When Opportunity Knocks; And Nobody Listens

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about a new book titled Strategic Intuition, by William Duggan. It's one I'll have to buy. The article alone is interesting.

The premise is that, while we're busy marching to fixed-goal projects, opportunities pass us by at amazing speeds. Many of the greatest achievements in history were a result of leveraging opportunities, as opposed to long-planned goals or carefully thought-out strategies.

I thought it interesting that Duggan references the genius of Napoleon as an example of opportunistic successes. Napoleon was an anomaly in that he knew the value of planning, yet he wasn't subservient to it. If opportunity knocked, he was all over it. Therein lied his military genius. The French call it Coup D'Oeil. Duggan calls it strategic intuition. We might also call it situational awareness.

Whatever we call it, there are lessons in this for PMOs and project management process bigots. In our efforts to strive for clear goals and planned activities, we must also leave room for experimental efforts where rules are relaxed, and we must know when to let opportunity reign over conservatism. Sometimes the benefits are so great, that we must bear the risks.

Often, PMOs and quality groups can get so caught up in seeking perfection and magnifying risks that they minimize or ignore the benefits. If decisions are made jointly with the customer (who might have a better sense of the opportunities), we can get a more balanced view. No doubt, we need to find more ways to recognize and leverage opportunity.

Here's the article....

Surprised by Opportunity - WSJ.com: "ia"