This week I’m loving
This great little article that perfectly captures one of the key drawbacks of all the AI hype, the breakdown of innovation engines - namely, teams with tension.
Incidentally, you know what is also important as a generalist? Even though we may have talent at many things, it is important that we not have accountability for everything. Ensuring that we distribute accountability in the teams we manage as generalist PMs is a great opportunity to be sure that top quality decisions are made with the best possible ideas and innovations crossing the finish line.
What do you think?
From the Practice
There’s been a lot of hype about project management and AI lately, but one thing I haven’t seen often is an explanation of what your new role looks like in this new future. This week’s From the Practice highlights an article by Aadil Maan that does a great job of forecasting this for technical project managers.
What is your key role going forward? Orchestrator
I prefer the analogy here from music: in music an orchestrator takes a musical composition and distributes the specific parts to various instruments in an orchestra. But orchestration won’t just be limited to managing humans on a team.
…the future TPM won’t just be managing a team of people but rather they’ll be managing a mesh of tools, agents, and workflows that execute work semi-independently.
Instead the secret sauce that you bring will be:
Understanding and navigating ambiguity
Designing workflows and systems to deliver value
Reading the non-verbal signals from the team
Balancing what should be done through automation with what needs to be done by a human - and making that call.
What does this mean for your toolbelt?
Brush up on the automations available to your project context
Understand how to optimize the interface between humans and machines
And for generalist PMs, the future is ours because we offer essential skills that are perfectly aligned with this new world:
Intuition
The ability to simplify the complex to communicate it clearly
Systems-level thinking about delivery systems
A love of creative experimentation
An interesting read
I don’t know about you, but as a project manager, I find that more and more I spend time on marketing. Perhaps this is just a facet of working at newer companies, but it might also be a sign of the times. This week’s article from McKinsey shares some really great insights about what might be causing my perceived increase in time spent on marketing. If you are feeling this way as well, it might be a great read for you.
Realization #1:
It’s not easy to find C-suite alignment, and that means it’s not always clear who is accountable for the customer.
What this means for project managers is that a hidden stakeholder you may need to uncover for your project success is which C-suite element is your customer champion. Why do you need to know this? Because your project is about delivering value, and in order to understand that outcome, you need to know your customer.
…companies with a single customer- or growth-oriented role in an executive committee (such as a CMO, chief commercial officer, chief revenue officer, or chief growth officer) see up to 2.3 times more growth than those with multiple roles.
Realization #2:
…the disconnect between marketing and other parts of the business is growing wider.
What this means for project managers is you need to ensure that you know the connection of your project to strategy and that you communicate this in your interactions with marketing. You need to select metrics to measure marketing success that make sense from a business perspective.
How important is marketing to the success of your project?
More than 80 percent of consumers use multiple channels for product research or purchase. And B2B buyers now use ten points of interaction during a typical sales journey, compared with only five back in 2016.
A tip
Fostering team success while facing some adversity on a project? Wondering what works? I think it is this:
Image credit: Wisdom Made Easy
Inventory the team’s capabilities. Match them to the tasks and problem at hand. Get creative with where people can close the gaps by pushing a little beyond their comfort zone.
A lesson
This week’s lesson comes from a beautiful reminder from Milani creative:
Image credit: Pejman Milani
Here are the beautiful words that accompanied this image:
The thing about circles is...
You don't always know you're in one.
You row hard, make waves.
Staying in motion, but repeating the same patterns.
Testing if you’re in a circle is simple:
When did you last feel uncomfortable?
Because comfort and growth rarely share the same boat.
Maybe today's the day to point somewhere new.
Even if you have to row alone for a bit.
Because if nothing changes...
Why does this matter for project managers?
Often we are taught that when things are going well they will feel predictable, they will follow the pattern we have designed and planned.
But what if the pattern is just rowing hard in the wrong direction?
This is where keeping your eye on “value” manages risk. Ask yourself, are you rowing towards the value you are meant to deliver?