Colin D. Ellis's Blog, page 23

The Road Not Taken – A Reflection On Decision-Making

When I dropped my kids off at school last week, I went into my daughter’s classroom to have a look at some of the things she’d been working on. One of the things that she showed me was some poems that she’d written and of course, (super proud Dad moment), they’re just fantastic. She asked me what my favourite poem was.

I wasn’t much of a studier at school if I’m honest. As a boy growing up in Liverpool, you generally either want to be a footballer or a musician and little else matters other than those two things. And yet, despite this, I loved English. I loved words and the different ways they could be used and interpreted. I found it fascinating that one story or poem could mean one thing to one person and something completely different to another. 

And I loved The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

As a 15-year old it was a fantastic metaphor for the decisions that I had ahead of me.

In it, Frost talks about being at the fork of two paths in a forest and of trying to conjure up the foresight of what lies at the end of each:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth

At this stage Frost makes the decision to take the one he felt he should take as it had the ‘better claim’, even though both paths seemed identical:

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

By the end of the third stanza, Frost is already hinting at regret of what could’ve been had he taken the other path, knowing that he could never go back and take it now:

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

He closes out with a wistful ‘sigh’ that in the years to come he will forever wonder what would have happened if he’d have taken the path, before asserting that he knows that the road he took would turn out to be the right one:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

It is a hugely misunderstood poem as everyone reads the last line as a carpe diem ‘he made the right decision!’ moment, when in reality, what Frost is saying is that it didn’t really make any difference at all and we should simply make the best of the decisions that we make rather than thinking about ‘what could have been’.

In a business context, decisions can only be made based on the details and risks that are known at that precise point in time. It’s impossible to know with 100% accuracy what will happen in the future. 

The important thing, however, is to make a decision.

To not stand at the crossroads for hours waiting for a hugely detailed report to be delivered in order to tell you exactly which path to take. To not send people down both paths and have them report back months later. Or to go back to where you started and avoid the decision altogether.

According to research by decision-making experts Vroom and Jago, in times of crisis and uncertainty, the most effective leaders make prompt decisions and yet too many projects in organisations around the world are stymied by indecision and/or a lack of courage. The consequence of this is confusion, demotivated staff, delays to delivery and loss of respect for the person who should be making the decision.

As Frost describes, there’s no ‘right’ decision at that time, other than to just make one and move on, regardless of the uncertainty that may lie ahead.

7 things really busy people do

1. They check phones in meetings

If email and other notifications aren't checked – particularly when someone else is speaking – then opportunities will be missed, issues will go unresolved and the business will definitely collapse in on itself. Therefore it’s important to spend time that could be used to discuss important opportunities and issues instead looking at a device that they worry their kids (or millennial employees!) are spending too much time on.

Tip to avoid being this person: Leave your phone at your desk

2. They have back-to-back meetings

As a human race, the last thing we did back-to-back was to shoot each other in a duel. The generational equivalent is arguably more painful and definitely more drawn-out, but absolutely necessary. How else would they be able to run the business if not by attending every single second of every meeting that they possibly could? They often (miraculously) manage this with no structure, formality or decisions actually being made. 

Tip to avoid being this person: Say no to some meetings that aren’t important

3. They don't answer emails or calls

Nothing says, ‘I’m really busy!’ like 1000 unread messages or 10 unheard voice messages. Not opening emails is an essential way to support long, unnecessary meetings (see 2) by requiring a complete run-down of the issues face-to-face with everyone in the room, rather than turning up prepared and informed. Ignoring voice messages is for the boldly busy, as only the very desperate would have picked up the phone to try and engage them in the first place. 

Tip to avoid being this person: Be clear with your team about what communication you require. Return calls, it's rude not to. Be part of the solution - stop hitting reply all. 

4. They eat lunch at their desk

Truly busy people know that the key to a healthy working lifestyle is to never change your environment, especially when eating. Breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea are all consumed over their desks and keyboards or, at a pinch, on the way to one of those meetings. Oh and eating and drinking in meetings is a great way to draw attention to how time poor they are. 

Tip to avoid being this person: Take time throughout the day to change your environment while taking on sustenance – go outside, use the staff kitchen or common areas.

5. They ignore success

Celebrating success is important, but not as important as checking phones (see 1) or back-to-back meetings (see 2). Walking around the office connecting with staff, attending celebrations and demonstrating gratitude are things that they don’t have time for. That time is better spent setting unrealistic deadlines or demanding things get done quicker, often using someone’s name as leverage.

