Paul R. Williams, PMP

Paul R. Williams, PMP

Executive Director at Think For A Change, LLC. and Sr. Manager-PMO & IT Innovation Champion at Thrivent Financial

Green Bay, Wisconsin Area

Current
Past
  • Technical Project Manager at Infinity Technology
  • Director of Legal Technology at Liebmann, Conway, Olejniczak & Jerry, S.C.
Education
  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Connections
138 connections
Industry
Management Consulting

Paul R. Williams, PMP’s Summary

* Author of “The Innovation Manager’s Desk Reference” published by Lulu and available on Amazon.com (ISBN: 978-0-557-05250-9)
* Featured in October 2009 issue of PM Network magazine, the official monthly periodical of the Project Management Institute, within the article titled, “Innovate or Die.” (Pgs. 58-63)

* Nine years of successful innovation management, organizational creativity, new product/service development and executive leadership experience
* Executive Director of Think For A Change, LLC, a private innovation think tank exploring idea development systems, innovation management programs and other corporate innovation initiatives
* 2000 Graduate of Disney Institute Program on Managing for Innovation and Creativity
* Process improvement leadership utilizing Six Sigma, Design for Six Sigma, DMAIC, TQM and TRIZ methodologies

* Fourteen years of proven successful information technology, business strategy and innovation project, program and portfolio management experience
* Effective and motivational leadership of project and functional teams with membership of up to 35 individuals
* Project management experience includes project, program and portfolio initiatives lasting up to four years in duration with budgets in excess of $20,000,000 in earned value
* Experience using Project Management Institute Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK), Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Rational Unified Process (RUP), and Rapid Prototyping (RaPro) project management concepts

* National conference speaking experience:
- 2009 Business Innovation Conference – Wheaton, IL
- 2009 Product Development & Management Assoc. Annual International Conference – Anaheim, CA
- 2008 Product Development & Management Assoc. Annual International Conference – Orlando, FL
- 2008 ProjectWorld/World Congress for Business Analysts Regional Conference – San Diego, CA
- 2006 ProjectWorld/World Congress for Business Analysts National Conference – Orlando, FL

Paul R. Williams, PMP’s Specialties:

Innovation Strategy & Management, Idea Management Systems, Ideation Session Facilitation, Project/Program/Portfolio Management, New Product Development, Innovation Management Maturity, Customer Ethnography


Paul R. Williams, PMP’s Experience

  • Sr. Manager-PMO & IT Innovation Champion

    Thrivent Financial

    (Non-Profit; Financial Services industry)

    April 2005Present (4 years 8 months)

    Responsible For:

    IT Innovation Management Office:
    * Innovation & Idea Management Process Development
    * Innovation Research, Analysis & Development
    * Development of Metrics & Systems of Measurement
    * Design & Maintenance of Innovation Reward/Recognition System
    * Management & Oversight of Budgets and Portfolios
    * Organizational Innovation & Creativity Culture Change Management

    Project, Program and Portfolio Management Responsibilities:
    * Project portfolio leadership for IT Operations and Regulatory/Compliance Divisions to include technical infrastructure and operational risk management strategy-related projects/programs
    * Program leadership for collection of projects launched to improve IT effectiveness and process/project delivery
    * Directed development of project management governance “right sizing” process
    * Developed joint business and IT leadership team to facilitate knowledge sharing, business need/IT requirement alignment sessions and project prioritization

  • Executive Director

    Think For A Change, LLC.

    (Privately Held; Management Consulting industry)

    May 2000Present (9 years 7 months)

    Responsible For:

    * Focused innovation, organizational creativity and idea generation consulting services for clients ranging from small, non-profit organizations to Fortune 500 corporations
    * Organizational innovation management maturity assessments
    * Innovation and idea management system development, establishment of innovation-related metric systems and creative/innovative culture assessments
    * Idea Center/War Room and Innovation Center of Excellence design and development services
    * Keynote, workshop and other presentation services on the topics of corporate and personal creativity, innovation systems, and idea management
    * Author of the following business models: Tactical Idea Generation, Continuous Innovation and IM2 – Innovation Maturity Model
    * Author of the Think For A Change Innovation Blog: http://blog.thinkforachange.com
    * For more information, please see: http://www.thinkforachange.com

