Particle Data Platform
HBR IdeaCast

The Case For Becoming a Project-Based Org

1/27/202630 min

What does it take to stay agile and compete effectively in today's business world? Smart leaders are entirely reorienting their organizations around project-based work, says Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, CEO of Projects & Company. This requires learning how to better prioritize, fund, and staff these initiatives; measure and incentivize success; and quickly end projects that aren't working so resources can be diverted to ones that are. He explains why executives must radically rethink how they and others spend time, how work gets done, and the eventual pay-off of this kind of reorg. Nieto-Rodriguez wrote the book Powered by Projects and the HBR article "The Project Driven Organization."

Clips

AI Wipes Out Operations
Cancel 80% Of Projects
Banker Finds New Passion
Leaders' Time Spent Wrongly
Build Internal Change Muscles

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Alison Beard· Host0:00

    [upbeat music] I'm Alison Beard.

  2. Adi Ignatius· Host0:12

    I'm Adi Ignatius, and this is the HBR Idea Cast.

  3. Alison Beard· Host0:15

    [upbeat music] Adi, one of the biggest goals for organizations today is to become more nimble, so you can quickly respond to change, constantly capitalize on new opportunities, and continuously transform your business as the market demands.

  4. Adi Ignatius· Host0:35

    So we talk about that a lot, right? We need to be m- more nimble, but how do you actually do that?

  5. Alison Beard· Host0:40

    Well, our guest today argues that the best way is by moving to a more project-driven model of work, up and down the organization, from the corporate level to individual teams. He wants us to both ruthlessly prioritize as well as stay fluid so that we're identifying strategic goals, assembling teams to go after them, evaluating as we go, and then either continuing, shifting, or disbanding based on our outcomes.

  6. Adi Ignatius· Host1:04

    So that sounds really positive and sounds different from the traditional model of maintaining and growing operations, managing talent. It also sounds really hard.

  7. Alison Beard· Host1:14

    Yes, and I think we know that from experience, having worked on projects ourselves. But our guest today, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, has studied a bunch of companies around the world who have adopted this model organization-wide, and he's here to give us a play-by-play on how leadership, org design,

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