Tip to avoid being this person: Start the week off by walking and talking and/or write someone a simple ‘thank you’ card to show that you appreciate their effort.

6. They work 12-hour days or 60-80 hour weeks (at least!)

Productive work – as we all know – can only be demonstrated by the number of hours spent in the office, ideally with most of that time spent in front of a screen or in a meeting. If they’re senior managers, then it's explicitly written into their role description that they’re on call 24/7, so 12-hour days tend to be the minimum. Regardless of how productive you’ve been, they’ve been busier (see 7), worked longer and harder.

Tip to avoid being this person: Don’t get sucked into a culture of presenteeism. Get better at prioritising your work, so that you have time to go home and recharge

7. They tell you that they're busy

How are you? – “I’m busy”

Can you spare me a minute? – “Can it wait? I’m really busy”

I need to see you –  “I’m really busy right now with back-to-backs all week. Put a meeting in for next week”

Why did you cancel our meeting? – “I have a really busy week, sorry”

I sent you an email last week, have you seen it? – “I’m sorry, I’ve been really busy, I’ve got so many unread emails in my inbox”

Are you OK? – “I’m so busy, I don’t know where to start”

Can you make the celebration drinks later? – “I’m sorry, but I’m really busy at the moment. There just aren’t enough hours in the day”.

Tip to avoid being this person: Say something positive about your week instead e.g. ‘I’m working on some great things right now’ and mean it!

Busy doing nothing
The most productive people I’ve known have always got time to do work that’s important AND still make time to check-in with people, eat meals, be attentive in meetings, show gratitude, celebrate success and not bore others stupid by telling them that they’re busy.

Being busy isn’t the same as being productive. Take the time to list your priorities, add them to your plan and deliver to the expectations you’ve set. Stop telling people that you’re busy and get busy being productive instead.

Have you got some more examples of extremely busy behaviour? Please share in the comments section.

Here’s Why You Need IQ as well as EQ

Back in the 1990s in the UK, there was a popular TV show called The Fast Show. The brainchild of comedians Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, it consisted of a number of sketches, catchphrases and characters.

One of my favourites was a character called Tim Nice But Dim. Tim was a product of the British upper middle class and therefore had money, privilege and connections. The only problem was that, well, as his name suggests he was just a bit dim and didn’t really know much anything. He was high in emotional intelligence (EQ), but low in intellectual intelligence (IQ).

The punchline was that even though Tim was dim, everything always worked out for him anyway because of his background. It was funny, because it was true. Or at least it seemed that way to us in the less privileged north of England.

In real life, however, it didn’t quite work that way.

The people that succeeded had a good mix of EQ and IQ. These were the people that I held up as role models. Who taught me not only the technical aspects of my role, but also the emotional ones too. Who could provide feedback on my work and crucially, the techniques and behaviours I could develop to improve it.

I frequently write about the importance of emotional intelligence and the fact that it’s the key differentiator between success and failure. The research and statistics prove this to be the case. And yet, you can’t get by on emotions alone, you have to be technically good too and practice it well.

EQ is not the be all and end all of a successful career. Indeed your IQ – accordingy to author Daniel Goleman – ‘is by far the better determinant of career success, in the sense of predicting what kind of job you will be able to hold.’

In other words, to progress to a role with more responsibility, you have to know your stuff and then stay on top of it as it develops and evolves. As American author Travis Bradberry said ‘if you’re not getting a little bit better every day, you’re most likely getting a little worse.’

The project management world in which I’ve worked for 20 years is dominated by methods, guides, principles, processes and (in some organisations) doctrines. PRINCE2, PMBoK, Lean, SixSigma, Scrum, P3O, MSP and so on. Project managers must also facilitate, public speak, negotiate and manage risk and performance.

They have to know the details of how to do all of these things and then do them all really well. All of the time. That’s what they’re paid to do.

They’re not paid to be subject matter experts in web development, store design or bridge building. However, as they’re paid to lead and motivate a team of people who will do this work, they have to know enough about the subject matter to be able to ask the right questions and build the best team.

Most of this latter work happens outside working hours and involves reading papers, articles, case studies and asking lots of people lots of questions.

Combining IQ with EQ is what the great project managers do really well. That’s why they earn good salaries and are the seen as future organisation leaders. They know when to dial the EQ up and the IQ down and vice versa.

