Journey - Courtesy Flickr

The Journey

This week I shared with you some quotes that have helped to inspire me through some tumultuous times.  I find they make me feel energized and able to inspire others and pave the forward when ‘things go wrong’.  And, things almost always go wrong in projects – don’t they?  So, in addition to our standard toolset of project management, I encourage you to seek inspiration, be inspired, and inspire others to do their very best and excel at whatever projects you are leading.

I am listing the quotes that have inspired me and were shared in the blogs during the week:

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems. Mahatma Gandhi.

“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig, you get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it”. George Barnard Shaw.

“I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them.” Pablo Picasso

Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something. Thomas Edison.

Hope they gave you all some food for thought… and helped your journey this week.  Enjoy!

I would love to hear some of the ways you inspire yourself and your teams to reach higher…. Please share your thoughts.

Sometimes, you have to break the rules to get things done!

As we go through our lives we are subjected to numerous rules – as kids, as students, as workers and as adults living our everyday lives.  As program managers and leaders, part of our responsibilities is to lay down some rules by which to guide projects, by which teams work together and by which products are built, tested and released.  However, let’s not forget that the reason we have rules is to get us to a destination.   There is a favorite quote of mine which I invoke to remind myself of this principle:

Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.  Thomas Edison.

The program manager needs to know when to go by the books and follow the TL9000 (or your favorite development) process and when to let loose and have the team go off and run as fast they can.  I once worked with a program manager (let’s call him Joe) who could not tell the difference.  He was a ‘by the rules book’ type of leader – and that actually got in the way of us getting our jobs done.   We ended up getting to our destination despite Joe.  Here is the story.

Joe was responsible for leading a project on which I was one of the engineering managers.  We started out with a reasonable plan, and had regular program meetings, with status, minutes and action items that Joe would track.  Along the way, two things happened.  Our management wanted us to adopt a new development process.  And, at about the same time, we also had the inevitable ‘technical bump’ in the road that required our attention.  The new process rule required a detailed unit testing plan be documented, and signed off at completion prior to handing off to the QA team.  Joe was focused on tracking this new process requirement and getting the test plan documented.  The engineering team was very concerned about the bump.  Without addressing the bump, there would be no substantial development or unit testing to speak of.  However, Joe had it in our project schedule that the unit test plans would be done by a specific date and tracked that religiously at each meeting.  Joe also had very little domain knowledge and despite the team’s efforts to educate him on the criticality of addressing the problem asap, he continued to focus on the dates and the schedule.  Joe was following his rules book – the established project plan.  The engineering team decided to take matters into its own hands, and we held shadow program meetings without Joe to address the bump and quickly fix the key technical issues that were hampering our progress.  Joe’s rules were getting in the way of work being done.  When the crisis was over, I gave Joe some feedback that he needed to be able to adjust his plans when bumps came along, and bend the rules to meet our most critical goals.  To do that, he needed to learn more about the domain and understand the business of what he was program managing.  However, I hear he still manages the same way. Sigh!

Focusing on the rules and mechanics of program management helps keep things going.  But a good program manager needs to have at least a basic understanding of the domain and be prepared to apply rules or break the rules in order to get things done.  At the end of the day, the customer will not pay if we don’t have a good product, but followed all the rules!

Dora Maar - Picasso. Courtesy art.com

Are you working with a ‘can do’ or ‘cant do’ project team?

We have all been in both kinds of teams.  The difference in potential energy is enormous.  And, what a difference that makes to team dynamics and project results!  ‘Can do’ teams seem invincible, welcome challenges and proudly talk about the battles fought and won.  This in turn builds their confidence and enables them to meet even more challenges.  On the other hand the ‘cant do’ teams stumble on the most basic issues, squabble constantly and check out as soon as they are able to.  

So, is there anything you can do as a program manager to transform a ‘cant do’ team to a ‘can do’ team?  Well, you at least need to try – because the success of your project depends on it.  And, perhaps even more important, you will have more fun in a ‘can do’ team.  I can tell you that having fun means even more to me now that it did 10 years ago.  Time goes by fast – the things you do need to be meaningful.

