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INSIRPATIONAL INNOVATORS and Gantt charts rarely mix. People deliver great projects; tools don’t.

Project management processes, be it Prince2, APMP, PMI or another, give more assurance of safe delivery, but therein lies a hidden risk.  Creative ideas, and the risk taking and freedom needed for true innovation, can be stifled by the controlling framework and mindset.  This is not easy to deal with. We need creativity and we need control.

Some ‘fully-badged’ project practitioners argue that the process isn’t the problem; it’s how you use it.  We recommend you be wary of this defence.  The conditions for innovation are not about process: put people with the right talent in the right environment, giving them a clear target, and freedom to succeed (and to fail), and innovation will germinate.

Obsession with the management science of process has made left-brained thinking dominant in today’s organisations, and yet the right brain is by far the more powerful muscle when it comes to innovation.  Not only does it create richer insights and more elegant solutions, but also this environment is what truly motivates our scientists, designers and architects.  It is painful to see how we often dismiss the arguments of these people. Apparently, they do not ‘get project management’!  Humbug.  In reality we can have the best of both worlds – creativity and control – if we clearly distinguish stages of the project.  By setting up the ‘early stage’ project environment to be creative, while maintaining strong control downstream, we can encourage innovation to flourish.

How do we achieve this ?

Here's a few pointers:

• Fail fast, fail early. Allow or even encourage failure. Generate many ideas and be tough on the losers; on the opportunities that is, not on the people.
• Make it easier to start projects, but only commit to the concept stage. Make it harder to enter the full development stages. This creates a concept stage with freedom for exploration but with tough exit criteria.
• Change the planning approach from task/scheduling focus to milestone/outcome focus.  Keep the targets clear, but don't prescribe the detail.
• Dilute team roles, be prepared to let go of daily project manager control, allowing innovators to follow their instincts in how they pursue opportunities with maximum ownership.
• Keep teams small, with a blend of technical and market/customer capability. Ensure that early teams include people with courage and innovative passion (no need to call them a maverick, as if they were some unmanageable genius).

The future winners in the Western world will not get there by efficiency and control. As we leave the recession it would be a good time to take a hard look at the detailed methodologies the project management world has been prescribing. And take confidence that the antidote, when it comes to innovation, is likely not to be as complicated!