 Reforming Project Management |
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Thursday, November 27, 2003
Fingerprints of Unhappy Companies All Look the Same
John R. Brandt writes the column Brandt On Leadership for Industry Week. His latest article Come On, Get Happy, is another gem. Brandt says, It never ceases to amaze how completely the managers and employees of unhappy companies -- whether actively failing or merely mired in mediocrity -- can convince themselves that their troubles are unique.Invariably, I'm told that their predicament is due to: difficult market conditions beyond their control; wholesale customer defections based on currency fluctuations or unfair trade; a particularly toxic or strangled culture that prevents change. Please. Brandt claims all unhappy companies look alike sharing five fingerprints:
Brandt does a good job elaborating on each of the five fingerprints. Take a look. While you're there, see if you recognize any of those fingerprints for your company or project. Monday, November 24, 2003
Nudge and Clarification
Johanna Rothman and I mostly agree. Sunday, she posted a clarification More on Faster Cheaper Projects to her early posting Creating Faster Cheaper Projects. I started a little disagreement with my posting here in Reforming Project Management. Here was the problem: Johanna was writing about the project portfolio environment while I was commenting on the single project environment. Here's how Johanna framed the situation in her clarification: Let's assume the organization does not sufficiently differentiate between project priorities, i.e. not performing real project portfolio management. People are assigned to the next project as they come off previous projects... Since each project requires more people than anticipated, each project starts late, with too few people. Soon, all of the projects are starved for people, and all of them require more people and more time for fewer deliverables. The longer a project is starved for people, the longer (and more expensive) it is for the project to be successful. The more unnecessary people added to the project too early, the longer and more expensive the project is.Johanna stands by her recommendation to staff early. I agree. Assign early to get the project in shape for when the staff becomes available. My experience in the AEC industry and with DoD projects leads me to conclude that staffing a project late is a key source of project failure in the project portfolio environment. The corollary also holds: when extra people are assigned to projects that aren't ready for them you'll have more problems on other projects. It's great what a nudge and a little clarification will do! Subtle Nudges for Big Results
Thought I'd offer this as a follow-up to yesterday's Gray Matters posting. Bob Rosner writes the weekly column Working Wounded for the WSJ Career Journal. His writing is helpful and concise. In just a few minutes each week you'll get just the dose of management help you need. In his 11/13 column How Savvy Managers Produce Solid Results Bob shares his strategy for getting big results: You can usually accomplish more with subtle nudges than you can with heavy hammers.Bob offers five questions for assessing your ability to produce solid results. (See the article for more details.)
So it's not a grand revelation. Read Working Wounded for the next few weeks. Then tell me that you want to stop. I bet you won't! And if you want a bigger dose of Rosner, et al, then get yourself a copy of Gray Matters. Sunday, November 23, 2003
Gray Matters -- No JELLO® Attack
Before I get back to the variation as an enabler topic, I want to tell you about a book I just finished. Fast Company has a new book club. Each month they offer readers the opportunity to vote for their favorite one of five books. The first reader selection announced in the December issue is Gray Matters, by Bob Rosner, Allan Halcrow, and John Lavin. This is a business book pretending to be a comic book. When I saw the Fast Company selection I got myself a copy. It took just a few hours to read it cover-to-cover. I was somewhat skeptical of the comic book format for the first three chapters, but before I knew it I had read almost 200 pages. Each chapter has three sections. It starts with a casual presentation of theory. From there it moves into the story of Gray Blanderson, product designer at Global Gadget, taking on the challenge of saving the small appliance division told through a continuing comic strip. The third section is a reflection and commentary on what works and why. The authors are quite well-known writing for the Wall Street Journal and as best-selling authors. Rosner's Working Wounded column at the WSJ is not to be missed. Their business insight shows through in the no fluff presentation of everyday business issues. In chapter 22 they tackle the spirit of innovation. Using the example of adopting a just-in-time approach in manufacturing they illustrate the issues of a continuous improvement strategy. The reviews at Fast Company and Amazon are universally positive. This one sums up the enthusiasm readers have for the book: Not your typical business read. It's changing my life.While I wouldn't go that far, I do recommend the book. Here are 46 more reasons to get Gray Matters. At the end of all 23 chapters the authors recommend their favorite books on the topic of the chapter. So, are you wondering what is a JELLO® Attack? Barbie's Brainy Glossary defines it as A soft response to a crisis (such as having a meeting or forming a task force) that conveys the appearance of taking action without really accomplishing much.No JELLO Attack here. Enjoy! Visit the Archives for more postings |
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