Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management - Presentation made at PMI National Conference - Bangalore - Sep 10-12 2015

1. 1
Adopting latest
advances in
the field of Creative
Thinking
for effective Project
Management
10 – 12 September 2015 PMI Conference - Bangalore

2. 2Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Agenda
Why Creative Thinking?
Systems
Thinking Design
ThinkingLateral
Thinking
Case In Point
Recommendations
01
02
03
04

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Why Creative Thinking…
Limitations of Logic
Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
All challenges cannot be
solved using existing
Project Management
practices!!
Kurt Gödel Alan Turing

4. 4Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Why Creative Thinking…
Survey
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%
Very Important
Important
Not Important
Importance of Creative Thinking in Projects
Significance ?
100%
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%
Largely Support
Support to some extend
Do not support at all
Current support for Creative Thinking in Projects
Support Available?
67%
Adoption?
10%
Significant
Support Available, yet
PMs see challenges in adoption

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Creative Thinking
Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Systems Thinking Lateral Thinking Design Thinking
View "problems"
as part of an
overall system
Solving
problems
through an
indirect
approach
Power of
analysis and
imagination

6. 6Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Which technique to use when?
Systems Thinking Lateral Thinking Design Thinking
Involves people,
process and
technology.
Traditional
thinking
provides limited
solutions.
People centric
problem.
Many unknowns.

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Let us Decode…
Put on Your Thinking Hats
Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Increase
efficiency of
loyalty program
• The client has Casino and Resorts line of business (LOB)
• Both LOBs have separate customer loyalty programs.
• No benefits from further enhancement (traditional
process) to individual IT applications
Decrease
program
schedule
slippage
• Continuous slippage to the program schedule as
individual projects under it were getting delayed.
• Not sure if it’s a people, process or application issue.
Risk
management
process
• Need for process re-imagination
• Enhance user experience
• Strengthening of mitigation with prescriptive risk
management
LATERAL THINKING
SYSTEMS THINKING
DESIGN THINKING

8. 8Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Case in point – Lateral Thinking
INCREASE
EFFICIENCY
OF LOYALTY
PROGRAM
1
Single Customer
View
2
Single Loyalty
Program
Lateral
Thinking
Free
Association
Reversal Laterization

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Case in point – Systems Thinking
Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Initial
Hypothesis
Actual Problem
Incorrect
Estimation
Template
Decrease
program schedule
slippage
Final Solution
Different
Values
Different
Methodology
No standardized
Tool
Single estimation
tool
Standardized
estimation technique

10. 10Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Case in Point - Design Thinking
Re-imagination of Risk process
Collaboration
Excellence
Crowd sourcing
communication
Analytical
Excellence
Internal data
repository
External data
repository
Social
Mobility
Analytics
Collaboration
Empowerment
Past Learnings

11. 11Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management

12. 12Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management

13. 13Adopting Latest Advances in The Field Of Creative Thinking for Effective Project Management
Thank You
Debabrata PrusethRamanand Garimella Pooja Subramanian
Enterprise Architecture
and IT Strategy
Consultant
Global Delivery Head -
Program Management
debabrata.yes@
gmail.com
g_ramanand@
yahoo.com
Banking and Financial
Services Consultant
pooja.subramanian@
iiml.org
TCS TCS TCS

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References
1. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/goedel-incompleteness/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem
3. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150525-whats-the-prime-of-your-life
4. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/seeing-what-others-
dont/201506/the-insight-stance
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking
7. https://www.creativityatwork.com/design-thinking-strategy-for-innovation/
8. http://www.innovationmanagement.se/imtool-articles/4-key-questions-
that-drive-the-design-thinking-process/
9. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/opinion/brooks-the-planning-
fallacy.html