Take for example the Corning corporation who launched Pyrex glass cookware in 1915 in the US.  The history of the “Pyrex” invention actually dials back decades earlier when Otto Schott in Germany in the late 19th century invented the highly durable glass for commercial applications under the “Duran” brand.  Yet the commercial worldwide success of Pyrex only materialized when the technology found its way to a much larger audience in kitchens across the world in the 1930s and 1940s.

The “Pyrex” scenario us not an anomaly.  In fact not too long ago with the introduction of Apple’s iPhone in 2006, Steve Job’s help revive one of Corning’s technological innovations that was dormant for over 40 years.  Back in the 1960s Corning launched “Project Muscle” to develop a highly resistant glass to market to auto manufacturers to introduce a better windshield to the marketplace.  Due to its cost structure the project failed and the technology was shelved.  Fast forward to 2006 when Steve Jobs was searching for a better screen that was scratch resistant for his iPhone.  Aware of Corning’s innovation in glass technology, Jobs approached Corning’s CEO Wendell Weeks who suggested the 1960s technology branded “Gorilla Glass” turning an old technology into a $160 million business.

Whether its Pyrex, Gorilla Glass or any revolutionary innovation, NPD projects teach us that it is society who sets the pace for change and market acceptance in new product development.   That being said, truly innovative projects will ultimately experience success only when the time is right.

Like any great invention, its people who make them great from the time they are conceived until they are brought to the masses for consumption.  Successful new product development projects are more than building the best widget possible.   They are about building the best widget possible with the purpose of consumption and commercial success.  With that being the case, let us look at the introduction of the steamboat in the United States as a classic example of NPD project success that proves that stakeholder management can play a critical role in a new product’s acceptance by the marketplace.

Here are the facts concerning the introduction of the steamboat in the United States:

Vision

In the 1770s John Fitch moved to Philadelphia and commissioned a clock maker to help build the first steam engine in the United States for commercial use.  Based on British and Scottish designs Fitch built the first steam powered boat that would take passengers between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey.  By 1791 he assembled investors and acquired a patent to equip him for commercial success.

As the lead project manager and inventor of the first U.S. steamboat, Fitch was an excellent visionary in re-creating successful technology already in Europe for the new world.  With the industrial revolution  in full force and the modern economy still in its infancy, John Fitch was forward thinking and capitalized on this new technology by employing his practical skills in watch making and making the steamboat a reality despite the restrictions colonies inherited in importing new technologies to the new world.

Execution

Although Fitch recognized the commercial opportunity in steamboat transportation and obtained the patent rights to manufacture and secured the traffic rights of steamboats for a 14 year monopoly in the Pennsylvania region, he failed in securing the necessary support for commercial success.  In fact, his patents were not longstanding and a number of other inventors received similar patents leading to the loss in confidence in his stakeholders (investors) and ultimately the demise of his business.

From an execution perspective, the steamboat project was successfully engineered by Fitch, but had failed in being forward thinking commercially.  Unfortunately, Fitch was unable to align himself with the right people and eventually loss traction when Robert Fulton appeared 20 years later with the same idea but with the right backing to ensure commercial success and gain historical recognition as the “Father of the Steamboat” in the United States.

Outcome

The introduction of the steamboat to the U.S. traded many hands in the latter years of the 1700s. In the final analysis, most people associate Robert Fulton to its popularization and some cases as the inventor for North America. The fact was, Fulton as an individual was way above and beyond his contemporaries when it came securing the best support for his project.  Prior to introducing his venture in the U.S., he had made the right connections by partnering with the influential Robert Livingston who was the U.S. Ambassador to France.

The final successful outcome of Robert Fulton goes beyond the invention of the steamboat itself and has more to do with the fact that he leveraged the right people, namely Livingston, who ensured he got full patent rights in New York State, and later the U.S., as well exclusive traffic rights which guaranteed his success.  It was evident that the steamboat’s success under Fulton had everything to do with stakeholder management and very little to do with product development.   He proved that first market advantage was only as good as the people who drive the project’s success.

Fun Fact – Did you know that Robert Fulton eventually married Robert Livington’s niece Harriet and was commissioned by Napoleon to build the first submarine (Nautilus) for France?

The truth is, more often than not, project management practitioners can get easily distracted or in many cases get sucked into the project activities vortex where they can lose focus on the big picture of keeping the plan on track.  Successful project managers are excellent at being “Masters of Delegation.” They understand that it is critical to get the best people focusing on the most valuable activities and applying Pareto’s Principle where the focus is directed to executing on the top 20% of activities that will typically deliver 80% of the total value to the project.

