in our own knowledge – but the game has changed.
About AECOM
AECOM is a premier, fully integrated professional and technical services firm positioned to design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets around the world for public- and private-sector clients. With nearly 100,000 employees — including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management and construction services professionals — serving clients in over 150 countries around the world, AECOM is ranked as the #1 engineering design firm by revenue in Engineering News-Record magazine’s annual industry rankings, and has been recognized by Fortune magazine as a World’s Most Admired Company. The firm is a leader in all of the key markets that it serves, including transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, oil and gas, water, high-rise buildings and government. AECOM provides a blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation and technical excellence in delivering customized and creative solutions that meet the needs of clients’ projects. A Fortune 500 firm, AECOM companies, including URS Corporation and Hunt Construction Group, had revenue of approximately $19 billion during the 12 months ended March 31, 2015. More information on AECOM and its services can be found at www.aecom.com.
Media Contact:
Ed Mayer
Vice President, Corporate Communications
+1.732.564.3380
Ed.Mayer@aecom.com
