As the New Year started I wrote a handful of blogs about challenges faced by Project Managers and how we are better equipped than ever to face them now. However, after I asked, "How many PMs work in a tangibly different way in the New Year to how they did in the last? In my CIO.com blog 'The Project Manager roadmap for 2016', a worrying thought struck me...

1. 7 REASONS IT PROJECT MANAGERS MUST BE MORE INNOVATIVE
CREATED BY: DAVID COTGREAVE
As the New Year started I wrote a handful of blogs about
challenges faced by Project Managers and how we are
better equipped than ever to face them now.
However, after I asked, "How many PMs work in a
tangibly different way in the New Year to how they did
in the last? In my CIO.com blog 'The Project Manager
roadmap for 2016', a worrying thought struck me...
(http://www.cio.com/article/3020433/project-
management/the-project-manager-roadmap-for-
2016.html)
An IT project usually makes a difference to a business or
an organisation by introducing something new.
Now that 'something new' could be transformational and strategic in nature or it could be
something almost invisible to the casual observer but - whatever the size of change and the scope of
the project - something changes. Otherwise, what's the point, right?
Right.
This is why I've always thought of Project Managers as innovators. You are a pioneer who changes
the trajectory of a business, whether by a little or a lot, projecting it on toward a better, more
successful strategic outcome.
Here's my worry.
Quite often, the way we manage these innovations is based on outmoded project management
paradigms, methodologies and knowledge. We are so caught up delivering these innovative projects
that sometimes we forget to innovate ourselves.
We're not lazy - we're busy.
And that's OK, I suppose, I mean as long as you are delivering good results. However, could you be
getting great results with a new MO? Can we innovate while innovating?
I think we can ... in an age where just about every aspect of the Project Management process is
available as a Service ... innovation is literally at your fingertips.
And I think we must ... for the following seven reasons.
1 - I think that 2016 is going to be a more challenging year for businesses than any of us thought,
tumbling oil prices and see-saw financial markets are symptoms of instability, the Governor of the

2. Bank of England, Mark Carney ruling out an immediate rise in UK interest rates is the latest
economic litmus test to point to a weakening outlook.
From a Project Management perspective though this should not be seen as doom and gloom but as
a great opportunity to increase your profile within your organisation. You'll do this by further
aligning IT Projects with business strategy and delivering them in increasingly efficient and
innovative ways.
2 - Millennials and Generation Z are going to be the biggest consumers in most markets in the next 5
to 10 years. Will traditional thinking and project management methodologies be enough to reach
them?
Not just from a customer perspective either. You want to attract the best talent and if you get a
reputation for having a stale, stuffy working environment that may be harder to do.
For instance, one management motivational speaker I saw recently believes that face to face
meetings will be as archaic as fax machines within the next decade - How much of your Project
Management time is currently conducted in this way? Could you be more efficient working remotely
whilst still retaining control and visibility, for example?
3 - To Survive. Consider this. Pick a year and Google the Fortune 500 list from that year. Then do the
same for just ten years before and compare the names on the list. I just did it for 2010 and at first
glance, it looks like at least two out of five companies at the top of the list in 2000 were missing just
a decade later.
The ones that have survived are the ones that reacted to new players entering their market with
innovative thinking.
4 - To Thrive. In his blog "12 Amazing Facts Everyone Should Know About The Internet of Things"
Bernard Marr reflects on how in 2012 just 10% percent of cars were connected to the Internet. He
writes, "It’s estimated that 90% will be" by 2020.
Innovation is radically changing the way everyone interacts with IT and at a pace that is faster each
year - you will have to innovate just to keep up with your competition but extra markets will open up
to those who have to stomach to really push innovation. In such a culture, shouldn't your approach
to IT Project Management be just as innovative?
5 - Leaders like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Larry Page all had entrepreneurship and
innovation hard-wired into their DNA. They never let their teams rest on their laurels or their
company culture become too safe after huge success. Rather than become increasingly cautious and
reserved in their thinking they continued to push innovation and as result Apple, Amazon, Microsoft
and Google aren't doing half bad.
However successful you are don't fall victim to an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. Don't get
too comfortable.
7 - Finally - It's More Fun.

3. Innovation has been proven to inspire employees. You know it yourself, when you're working on
something exciting and new you are filled with a fresh and natural passion and purpose that often
just isn't there when you are working on the mundane day to day workload. What if you were to
approach the 'workaday' stuff with an innovative mind-set? The potential is huge!
In conclusion, innovation doesn't have to change the world. That small process or project delivery
innovation that has been rattling around in your head for ages may provide the incremental impetus
for growth that keeps your company in the game or even captures new market share.
There's a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein (he probably never said it - Mark Twain and
Benjamin Franklin also get credited with it). Anyway, whoever said it - it goes along the lines of "the
definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result."
As innovation drives IT in 2016, I think that insanity is now doing something over and over and
expecting to get even the same result.
Further details of how Stoneseed’s services can help can be found on our website:
www.stoneseed.co.uk
Sources:
Linked in pules by https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/12-amazing-facts-everyone-should-know-internet-things-bernard-marr