By David Jenkins
Many asset managers face a daily contradiction in having to apply short-term thinking to long-term assets that will serve their communities for decades.
It is simply a function of the electoral, budgetary and funding cycles they have to live with, but most asset managers understand the frustrations of working at cross purposes.
In the best of all possible worlds, they could articulate a long-term perspective and execute a robust strategic vision and a clear plan.
Indeed, they need flexibility and agility in their plans, but the best results come from an overarching systems approach that encourages long-term thinking.
Planning for the whole, not just the parts, of infrastructure delivery puts people and outcomes at the centre, breaks down silos across sectors, and can help solve complex challenges such as climate resilience, urban growth, and mobility.
It is an approach that considers lifecycle management, takes a risk-based approach to asset failure and performance degradation, and refines practices to deliver continuous improvement.
Data also has a growing role, and harnessing technologies such as digital twins and connected devices informs decision-making and provides an actionable and more accurate condition assessment.
These are the factors that connect in the bigger picture, and viewing them through a long-term lens from the point of inception is the starting point for success.
Understanding demographic changes and the way communities change over time is critical for outcomes, yet the systems we operate in – particularly at a government level – are short-term by design.
Too often, decision-making prioritises the next shiny announcement over genuine and deep reform, and our system has few incentives for longer-term stewardship.
The reality is that until we align our political cycles with longer-dated infrastructure cycles, we will continue to patch potholes rather than build futures.
As one connection commented on my recent LinkedIn post on this subject, we are prioritising the management of “symptoms over systems.”
We’ve lost our long-term purpose, they said, and it’s time to bring it back.
Taking this further, addressing symptoms with shorter-term fixes might also create longer-term problems.
To get an asset back up and running, there is a risk that asset managers will reach for a solution that might work today but undermines climate outcomes and sustainability goals in the future.
Instead of focusing on the smaller picture and the immediate issue, a better approach is to take a wider perspective and seek a holistic approach that addresses the real problem.
While this might be clear to those working at the asset management coal face, doing this is easier said than done.
We need systems thinking more than ever, but the decision-making systems under which we operate often resist our ability to do so.
It is a dilemma that poses a significant challenge and asks the asset manager to take a more active leadership role not just in our organisations but also in the wider community, where we can engage and articulate a longer-term agenda.
This won’t always be easy when so much short-termism is built into the frameworks in which we operate, but it is incumbent on us to find our voices and become advocates as well as technical specialists.
This goes back to the need for storytelling, which I have touched on previously.
The modern asset manager is not just a technical professional, but needs to articulate why we need this systems approach and the benefits our communities will receive.
The profession uses its skills on a daily basis, and while our knowledge gives us an understanding of the impacts of our decisions, we need to strive, and even fight, for the implementation of a long-term review.
If we do that, we will deliver both for current and future generations, which will be a greater measure of our success.