In project management, the development emphasis has been on IQ or ‘technical’ skills for far too long and organisations continue to suffer at the hands of this IQ-only development and delivery approach. Providing people with the EQ or ‘Leadership’ skills not only fills the inspiration and motivation gap, but also helps project managers to see that relentless self-reflection (EQ) AND self-development (IQ) is where future success lives.

Take risk management as an example. It requires knowledge of what risk is, how to assess it, how to plan to minimise or reduce it, how to facilitate a workshop effectively and how to complete and manage a risk register. All technical skills.

It also requires the communication skills to get the information from those best placed to share it. To facilitate effective discussions and conversations and also to make the whole thing fun.

Knowing when to ‘slide’ between leadership and technical skills is critical to the ongoing success of this exercise.

Building the team before you start the project however, is different. There is a heavy reliance here on leadership skills. To bring a group of disparate individuals together to create vision, to agree behaviours, to agree how you’ll work together and to define the required culture.

Whilst good facilitation skills are required, the emphasis is definitely on leadership skills. The slider might look like this:

Once the project commences, there’ll be issues that will need to be resolved. This is where the technical expertise takes over;  where a project manager will demonstrate their knowledge of the subject matter by asking the right questions and by using their leadership skills to bring the right people into the conversation at the right time.

They may also use methods such as design thinking to help the team research, interpret, generate, prototype and evaluate possible solutions. The slide might look something like this:

Even though, according to research, it gets harder to develop these technical (or IQ) skills as people get older, leaders shouldn’t let that stop them – the career rewards lie on the other side of this hard work. And in his book Drive, Dan Pink issued a warning by saying, ‘becoming ever better at something you care about is not lined with daisies and spanned by a rainbow.’

However, Carol Dweck said in her book Mindset, that with the right mindset we can all change how substantially smart we are, both emotionally and intellectually. You just have to want to. Personal change and development can be hard work, but no one ever said it wasn’t worth it.

High EQ will always be the difference between average leaders and great ones, but without IQ too, they will always be talked of in terms of ‘Tim is nice, but…’

Get the best of both worlds in my upcoming public training course in Melbourne, Australia on 1/2  November. Spaces are limited and can be booked here.

The Triple Unconstraints – A model for success

Some of the worst projects I’ve ever overseen delivered on time, to budget and to scope. It sounds ridiculous I know, especially given that many organisations have a passion for using these three factors to determine whether a project has been successful or not. 

But none of these factors talk about the behaviours required by the project manager to be successful or the collective responsibility required by the stakeholders to work together harmoniously to get the work done.

I blame the Triple Constraints or ‘iron triangle’ for this. Actually, that’s wrong. It’s more accurate to say that I blame the people who continue to focus on the triple constraints as a means of measuring what a successful project should look like.

For those of you who haven’t seen the triple constraints, here they are:

No-one knows who came up with this model but we do know that it’s been used since the 1950s. Its likely genesis is in the construction or aeronautical industry. Essentially, it’s an equilateral triangle demonstrating that each of these factors are as important as each other and that collectively they determine the quality of the product(s) being delivered.

When I became a project manager in the late 1990s it was one of the first things I was taught: ‘Colin, here are the things that will restrict you from doing the best job you can.’ Nice start.

What we used to say - and draw on whiteboards for disengaged sponsors - is that in times of change only two of the sides can remain fixed at any one time. That is, if one of these factors changes, then at least one other factor will be affected by it. ‘Pick two’ we used to say. 

Want to add more scope? Then more time or money may be needed.

Want it delivered quicker? Then more money may be needed or else you need to reduce the scope

Want to do it for less money? Then the scope may be impacted.

You get the idea.

However, we used this model in a time when projects were done to people, not with them and whilst a project manager’s job is to manage these (and other) competing demands, the definition of success is - and should always be - the satisfaction of the stakeholders and project team in relation to the service being provided to them.

Some of the best projects I’ve had the pleasure of overseeing didn’t focus on time, cost or scope. They had happy stakeholders, working in a vibrant culture, all the way through. Of course, that meant keeping an eye on time, cost and scope, but it’s much much more than that.

Some took more or less time. Whilst some spent more or less money. The outcome, however, was always the same. Stakeholders who got what they needed to solve the business problem that they had and a project team that become role models for how good projects should look and feel. What was constant throughout these projects was (and continues to be) the Triple Unconstraints. Those things that make the job of a project manager easier, not harder.

