Powered by Projects - by Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Rewire your organization--and your leadership--for a world driven by projects.

It's time to stop treating projects as side work. In the age of constant transformation, projects are the primary way organizations create value and accelerate innovation. In this new paradigm--the project economy--traditional agile approaches are no longer enough. The next evolution is the project-driven organization, where projects sit at the center of how companies are structured, led, and rewarded.

Powered by Projects: Leading Your Organization in the Transformation Age explores this bold new model. Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, the worldwide expert on project-based work, reveals the leadership styles and organizational structures necessary to drive success today. You'll learn to:

• Develop your organization's transformation muscles to remain resilient, adaptive, and relevant
• Sponsor projects actively and prioritize them ruthlessly to ensure resources are directed to high-value initiatives
• Decentralize decision-making to empower people to break through the bottlenecks that slow down transformation
• Engage your project teams and workforce more deeply to accelerate value creation
• Build AI into projects to enable quicker decisions and proactive planning and to lower risk

Filled with practical strategies and detailed case studies, this book is a new manifesto for CEOs, transformation drivers, and project leaders. Embrace the project-driven organization, become a project-driven leader, and turn your company into a highly engaged growth engine, powered by projects.

Review Quotes

Advance Praise for Powered by Projects:

"Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez's Powered by Projects marks a shift from the mechanistic philosophy of the industrial age to the organic paradigm of the digital era--and from hierarchical bureaucracy to self-organization." -- Zhang Ruimin, founder and former CEO, Haier; Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors, Haier Group

"It's hard to disagree with this great new book's provocative claim that we live in a project economy. More and more of today's work is project work calling for simultaneous execution and perpetual rethinking while challenging traditional management approaches. Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez brings valuable insight and advice for navigating our world of projects more effectively." -- Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School; author, Right Kind of Wrong and The Fearless Organization

"Powerful transformations and the spirit of constant reinvention have become defining traits of L'Oréal's culture. Powered by Projects embodies this forward-thinking mindset perfectly: shifting from perfecting the present to imagining the future while keeping people at the center." -- Matthieu Serres, Chief Transformation Officer, L'Oréal

"Today transformation is a top priority, demanding focus on what truly creates value for people, business, and society. Powered by Projects is a timely guide for executives ready to lead their organizations into the future." -- Béatrice Guillaume-Grabisch, former Executive Vice President, Group HR and Business Services, Nestlé

"Project professionals are the force multipliers of this era, anticipating customer needs, aligning people, and delivering value end to end. Powered by Projects is essential reading for practitioners committed to lifelong mastery and for leaders determined to build enterprises that stay resilient, relevant, and ahead." -- Pierre Le Manh, President and CEO, Project Management Institute

"Powered by Projects brilliantly illuminates the often-overlooked truth that while project-driven structures are undeniably critical for modern success, transformative projects ultimately succeed or fail based on culture and leadership." -- Abigail Posner, former Director, Creative Works, Google; founder and CEO, Human Code Company

"Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is the world's premier champion of the project-driven organization. Powered by Projects deserves to be--needs to be--read by leaders of organizations large and small." -- Stuart Crainer, cofounder, Thinkers50

About the Author

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is the founder of Projects & Company, where he helps leaders grow their organization's transformation capabilities and create project-driven operating models that accelerate value creation at scale. The author of the Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook, he introduced the concept of the project economy and is the creator of the project canvas framework. Recognized by Thinkers50 as among the world's top management thinkers, Nieto-Rodriguez is a former chairman of the Project Management Institute and is currently vice president of the Association for Project Management. He teaches at top business schools and is a frequent keynote speaker for executive audiences worldwide.