DOES PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUPPORT INNOVATION...OR STIFLE IT?

 By Hugh Woodward - July 24, 2007

The CEO’s at the P&G Alumni Global Reunion last March were clear about the role of innovation in their companies: it is pivotal. But that leads to an important question for project managers. Where does project management fit in this equation? Does it drive innovation? Or does the emphasis on repeatable and predictable processes tend to stifle it?

Project managers argue the emphasis on standard, repeatable processes facilitates the implementation of change, that project management is in fact the engine that propels innovation to its intended destination: new markets, and increased revenues and profits.

 A VIEW FROM THE CEO’S CHAIR…CANDIDLY SPEAKING

By Hugh Woodward - June 25, 2007

The CEO’s of large corporations generally share information with the public, and even with their employees, in carefully scripted pronouncements. Their speeches are written by corporate communications departments, reviewed by public relations experts, vetted by attorneys, and checked for accuracy by a host of staff members. Any speculation is carefully removed in favor of delivering a clear and unadulterated message for both the intended audience and others who may inadvertently hear it.

That is why the bi-annual P&G Alumni Global Reunion is such a refreshing event, bringing together CEO’s and senior managers from a large variety of successful corporations for candid discussions on the key issues affecting their organizations. The panel discussion format encourages anecdotes and stories, even admissions of failure, that provide a window into how CEO’s are thinking about the key issues affecting their companies, and what they see as priorities. The only restriction on attendance is that participants must at one time have worked for P&G, but that still leaves room for representation by much of the Fortune 500.