Although many project managers can get overwhelmed by the piles of paperwork they are confronted with on a daily basis, the Tsunami of emails that are sitting in their inbox and general information overload,  successful project managers know how to filter through the noise and deliver results when it counts.  With a lot of discipline, as proven by Facebook’s COO who consistently delivers results at the top of her industry in a 9 to 5 window, this skill of “Working Smarter” is the most effective approach to delivering superior results without wasting unproductive time on low value activities.

As an example, “Over the next 5 years, approximately 45% of engineers in the electric utilities industry will be leaving the workforce, creating a void of 7,000 power engineers.”  It is evident that a “Brain Drain” is on the horizon, especially for those with specialized skills and expertise.  Nonetheless, project management practitioners will face the same predicament.  To complicate matters more, seasoned project managers will exit their careers with little trace of their expertise and knowledge captured by the organizations they served.  As this is the case, fighting the “Brain Drain” in the project management world is more than just a “replacement” market for experienced professionals.

For the project management community there needs to be strategy in place to capture and transfer experiences, knowledge and best practices for its future leadership.  Luckily, as the workforce shrinks, technology continues to grow providing the tools and the infrastructure to efficiently capture strategic information potentially accessible to the entire workforce whenever needed.  The fact is, there is no better time to be an information worker than the present where knowledge capture is made easy and the sharing and transfer of that knowledge has become commonplace in our personal and professional lives.  Perhaps the “Brain Drain” is not that scary if we nip it in the bud and start leveraging the ubiquitous technologies already available at our fingertips.

As social media permeates all our lives, in our first ever Genius Inside User Summit held in Geneva a couple of weeks back we received interesting feedback concerning the reveal of our upcoming social collaboration platform “Genius Live” that confirmed that the definition of social media takes on a very different meaning when applied to the business and project management world (in opposition to that of my son’s world).  Where in the typical world social media is about connectivity, for businesses social media is better applied as an extension to a collaboration strategy that enhances the communication among the existing workforce and stakeholders.  It was excellent to see the Genius Inside community get together and for us to reveal some truly exciting launches that we believe will transform the way project management practitioners and their teams will collaborate in the future.  With a heavy focus on usability and collaboration, this year’s summit revealed more flexibility in configuring reports and the launch of “Genius Live” which incorporates social media tools (such as a personal “Wall” for users) taking project collaboration to the next level.

Although better collaboration is always top of mind for our community, when we surveyed our customers at the User Summit the results were interesting.   While 60% of respondents indicated that they would likely take advantage of our new social collaboration platform “Genius Live,” 70% of that same group indicated that approval workflows play an important role in their PPM strategy.  Although these results can be interpreted in many ways, it is evident to me that social collaboration capabilities are compelling, but only if these tools are in line with our customers’ existing approval workflows and business processes.  That being said, it can be derived that project management environments are open to new ways of interacting with project information as long as it’s in a controlled environment that resides within their own business context.

Whether it is via Smart phones or a Tablet PCs, “virtual” interactions have become an integral part of sharing and delivering messages among different groups of people with similar interests.  Facebook and its 875,000,000 members is a testament of how the world’s diverse communities has evolved into a global network all connected through the worldwide web.  The internet has become more than just a place to access information.  For many, the internet has become a one stop shop to socialize, network, shop and conduct business.  It’s no wonder that Zuckerberg’s Facebook is projected to reach a valuation somewhere between $75-$100 billion making the 27 year old’s fortune hitting potentially $26 billion (plus or minus a billion!).

As it is clear that workforce habits are changing, the project management community must evolve as well when it comes to delivering successful projects to stakeholders.  Probably more than any other work group, information workers (in which project teams and practitioners fall within) heavily rely on their productivity and collaboration tools to successfully communicate, monitor and deliver project goals and activities.  Furthermore, the increase in the mobility and access of project information coupled with social media tools will result in more demanding project team members and stakeholders expecting more relevancy and transparency in the information they share.

