Introduction
Organizational Success is traditionally measured by financial success, highest quality goods and services, on time and on budget, satisfied employees, customers, and shareholders. This is “matter in matter out.” It has worked, but not enough for those of us who belong to the ultra-human of our homo sapien species and the evolving ultrahuman. The new organization definition will be “matter in spirit out.” The human purpose is coming into focus for us as a species. The linking of business organizations with the human purpose will soon become a choice either convert matter into spirit or perish.
Overview
The new millennium will require a type of leadership out of necessity or we perish as a species. What happened on September 11 is a symptom of an underlying human disease or the tip of the iceberg of a deeper problem. But the unification of the world and in particular the ultra-human of our species, forecasts the way of the future. This paper looks at the top five components of future organizations embarking on this philosophy of human existence, that we achieve the human purpose of converting matter into spirit, directly in and through our traditional business organizations and elsewhere. The top five components explored are Effective or Ultra-human Leadership, Strategic Project Office, Enterprise Wide Project Management, Innovative Technology, and Loyal Customers. Underlying what follows is the findings of findings that the human purpose is to convert matter into spirit, by acting, by accepting and by human charity.
The Human Purpose and the Ultra-Human
In the emerging dawn of the ultra-human, we see these outstanding individuals perplexed by the unity of their universe and they are puzzled by the light of their universe that fascinates them. And so they look at this brilliant light source thinking that the real source is behind the radiance of objects that captivates them. And so they begin their search, unfortunately and unknown to them, in the analytical direction of matter. They think that they are looking at the refracted ray or the diaphany of spirit when in fact they are looking at the epiphany of matter or the reflected ray. One such person, who has profoundly documented his search, is Teilhard de Chardin, the French religious (priest) and paleontologist (scientist). In his book “The Phenomenon of Man,” Teilhard writes that the analytical direction of matter has three faces, Plurality, Unity and Energy. In the synthetic direction spirit is System, Totum and Quantum. And so Teilhard hypothesizes that the phenomenon of man is to spearhead all life by divinizing, transforming or converting matter into spirit. There are many religious people and scientific people who have made the same discovery, but they are unable to make the synthesis, as they are dominantly either religious or dominantly scientific. However, when the two traits blend with equal power in one and the same life, as was in the case of Teilhard de Chardin, we have a marvelous example of the successful ultra-human who simultaneously believed in God and the World. They made their choice radically, which leads to divinization, integration and the ultra-human and not tangentially which leads to division, distortion, or disgust and the sub-human and infra-human.
These are the future leaders of successful organizations, who know that the human purpose is to convert or transform matter into spirit, directly by working, which is the primary thrust of this paper. These are going to be, and is already happening in the business world, the highly effective leaders of future business organizations.
The Creation of Spirit
The quest for the search for the spirit is on even with those who know nothing about the properties of Universal matter and spirit. It is commonplace for us to look for “best buys” or for daily household merchandize that has the “best bang for the buck.” These consumers, like you and me, want to give our business to those who generate spirit, as we have many choices in a free enterprise in free countries. We want to encourage those who put out quality products, goods and services with lowest cost. We select the best buy or cost-effective option. We want spirit. We are not won over by company names that have been divinized by the juvenile hearts and minds of men and women who cannot think for themselves. And so we search and do not rest till we find the perfect product or services with the specifications that are important to us and at our budget. Simply put, we want the best value for our dollar. We want spirit and not matter. As all physical life depends on oxygen, all Life depends on spirit and not matter.
Effective or Ultra-human Leadership
For an organization to succeed, it needs effective leadership. Effective leaders understand the human purpose and align their company's purpose, vision, and mission of their organization with the human purpose. Juran, Deming, and Crosby are unanimous when they state that Quality Management begins at the top. Maslow's highest factor in his motivation theory is self-realization. Organizational or business success is traditionally measured by financial success, on schedule projects, satisfied employees, customers and shareholders. The new and evolving human purpose is to convert matter into spirit. The new finding that the human purpose is to divinize matter into universal spirit is opening the retina of the eye of the noosphere. The new ultra-human leadership facilitates and encourages employees to simultaneously meet the organization's goals and their human purpose of converting their individual personal matter into universal spirit.
