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關于创新者，马云曾表示，大部分人眼见为实，创新者则是因为相信而看见，他们可能看上去像疯子、骗子，懒惰，靠不住，但他们有别人所没有的信念和决心。那么，项目经理会成为创新者吗？
“项目经理应成为创新者，通过项目驱动创新。”蒂姆·雅克（Tim Jaques）如是说。蒂姆·雅克是IPMA特殊兴趣小组（SIG）全球总监，IPMA个人能力基准第4版（ICB 4.0）作者之一，曾任IPMA美国分会主席。
蒂姆·雅克认为，项目经理的关注导向会影响创新程度（见图1），他呼吁项目经理关注“未来状态”，而非仅仅着眼于时间、范围、成本、质量。
蒂姆·雅克指出，要推动创新，项目经理应该从管理者转变为领导者、转化者（Translator），从实施者转变为战略家、变革者，从线性因果思维转变为设计思维。他认为，创新者应具备四大核心能力：创造力（Creativity）、创业精神（Enterprising）、预测能力（Forecasting）和变更管理能力（Managing Change）。项目经理建立创新思维最重要的两点是同理心和好奇心。
采访中，蒂姆·雅克还向我们讲述了关于创新的三大误解、创新的两大障碍以及如何建立创新文化。
？？？？？Interview
Part？ⅠProject？Managers？Should？Be？ Innovators
Q1. Many project managers do not see innovation as part of their job. Why do you believe project managers should consider themselves innovators？
Tim Jaques： Innovation is simply the act of creating new ideas and solutions to known or unknown problems. And project managers do this all the time.
The challenge is that project managers have different orientations that define “done”， and different organizations implement different levels of innovation depending on the scope and scale of the disruption. Consider the matrix below.The graphic shows that， with a given project manager orientation – inward or outward – the focus of a project will tend to be more oriented toward satisfying scope of the project versus satisfying the market need for the innovation. Of course， project managers must satisfy project requirements. However， the speed of change and faster cycle times for new products can blow up traditional project processes. Sequential， or even agile development techniques， may result in missed opportunities to pivot the project or product in order to capture the real business value from an iterative innovation series.
We need to do a better job of inviting project managers to rethink their classic definitions of “project”. The work of a project manager has always been changing. From the earliest production lines to today’s most audacious mega projects， we have seen a progression from highly-engineering focused， to more design oriented.
Not all project managers are innovators at heart； however， I believe that project managers should be skilled in the modern practices of change and innovation. It helps to see innovation in the context of history. If we go back to the earliest days of formalized project management – the 1930s and 40s – the world was grappling with innovation in nearly every corner of our lives， from electricity and plumbing， to automobile production， flight， public works projects， weapons and defense， and food supply. These industries used the starting pieces of project management –schedules， resource charts， material inputs – all of the essential logic of project management – in an unconscious development process. Over time， a few items had direct applicability to modern project management such as Frederick Taylor’s work on scientific management and Henry Gantt’s now famous chart. Therefore， project management comes from a deep well of innovation and progress. Q2. You said project managers are a natural fit for leading innovation initiatives. Why？
Tim Jaques： In some ways， project management and innovation are very different. For example， project management often starts with a solution in mind （after project selection）， tends to be inward-facing using PM methodologies， often focuses on meeting scope and requirements. Projects are concerned with execution and control processes.
Innovation， on the other hand， often begins with mandates and targets about the marketplace. Innovation is often outwardfacing， focused on business model development. And， perhaps most in contrast， an innovation environment has the capacity to quickly pivot to meet business growth targets.
Yet， in another sense， project management and innovation are closely aligned. For example， the concept of Design Thinking in innovation is not too far away from current project delivery models， particularly agile-based models. A typical Design Thinking approach involves：
（1） Empathize. This can be done through voice of the customer， journey mapping， personas， and the like.
（2） Define. Breaking down the customer journeys into discrete pathways. This is clearly in the realm of project management skills.
（3） Ideate. In this phase， the core ideas are created and iterated on.
（4） Prototype. Here， the team will establish the conditions to adequately operate the innovation.
（5） Test. Testing happens in a variety of ways， and should result in both quantitative and qualitative data.
So， based on this thinking， many project managers are well positioned to drive innovation through projects.
