I was reminded of this again recently as I joined a panel of experts to do the work of evaluating applications for an industry association award. It’s frequently very challenging work, which calls for a clear perspective, collaboration with a wide range of subject matter experts and a rapid building of shared insights around the market. The best evaluation teams have a cooperative cross-section of technology, operations and distribution leaders.
Having been in the role of creating these applications earlier in my career, and now having reviewed dozens of them, it is striking how much this process mirrors the project selection process in many firms.
As project leaders, we do our best to create relevant proposals that we believe are aligned with the best interests of our customers, our firms and our functions. Then we submit it to an evaluation process that sorts out those that will get funding and move forward and those that are put in the queue for another year.
Those who review those applications work very hard to give them an objective review. How do we separate the real breakthroughs from the bright shiny objects? Is it new, unique and differentiated? Is it defined by the competition or the real needs of a client? Is it a project that’s still on the journey and always will be? Or is it truly the breakthrough?
Yet somehow, when we consider only the technology, it’s not enough. Technology in a vacuum is only an abstraction until it’s connected to a firm by people and process.
Early stage projects are very vulnerable things. More than an idea, and not quite a fully-funded project, they are a compelling story, with some evidence of promise and a world of resistance in front of them. The distance between a good proof of concept and a built-out business model is like a good amateur golfer and a pro. One has great variability, the other has done 10,000 hours of work to have consistent, reliable performance day in and day out.
Then there are the mid-stage projects. Having had some success, they still have an arduous path in front of them. They need to fight their way through to get continued funding, get picked up by a business product group, find a niche in the market, be supported by a sales force, find a credible supply chain – and all the while seeking product-market fit. This is all happening while also balancing the right amount of internal visibility. One leader has described holding the team together as putting them in a car with very tinted windows so they can only hear your voice and see out the front of the car toward the road ahead.
This untold journey within the firm is about very human decision making and relationships.
This journey can seem opaque and unmanageable, yet having had the privilege of engaging and advising dozens of leaders on this path, a pattern appears. Even the most complex matrixed firm settles into a process and a “culture” of insight development and creation that functions as an unwritten meta-process in most firms. This “truth” lies outside of the standard product development process, yet known to those who have the courage to take a path off the usual trail. In many firms, this is like walking a high stakes path with unknown hazards that you discover step by step.
My work with these leaders who answer the call to lead the firm to new and emerging growth has led to a body of work that we call “The Complete Growth Leader.” In this program, we share the four fundamental capacities that a leader in this space needs to cultivate to successfully shoot the rapids of resistance, and provide concrete strategic insight around the twelve underlying competencies needed to build the muscle in those capacities that need to be strengthened. We start the program with an evaluation of the participant’s key strengths and potential blind spots. Most leaders who begin the program are very strong in one of two of the four areas. By laying stronger foundations in their “shadow” areas, we see stronger, more consistent results.
While we all enjoy a great technology story, at the end of the day, it’s really all about the human relationships. If you’d like to strengthen your personal or your team’s skills in developing powerful mid-project skills I would suggest a couple of actions. First, you can subscribe to this blog by using the orange box on the upper right. I also offer a no-strings-attached, 20-minute conversation where we get right into it. Please either use this link to set up a time or give me a call at 847-651-1014.
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