Strategic Project Office
Project Management Office is another hot subject in Project Management. There is an existing PMO SIG. There were many PMO paper presentations during PMI symposiums, and books on PMO that could have been autographed by the authors. The starting gate for a PMO is to assess your organization's current ad-hoc Project Management condition or culture. One should understand your PMO rationale, Organization Structure and Functions. Then it is time to meet the players, communicate the PMO purpose and work together with the planning, preparation and strategies. The next step is to adopt a Project Management Methodology. Professional Project Management is a knowledge-based discipline and the Project Office is where Project Management and Knowledge Management intersect. Knowledge Management includes, software, databases, the minds of the experts, lessons learned, bench marking of best practices, etc. The PMO technical infrastructure address why large organizations need Project Office Software, software functionality, and PMO complexity. What are the best practices for selection and software tool implementation? The ultimate PMO is the SPO that aligns its strategies to meet the organization's purpose. The SPO manages the politics of being a new player in the portfolio of selected projects. The development of SPO in new organizations will give organizations a coherence that has been lacking. Depending on the organization, one of the difficult tasks to do, is to change the organizational culture from an inertia laden scattered organization, to a dynamic cohesive organization with strategies on target with the organizational and human purpose. Change or perish. Changing an organizations culture to meet the organization's purpose using SPO requires planning, overcoming barriers to change, monitoring results, using a common organizational language like Project Management to create organizational community. Since Project Management is the management of change, and change is the way of the future, which is the divinisation of matter into universal spirit. The future of Project Management looks forever hopeful.
The jist of the above is that the ultra-human leads the subhuman and the sub-human leads the infra-human. In other words the leaders lead the followers and the followers lead the laggers, focused on a common human purpose, together.
Enterprise-Wide Project Management
Another hot topic in Project Management is Enterprise-Wide Project Management. Enterprise-Wide Project Management, Portfolio Management and Multiple Project Management are terms being used synonymously. Many software companies are now incorporating Enterprise-Wide Project Management in their PM software to monitor cross-functional/departmental project performance, risk, and cost as well as assess resource availability. Today's organizations have even more limited resources of funding, people, material and time. Enterprise-Wide Project Management moves away from management of single siloed projects to meet the traditional goals of scope, quality, time and cost, to managing all the company's projects that have resulted from prioritized selection to strategically meet the company's purpose. This requires corporate leadership, PMs and function managers to constantly monitor the company's progress and make strategic changes with personnel, projects, money, time and material to meet the company's vision, using Enterprise-Wide Project Management. This approach along with effective leadership, SPO, Innovative technology and Loyal Stakeholders (employees, customers and shareholders) are the top five components of successful organizations in a competitive and collaborative business environment. The cross-functional view, which EPM provides enables a much faster decision-making process for today's faster paced environment. EPM is the premonition and transition from the management of matter to the Universal Project Matter divinisation into Universal Spirit.
Innovative Technology
Present organizations manage the quality by doing projects right the first time. This is achieved by the traditional quality goals of standards, specifications, codes, and policies, etc. The discovery that the human purpose is to convert matter into spirit, directly by working, adds a new, yet old, dimension of quality management. St. Paul said it best, “The final day (when the conversion of matter will be completed) will test the quality of each person's work. Professional Project Managers and Engineers do not hide behind the standards. They innovate. And innovation is the very thrill of future organizations. Innovation phases out obsolete systems and standards, that are cost ineffective and replaces it with innovative newer standards that have been researched and tested for the new definition of quality management.
Loyal Stakeholders
An Organization's stakeholders are presently Employees, Customers, and Shareholders. Stakeholders can make or break an Organization or Company. Future Organizations includes all life and the very Universe itself. As has been exemplified in this paper, customers, employees and stakeholders want spirit. The life long loyalty of this relationship attributes it to the quality of the Organizations goods, products and services or spirit. Spirit is resonant to Spirit.
Summary
The paper researches that the process of matter in matter out is not sufficient for our human existence. We have to focus on the human purpose of the conversion of matter into spirit, or the danger of the electrolyte or the milieu we live in will discharge and it will begin to tell on all life. Only the ultra-human, those who are changing matter into spirit can affect this metamorphosis and rejuvenation of our world for the survival of all life. Future Business Organizations and Companies will transition to the conversion of matter into spirit by encouraging employees, customers and stakeholders to align their purpose with the Organization's purpose, which is aligned with the human purpose, that of transforming matter into spirit. Ultra-human Leadership, Enterprise-Wide Project Management, Strategic Project Office, Innovative Technology and Loyal Stakeholders are the top five strategies that will realize this vital necessity of human passion.
Conclusions
Tehilard de Chardin, wrote, “The day is not far when humanity will be faced with a choice, adoration or suicide.” He also wrote, “Humanity is headed for a fantastic future.” We have a choice. The future is ours, and the success depends on those ultra-human individuals who spearhead the leadership in the conversion of matter into spirit. Let us choose life and the spirit.