Innovation is often about modifying human behavior， such as a decision to buy or use a product， or a new way of doing something. Disruptive innovation breeds a cycle of early adopters， early majority， late majority etc.
PartⅡCompetencies？of？Innovative？PMs
Q3. In your opinion， what are the core competencies of innovators？
Tim Jaques： I recommend that project managers consider the following four competencies as a starting point：
（1） Creativity
Generating Ideas
Critical Thinking
Synthesis/Reorganization
Creative Problem Solving
（2） Enterprising
Identifying Problem
Independent Thinking
Technological Savvy
Openness to Ideas
Research Orientation
Collaborating
（3） Forecasting Perceiving Systems
Evaluating Long-term Consequences
Visioning
Managing the future
（4） Managing Change
Sensitivity to Situations
Challenging the Status Quo
Intelligent Risk-taking
Reinforcing Change
Q4. What are the top qualities or skills of an innovative project manager？
Tim Jaques： They need to build an innovative mindset. The two most important elements in building an innovative mindset are：
（1） Empathy. Empathy allows us to listen， to be authentic， to deeply understand how the customer feels， and
（2） Curiosity. As project managers and innovation drivers， we must continuously ask a lot of questions such as “Why”and “ Why Not” .
The most successful project managers I’ve seen who have strong innovation skills bring skills in three key areas （people， perspective， process） to projects.
Q5. In order to drive innovation through projects， what changes should project managers make？
Tim Jaques： Project managers who seek to drive innovation through projects recognize that their role needs to shift. They should change from a manager to a leader & translator， from implementor to strategist-change Agent， from Schedule， Scope， Cost， Quality focused to Future State focused， from solutioning to working prototypes， and from linear cause and effect to design thinking.
Part？Ⅲ？What？Is？the？Future？State
Q6. You emphasized that we should see more projects as a set of Future States rather than thinking about projects only as deliverables. Would you please elaborate？
Tim Jaques： There is absolutely nothing wrong with defining deliverables， tasks， timeframes， budgets etc. These are the necessary components of many projects. That said， I see a distinct difference between project managers who see these artifacts as the end game of their job， and those who see those artifacts as doorways into deeper discussions about the business.
In my work with customers， I’m often asked about the difference between a project scope and a Future State. In my thinking， a “Future State” is a wholistic vision that includes the necessary elements to operate and grow in the future. Such a vision should connect the team to market drivers， customer uses， global and industry trends， etc.
In order to adapt to rapid changes in the marketplace， we need to go about solving problems in better ways. Perhaps this sounds like standard project management， but building a Future State goes beyond the boundaries of a traditional project role. So let’s compare the words we use in traditional project management versus with an innovation mindset. Consider the terms Deliverables， Target Environments， Outcomes and Benefits， which are all well-known concepts in project management. Yet， this line of thinking often fails to take into account the context within which the project will live. We tend to build toward discrete outcomes without enough consideration of how customers and suppliers will use it.
Part？Ⅳ？Myths？about？Innovation
Q7. What are the common misunderstandings about innovation？
Tim Jaques： There are several myths of innovation that often need to be dispelled for project managers.
Myth 1： Innovation starts with ideation.
Truth 1： Innovation should begin by understanding the business mandates for growth， market share， wallet share， etc. Mature innovation practices often begin with a discovery process that analyzes business mandates， capabilities， market forces – and therefore the types of innovation required by the business. Only then can we begin to look at ideas around innovation.
Myth 2： Innovation is risky business.
Truth 2： The size and scale of the innovations should be pegged to a risk framework. Risk management is inherent in organizations with mature innovation practices. Often， innovations can graduate from a lower risk profile to a higher risk profile over a series of planned implementations.
Myth 3： Innovation must be bold and market shaping.
Truth 3： Not true！ There are four types of innovation： Leaping（High innovation/risk， new to world， redefines industries）， Leading （Moderate risk， new to space， redefines businesses）， Improving （Lower risk， refreshing mature products）， and Enabling （low risk， efficiencies， capacity， margin）.
The value of an innovation is always in the mind of the consumer. Smaller innovations that respond to market needs， such as adding new features to an application， can be just as （or more） powerful as larger innovations.
