Every Innovation Starts with a Spark
In project management, we often associate innovation with large-scale transformation, new products, organization-wide platforms, or breakthrough solutions that generate significant business value. While these outcomes are important, they represent only the visible part of innovation. The journey starts much earlier. It starts with a spark. That spark is usually an idea that emerges while someone is working on a project, solving a problem, or trying to make a repetitive task easier. It may lead to the creation of a simple template, a checklist, an automation script, a proof of concept (PoC), a reusable workflow, or a small tool. At first glance, these may appear to be small improvements. They may only help one individual or a small project team. They may save a few hours every week, reduce manual errors, improve consistency, or simplify decision-making. Many organizations overlook these contributions because they are not enterprise-wide initiatives. That is a mistake. Innovat...