Bob Panoff
Principal, RPM Strategy
Bob Panoff is a tech-head with Harvard Business School credentials.
“I love experimenting with technology, figuring out new applications for its use, taking what the technology builders develop and turning it into something relevant and useful,” Panoff says.
As Principal of RPM, a Massachusetts-based IT consulting firm, those abilities serve Panoff’s clients well. He’s an expert at assessing complex and uncertain market conditions and developing strategies to capitalize on market change.
In 2003, Panoff presented a big idea to the Business Innovation Factory: to create the nation’s first statewide border-to-border wireless network. By offering a unified, statewide platform for wireless services, Panoff envisioned a “network of networks” that would stimulate economic development and become a focal point for innovative applications for companies in and outside Rhode Island as well as provide new markets for users and providers.
“It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” Panoff says. “I could see a host of possibilities for innovation through this public-private collaboration —not simply for Rhode Island, but for global markets as well.”
Panoff offered his services pro-bono acting as both project catalyst and chief facilitator. Drawing from the strong relationships he had within the high-tech industry, he brought a group of private companies together with public agencies and the Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Network [RI-WINs] was born.
“Together, we’re focused on innovation,” he says. “Our assumption is that this will be a multi-purpose shared network.”
Panoff’s enthusiasm and hard work paid off earlier this year when a study was released confirming the economic and technological feasibility of constructing and operating the RI-WINs network. His plan moves now into the pilot phase.
The Roots of a Collaborative Innovator
“I’m like the Cesar Chavez of high-tech,” says Panoff. “My entire career has been devoted to this sector.” As a result, Panoff has seen the best of times and the worst of times for the telecommunications and data communications industries. Over the past few years, products and services have become more complex, the market intensely competitive and the business climate downright risky. Somewhere along the line, Panoff experienced an epiphany of sorts. The ambiguous nature of today’s technology environment – with its unlimited choices – demanded a new method of management.
“From a boyhood full of competitive athletics,” Panoff says, “I was taught to value independence, strength, control, and speed. In adulthood, this led to logical, often sequential and quantitative analysis, intended to quickly eliminate alternatives and arrive at a decision.”
To remain competitive, Panoff discovered that his traditional ‘convergent’ approach needed a supplemental infusion of external ideas and ‘divergent’ experience. By working alongside some very able people in these complex situations, he began to see the value of collaboration as a competitive advantage.
“In my experience challenging assumptions and opening thought processes up to multiple viewpoints, has often yielded previously unseen nuances and really innovative ideas,” Panoff says. “Interestingly, I’ve found that a collaborative and inclusive process produces decisions that are both rigorous and creative.”
Panoff admits he’s still a ‘converger’ at heart, and natural tendencies can be difficult to shake. “But I love being part of what’s new,” he says. “That’s why I’m still in this industry after all these years.”