  • Technical Project Manager

    Infinity Technology

    (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

    February 2003April 2005 (2 years 3 months)

    Responsible For:

    * IT project leadership for Networking and Telecommunications Divisions to include project integration, scope, time, cost, quality, resource, communications, risk and procurement management processes
    * Networking Division project success rate improvement from 75% to 92% in twelve months
    * Telecommunications Division project success rate improvement from 44% to 87% in twelve months
    * Formation and management of the Project Management Office to develop lessons learned, best practices, documentation, templates, forms and training/sales material
    * Strategic planning for client based network infrastructure solution

  • Director of Legal Technology

    Liebmann, Conway, Olejniczak & Jerry, S.C.

    (Partnership; 51-200 employees; Law Practice industry)

    June 1997February 2003 (5 years 9 months)

    Responsible for:
    * Introduction of IT project and risk management principles to the data networking and telecommunications operations of the firm
    * IT business unit administration to include budgeting, strategic planning, leadership vision of technical infrastructure, and responsive internal/external technical support services
    * Network resource availability improvement from 73.25% to 99.75% in the span of six months
    * Administration, development, documentation, and troubleshooting of a 7 server, 60 node Local Area Network (LAN) to include groupware, email and voicemail systems
    * Novell NetWare and GroupWise, Microsoft Windows2000 Server, and Citrix-based network administration
    * Hardware and software troubleshooting, training and maintenance
    * Design and maintenance of corporate web presence, intranet, and extranet portal


Paul R. Williams, PMP’s Education

  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

    Bachelor of Science , Political Science & Public Personnel Administration , 19861990

    Activities and Societies:
    Model United Nations, Political Science Student Organization, College Republicans

Additional Information

Paul R. Williams, PMP’s Interests:

Innovation and idea generation, organizational creativity, fishing, waterfowl hunting, birding, gardening and home improvement

Paul R. Williams, PMP’s Groups:

Product Development & Management Association (PDMA), Project Management Institute (PMI), PMI-New Product Development Special Interest Group (PMI-NPDSIG), PMI-Financial Services Special Interest Group (PMI-FSSIG), PMI-Information Services Special Interest Group (PMI-ISSIG), PMI-IT & Telecom SIG (PMI-IT&TSIG), LOMA Society of Greater Wisconsin

  •    Executive Suite
  •    Product Development and Management Association
  •    KIVA
  •    Killer Idea Developers (KID)
  •    Innovation People Expert Innovators Creative Network
  •    Project Management Link - www.pmlink.org
  •    Global Program and Project Networking Group (9400+)
  •    Igniting Innovation
  •    Bright Ideas & Entrepreneurs
  •    Consultants Network
  •    Creativity Champions
  •    Innovation Management Group
  •    Front End of Innovation
  •    Speakers and Panelists
  •    PMI NEW
  •    Innovative New Product & Service Innovators & Inventors
  •    MindManager Enthusiasts
  •    Innovation and Entrepreneurship
  •    Business & Strategy Consulting
  •    Killer Innovations
  •    PM Professional Network
  •    ProjectWorld & The World Congress for Business Analysts
  •    IT Innovation Council
  •    BrightIdea Innovation Experts
  •    Management Consulting Professionals
  •    New North Connection
  •    Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Employees and Alumni
  •    UWSP- University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
  •    twitter innovators Innovation & Creativity Network of Tweeters
  •    TFCN
  •    Innovation Immersion
  •    Sustainable Innovation
  •    Creative Solutions
  •    Wired Wisconsin
  •    PMI New Product Development
  •    Innovation Management Institute
  •    PDMA Wisconsin Chapter - Product Development and Management Association
  •    De Pere Area Chamber of Commerce
  •    Board Of Innovation
  •    New Product Development, Innovation and Growth
  •    Innovate the Future
  •    Continuous Innovation
  •    PMI Information Systems Specific Interest Group (PMI-ISSIG)

Paul R. Williams, PMP’s Honors:

Project Management Professional, IT Project+, Disney Institute Program on Managing for Creativity & Innovation, Novell CNE, Novell CNA, Citrix CCA, Microsoft MCP


Paul R. Williams, PMP’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

  • career opportunities
  • consulting offers
  • new ventures
  • job inquiries
  • expertise requests
  • business deals
  • reference requests
  • getting back in touch

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