I have been told that I have a knack for attracting cool projects and strong ‘can do’ teams.  So, I must be lucky.  Huh? Well, I wish it were that simple.   It was mainly just plain hard work and enabling people to do their best.  Things happen because people make them happen.  And, I have turned some otherwise bland projects around into cool projects and in the process converted ‘cant do’ teams to sizzling ‘can do’ teams.  The quote that inspires me most in this process is this:

“I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them.” Pablo Picasso

Let me give you an example from my past where I had the responsibility of running a project with a cross functional team and many of the members were mired in a ‘cant do’ mode.  When I probed as to why they were in a rut, the feedback was that they were not terribly interested in the project because it just was not ‘cool’.  It was not engaging them intellectually. There was an underlying sentiment that ‘other engineers’ always got to work on the cool stuff while this team was being punished with the old stuff.  The project plodded along and I pushed, pulled and threatened to get things done.  It was really painful.  Then, I tried a different tactic.  It hinged on the ‘coolness’ factor.  I know engineers will engage more readily on a cool project than on a ho-hum, run of the mill project.  The challenge was that the project was indeed somewhat run of the mill.  So, I had to find elements of coolness and spice it up.  So, I called the core project team to a meeting and we had a discussion about how we can make this project a bit more interesting.  The team had lots of ideas about adding new features.  We had to be careful – we had a concrete deadline to meet – and I did not want this to get out of control.  But, at the same time, we desperately needed some creative engagement so that the team felt challenged and energized.  So after the brainstorming, we selected a few add-ons.  These would be the ‘coolness’ factors.  The project team rallied around these add-ons.  While they were not a strict requirement – they added spice to an otherwise bland dish and energized the team.  This was the difference between eating boiled chicken or chicken a la king: some spice, some sauce – makes a bit of difference to the main meal and makes it a bit more enjoyable.

The project delivered on time with the required content and quality.  But, it also resulted in the filing of a couple of patents and cool innovations.  The team mindset had changed. They now viewed themselves as innovators and not just doers.  The ‘can’t do’ chorus had transformed to a ‘can do’ song.  

As a leader, you need to go beyond the letter of the requirements and tap into the creative spirit of the teams: challenge them to do something beyond reach.  Expect more, get more!

Pig Wrestling - Courtesy Flickr

 Do you really want to wrestle a pig?  

It is interesting how sometimes the signs in the universe all seem to converge and lead you down a certain path.  Today was such a day.  As you know, I have committed this week to sharing with you my inspirational quotes that have helped guide my career and provide some words of wisdom.  So, here is the quote I wanted to share with you today:“I learned long ago,  never to wrestle with a pig, you get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it”. George Barnard Shaw.

There are many times during my career that I have had to invoke this quote and use it to restrain myself from making a bad situation worse.  Let’s face it – a lot of what we do as leaders is deal with conflicts and challenging people.  You have to know when to fight, how to fight, when to negotiate and when to simply walk away.  We need a spectrum of skills and behaviors to deal with people on a project team.

Today brought some closure to a drama that started last week.  It so happened that I had the opportunity to invoke this very quote, to help one of my friends.  The situation was this.  This friend, who happens to be a respected program manager (let’s call him Bob) had gotten into a ‘war’ of sorts with one of the leads on the project team (let’s call her Sue).  Bob had been expecting Sue to provide a status update at the program meeting.  Sue had been blowing off Bob at every opportunity – and sure enough, she was unprepared that day.  Not only that, she started questionning the validity of the program meeting and openly implied that Bob was incompetent to run the meetings, saying something like “This meeting is a waste of time.  We never get anything done.”  Bot retaliated and said “Well the reason we don’t get things moving is people like you are not prepared.  We end up going over the same group.”  Needless to say, the meeting went downhill from there, with Bob and Sue sparring openly in front of everyone and Sue slamming the door and leaving the meeting.  When Bob met me, he was feeling low and I had to draw the story out of him.   Basically, he felt he lost control over the meeting by stooping down to fight with Sue in an open forum.  He felt he had lost his power as a leader – and in some sense he had.  He was embarrassed.  He knew this is exactly what Sue wanted and she won the duel by drawing him down to her level.  Bob and I spoke about the entire drama.  Of course, I had to bring out the quote – and he laughed and said it was quite apt in the circumstance.  Today, Bob spoke to Sue privately about the incident and had an open discussion about what is going on and how they can work together.  There is no magical resolution as yet – but at least they are talking.  That is a first step in making things work.  From my personal experience, I have become friends with many of the ‘pigs I have wrestled with’.  I think you get more accomplished that way.

So, the moral of this story is don’t wrestle with pigs – there is simply no way you will come out clean from that experience!  If you do encounter a ‘pig’, then make it your friend.  They are intelligent, and can be trained .