Part？Ⅴ？Barriers？to？Innovation
Q8. What are the major barriers that prevent project managers from carrying out innovations？
Tim Jaques： The two biggest barriers that I have encountered are：
（1） Personal fear. Project managers， particularly those that have never worn the “innovation” hat before， may have fear around how to begin and how to engage people in meaningful change. Project managers should explore their own fear， and inhabit that space of not knowing. Innovation is risky and scary and if you are not a little bit uncomfortable or scared， then you are not pushing far enough. （2） Culture. Some companies are made for taking risks and creating new things， and other companies are not. And the simplest – and most complex - explanation is culture. Culture is the people we hire， the holiday policy， the values we celebrate and the physical layout of the office. Like the night sky， culture is most visible when we tune out the noise and just observe. We can take steps for sure， but as a barrier， we need to be willing to recognize that an innovation culture is not a thing to strive for. We must simply create the conditions for growth.
I recommend reading The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen as well as Zero to One by Peter Theil and The Start Up Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank. These books are wonderful and have helped me build innovation as a business within a business for many clients.
Q9. How should we build an innovative culture in an organization？
Tim Jaques： I think culture is the net manifestation of beliefs， behaviors， rituals， humor， people， and the like. One of the best ways to assess and change culture is to first measure it. The best tool that I have encountered for measuring culture is a tool called Culture Talk.
Migrating a culture is less like rebuilding an engine and more like growing a butterfly garden. In the engine metaphor， we see a direct cause and effect relationship that is far too simplistic of a way to define what actually happens in the chemistry that is your corporate culture. The butterfly garden is a better metaphor because we must introduce many things that create the conditions for butterflies， but not the butterflies themselves. Only after we have the soil to the right pH， the right plants， the correct food for the worms and the insects will butterflies appear. Culture to me is similar – we take actions， and must understand that there is no direct correlation between our actions and the overall culture.
In my experience， changing outward behavior is the most obvious method for changing the chemistry of a corporate culture. For example， one of the best things I’ve seen is to begin prototyping and piloting within an organization. This revolutionary act often is upsetting to executives because it airs dirty laundry and creates wasted time. But none of this is true. What prototyping does for the culture is create the space for new behaviors and new beliefs about what works and what does not work. It resets expectations and spurs immediate and urgent action. We redefine success and failure！ And， the obvious benefit is that we can usually build successful model faster in a prototyping culture. P
“项目经理应成为创新者，通过项目驱动创新。”蒂姆·雅克（Tim Jaques）如是说。蒂姆·雅克是IPMA特殊兴趣小组（SIG）全球总监，IPMA个人能力基准第4版（ICB 4.0）作者之一，曾任IPMA美国分会主席。
蒂姆·雅克认为，项目经理的关注导向会影响创新程度（见图1），他呼吁项目经理关注“未来状态”，而非仅仅着眼于时间、范围、成本、质量。
蒂姆·雅克指出，要推动创新，项目经理应该从管理者转变为领导者、转化者（Translator），从实施者转变为战略家、变革者，从线性因果思维转变为设计思维。他认为，创新者应具备四大核心能力：创造力（Creativity）、创业精神（Enterprising）、预测能力（Forecasting）和变更管理能力（Managing Change）。项目经理建立创新思维最重要的两点是同理心和好奇心。
采访中，蒂姆·雅克还向我们讲述了关于创新的三大误解、创新的两大障碍以及如何建立创新文化。
？？？？？Interview
Part？ⅠProject？Managers？Should？Be？ Innovators
Q1. Many project managers do not see innovation as part of their job. Why do you believe project managers should consider themselves innovators？
Tim Jaques： Innovation is simply the act of creating new ideas and solutions to known or unknown problems. And project managers do this all the time.
The challenge is that project managers have different orientations that define “done”， and different organizations implement different levels of innovation depending on the scope and scale of the disruption. Consider the matrix below.The graphic shows that， with a given project manager orientation – inward or outward – the focus of a project will tend to be more oriented toward satisfying scope of the project versus satisfying the market need for the innovation. Of course， project managers must satisfy project requirements. However， the speed of change and faster cycle times for new products can blow up traditional project processes. Sequential， or even agile development techniques， may result in missed opportunities to pivot the project or product in order to capture the real business value from an iterative innovation series.
We need to do a better job of inviting project managers to rethink their classic definitions of “project”. The work of a project manager has always been changing. From the earliest production lines to today’s most audacious mega projects， we have seen a progression from highly-engineering focused， to more design oriented.