The Triple Unconstraints looks like this:

In order for any project to be successful, then a project manager must do all of these really well.

Who they are - Self-aware project managers know what they’re good at and what they’re not. They relentlessly self-develop and ask questions to continually improve who they are. They have vision, values and know their stuff, both technically and professionally. They see value in doing things in the right way. Plans and registers are maintained and reports are always of good quality and on time.

How they behave - Well behaved project managers understand that their position brings with it the need to role model what leadership looks like. They’re empathetic, humble, inclusive, encouraging, approachable and driven. They know how to communicate to every personality and take all of the blame and none of the credit. They take the time to actively listen to others and continually ask for feedback.

What they build - A project manager’s first and most important job is to build a team. They put in thought, energy, enthusiasm, time and money (often their own) to ensure this is done well. The team is united prior to planning and remains so throughout. The project manager delegates appropriately, makes time for new ideas, manages poor performance and ensures that every success is celebrated. The team is respectful, collaborates effectively, provides honest feedback and takes responsibility. Others want to join this team!

For years, organisations have done their best to dehumanise project management and make the measures of success all about the very things that change in projects! Namely the triple constraints of time, cost and scope. 

Only through the Triple Unconstraints can projects and project managers be truly successful. How many sides of the Triple Unconstraints are you or your project managers doing well right now?

The Importance of Being Emotionally Intelligent

There’s a line in the book The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde that resonated with me from an early age. It said, ‘I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can’t go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance.’

As someone who’d left school with very few qualifications and therefore did not attend university or gain any kind of degree, my (perceived) lack of cleverness was something that held me back from gaining jobs for years.

‘Project Manager required, must have degree…’

‘Senior Manager required, must have degree…’

‘Head of Project Management required, must have degree…’

I’d apply for these jobs, clearly stating the value I could add, my achievements, my values and include references from people who’d worked with me, in the hope of overcoming the cleverness hurdle. All to no avail. Most of the time, I never even heard back from these people to say it was my lack of degree (or suitability!) that prevented me from progressing further. A fact that used to annoy me greatly. ‘That’s just no way to treat another human being’ I would say to myself.

What continues to frustrate me about this approach is the fact that it’s fairly noticeable that being clever does not necessarily mean you are good with people – a quality that pretty much every job demands, especially in the field of project management.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I also understand that having no (or few) qualifications doesn’t mean that you are good with people either. I also understand that both cleverness and emotional intelligence (the essential ingredient for being good with people) are required to be truly remarkable at what we do.

It’s just that we very rarely hire for emotional intelligence first and cleverness second. It’s a similar story in the personal development world. We’re still too fixated on cleverness over emotional intelligence, sending people on courses to attain certificates, rather than equipping them with the knowledge about what they’re good at and what they’re not, in order that they can then choose to to change the way they interact with people.

Daniel Goleman said in his book, Emotional Intelligence, that ‘Academic intelligence has little to do with emotional intelligence.’ He went on to prove that, ‘At best IQ contributes about 20% to the factors that determine life success, which leaves 80% to other forces.’

The statistics about the positive impact and importance of being emotionally intelligent are well documented. In one example, AT&T (the telecommunications company) gave staff emotional intelligence training and saw that participants experienced a 10% increase in productivity immediately following the training, 20% increase after six months and 25% increase in the first year.

That’s the level of difference it can provide in terms of getting things done, which also contributes to the impact on the culture of an organisation. Many studies demonstrate the positive correlation between employees high in emotional intelligence and a great company culture. Indeed the Hay & Beer Research and Innovation Group found that 90% of the competencies of 'star' leaders in Fortune 500 companies were determined to be emotionally intelligent competencies.

With the rise of automation, emotional intelligence will become increasingly important and a key differentiator for those looking to establish themselves in leadership positions. Increasingly popular methods such as design thinking and agile techniques rely heavily on interpersonal relationships, active participation and emotional design.

The best people to lead people are those that understand people. Self-awareness, empathy, motivation, variable communication and the ability to influence are vital for those who wish to progress and stay relevant in 2017 and beyond.

Being emotionally intelligent isn’t a ‘nice to have’. It’s a set of critical skills and behaviours that people must choose to change and develop. I look forward to the day when everyone is emotionally intelligent nowadays.

Choose leadership... choose success

The way we work is changing, therefore the way we manage projects needs to change too.