Inspiration Point - Bryce Cyn Ntl Park - Courtesy Flickr

Me – try to inspire – but why?

So, here we are – another Monday. Many of us traditionally start Monday on a low note. Back to the grind, back to the routine – same old. We will likely have the first of many project meetings on Mondays. Will you just go through the motions of collecting status, taking minutes and following up on action items? Have you given up trying to do more than the basics? Well, frankly, we can all get into a rut from time to time – and for some reason, many of us seem to routinely do so on Mondays. Sometimes we don’t get out of the rut until Fridays – and then it continues on and on throughout the weeks, months and the year. If this is you, I am asking you to stop and break the cycle of the routine, break the cycle of the ho-hum Monday. I am asking you all to take a different stance. Why is this important? Well, because we are all leaders. How we lead makes a huge impact on the entire project team. You lead not just with a meeting agenda – but an inner spirit. When you exude enthusiasm, energy and a positive attitude, you have the ability to impact everyone on the team. When your leadership style sizzles, the team follows suit and the business impact is maximized.

One of my objectives over the years has been to become an inspirational leader. That is, not just someone with a title, but someone who can really set the spirit, and lead the way. This has been an interesting journey and one fraught with many failures and some successes. One thing I learned is that to be inspirational, requires that you yourself need to be inspired. One of my favorite sources of inspiration is inspirational and humorous quotes.

So, this week, I am daring you all to journey off the beaten track – inspire yourselves and your teams. Each day, I will share with you one of my favorite quotes, and ask you to think about how you might apply it to your situation. These are the quotes that I have used often during my career which have come in handy to dealing with many challenges.

Here is a quote to kick off your Monday:
The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems. Mahatma Gandhi.

As you are heading off to your first project meeting this week, think about getting out of the routine and ask yourself whether you are really engaged, energizing and enthusiastic. Are you tapping into the full potential of your project team? It will make a world of difference!

I truly believe in continuous improvement. In today’s world standing still really translates into regression. I apply that continuous improvement to different areas of my life: I keep pursuing knowledge on scuba diving in general and its physiology in specific, I am planning to improve my technical skills of motorcycling this year, I learn new things about a healthy lifestyle every day and of course I keep expanding my professional knowledge.

I started out in the investment banking world as an account manager for institutional clients. I decided that my drive for results and my desire to learn more about information technology would be better served in project management so I switched careers. I have never regretted that move. Since my first PM position was at Royal Dutch Airlines, I decided to follow a full year of evening classes in logistics management at the university.

After moving to the United States, I was introduced to the PMP and became certified in 2001. My desire to continuously improve continued with Toastmasters, a Scrum Master certificate, the PMI Leadership Institute Master class, a Myers-Briggs qualification, a Green belt in Six Sigma and currently an executive coaching certification. It is not the certificates I am interested in but rather the knowledge, experience, and interaction with other students from different industries. Some of the acquired knowledge I actively use on a day to day basis, other knowledge becomes part of the mental toolkit to be pulled out when the situation calls for it and some of it goes into the mental waste basket.

Especially in a job market that is a “buyer” market (like today’s) showing that you invest time and money in yourself will improve your chances in the job market. It demonstrates aspects like a curious mind, commitment to (self) improvement, and dedication to juggle a busy schedule with continuous learning.

What can you do? See it as the project “Investing in myself”. First, define the requirements:

1. Figure out what you are passionate about and evaluate if this is something you can pursue.
2. Look at your current skill set: are there skills you want to improve?
3. Do you see skills in others that you would like to acquire?

A lot of my continuous improvement was triggered by one of these three points. For example, I joined Toastmasters because I was in awe of the speaking skills of some of the people I met here and being from Europe there is significant less emphasis on public speaking skills while they are crucial for a successful project manager.

Secondly, figure out what you can do to start working on the desired skills. This includes:

• What courses are out there? (PMI nowadays has a plethora of certifications as do many other organizations)
• What is your financial situation?
• Will your company pay for it?
• Can you obtain the skills through self-study (and are you self-disciplined enough to do this)?

Then schedule the time to work on those skills. None of us have enough time to do everything we need and want to do so it comes down to prioritizing our time. If the project “Investing in myself” is important enough to you, you will find the time to execute it even though it might mean having to (temporarily) give up other activities.

Okay, back to my coaching studies.