Not all project managers are innovators at heart； however， I believe that project managers should be skilled in the modern practices of change and innovation. It helps to see innovation in the context of history. If we go back to the earliest days of formalized project management – the 1930s and 40s – the world was grappling with innovation in nearly every corner of our lives， from electricity and plumbing， to automobile production， flight， public works projects， weapons and defense， and food supply. These industries used the starting pieces of project management –schedules， resource charts， material inputs – all of the essential logic of project management – in an unconscious development process. Over time， a few items had direct applicability to modern project management such as Frederick Taylor’s work on scientific management and Henry Gantt’s now famous chart. Therefore， project management comes from a deep well of innovation and progress. Q2. You said project managers are a natural fit for leading innovation initiatives. Why？
Tim Jaques： In some ways， project management and innovation are very different. For example， project management often starts with a solution in mind （after project selection）， tends to be inward-facing using PM methodologies， often focuses on meeting scope and requirements. Projects are concerned with execution and control processes.
Innovation， on the other hand， often begins with mandates and targets about the marketplace. Innovation is often outwardfacing， focused on business model development. And， perhaps most in contrast， an innovation environment has the capacity to quickly pivot to meet business growth targets.
Yet， in another sense， project management and innovation are closely aligned. For example， the concept of Design Thinking in innovation is not too far away from current project delivery models， particularly agile-based models. A typical Design Thinking approach involves：
（1） Empathize. This can be done through voice of the customer， journey mapping， personas， and the like.
（2） Define. Breaking down the customer journeys into discrete pathways. This is clearly in the realm of project management skills.
（3） Ideate. In this phase， the core ideas are created and iterated on.
（4） Prototype. Here， the team will establish the conditions to adequately operate the innovation.
（5） Test. Testing happens in a variety of ways， and should result in both quantitative and qualitative data.
So， based on this thinking， many project managers are well positioned to drive innovation through projects.
Innovation is often about modifying human behavior， such as a decision to buy or use a product， or a new way of doing something. Disruptive innovation breeds a cycle of early adopters， early majority， late majority etc.
PartⅡCompetencies？of？Innovative？PMs
Q3. In your opinion， what are the core competencies of innovators？
Tim Jaques： I recommend that project managers consider the following four competencies as a starting point：
（1） Creativity
Generating Ideas
Critical Thinking
Synthesis/Reorganization
Creative Problem Solving
（2） Enterprising
Identifying Problem
Independent Thinking
Technological Savvy
Openness to Ideas
Research Orientation
Collaborating
（3） Forecasting Perceiving Systems
Evaluating Long-term Consequences
Visioning
Managing the future
（4） Managing Change
Sensitivity to Situations
Challenging the Status Quo
Intelligent Risk-taking
Reinforcing Change
Q4. What are the top qualities or skills of an innovative project manager？
Tim Jaques： They need to build an innovative mindset. The two most important elements in building an innovative mindset are：
（1） Empathy. Empathy allows us to listen， to be authentic， to deeply understand how the customer feels， and
（2） Curiosity. As project managers and innovation drivers， we must continuously ask a lot of questions such as “Why”and “ Why Not” .
The most successful project managers I’ve seen who have strong innovation skills bring skills in three key areas （people， perspective， process） to projects.
Q5. In order to drive innovation through projects， what changes should project managers make？
Tim Jaques： Project managers who seek to drive innovation through projects recognize that their role needs to shift. They should change from a manager to a leader & translator， from implementor to strategist-change Agent， from Schedule， Scope， Cost， Quality focused to Future State focused， from solutioning to working prototypes， and from linear cause and effect to design thinking.
Part？Ⅲ？What？Is？the？Future？State
Q6. You emphasized that we should see more projects as a set of Future States rather than thinking about projects only as deliverables. Would you please elaborate？
Tim Jaques： There is absolutely nothing wrong with defining deliverables， tasks， timeframes， budgets etc. These are the necessary components of many projects. That said， I see a distinct difference between project managers who see these artifacts as the end game of their job， and those who see those artifacts as doorways into deeper discussions about the business.
