To meet the great challenges, we need ideas that reconsider and reimagine the environment that surrounds us and the one that is to come. Ideas are the most powerful thing we have. From an idea have come the projects that have revolutionized the world since it began millions of years ago. However, a good idea in the mind or on paper is of little use if a series of actions are not put in place that lead to its fulfillment.
In my opinion, it is the ambitious projects that give life to all these ideas, therefore, the future is not something that one sits and waits for. The agents of change are a good example to carry out these projects and purposes, they spread the efforts for transformation in order to make ideas become reality.
I’d like to return to Luvvie Ajayi Jones, two-time New York Times bestselling author, podcast host, and sought-after speaker. In an interview she gave to Brantlee Underhill, PMI’s General Manager for North America, she said that “we can all have great ideas in our minds, but what really matters is their execution”. Therefore, having objectives and goals is not enough, we must go further, it is necessary to consider what we will do to carry them out and make them come true.
But how do I start? I think that is one of the most complex questions, finding what I have to do first and what is the correct order to follow. I recommend the KICKOFF course taught by PMI totally free. It gives you a toolkit to guide you through the basics of project management, so you can effectively launch your projects from start to finish.
Another tip that I suggest and that I have also said in other columns, is the need to develop or reinforce the driving skills, even more than the technical ones. For example, having an innovative mindset, collaborative leadership, communication and empathy are key when it comes to wanting to move your project forward when something fails.
Luvvie’s experience is extremely valuable, since in addition to making her ideas a reality, she has carried them out with successful results. She highlights that her empathy and communication have helped her in her career, especially when she launched a new book in the middle of the pandemic.
Personally, I consider empathy to be a skill of enormous value, since putting oneself in another’s shoes and knowing where each person comes from helps to better understand the members of a team, a client or an organization.