In the final analysis, project success has gone beyond the discipline of tracking budgets, time and specifications.  Today successful project management environments require collaboration strategies that will differentiate them as leaders from those trying to keeping up with the evolving information worker

This story leads me to think that monitoring project costs is more than a reactive activity where the project manager keeps track of the allocated budget.  Monitoring project costs needs to be a proactive activity where all the potential costs incurred throughout the life cycle of your project are tracked to maximize profitability and margins wherever possible.  As an example, in most projects the biggest asset is your people.  Lost time incurred by your people on projects can mean significant lost in revenue, profitability and margins.   If your resources time are not effectively monitored, it increases your project risk in loss revenue and margins.  Lost time typically means your resources additional effort on activities will not only increase the overall cost of the project, but also impact the opportunity cost potentially missed by your resources working on on other value-add and/or revenue generating activities.

In the real world, projects will shift based on unpredictable changes.  These changes which are intimately linked to costs need to be carefully monitored.  The reality is, what is planned rarely mirrors the actual costs and time invested in a project.  After all, taking on a project needs to be a business decision that will positively impact an organization’s Return on Investment (ROI).

This year’s mystery celebrity guest speaker Michael J. Fox was a great example of how we live in an age where the lines between personal and business applications are blurred.  As Michael J. Fox told his story battling Parkinson’s disease, social media and the web were described as avenues where he could personally connect to a support community, while at the same time leverage the same tools to build awareness and funding to find a cure to this debilitating disease.  Again, a great example of how social media tools are being used in both a personal and business context.

At this year’s Lotusphere event, IBM has recognized that today’s information worker (or in our world, AKA the project management practitioner) does not leave his or her “work” at the office.   Consequently, the Lotus Notes and Domino platform’s survival will depend on adapting to this new reality by facilitating an easy extension of its powerful collaboration platform.  IBM was clear to emphasize its most current capabilities delivered through IBM Connections provides the ability to easily transform your Lotus Notes applications into social, cloud and mobile platforms that will secure its place in the future of businesses.

With Lotusphere 2012 just around the corner, it will be great to escape the Montreal weather and enjoy this year’s Orlando event piggy backing on last year’s social media theme with a focus on “Social Business.”    As collaboration platforms proliferate the enterprise world, social media tools are slowly gaining traction to further optimize the ability to share and analyze the increasingly information-heavy business environments we work in.  Being social in the business world, does not mean being distracted by non-business activities.  “Being Social” in a business context means leveraging the best tools to capture and share the most relevant information that will impact the overall performance of the business.  With so much available information at a company’s finger tips, the goal of implementing social business practices is to eradicate the analysis paralysis and confusion that is a result of too much information.

Recently Forrester Research released a report that said that “Organizations will increase their spending on enterprise social collaboration software at a compound annual growth rate of 61 percent through 2016, a year in which the market for these products will reach US$6.4 billion, compared with $600 million last year.”  Although only small percentage of employees actually leverage social media tools in their work, on a regular basis we at Genius Inside are approached by businesses that are seeking a better way to manage their project information in a more relevant and meaningful way (as their hard drives pile up with more and more data to sift through and analyze).  It is coming to a point for many information driven businesses where their information strategy cannot be solved by one solution or tool alone, but requires a holistic approach that carefully weaves together social media, collaboration, unified communications, and business intelligence to deliver the most effective strategy for workers and their employers to access the most relevant information without hurting the overall objectives of their organization.

With that being said, I am interested in what IBM has to say concerning Social Business at this year’s Lotusphere extravaganza.  In my opinion, IBM tends to take a more conservative view on the application of new technologies which tends to be a more realistic view of how enterprises will respond and incorporate these strategies and tools into their own businesses.

Top 10 Signs your Project is Doomed to Fail

1.    When your project requirements are written on a used napkin
2.    When the project manager is spotted consulting a Ouija board
3.    When fire fighters are brought in to assist the project leadership team
4.    When you are given an Allen key and a bus ticket to head over to the customer site
5.    When you see your  project manager desperately searching the waiting area’s sofa for loose change before the next budget review meeting
6.    When you pass by your manager’s office and  you notice on his or her wall a Gantt Chart of the project plan tacked on to a dart board
7.    When post-it notes start impeding your ability to read your emails
8.    When your project manager hires a life guard to manage the resource pool
9.    When the project collaboration strategy includes soup cans and strings
10.  When you are NOT using a Genius to help with your projects

As we enter 2012, once again Project Management practitioners will undoubtedly face obstacles in the New Year.  The reality is failure is an occupational hazard.  On behalf of the Genius Inside team I would like to extend our best wishes and much success in 2012 to the entire project management community.