In my work with customers， I’m often asked about the difference between a project scope and a Future State. In my thinking， a “Future State” is a wholistic vision that includes the necessary elements to operate and grow in the future. Such a vision should connect the team to market drivers， customer uses， global and industry trends， etc.
In order to adapt to rapid changes in the marketplace， we need to go about solving problems in better ways. Perhaps this sounds like standard project management， but building a Future State goes beyond the boundaries of a traditional project role. So let’s compare the words we use in traditional project management versus with an innovation mindset. Consider the terms Deliverables， Target Environments， Outcomes and Benefits， which are all well-known concepts in project management. Yet， this line of thinking often fails to take into account the context within which the project will live. We tend to build toward discrete outcomes without enough consideration of how customers and suppliers will use it.
Part？Ⅳ？Myths？about？Innovation
Q7. What are the common misunderstandings about innovation？
Tim Jaques： There are several myths of innovation that often need to be dispelled for project managers.
Myth 1： Innovation starts with ideation.
Truth 1： Innovation should begin by understanding the business mandates for growth， market share， wallet share， etc. Mature innovation practices often begin with a discovery process that analyzes business mandates， capabilities， market forces – and therefore the types of innovation required by the business. Only then can we begin to look at ideas around innovation.
Myth 2： Innovation is risky business.
Truth 2： The size and scale of the innovations should be pegged to a risk framework. Risk management is inherent in organizations with mature innovation practices. Often， innovations can graduate from a lower risk profile to a higher risk profile over a series of planned implementations.
Myth 3： Innovation must be bold and market shaping.
Truth 3： Not true！ There are four types of innovation： Leaping（High innovation/risk， new to world， redefines industries）， Leading （Moderate risk， new to space， redefines businesses）， Improving （Lower risk， refreshing mature products）， and Enabling （low risk， efficiencies， capacity， margin）.
The value of an innovation is always in the mind of the consumer. Smaller innovations that respond to market needs， such as adding new features to an application， can be just as （or more） powerful as larger innovations.
Part？Ⅴ？Barriers？to？Innovation
Q8. What are the major barriers that prevent project managers from carrying out innovations？
Tim Jaques： The two biggest barriers that I have encountered are：
（1） Personal fear. Project managers， particularly those that have never worn the “innovation” hat before， may have fear around how to begin and how to engage people in meaningful change. Project managers should explore their own fear， and inhabit that space of not knowing. Innovation is risky and scary and if you are not a little bit uncomfortable or scared， then you are not pushing far enough. （2） Culture. Some companies are made for taking risks and creating new things， and other companies are not. And the simplest – and most complex - explanation is culture. Culture is the people we hire， the holiday policy， the values we celebrate and the physical layout of the office. Like the night sky， culture is most visible when we tune out the noise and just observe. We can take steps for sure， but as a barrier， we need to be willing to recognize that an innovation culture is not a thing to strive for. We must simply create the conditions for growth.
I recommend reading The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen as well as Zero to One by Peter Theil and The Start Up Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank. These books are wonderful and have helped me build innovation as a business within a business for many clients.
Q9. How should we build an innovative culture in an organization？
Tim Jaques： I think culture is the net manifestation of beliefs， behaviors， rituals， humor， people， and the like. One of the best ways to assess and change culture is to first measure it. The best tool that I have encountered for measuring culture is a tool called Culture Talk.
Migrating a culture is less like rebuilding an engine and more like growing a butterfly garden. In the engine metaphor， we see a direct cause and effect relationship that is far too simplistic of a way to define what actually happens in the chemistry that is your corporate culture. The butterfly garden is a better metaphor because we must introduce many things that create the conditions for butterflies， but not the butterflies themselves. Only after we have the soil to the right pH， the right plants， the correct food for the worms and the insects will butterflies appear. Culture to me is similar – we take actions， and must understand that there is no direct correlation between our actions and the overall culture.
In my experience， changing outward behavior is the most obvious method for changing the chemistry of a corporate culture. For example， one of the best things I’ve seen is to begin prototyping and piloting within an organization. This revolutionary act often is upsetting to executives because it airs dirty laundry and creates wasted time. But none of this is true. What prototyping does for the culture is create the space for new behaviors and new beliefs about what works and what does not work. It resets expectations and spurs immediate and urgent action. We redefine success and failure！ And， the obvious benefit is that we can usually build successful model faster in a prototyping culture. P