President's Column - February 2026
Hello Members and Industry Friends,
Who doesn’t love a big work project and the project management that inevitably comes with it? Whether it’s starting something from scratch, bringing a new product to market or overhauling an existing process, major projects bring energy, optimism and no shortage of complexity. They also bring risk. Lots of it.
Most of my experience has been on the “change” side of the equation or redefining processes that have been in place for years. In nearly every case, the trigger is the same: things once worked well, then slowly began to slip. Results soften. Customers feel friction. Margins tighten. A few band-aids get applied to buy time, but eventually it becomes clear that incremental fixes aren’t enough. Real change is needed.
As I mentioned in a previous column, budget reviews are often an early warning system. When you step back and look across multiple years, trends become hard to ignore. That broader view frequently confirms what people on the ground already know: the current approach simply isn’t delivering like it used to.
This is where project management enters with the promise of structure, timelines, milestones and accountability. Clear objectives, defined roles and a shared roadmap are essential, especially as projects grow in size and complexity. But as any of us who have lived through major initiatives know, the bigger the project, the bigger the obstacles.
Add in differing opinions, competing priorities, misaligned incentives and perhaps the most powerful force of all, emotion and suddenly the project becomes less about improvement and more about survival. This is exactly when focus on the reason for change becomes critical.
Often, organizations bring in consultants to assess the situation, present a vision and help plot the course forward. This can be incredibly valuable. Fresh eyes can find blind spots, challenge assumptions and introduce proven frameworks. However, consultants are typically measured by project status, deliverables and milestones, not necessarily by long-term results.
That’s where those “in the trenches” come in.
These are the people who have been doing the work for years. They understand the nuances, the constraints and the unwritten rules. They know that while the high-level plan makes sense on paper, it won’t work unless you account for X, Y and Z. This is often the crossroads where projects begin to wobble.
On one side, project drivers feel pressure to move forward, hit deadlines and maintain momentum. On the other, those responsible for execution hesitate, not because they oppose improvement, but because they know what can go wrong if details are overlooked. Without answers, resistance grows. A push-pull dynamic develops, with each side advocating for “their way.”
What gets lost in all of this is the original purpose of the project, serving the customer better.
Meetings multiply. Documents pile up. The project becomes the focus rather than the problem it was meant to solve. Ironically, the organization can become so consumed by managing the change that it forgets why change was necessary in the first place.
What we were doing before isn’t working anymore or we wouldn’t need the project, so things must change. But it did for years so it can’t be all bad, right? The challenge is deciding what to keep and what to let go.
So how do we manage teams that have done things a certain way forever? How do we integrate a new leader brought in to “fix” things? How do we stay focused on what is best for the customer when conversations naturally drift toward what is easiest or least disruptive?
Complex problems rarely have clean solutions. When there are many moving parts, even well-intended changes can create unintended consequences. Doing what is right is often harder than doing what is comfortable.
The best approach I’ve seen is to break things down into clear, concise steps. Analyze in fine detail what worked and what didn’t. Speak directly with the market. Accept feedback, even when it’s uncomfortable. Learn from others. Understand your competition. And most importantly, accept that change is not optional.
More often than not, the answers are already there. The real question is whether we are willing to listen.
Will experienced voices be heard? Will project leaders adapt their plans when reality demands it? Will teams set aside territorial thinking and old habits? Successful project management requires both vision and humility from the front and respect for those who execute every day.
When both sides stay focused on what is best for the customer, something interesting happens. Decisions become clearer. Tension eases. And the rest, oddly enough, begins to sort itself out.
Thank you and all the best,
Rob has 27 years of experience at Bobst, one of the world’s leading suppliers of substrate processing, printing and converting equipment and services for the label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated board industries. He currently serves as Tooling Director.
Rob is based in Switzerland, with his wife Monica and their children, Leo and Manuela. His older son, Khai is engaged and remains living in New Jersey. Rob enjoys camping and cooking as well as being a full time chauffer to hockey and swimming practices.
He is proof that being one of those “take it apart and see how it works” kind of guys can lead you to a wonderful career, meeting new people and experiencing the world.
The President's Column appears in The Cutting Edge, the IADD's monthly magazine.
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