The fact is that, when we talk about projects, many things can come to mind: organisations, companies, bodies, legal entities – and we talk about all these things as if they were something disconnected from people. But, in reality, what’s a company without all the people who work at it? What’s an organisation without all its people sharing a common purpose?

PEOPLE AT THE CENTRE

The truth is that we tend to label everything… like when our mom labelled our jackets with our name on our first day of school. Labels, labels everywhere. Leaders must change their mindsets: there are no companies without people; n companies, or bodies, or projects, or advances either. That is clear.

By now, everyone has understood why, right? What makes things work is people. The right people in the right context. And we say people in plural because if we’ve come this far as a species it’s thanks to our sociable nature. It’s belonging to tribes that has kept us from going extinct. That, and the fact that a large object from space, like a meteorite, hasn’t fallen on us.

WORK MAGIC

OK… so, we’ve got the main ingredient: people who work together and relate to each other in groups to reach a common goal. Then, why is it that sometimes, even with these qualities, projects don’t yield results? Why aren’t they… successful? Precisely because we’re talking about people, about individuals who have feelings and who relate through them. In a presentation to executives from the world’s top companies, those present were asked how many of them had been top students in their classes. Of those in the packed auditorium, only a dozen people raised their hands. This is related to what American psychologist Daniel Goleman maintains: a person’s success can be quantified as 30% intellectual capacity and 70% emotional intelligence. Thus, the way we relate to others makes the difference.

THE PIED PIPERS

We have a structure to make it all work, but the machine needs to be oiled in order to be successful. That’s why projects need leaders, those Pied Pipers of Hamelin who play the tune for everyone to follow. And we aren’t talking about bosses, but rather leaders. Those who have the most responsibility should, obviously, be leaders, but also worthy are those who are just natural leaders, those who roll up their sleeves, those who participate, and, especially, those who make others feel comfortable.

This is how we manage to create a model of co-participation in which it’s not just organisations that gain value, but people also. Value in the form of knowledge, relationships, discovering other perspectives, or whatever.

CLOSING THE CIRCLE

So, we have a collective with shared leadership in which people feel comfortable, and are taken into consideration, letting them make decisions and giving them autonomy; in which there is an idea to follow – an idea that they stand behind, unwaveringly.

It’s at this point that everyone begins to contribute more, to literally put their hearts and soul into what they’re doing. This, and only this, is the perspective that we have at the Government of Biscay when tackling this great project known as the Quantum Ecosystem: many people collaborating under the same idea. Or, as the Beatles sang: “All together now”.