Varvara Grankova

Growth opportunities fall into four categories. And to grow your business sustainably, you need four specific types of project managers. We identified them based on our research into how business development projects can drive strategic renewal in organizations.

Four types

Prophet. This manager actively pursues business opportunities that lie outside the current strategy—areas where reliable data on success is extremely difficult to obtain. The prophet seeks to attract followers who share his grandiose but unproven vision. He expects members of the organization to follow him out of blind faith. Such projects are risky, but the prophet is necessary because he challenges the existing strategy and realizes opportunities for growth that others have overlooked.

A good example is Google and its X division (formerly Google X), which calls itself a disruptive technology company. The employees of this division solve large-scale problems using advanced technologies and radical solutions. Their projects are outside the scope of Google's current activities and strategic focus.

Player. This manager actively pursues business opportunities that are within the existing strategy but lack a solid business case due to the lack of credible data on the success of the venture. The player plays by the rules and tries to attract other risk-loving members of the organization. There is a chance that growth opportunities will be unrealistic and lead to losses. However, players are necessary because they can help update the current strategy.

This type of project manager is described in a study by Paddy Miller and Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg. They report that the first digital interactive program, MTV Top Selection, was tested behind the scenes, before the project’s creators had enough evidence of its viability. The project was driven by players who were operating within the framework of an existing strategy, but could not predict the likelihood of success without testing the idea.

Expert: This manager actively pursues business opportunities that lie outside the current strategy, but has a strong business case. The expert seeks to change the established order of things, and relies on and listens to the advice of the organization's members. Although the growth opportunities are realistic, the organization's members must still be convinced of the need to change strategy. The expert is needed to challenge the existing strategy and pursue well-founded growth opportunities that lie outside the current strategy.

For a company to succeed, a manager must:

ensure the presence of all types of managers in the organization;
allow each type to work in their own manner;
see the meaning in everyone's ideas by following their logic;
correctly distribute projects between managers.

The story of Intel's transition from memory chips to microprocessors demonstrates experts in action, where the organization's top people struggled to convince management of the value of the idea. It took several years of soul-searching before the bosses felt ready to make the change. In this case, the growth points were outside the existing strategy, but there was a chance to confirm their commercial potential and predict success with some probability.

The Executor: This manager actively pursues business opportunities within the existing strategy and has an excellent business case. The Executor relies on members of the organization and is guided by their careful analysis of the project. This path is likely to lead to success, but the Executor can only point to a limited number of obvious growth points. Many who hold the formal title of Business Development Manager systematically analyze and justify realistic growth opportunities.

For example, DuPont uses a systematic approach to assessing and implementing growth opportunities. It involves a step-by-step review of new opportunities within a clearly defined framework based on best practices, and provides a standardized process from initial conception to subsequent commercialization. A comprehensive business case is necessary to initiate the process – and because the approach includes key areas and blocks of work that the team must plan and execute effectively, it is particularly well suited to implementers.

How do they interact?

Project managers of different types sometimes have difficulty interacting. For example, a prophet will view a doer as overly bureaucratic and inflexible, while a doer will view a prophet as out of touch and disorganized. This will result in conflict. Often, the logic of one type dominates the organization. And employees of other types leave the organization, taking their ideas with them. Moreover, if an organization relies on one type of logic, this can lead to organizational inertia, which is dangerous in dynamic and evolving markets.

Ideally, you should introduce employees into the organization who are able to erase boundaries and maneuver between managers with different types of logic. It will be even better if the top management takes on a connecting role and allows everyone to peacefully coexist. For example, having identified the different types in your organization, you can hold a seminar where employees of one type meet and discuss various issues with their opposites (i.e., performers will communicate with prophets, and players - with experts).

Are Leaders Making the Problem Worse?

Managers make mistakes when they choose project managers poorly, but this fact is often lost in the rubble of a failed project. Prophets and players are more likely to appear on the covers of well-known magazines or in newspaper headlines if they succeed in particularly important projects. So managers tend to think that prophets and players are better. But sometimes a top manager assigns a good performer to a project that is better suited for prophets because he or she thinks the performer is finally ready for a big undertaking (with a potentially disastrous outcome). Or the manager decides that he or she should assign a prophet to a project that really needs a good performer, and is perplexed when the prophet fails to succeed.

Why Leaders Need to Think Slowly

Management / Administration

Understanding the characteristics of all types of managers and taking into account their differences in thinking will help you achieve the diversity you need in your workforce and help your business grow. This idea is consistent with research that shows that good managers are distinguished by their ability to identify and leverage their employees’ unique strengths.

All over the world, top managers strive to grow the businesses they work for. But few support the diversity of talent in the organization that would ensure the identification of new opportunities. Meanwhile, managers who want to grow their business must care about the diversity of their employees. Only then will the organization grow steadily.

About the authors. Karsten Lund Pedersen is a PhD student in the Department of Strategic Management and Globalization at Copenhagen Business School, where he conducts research in the areas of project strategy, employee autonomy, and the distribution of business development projects according to employee types. Thomas Ritter is a professor of market strategy and business development in the Department of Strategic Management and Globalization at Copenhagen Business School, where he conducts research in innovative business models, market strategies, and market management.

Original article

How to choose the right project manager