Do you remember having one of those "oil & water" relationships with someone - someone other than your teenage daughter? I had (past tense) one recently with an author of a "project management" book. I emphasis "project management" because the book has little to do with project management as I know and practice the profession, and almost everything to do with interpersonal-psychology (pop psych some might call it) as it is applied to group interaction. That aside David Schmaltz and I "didn't hit it off" when he asked me to review his book The Blind Men and the Elephant from the point of view of a practitioner and participate a bit in his forum. Irregardless of the disconnect in almost everything we tried to share, David presented a concept (which he acquired while working at a previous company) that has strongly resonated with me (after the appropriate editing of course).
The four (4) keys to project management (with full credit to David and hos former employer):
- Attention to Context - be sensitive to personal preferences and capabilities; distinguish the nature of the project (repetition or discovery design); and distinguish the nature of the sponsoring organization.
- Create a shared Vision - develop an emerging shared metaphor; and make this distinct from the project's requirements.
- Focus on Community - ignore artificial limits imposed by external forces and organizations; consider the community surrounding the project as the guiding force.
- Planning versus Plans - assure coherent engagement with and within the community about the definition of "done;" measure maturity growth of the project rather then progress as the passage of time.
Thank you David, the 4 Keys to Project have found a home (NASA, DoD, and DOE) where CPM, PERT, Gantt and IMP/IMS is the currency of conversation.
