The Post Office Project: Creativity in Action

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Innovation   Leadership  

I am a big fan of project management and project managers, but I will be the first to admit that it isn’t always the most creative profession. It’s not perhaps the first career choice for stereotypically “right brain” people who favor more artistic endeavors.

That’s not to say that there can’t be creativity in project management, and it’s a trait that has become recognized as valuable in recent years.

Without formal training, creativity becomes the norm
There are pockets of real creativity in project delivery, and more often or not they can be found in those volunteer or community-type initiatives that are delivered by people who don’t have the formal project management training, but still want to get the job done—and done right.

I have recently been witnessing just such a project in my local community. The local post office, which handles all mail as there is no delivery service, is being faced with having to move out of the building that currently houses it.

In truth, that’s not such a bad thing—it’s little more than a shed, and doesn’t even have washroom facilities for the person who staffs it. But unless a replacement can be found, the community will lose its postal service. There will be a community mailbox put in place, and for any parcel delivery, people will have to drive 15 …

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