I say this a lot when I speak at conferences and in my training courses. But of course the big problem is that too many people either don’t know how, or don’t make the choice, to lead. Instead they focus on the technical elements of the role. I think making that choice is pretty important – as you can probably tell in this short video...

We see this mythical thing called leadership as being an extension of a new job title or as a line item in the role description.

There are some people who aren’t suited to project management roles or,  to be frank, don’t want them in the first place. Often they are given the opportunity to manage projects based on the length of time they've been with the company. Whilst this might make some sense as a development opportunity, it creates a couple of problems:

People get put in management positions they are not skilled to performNew thinking is absent, leading to stagnation of the team’s culture.

Organisations may try to address point number one by sending the new incumbents on a leadership development course. However, in my experience, there is still very little focus on holding them accountable for the behaviour and communication changes that are needed to become the kind of leader who can inspire and motivate people to success.

The value of any leadership training is only realised in its application and by seeking continuous feedback from the team. 

As Seth Godin said recently: knowing is one thing, acting on it is something else.

Point number two is addressed differently. Often this lack of new thinking isn't evident until it's too late. Poor behaviours, loss of good employees, unproductive processes and failed projects are all signs that the project’s culture isn't set up to learn from its collective mistakes and to sustain future success.

At this stage many organisations panic. They hire people with old-fashioned behaviours to 'rescue' the situation or - and we're seeing this a lot at the minute - they implement a method that they’ve heard works in the hope of getting immediate returns. Hello ‘agile’.

The projects that succeed are led by people who understand the choices that they need to make in order to give good people the space to do great work.

Whilst I’m seeing and hearing about a shift towards a bigger intent to focus on an emotional intelligence led approach, there are still those agencies and organisations trying to fix the problem with strategies that aren’t proven to work.

Earlier this month, the NSW government announced its plan to banish IT project failures by implementing an EPMO (Enterprise Program Management Office). It will be responsible for establishing ‘sector-wide ICT portfolio, project and program monitoring and reporting to improve ICT investment outcomes and confidence in project delivery’.

They must have missed the report from KPMG earlier this year which found that only 25% of PMOs were effective in supporting change. Good leadership would have seen this and not fallen into the same old trap.

In his excellent book Creativity Inc., Pixar boss Ed Catmull said, ‘‘When it comes to inspiration, job titles and hierarchies are meaningless.” He’s right. 

What is inspirational, however, is seeing someone doing something that corrects a behaviour or addresses a mistake that’s been made before. Someone who learns a new skill or adopts a different mindset. Who flies in the face of convention and asks a different question. Who chooses not to create a new fiefdom but to challenge a poor behaviour. And who continually asks for feedback on what could be improved.

As Atlassian Senior Product Marketing Manager Claire Drumond said in a blog recently, “In order to make progress, you have to be willing to change what’s not working and try something new.”

Leadership is a choice and we need more project people to make it, if we’re to stop the rot and start progressing.

Three Traits of Ethical Senior Managers

A question that I’m commonly asked whenever I speak at corporates or conferences is ‘what should I do if a senior manager asks me to change a report?’. My answer is often blunt: “Tell them the answer is ‘no’, but if they want to submit the report with their name on it, then that’s their prerogative as a senior manager.”

Being asked to change the commentary on a report to something that is not representative of the actual status is an ethical decision that many of us find ourselves in. It’s one I had to deal with many times in my career and I remained resolute throughout as I always felt that it called my integrity into account.

Sticking to the absolute truth requires attention to detail, self-awareness and courage. These are qualities that we don’t all have and even when we do it’s hard to display them all the time. However, those that do so have the respect of their colleagues, are fair and balanced in their opinions and sleep well at night!

The South Carolina nuclear reactor project in the US is a high-profile project failure in which a lack of senior management ethics has been laid bare by a recent Securities and Exchange Commission review. The review found that those in charge of the facility (with the full knowledge that the project was likely to fail) still paid themselves $21m of performance bonuses. Much of this bonus money came from customers.

Similarly, the East-West roading project in Victoria, Australia, in 2014. The contract for the construction of this highly contentious link road was signed by the then state government, two months prior to an election. At this time, there was a strong indication that they wouldn’t be re-elected and it was well-known that the opposition were fiercely against the project. But they signed it nonetheless.

