PMcrunch

Should projects be business-driven or technology-driven? This question was asked in a post on gantthead. This is an age-old problem. I don’t think it will ever go away, but we can try! I do not think that CIOs are necessarily ignorant of business needs any more than I have faith that CXOs are able to clearly envision new business paradigms driven by emerging technologies.

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There are bosses and managers, heads and supervisors. But the true top man yields the sharpest, most brilliant sword of leadership with outstanding skill and wisdom and approaches even the most minor project as if at war. On the corporate battlefront, the needed leadership skill for a project manager is akin to the required capabilities to be a general leading a battle.

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Innovation is more about soft skills than anything else. This may be a surprising conclusion to many. We all have innovation within - and the challenge is finding ways to unlock it and let it soar!

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I read a pretty comprehensive article on gantthead about leadership, it it raised a lot of issues – directly and indirectly. The article did not seem to address whether leaders can be made, or are they just born. The reality, in my opinion, is in between. I think everyone can become a leader in some way, but people cannot readily be leaders in every situation. People have natural tendencies and natural characteristics, and they need to play on them. As such, we can adapt to situations, but there are some situations in which an individual will thrive, while there are others where they will not. As such, a person may have natural leadership ability in some venues, but absolutely none in others. For example, a union leader demonstrates leadership ability within the union setting, but may be totally out of place in a corporate setting, where a different type of leadership is needed.

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Many companies – especially smaller, less formal ones – practice “project portfolio analysis” but do not necessarily call it that. In some cases they might call it program management, if the set of projects they are reviewing are geared to support some sort of focused program.

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There would seem to be a mismatch between these two approaches – but then again, maybe not. It depends, I think, on how it is handled from a management perspective, and it could be a great experiment! It seems that the answer could lie in the Work Breakdown Structure.

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Outsourcing is an interesting challenge going forward as the world “becomes smaller”. As long as borders are relatively open - something that is likely given the opportunities, and given the downside of not doing it – outsourcing activity will continue to grow.

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Certification is worthwhile, and individuals must make the choice on what subjects to spend their time. While many situations do not require it, ‘mobile’ employees and contractors that move from position to position, as well as internal employees who want to advance, will be benefit the most from certification. If nothing else, it gives confidence and indicates a high level of motivation – not bad things to have!

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Outsourcing is a sensitive topic that presses some hot buttons and brings out some emotions. I have seen lots of forum posts on the topic of outsourcing, and find it especially interesting that forum or blog posts often have more comments than any other topic! Obviously, it is gaining a lot of attention and generating a lot of interest. Just like hiring an employee, outsourcing requires attention.

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Globalization and outsourcing represent a strategic advantage for countries that are best prepared with skillsets to manage the above risks. Culturally, the US has been more insular on this count - probably because of a strong domestic market and economy over time. A business case must be examined through various colored glasses in order to assess risk over time!

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