Project Managers, Globalization and Innovation
I had an opportunity to network with Executives and Managers from Southern Ontario prior to my dinner presentation to the PMI chapter members. As we sat down for dinner, the topic at our table shifted to the books we had read recently. Before I volunteered my favorite book, Thomas, an IT manager sitting beside me asked if we had read the “World is Flat,” authored by his namesake, the New York Times columnist. At he began to describe his opinion of the book, the anecdotes and illustrations, the discussion became really animated.
I was tempted to pitch-in with my two cents…talk about the implications for hi-tech professionals and managers, about my review on Amazon, but decided to reserve my viewpoints – and energy -- for my after-dinner presentation. And thanks to Thomas… and Friedman, I got a good segway to introduce the topic.
My talk to the audience, wasn’t about Friedman’s book or even "flattening" but about the implications of offshoring and the tools and techniques available to IT managers as they embark on the sourcing journey. In the audience, there were lot more managers from the “buy side" than from the vendor side. The questions were around the cultural dynamics, communication and managing across geographic boundaries.
One gentleman was curious about how “innovation" could be offshored. We started debating on the “processes" involved in innovation and how most of it is an evolutionary process-of-improvement rather than a revolutionary “eureka" moment. The research that leads to innovations in processes and adopting new tools and techniques involves scanning the landscape analysing published research, benchmarking other best-practices …. Activities that can be done in the “background." And if it can be done in the background, can be done offshore; right? (More about my views in a whitepaper I am currently co-authoring).
Interestingly, bloggers have started posting viewpoints around globalization of innovation. For instance, Arun makes an argument in his blog talking about “Indian Style of Innovation and Intellectual Property Creation". Of course, R&D globalization strategy of tech leaders Google and Microsoft's are also being closely observed.
What are the implications of globalization and flattening on Project Managers? Steven Rollins succinctly summarizes it in his article on PM Forum, stating:
“The project management profession has been well documented in its cost-benefit value to innovation initiatives. It has been learned that standardization of rigor and discipline can result in less risk, less time of effort, more speed, and can improve the "flatness" of "getting it done." The PMI® Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) has become the standard against which we all measure project management value."
Comments
Innovation comes naturally most of the times upon full understanding of the problem or the job undertaken and the way forward. If these two are possible from offshore then innovation is also possible at offshore.
Posted by: Radhika | July 16, 2007 11:06 AM