Powered by Projects: Leading Your Organization in the Transformation Age
Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez
Harvard Business Review Press (January 2026)

How and why projects have become the primary engine of value creation

According to Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, these are the basic components of a project-driven  economy:

“o Today, value, growth, ROI and so forth come from projects, not just from operations.
o Everyone — regardless of role or title — is a project manager.
o Senior leaders spend more time sponsoring projects and overseeing the operations.
o Companies and governments must get far more return on their project investments — and address the trillions lost each year to failed or underperforming projects.”

BRIEF DIGRESSION

As I worked my way through the narrative in Powered by Projects, I was again reminded of another book, Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days (2016), in which Jake Knapp (with assistance from John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz)  explains how to solve the biggest problems, answer the most difficult questions and/or generate the best ideas with what he characterizes as a “sprint team.” Knapp invented the “Google Ventures” process and had run more than a hundred sprints with startups. However, the same process — with only minor modification — will work well within almost any organization, whatever its size and nature may be. The same is true of most of the strategies, policies, procedures, and tactics that Nieto-Rodriguez recommends.

What’s involved initially?

1. Recruit a team of seven (or fewer).
2. Identify the most serious problem to solve, the most important question to answer, etc.
3. Identify “expertise” candidates, perhaps from outside the organization to include on an as-needed basis.

A sprint team as analogous with a SWAT team or SEAL Team Six unit. It has a tightly-structured five-day schedule to complete its assignment. The sprint process is easy to explain and Knapp does not limit what can be accomplished IF followed with focus, cohesion and tenacity  “Sprints offer a path to solve big problems, test new ideas, get more done, do it better, and do it faster. They also allow you to have more fun along the way. In other words, you’ve absolutely got to try one for yourself.”

I highly recommend — if possible  — reading Sprint in combination with Powered by Projects in which Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez also has a great deal of value to share. He focuses on eight separate but related dimensions of a Project-Driven Organization, and devotes a chapter to each.

More specifically:

o Culture
o Structure
o Governance
o Strategic Prioritization
o Human Resources
o Performance Management
o Operations
o Execution

Years ago, I concluded that, ultimately, there are no culture issues, structure issues, etc. Rather, there are only BUSINESS issues. Yes, the eight dimensions are indeed related. Of greater significance, they can also become interdependent. So-called downsizing offers a case in point. In fact, it is a process that should be viewed and characterized as “rightsizing.” Increase/extend what works…reduce/eliminate what doesn’t.

“Why read this book?” “What’s in it for me?” Those are two excellent questions. Nietro-Rodriguez responds: “In the first part of this book [Chapters 1-3], we explore the foundational elements that enable organizations to thrive in the transformation age. This section unpacks how culture, structure, and governance must evolve to support a world where projects are not just strategy components — they are the strategy.

“In Part Two, we move from organizational aspects to examining leadership’s key role in enabling and accelerating a project-driven organization.”

And then “as we embark on the final section of the book Part Three, [Chapters 4-6] our focus turns to the ultimate purpose of every project: creating value. Parts 1 and 2 examined how to structure and lead project-driven organizations; Part 3 explores how to translate that structure into sustained results by embedding project-first thinking at the core of how the business operates and delivers value. That is an accurate as well as informative response to the aforementioned questions.

Nieto-Rodriguez seems to be an empiricist with an insatiable curiosity and a pragmatic mindset, determined (obsessed?) to understand what works, what doesn’t, and (most important) WHY. He also has a passion for extending and enriching the literacy to which Alvin Toffler refers in Future Shock (1970):  “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

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I commend Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez on his brilliant, substantial contributions to thought leadership throughout the global marketplace.  I highly recommend this material to all C-level executives and those who aspire to become one as well as to others who are now preparing for a business career or have only recently embarked upon one.

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Here are two suggestions while you are reading Powered by Projects: First, highlight key passages. Also,  perhaps in a lined notebook kept near-at-hand , record your comments, questions, and action steps (preferably with deadlines). Pay special attention to checklists and sets of bullet points, “Figures” (e.g. “Project-driven strategic prioritization” on Page 100), “Tables” (e.g. “Example of a transformation performance scorecard” on Pages 174-175), and the “Conclusion” reminders at the end of chapters.

These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will expedite frequent reviews of key material later.