There are times that I truly wonder how projects really
work. I am not talking about the mechanics of projects or project management
tools and techniques. How projects are structured, and the tools and techniques
used to manage them are common across all industries. These tools and
techniques are listed in literature and while they have evolved, they are not
exotic and challenging to learn to use and master. The tools are listed in the
Project Management Body of Knowledge. Having managed projects for a long time, similar
tools used 30 years ago exist today. We have been managing
the scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, communication, risks, issues,
vendors, and stakeholders to deliver projects successfully. The how of these
different practice areas, or knowledge areas using Project Management Institute
language, can be learned. I know project managers who know how to manage these knowledge areas and still have had projects that were considered less than successful.
What makes the difference? If it is not how to do the work, then what causes some
projects to fail and some to succeed?
I have been writing about vision for weeks, with one goal.
To shed some light on the possibility that success or failure has nothing to do
with how well a Project Manager does the mechanics of project management. I
believe that the success of projects has more to do with the project managers
mindset than their skillset. The issue that I see facing most projects is that most
teams are extremely familiar with the mechanics, the skills associated with
managing projects and unfamiliar with how to navigate the inner world of being
a project manager, being a leader on the effort, holding firm on the context of
the project, ensuring that everyone is fully engaged and aligned and playing from
the same playbook. The mechanics may be fully in place and all the constructs
are lined up and everyone may be using the same tools. If everyone is not
aligned on the context, the outcome, or what I have termed the vision of the
project, the project will not succeed. It is through alignment that win/win can
occur. It is through alignment that both/and is available. It is through
alignment that everyone on the project moves toward the same goal with the
flexibility and fluidity necessary to navigate the changing circumstances of a
project.
What leadership principles, distinctions, or norms make the
difference in managing projects? After all, in most organizations a project
leader is considered a lesser job than a project manager and a project manager
is in place to lead the project. Are we first taught to be a leader and then a
manager? Are we taught the mindset competencies prior to the skillsets for
managing? Do we believe that teaching someone how to manage risk teaches them to
be risk managers or will they simply know how to do risk management? There is art
and science in each of the practices of project management. The art is in the
mindset of the project manager, it is not in the skill set. It is true that the
skill set must exist. Understanding how to put a schedule together is an important
skill set and qualifies you to manage schedules. To be a schedule manager,
there is a mindset that must exist along with the skillset.
What are the qualities of the leadership mindset that makes
a difference in the success of a project? What are the leadership principles
that cause stakeholders to rally together to create an environment where everyone
matters, where everyone has a stake in the project, where everyone contributes to
the success? Is it possible to be both leader and manager? The person who
inspires and the person to does the management? Is it possible for those attributes,
the why and the how, be alive in the same person at the same time? Project
managers are asked to generate each of those attributes throughout the life of
the project. Project managers are asked to have the mindset of a leader and the
skillset of a manager.
The time spent on discussing vision is in large part due to
the critical nature of vision to lead. Having a vision and being committed to causing
that vision to become real is what drives leaders. Staying aligned to the vision
in all decisions is critical for it to be visible to others that the vision
will become real. Empowering others, inspiring them to see the vision become
real for them, having others align to the vision because of the strength of the
vision is what creates the energy to make it come to life for all involved. It
is the beating heart of the project, the vision of the successful completion
when everyone can celebrate.
So now what? Now that vision is written, aligned to, seen by
others, bought into and folks are moving toward that goal, now what? When circumstances
change what happens? When the terrain gets uncomfortable what happens next?
When things are not going the way things were planned, what happens? The first
thing that happens, in those circumstances, is the vision is put in front of everyone.
The vision is pulled up and displayed. Everyone is reminded of the vision of
the end, what it looks like, smells like, tastes like, and feels like. The
vision is the first thing everyone remembers. The vision guides every decision.
Yes, there is more than vision. First, practice remembering the vision when you
start your workday. Remember why you are doing what you are doing. Be in your
vision first, then start your day.
