We are witnessing the rise of the #project economy. The so-called #gig economy is driven by projects.

For the first time ever, thanks to the determination of thinkers50 in shaping a new agenda for Europe, the European Business Forum, considered de Davos of Management Thinking, in Odense, Denmark, included the world’s #1 Business Thinker – @MichaelPorter; the world #1 Performing CEO according to HBR – @LarsRebienSorensen, and the world #1 Business Coach – @MarshallGoldsmith

And for the first time ever, projects and the successful execution of #projects, had a primary role in the event. I was honored to be speaking about the immense contribution and tremendous impact generated by millions of #projectmanagers, program managers, #PMO, portfolio managers, project team members.

Here is a link to my presentation with @ErinMeyer , the word's expert on cultural differences in the global scene.

My first declaration, after hearing the ideas of the world leading gurus, was that “Ideas, without a project, is just wishful thinking”. Projects have, are, and will be an essential part of value creation and social transformation. And #projectmanagement is the way to lead and bring ideas into reality.

Paradigm Shift

We all have heard about the disruptions that are impacting our society and the business world: #robotics, #artificialintelligence, #sharedeconomy, #blockchain, #bigdata….

But, there is one extreme disruption affecting our world that media and academia have completely missed. For over 100 years, organizations have been run and structured in a very similar way: hierarchical; in which power, budgets and resources are divided over departments, the so-called “silos”. Management and management theory was focused on how to run and optimize (efficiency) the business best. Projects were an addition, but hardly ever a priority.





Today, due to the speed of change witnessed in the past decade, this model has become obsolete. The day-to-day running of a business will soon be carried out through automation and robots – and is already done so in many instances. Projects have become the essential part of any organization.

My prediction is that by 2025, senior leaders and managers will spend at least 60% of their time selecting, prioritizing and overseeing the execution of projects.

This massive disruption is not only impacting the way organizations are managed. Every aspect of our lives is becoming a set of projects. Some of the areas where I see this massive transformation happening are:

Education : When I did my high-school and university studies, teaching focused on theory and books. Learning was achieved by memorizing this hefty pile of material. Today, the leading educational systems, starting from early ages, apply the concept of projects in order to teach. Applying theories and experimenting through projects have proven to be a much better learning method, and will become the norm soon.

: When I did my high-school and university studies, teaching focused on theory and books. Learning was achieved by memorizing this hefty pile of material. Today, the leading educational systems, starting from early ages, apply the concept of projects in order to teach. Applying theories and experimenting through projects have proven to be a much better learning method, and will become the norm soon. Careers : Not so long ago, professional careers were made in only one organization. Most of our parents worked for one company. Today, we all go through several companies. Careers now need to be approached as a set of projects in which we apply the learnings from previous jobs, companies, and industries while maintaining our development for the next (unknown) career move.

: Not so long ago, professional careers were made in only one organization. Most of our parents worked for one company. Today, we all go through several companies. Careers now need to be approached as a set of projects in which we apply the learnings from previous jobs, companies, and industries while maintaining our development for the next (unknown) career move. Democracy: The current crisis that we are seeing in political systems around the world has led political academics to propose new ways of governing countries. One of the most revolutionary experiments is being carried out in Ireland. The Irish Constitutional Convention (ICC) – established by the Irish government in 2012 – will address a number of potential constitutional reforms including whether to change the electoral system, reform the parliament, or reduce the voting age as well as important social and moral issues (including marriage equality, the role of women, and blasphemy). The interesting part is that each topic will be tackled through a project, with a clear deadline. One-third of its membership consisted of members of the Irish parliament, and two-thirds ordinary citizens selected at random from the Irish population.

One of the reasons behind this massive shift is that projects are the best, and only model, that can exploit creativity and innovation on one side, as well as structure and discipline on the other.

But there are many more reasons: speed, agility, focus, value creation, diversity, teamwork, growth, development ....

The impacts of The Project Economy will be far reaching, so

What are your thoughts on the Project Economy?

Has this massive disruption affected your organization, your career?





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez (www.antonionietorodriguez.com) is the world's leading champion of Project Management and Strategy Implementation. He is the creator of concepts such as the Hierarchy of Purpose, or the Project Manifesto; which argue that projects are the lingua franca of the business and personal worlds from the C-suite to managing your career or relationships.

Antonio has been recently awarded the title of Thinker of the Month by the prestigious Thinkers50, who identifies the most influential management thinkers in the world, including Michael Porter, Clayton Christensen, Rita McGrath.

He is author of the best-selling book The Focused Organization*; has taught at leading business schools (including Duke CE, IE Business School, Skolkovo); has been featured in several magazines, including The Economist, Singapore Management Institute, and Strategy Business Review.

Antonio is a much in demand speaker at events worldwide. Over the past 15 years, he has presented at more than 160 conferences around the world, regularly evaluated as the best speaker.

He is the founder of one of the largest LinkedIn think-tank for Strategy Execution, StrateXecution, which has more than 5.500 members worldwide.

Born in Madrid, Spain, and educated in Germany, Mexico, Italy and the United States, Antonio has an MBA from London Business School and is fluent in six languages.

* use the 50% discount promotional code 'FO230'