Managing Creative Teams + Projects - To innovate, or not to Innovate?

Welcome to the blog for the Fall 2008 class of the Managing Creative Teams + Projects, Design & Management Department, Parsons The New School of Design. This class is led by Alberto Escarlate every Friday.

Description: In addition to covering the basics of project management, this course will address the relationship between creativity and efficiency in order to provide insight into how project managers can nurture innovation in an organizational context. Students will learn (a) how projects are related to the processes that they encompass as well as the organizational structures in which they are situated, (b) the relationships between different phases and activities that unfold throughout a project life-cycle; and (c) specific skills and competencies that are intrinsic to successful project management.

To innovate, or not to Innovate?

I’d like you to give your opinion on how hard teams should try to innovate? Read the paragraphs below and write your comment. Also read the article about IDEO for a good reference on the subject.

Development teams get narrow windows to propose something different and innovative from their organizational or industry norms. Otherwise, it’s back to the digital chain-gang, working on a roadmap derived from bugs, customer feature requests, VP whim or competitor’s existing features.

How does a team best prepare for and then manage those brief opportunities to do something different than the norm? How does one balance investment in innovation against other concerns, such as execution?

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