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Looking for What's Right
There are two approaches to project problem solving. One, the usual approach, looks for what is wrong and attempts to fix it. The other approach is to look for what is right and try to improve upon it. I'll illustrate these two approaches with a story. A number of years ago I was assigned to work on an ongoing project. The project was forecasted to finish more than a year late and end up millions of dollars over budget. This was a fixed price project! There was ample history data to backup the prediction. I looked at the analysis and came to the same grim conclusion. So, the question that was posed was "What's wrong and what can we do to fix the problem?" The usual approaches of more people, deliver less functionality, deliver less quality, etc. were suggested. None were acceptable. We had to deliver the project on time, within budget, with the agreed to functionality and agreed to quality. I have a personal philosophy that believing is seeing. You read it right. If you believe something is true, you are more likely to see it. My problem was, I did not believe this project could be pulled off on schedule and within budget. Part of the project was being executed in Montreal Canada. I was flying back and forth between Minnesota and Canada. When I was in Canada I was always needed in Minnesota and when I was in Minnesota I was needed in Canada. I finally got out of my own way. I realized that I did not have the talent to do the job I was assigned. So, I proposed that I move to Canada and someone else be responsible for the work in Minnesota. Now I could focus on the Canadian part of the project full time. I chose Canada for two reasons. One, the staff in Canada was mostly fresh out of college and convinced that they couldn't do the job. Two, I knew it would be difficult to get one of the capable project managers in Minnesota to move to Canada. I decided to drive to Montreal, thinking that it was a long trip and maybe in that time I could get my head straight and start believing that the project could be pulled off on schedule and within budget. Somewhere on the Pennsylvania turnpike I ran into very heavy fog. I pulled off at a rest stop to find a very full parking lot. I ended up parking in the back and as I was walking to the coffee shop I noticed on the bumper of a pickup truck a bumper sticker saying "Picture World Peace". As I moved forward I saw more and more bumper stickers with the same unbelievable message. By the time I got to the coffee shop what went through my head was that someone had paid good money to have these bumper stickers printed up and clearly the message had struck a resonance with a number of others. So, why was I having so much trouble believing this project could be pulled off successfully? Because I wasn't picturing success. Instead I pictured all the problems I was facing and they were huge. Remember – Believing is Seeing. That did it for me! I then spent the rest of the trip thinking about how we could pull it off. I didn't solve the problem during the rest of the trip but I did have some strange dreams. Shortly after arriving in Montreal we had an all hands meeting. In Montreal they do these meeting right. Plenty of cheese, wine and croissants. Gets everyone loose and ready to take part. Take part they did. Shortly after I was introduced, a young man in the back stood up and asked, "When are you going back?" You could have heard a pin drop. Without even thinking I said, "I'm going home in November." Next came, "why aren't you staying until the end of the project?" I replied, "We will be done by then." Next came, "But we are forecasting we will be more than one year late." I proceeded to tell them that we would be done by November. I had a big dream about it. So, I told them we should all go back and get to work so we could make my dream come true. I know they thought I was crazy. Later some of the people in the meeting asked me about my dream. I described that I dreamed we were all at a big party, all dressed up and with our significant others and team members and sitting at team tables. At each table the conversation centered on how we had pulled the project off earlier than originally planned and way under budget and at a quality level higher than the customer had required and we couldn't have done it if we hadn't had the teams we all came up with. The story got around and then the questions switched to "Tell us about these teams!" My response was, "You tell me, they are your teams!" So what happened? Well, the employees organized themselves into self-directed work teams. The management became champions of success by not looking for what was wrong but pointing out what was right and asking and getting the teams what they needed and not requiring them to justify it! The project finished much earlier than originally planned, way under the original budget and product quality was through the roof. And, oh yes, we had that party I envisioned, in the finest hotel in Montreal. And I went home to Minnesota in November. So, what's the point of this story? We can talk ourselves out of being successful; it's bred into us! It's easy to look for what's wrong, we do it every day. Looking for what's right involves being OK with being wrong. Get out of your own way and you will get out of the way of others around you. When you take the "looking for what's wrong approach" it will wear you out! Will this always work? No! But for most of the situations we run into everyday it's a good place to start. This project team (there were over five hundred people) had no previous project experience and had been told over and over that they didn't have the experience to pull the job off. And, they soon believed this was true. So, the next time you go home tired and irritated think about how much more energized you would be if you could see what was right in what you are doing. That will give you more energy. So, which would you prefer, to go home tired and defeated or full of energy? You make the choice and which ever you pick will have a profound effect on the result. This article was written by Ed Tilford, Sr. Ed is one of the founding partners of Fissure and was the CEO & President until his retirement. Fissure was founded on the principal of "looking for what is right". We strive to help our clients have this same philosophy. |
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Project Management Institute and Leadership Skills Training by Fissure. 12940 Harriet Ave South Suite #250 Burnsville, MN 55337 phone 952.882.0800 toll free 877.877.6333 fax 952.882.9067 © Copyright 2007 Fissure, All Rights Reserved. |
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