In a scathing report into the project’s failure, Victoria’s then auditor general, Dr Peter Frost, found: “The advice provided to the then-government was disproportionately aimed at achieving contract execution prior to the 2014 state election rather than being in the best interests of the project or use of taxpayers' money." 

Worse was to follow. Not only was the state government that signed the contract voted out, but the terms were so bad  it cost the incoming government over $1bn (of public money) to get out of it.

As ever with these big project failures, what followed was some childish political mud-slinging and a distinct lack of public accountability.

These actions are all ethically questionable and yet these kinds of situations are still all too commonplace.

We’ve got a pretty clear idea of what ‘bad’ looks like – but what does ‘good’ look like? Here are three traits that ethical senior managers display:

1.  Treating people in the right way – displaying empathy, being calm under pressure, not talking about people behind their back, not apportioning blame, role modelling behaviours, having a flexible mindset, encouraging participation, being approachable, making time for issue resolution, showing gratitude and humility

2. Adhering to the code of conduct rules and regulations – being health and safety conscious, following recruitment and people guidelines, having the organisation’s best interests at heart during contractual negotiations, being transparent and honest in supplier dealings, not taking ‘kickbacks’ or ‘favours’, understanding the law

3. Performing in line with their role – visible acceptance of accountability, giving autonomy, managing performance, overcoming bias and promoting equality, rewarding good behaviour, continually developing employees and organisation culture, challenging the unethical behaviours of others, enabling quick decision-making, ensuring that projects deliver value

Ethical leaders are a joy to work for. They look after you; challenge you to be better; show you how it should be done; roll their sleeves up when necessary; ensure that the right things are done for the right reasons; have a strong attention to detail; keep things moving; don’t have favourites; ensure equality and relentlessly develop themselves so that they are never ‘out of touch’.

Indeed the 2016 Millennial Survey from Deloitte listed Ethics/Trust/Integrity/Honesty as the second most important factor to the next generation workforce (Employee Satisfaction was number one).

Ethics cannot be delegated and being ethical at all times requires hard work and time. However, in his book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman states that ‘strong ethics translate into higher motivation, zeal and persistence’.

So whilst it may be harder to remain ethical, nobody has ever said that it wasn’t worth it.

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5 Reasons Why Your Project Management Development Program Will Probably Fail

Whilst on a recent trip to the UK an article caught my eye. Headlined ‘CIOs are losing confidence in Agile development methodologies’ it described how over 300 senior IT managers in the US and UK now ‘felt that Agile had become an industry in its own right’. Half of the CIOs went as far as to say that they thought Agile had become an ‘IT fad'.’

My first reaction was to laugh out loud. My second reaction was to feel angry and frustrated. Given that most organisations are at the start of another financial year, I think it’s time to write about what good looks like when it comes to project management development.

According to the Project Management Institute’s Pulse of the Profession report in 2015, only 55% of the respondents said that senior managers within their organisation fully understood the value that project management (as a function of leadership) provides.

However, given that in a PMO Benchmark report in 2016, only 33% of the project managers surveyed felt that soft skills (the very things required to become competent leaders) were an important part of their development, I’m not sure they understand the value either.

It’s a clash of senior management ignorance (‘we’re not going to provide the funds to invest in programs proven to work’) and project management arrogance (‘I have a certificate therefore I have all the knowledge I need’), which provides the perfect conditions for continued project failure.

Here are my five reasons why most programs fail:

1. The Silver Bullet Approach - one course to rule them all

In 2015, The Standish Group, in its Chaos Report, stated that ‘Over the last 20 years the project management field has experienced increasing layers of project management processes, tools, governance, compliance and oversight. Yet these activities and products have done nothing to improve project success.’ 

To reiterate: ‘have done nothing to improve project success’.

And yet, when most organisations plan their development for the year ahead and want to get better at delivering projects, ‘quick-fix’ methods are first on the list.

‘Let’s send everyone on an agile course, that will make us more agile!’

‘Let’s send everyone on a PRINCE2 course, that will make us more disciplined!’

‘Let’s send everyone on a PMP course, that will make us more professional!’

No. No. No. At best it will create a common language that people understand and may streamline the way that information is gathered and processed. However, methods alone will not improve your project success rates or the behaviours of the people that use them.

2. No before/after measurement

According to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast, organisations worldwide spend $50 billion per year on professional development, but only 37% of leaders describe their development programs as ‘effective’. What’s interesting about this statistic, apart from the very obvious waste of money, is the fact that all too often there’s no definition of what ‘effective’ actually looks like?

