Sep 8, 2010
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Linchpin Project Management: Innovation Driven Authority
Part Four of Four
I’ll wrap up this series with a discussion of power.
Without authority a project manager is stuck. A project manager needs to exert some form of authority to implement changes and move the project forward. This authority can be formally granted in the organization or informally obtained and built up over time.
A linchpin needs to make a difference and exert influence over their individual realm. A linchpin project manager needs to exert influence over a process and other people. They may or may not formally have that power. If they don’t, an organization can unlock a wave of innovation by empowering project managers to make changes. Giving project managers formal authority.
But sometimes, a project manager needs to build up their own authority. Somehow. There are many different ways of gaining authority and many different kinds of power or influence that you can wield. This article focuses on the kind of authority a linchpin project manager can gain: innovation driven authority. Authority you build up by being innovative, creative and delivering results.
INNOVATION DRIVEN AUTHORITY
A linchpin takes advantage of those things they have control over, and makes a difference in that realm.
They may realize they have authority over something small (what some may consider small). But it is specifically in this realm that they can affect change by starting and finishing something that is unique. By doing their part differently, they can invest themselves in the project and make it remarkable.
They may have a different read on what the customer wants or a different feel for how the customer wants to be treated. Then, through their own internal strength and belief that its ok to be different, they let that approach influence how they run the project -and how they ask others to work on the project. Of course, this is not without risk. Their approach might be “wrong.” They could be heading for disaster.
But a linchpin project manager combines the willingness to take risks with formal project management skills. This includes having a system in place to monitor projects, see when they’re going off track and do course corrections (or kill the project if need be). It includes identifying and managing risk. It means knowing how to report progress to other people in the organization, your clients, so they can have an accurate read on what to expect.
The project might fail. But a linchpin project manager will have distinguished themselves by trying to make a difference, of being more than just a competent project manager. By being an innovator.
By building a track record of trying to do the remarkable, a linchpin project manager can build up their reputation and their authority. This is authority based on results and creativity. Innovation driven authority.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS A SOURCE OF THE REMARKABLE
Throughout the series we’ve talked about structural changes you can make in your organization to foster linchpin project management. This article talked about giving people the authority to make changes or how to gain authority through innovation. This is no small challenge and one that even the largest companies are grappling with (see The End of Management from the Wall Street Journal). One thing is certain, someone who is inspired to be a linchpin has a tremendous amount of creative energy waiting to be used. If you don’t give them the room to use that energy, to exercise their abilities, they will push for the authority to do so. And if, after pushing and pushing, they still can’t get it, they will likely try to take those energies elsewhere (or, you’ll kill that energy and lose a valuable asset). By not creating a culture of linchpin project management you could be fostering your next competitor right in your own shop. At the very least, by keeping creativity chained up, you’ll dull that source of creativity in exchange for the average and known.
By definition, a project manager is someone who ACTIVELY applies the tools, techniques, knowledge and skills of project management to help projects achieve their requirements. The most important word here is “actively.” A project manager, in the best scenario, is an active participant in achieving results. What’s more, a great project manager really is that linchpin who is particularly focused on delivering the remarkable.
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