Your projects are your future: training your skills and competencies to achieve the Next Best You

Projects are rapidly becoming an essential part of any organization’s business processes. A recent prediction shows that by 2025, senior leaders and managers will spend at least 60% of their time selecting, prioritizing and overseeing the execution of projects. In fact, most successful companies are managing their innovation strategies as projects.

Lee Newman, dean of IE Business School and Antonio Nieto-Rodríguez, world champion in project management, discuss the new project economy and the skills required to transform and thrive in today’s fast-paced world of work.

FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL

Planning is imperative in order to achieve goals, and project management provides the tools and mindset needed to simplify the process of project execution and delivery, increasing thus the likelihood of success. As the world of work continues to shift, the way in which we work is shifting, too. Antonio calls this the project economy: “The current and future type of work is moving from an operational style to a project-based style. We’re moving from a model that has been there for 100 years to a model focused on projects and change. I call it moving from a world driven by efficiency to a world driven by change.”

At IE Business School, your future is our focus. And as the world is driven by change, our goal is to help you navigate these roads and serve as your guide in your journey toward the next best you. We combine upskilling with the tools to make an impact. We help you use your skills to make a difference and fulfill a greater purpose.

To that end, we place impact skills at the core of your training. These are the skills necessary to make things happen, the core skills you use every day. And as we are witnessing a shift to more project-based work, we consider project management an impact skill. Lee explains, “The idea that you have your hard skills that are job specific, but people also need to have the skills to make things happen at work, whether that’s selling or problem-solving.”

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE PROJECT ECONOMY

Antonio designed the school’s Strategic Project Leadership program to help participants gain this impact skill and understand projects as a concept in their personal and professional lives. Throughout his professional path, he continuously questioned why business schools weren’t embracing change and teaching project management. “Even in our personal lives we do projects. You cannot achieve anything without the project that goes with the purpose.”

As a widely respected thought leader in the field, Antonio served as head of the Project Management Institute in 2016, where his focus was on project performance. Attempting to understand why 60% to 70% of projects fail, he began to see that projects were being approached incorrectly. “You have to be ready to invest the time to learn what this project will look like, what the key milestones are, what you want to achieve and what team you need to do it. You need to have the basic understanding, the foundation and the fundamentals to make your project—which includes better planning—successful.”

This realization transferred to the Strategic Project Leadership program. Antonio says, “We’re moving from one tool to address all the projects, to a set of tools. We’re moving from this old project management to something modern that gives you the tools to manage different aspects of projects.” Different from other traditional programs, this program adopts a more contemporary approach to project management and project leadership. They instruct participants in the application of both conventional management techniques and project management tools in their projects. Such tools include Agile, Lean Startup and Six Sigma.

More than training future project managers, Antonio is guiding participants toward the world of projects—not just a world found in the workplace, but also in their personal lives. Project management today must be a focus for financial analysts, marketers and every other role in the business world. Everything will revolve around projects. “I’m just giving you the tools, the mindset and the things that work in a simpler way so that you will be more successful with your projects—to achieve what you want, to achieve your purpose. That’s my goal.”

WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT?

A project being turned in on time and under budget doesn’t necessarily mean the project is successful. In fact, according to Antonio, it’s likely that a project will be turned in late or go over budget at some point in everyone’s professional life. But in projects today, benefits, results and impact are what actually matter.

Antonio uses the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona as an example—a project which was assigned over 100 years ago. “Well, it’s still under construction. Do they care if they’re late? No. Because visitors come to see what has changed over the course of a year, and they bring in money every time they visit.” Naturally, Antonio acknowledges that meeting deadlines and budgets are important aspects of a project, but what’s more crucial is achieving the intended results and making an impact.

AN IMPACT ON PEOPLE AND CAREERS

The Next Best You philosophy is designed to help individuals identify their aspirations based on their personal career, impact and purpose.

Antonio connects the philosophy to his focus on project management. Without the project and proper planning that lies behind the purpose, nothing can be accomplished. In a world of constant change, individuals must identify their purpose and put ideas into action. He encourages the younger generations to change the world, saying, “Here are the tools, just believe and make it happen—we’ll support you.”

Find Lee and Antonio’s full conversation here. Learn more about how projects are changing the world, as well as how you can focus on your most important project to date—yourself. Dive into the next best you.