Projects, traditionally, are measured on their adherence to time and cost constraints, however this is no measure of project management success. Whilst there may be short term gains of hitting these targets, a more human-centred approach to delivery provides longer term gains in terms of leadership development and cultural evolution.

The ability to be self-aware, lead from the front, create a great environment for teams to do good work and keep their stakeholders satisfied are much more accurate, yet are often contentious, because we lack courage when providing feedback.

Only when you measure what good looks like, can you define what it will take to get there.

3. No personal change

In his 2015 report into public sector project failure, Peter Shergold found that: ‘Too often there remains a focus on compliance rather than performance.’ In other words, ‘are you filling the form in?’, not ‘have your behaviours changed?’.

This for me is the biggest reason why project management development programs fail. A project manager’s job is to build a team, build a plan, then ensure that the team delivers against it. In order to do this, they need to be highly self-aware, seek the help of others, be creative when building a team and delegating work and relentlessly deliver in line with the promises made.

In their research in 2013, Zes and Landis assessed organisations whose employees were self-aware against those who weren’t. They found that ‘... from July 2010 through January 2013 the companies with the greater percentage of self-aware employees consistently outperformed those with a lower percentage. Self-awareness… appears to correlate with overall company financial performance. Companies with the greatest percentage of self-aware employees consistently outperformed those with a lower percentage.’

These leadership choices are critical to the success of personal development programs and are the things that should be measured post-program.

As Woody Allen once said, ‘the only thing standing between me and greatness is me.’ 

4. No follow-on development

In a recent blog, American leadership author Seth Godin talked about ‘the express and the local’. He said that while getting there quicker (see point one) may seem cheaper and more effective, investing in something more expensive that takes longer is actually more productive.

Any project management development program worth its salt doesn’t end when those attending leave the classroom. The learning continues every week of every month. Going back to the Shergold report: ‘In addition to formal professional recognition, the availability of ongoing professional development helps practitioners to continually improve their understanding of their field of expertise.’

Programs that work don’t set and forget. They continually share what good looks like and check-in at regular intervals to ensure that the learning is being applied and good practice evolves with the challenges or opportunities the organisation faces as it progresses through the year.

5. They’re run by people out of touch with today’s learning needs

This one may seem a bit harsh, but having been on the receiving end of a couple of these during my time, I can’t tell you how frustrating it is.

Being a trainer can be tough and requires a special combination of characteristics. Trainers have to have high energy, know their stuff and make it interesting for every single person in the room, regardless of their role, position in the organisation or personality. They have to inspire, motivate, educate and entertain, (yes, entertain) those being developed.

They have to be in touch with what’s current in the world of project management and be prepared to share their ideas on what the future holds. It’s not good enough to just ‘know your material’ anymore and deliver it parrot fashion. It needs to be delivered with conviction in a way that addresses the issues that we face now, so that people can leave that training room ready to make an immediate difference (if they chose to do so).

If the programs that you invest in have all five of these elements you can expect an increase in project success factors, improve the satisfaction of stakeholders, retain good staff, attract new ones and craft a reputation for project management excellence.

If you do what you’ve always done, then you’ll get what you’ve always got. Make the choice to be different this year.

Project benefits – Why don't senior managers care?

I was speaking at a project management conference recently and while there I overheard a conversation between two senior managers. One asked the other how they managed to get the benefits they expected from their projects. The other replied that it was hard, and that they hadn’t done it well in at least the last three years. This is an all too familiar story.

A recent KPMG survey in New Zealand found that only 21% of organisations consistently deliver on their benefits. While this is grim reading, it's actually a good statistic compared to a recent global study by the same organisation. That survey found that only 2% of organisations ever get the outcomes they expect from projects.

The New Zealand study also found that half the organisations don’t regularly review the outcomes they get from projects against their strategic objectives.

To be clear –  half the companies surveyed don’t go back and ask themselves whether the projects they agreed they needed to do delivered what was expected in order to take the business forward in the way that they’d planned and that they’re accountable for.

And senior managers wonder why I constantly call them out for being the reason that projects fail?

Let’s be honest here, the reason organisations don’t get the benefits they expect from projects is that the senior managers leading them just aren’t invested enough in what’s being done. Any other reason given is an excuse. They don’t have the honesty, stamina or determination to see it through to the bitter end and ensure that the organisation gets what it expects.

