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This week in pm-clinic: The need for two faced managers

This week in the pm-clinic discussion forum:

I manage a rapid prototyping team in for a major consumer software product. We partner with real dev teams from around the org, and explore out ideas they don’t have time for. The group is new and I’m under continual pressure from above to justify the group’s existence (a task of many middle managers) –  I’ve asked my team to think about ways to measure value, but I get the risks: people may game the measurements, or the measuring may kill the creative work – – but I’m asking anyway as I can use the ammunition.

So my challenge is how to satisfy the view of big management, which is measurement centric and the language of VPs, but also satisfy the needs for innovation, protecting the environment from passion killing rules and structure.

How can I be the bridge between these two views without being two-faced or deceptive about what’s going on? Or is this exactly what managers of innovative teams in more production centric organizations always have to do?

– Looking for the benevolent Janus