Innovation Project Management, 2nd Edition

Innovation Tools and Processes

• Learning Objectives for Project Managers and Innovation Personnel
• To understand the characteristics of the innovation environment and how they differ from a traditional project management environment
• To understand that there will be new tools that project managers and innovation personnel must use in an innovation environment
• To understand that the organizational reward system may influence team members to work differently on innovation projects

INTRODUCTION

“Problem-insight precedes solution insight. Someone has to recognise a problem before they start to solve the problem.”

— Max Mckeown, The Innovation Book: How to Manage Ideas and Execution for Outstanding Results

For innovation to take place on a repetitive basis, there must be an environment that fosters creativity and free thinking. Environments that focus on rigid policies and procedures generally have one and only one approach to managing projects and tend to reward people for obeying the requirements of the methodology. Innovation is often limited, and good ideas may never make it to the surface for examination.

The situation gets worse if senior management dwells on past successes and cannot envision the future. While governance of innovation is a necessity, it cannot be the same as governance of the day-to-day operations. Executives must understand that innovation leadership ...