This may seem harsh, but time and time again reviews and reports prove this to be true and I’m trying to light a fire here so that we can collectively change things as we simply can’t carry on like this.

Typically, senior managers make three mistakes:

1. They are overly optimistic about benefits (or over-exaggerate them) in the business case in order to get the funding in the first place

2. The market conditions changed during the course of the project leading to a reduction in what they could expect. However, they decided to carry on regardless

3. They simply don't care enough as leaders to do the hard work to get the benefits once the project has finished.

I’ve seen this behaviour time and time again in my 20 years of working in public and private sector organisations. I continue to see it now. Report after report calls out the lack of attention and focus on outcomes and organisations wonder why they continually need more projects to fix the ones that didn’t deliver what they expected.

Senior managers don’t need to be given a training session on how to navigate through an approvals process or to insist on projects being more agile. They need to be taught what accountability for delivery of projects really means, and how to do it well every single time, starting with visible (and often public) accountability.

Once we start to get the people at the top to care about delivery of outcomes, then maybe we’ll see an increase in the success rates of projects too. Everyone benefits in that scenario.

 

My new book The Project Rots From The Head: How Senior Managers Can Stop Project Failing, Forever is available now.

The Happiest Project on Earth

Last week, I had the great pleasure to speak in front of over a thousand people at CiscoLive at The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. As is traditional in my keynote speeches, I like to jump off stage (literally, although that's getting harder with age) and talk to people to find out what issues they face in the workplace.

There are a number of key themes that emerge wherever I'm presenting, regardless of the country or sector. Top of the list is that people on the end of a project management service don't believe they are receiving a very good one. Service that is. Indeed, in a live survey I conducted during the CiscoLive talk, only 12% of the audience said they could name more than three great project managers.

Fast forward three days and 270 miles from Las Vegas to Anaheim, Los Angeles, and I'm walking around Disneyland with the family, desperately pretending that I'm doing it for them, not myself.

The Walt Disney Company is a huge marketing machine and they don't miss a trick to sell you stuff. Indeed in 2016 they made $13.6bn from their six theme parks alone, which is about $6.2m per park, per day.

It would be hard to make this kind of money if they weren't delivering a service that people genuinely loved, consistently returned for and recommended to others.

The mission of The Walt Disney Company is 'To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information' and you can feel this in absolutely everything they do.

From entering to leaving the park you interact with many employees. Starting with security staff checking your bags, to people forcing you to eat churros with cinnamon sugar at 10pm and everything in between. What struck me, particularly as I write this post-visit, is that every single one of these interactions was exceptional.

Every direction I was given, question I asked, purchase I made, was accompanied by a smile, an easy to understand answer and good wishes for my day/evening that me feel, well, good. I was asked about my accent, what I was enjoying most, whether I needed to know where to buy (or find) water or how long we were staying. I was even told what great children I had, that they are ‘polite and have personalities’... a proud moment! 

Each conversation increased my enjoyment of the overall experience, despite trying to navigate 85 acres of park and having to wait in lines for rides.

I only had one 'run in' with a member of staff, when I tried to take a shortcut to ride an attraction again (I was being agile!). I was firmly reminded of the rules but then told to enjoy the ride. No shouting, no childish admonishment, a simple reminder to do what everyone else was doing.

On the way out I was asked about my experience and whether I had any feedback on the service I'd received or any opportunities for improvement. I told them that the park was spotless, the staff were amazing but that the toilets could be better signposted (they're the things you need to know when you have two young kids in tow).

So what does this have to do with project management?

Well, unfortunately, not enough project managers think about the kind of service they're providing or the kind of person they need to be in order to make their project a pleasurable one.

Often this is because they're being forced into a position where they are trying to deliver the unachievable by senior managers who haven't given them the time to do their job. 

But mainly it's because they don't see themselves as being in service to others. They don't make leadership choices around the behaviours expected of them. They don't spend time, effort and money creating the kinds of teams in which creativity can flourish; and they don't concentrate on providing a project management service of the highest possible quality.

Ed Catmull, President of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, in his book Creativity Inc., said that 'Quality is not a consequence of following some set of behaviours… rather it is a prerequisite and a mindset you must have before you decide what you are setting off to do.'

Getting this service right is critical for our profession to retain the goodwill we have and to repair our reputation around the world. Conscious Project Leaders put themselves in service of others and create the happiest projects on earth.

What are you doing to put yourself in service to others?