Image: EdgeDonkey

We all have been in the situation where a customer or team member asks to add a feature or upgrade the quality of a certain item. We often agree to do these favors because we find ourselves unable to say “no”—driven by our desire to please or a preconceived notion that we do not have the option to say “no”.

Favors happen on projects because many of us like to help other people. Doing so makes us feel good. It can make us uncomfortable to say no or to make tough decisions. The problem with doing favors is that it can have a domino effect or even start the project on a downward spiral. One favor begets another and before you know it, you have lost control over the project scope, budget, and/or timeline.

The construction industry has made controlling favors an art. Anyone who has ever built a house or has done some remodeling knows that contractors do not do favors. Any requested change is discussed, the work estimated, a cost assigned, and a new timeline approved.

Project managers in other industries would do well to take a lesson from the construction industry. Rather than simply saying no when someone requests favors, make the price tag visible so that the right decisions and tradeoffs can be made. Skillful project management is not about trying to please one person at a time; rather, it is about satisfying the majority of the project stakeholders involved and most importantly to provide customer value. This requires balancing all expectations.

Project management is not a popularity contest.

The Tower of Babel, according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the city of Babylon, a cosmopolitan city. At that time, following the Great Flood, all people were speaking a single language and decided to build a very large eccentric tower. The people were not building the tower in worship and praise of God but in worship of the glory of man. God, displeased with the builders’ intent, decided to punish the people and confused their languages so they no longer understood each other and scattered them throughout the earth.

As project managers we need to be aware of the cultural and language differences to be able to successfully mold a team and deliver on the project objectives. Even though cultures might look similar minor differences might cause extreme tension in the team. In one culture a commitment is set in stone and failing to deliver is a personal loss of face. In the Dutch culture being late for an appointment is seen as a lack of respect for the other person, while in the Latin culture it is given that the other party will be at least 15 minutes late for an appointment. In the Dutch culture, it takes a significant time to become someone’s friend, however, after getting there they will walk through fire for you. Of course, every person is unique and these are generalizations.

To be a successful project manager you will need to understand these differences and be able to find common rules of engagement for the team so frustrations do not build and the team is setup for success. It comes down to managing expectations both from your stakeholders as well as from your team. It will save you a tremendous amount of trouble simply to gain understanding of the different cultural aspects you are dealing with within your project. When you spend the time to understand the difference upfront and making the team aware of them, you will save the project a significant amount of conflict situation later.

I would be very interested in hearing your stories.

via Flickr by Bouliqab

Where to Go From Here?

I realize that most of us will never face the challenges confronted by Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director, on Apollo 13, but the mental exercise is worth doing.  If you haven’t seen the movie, or have seen it and view it as entrainment at the time, I suggest renting it and putting yourself in Gene’s shoes while watching.  You can put yourself through an endless stream of questions:

• Would I have Gene’s mental toughness?
• Would I be prepared to ratchet-up my leadership skills and rally the troops?
• Do I have the knowledge in problem solving and decision making necessary?
• How can I improve my day-to-day leadership, now I’ve seen one of the best project leaders in action?
• Etc., etc. ….

Remember it is a journey of a thousand steps and it starts with just one.

Technorati Tags: Leaderhip, process

via Flickr by dbking

Rallying the Team from a Bump in the Night

For the rare situation where the project plan comes to an abrupt, premature end or dead stop, it is your time to show everyone what real leadership is.  At this point the whole team, and more, are looking for someone to rally them and provide direction on how to proceed.  Let’s not confuse direction with providing detail instructions on what to do (micro-management).  What’s needed is leadership and a process for the path forward – everybody following and moving in the same direction.  It is the followers that will be doing the work and it is you ensuring the process needed to accomplish it is established and communicated, including when and how decisions are made along the way.  Here is a general outline of the flow:

Step 1: Bring the team to a common agreement on the points of the situation:

• The facts
• The assumptions
• The selection criteria for solution alternatives

Step 2: Organize the team’s creativity effort for solution development

Step 3: Monitor the development process and make adjustments

Step 4: Converge to a set of solution alternatives

Step 5: Make the decision and act on it

I’m sure at this point there is at least one doubting Thomas among the readers.  When asked whether creating an Apollo 13 disaster recovery process on the fly and managing to it was a waste of time, Gene Kranz indicated the opposite was the case, it saved time because it gave the team the needed focus.

I wish you the best of luck, if you’re ever experience a bump in the night,  in pulling another iron out of the fire and getting your project back on track; may you have the same success as Gene Kranz.

Technorati Tags: Leaderhip, process