From Strategy to Execution
Strategy can no longer simply be developed by leadership and handed over for someone else to execute. Strategy, execution and project delivery are increasingly connected.
Ana highlights the discipline project management brings to strategic execution, from understanding responsibilities and dependencies to setting checkpoints and tracking progress.
For organisations undergoing significant transformation, this structure provides an essential framework for delivering change at scale.
Redefining Project Success
The conversation challenges traditional measures of project success.
Time, cost and quality remain important, but Adam argues that the focus also needs to be on benefits realisation: whether a project ultimately delivers the impact it was intended to create.
The panel also explores the importance of applying lessons from projects that do not achieve their original objectives, rather than simply recording “lessons learned”.
Starting With the Outcome
Ben argues that project teams should start with the end in mind.
Rather than simply working through a project plan, teams should think from right to left: why does the project exist, what benefit is it intended to create, and what needs to be true for that benefit to be realised?
Using East West Rail as an example, he explains how understanding the wider purpose helps teams work backwards from the desired outcome.
Knowing When to Adapt or Stop
As technology, regulation, budgets and customer expectations change, original plans may no longer remain relevant.
Ana explains why regular checkpoints are essential for determining whether an initiative is still aligned with its intended outcome. Leaders need to be prepared to change direction or stop a project altogether.
The panel also discusses “zombie projects”: initiatives that continue consuming resources despite no longer delivering their intended value.
Creating Energy Around Transformation
Dan shares lessons from Bupa’s multi-year transformation and the role projects have played in changing the organisation.
A key theme is emotional engagement. Large transformation programmes can last for years, making it difficult to maintain energy and communicate why the work matters.
Bupa has therefore used storytelling and the image of elephants to help people emotionally connect with its transformation journey.
Speed as a Leadership Capability
The panel explores whether speed is becoming increasingly important as technology and markets change rapidly.
Ana highlights the pace of change in payments, while Dan argues that project leadership needs a bias towards speed and action without compromising safety, regulation or ethics.
Adam highlights lessons from technology development, including launching a minimum viable product and iterating rather than waiting for perfection. The challenge is knowing where “good enough” is appropriate and where perfection is essential.
Balancing Speed With Long-Term Thinking
For infrastructure projects, speed needs to be balanced with much longer time horizons.
Ben explains that railway infrastructure can deliver benefits for generations, meaning teams need to consider what may change decades into the future and what capabilities should be built today.
He uses Brunel’s railway between Paddington and Bristol as an example of how decisions made more than a century ago can continue to influence the network today.
The Capabilities Organisations Will Need
Looking ahead, the guests highlight several important leadership capabilities.
Adam emphasises recognising the value of project professionals in strategy execution. Ana identifies curiosity and discipline as essential: curiosity to understand what is changing and discipline to maintain focus.
Dan highlights rapid, effective decision-making, including knowing when to pivot, refocus, stop or reprioritise initiatives.
For Ben, the key is remaining clear about the why behind a project, helping teams stay focused through challenges and change.
A Changing Workforce
The discussion considers what Adam describes as the “projectification” of the workforce, with people increasingly moving between roles and projects as they deliver specific pieces of work.
Ben describes how this already happens across long-term infrastructure projects, where different specialist teams enter and leave at different stages.
Maintaining continuity through documentation, reinforcing purpose and embracing fresh perspectives will become increasingly important.
What Should C-Suite Leaders Rethink About Projects?
The conversation closes with a key takeaway from each guest.
Ana encourages leaders to be open and quick to take risks in order to move forward.
Ben says leaders should stay focused on the original intent of the project and avoid distraction from competing priorities.
Dan highlights emotional engagement and storytelling, arguing that the best project leaders give people a reason to connect with and feel motivated by the work.
Adam makes the case for greater investment in project sponsorship, noting that seniority alone does not make someone an effective sponsor.
The overarching message is that project management is increasingly more than a delivery discipline. As organisations navigate continuous change, it can provide a framework for turning strategy into outcomes, learning and lasting value.
