Mindset and Skillset

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.