What is a Project? Think Again!

Max Wideman’s very impressive Comparative Glossary of PM Terms contains 23 different definitions of the word project – all written by very knowledgeable people. Creating a sticky definition of the word “project” (a sticky definition is one that can be easily memorized by a general audience) requires battling the Curse of Knowledge. The Curse of Knowledge is the result of forgetting what it’s like NOT to know what you know. The more you know, the stronger the curse. That’s why truly sticky ideas often come from unexpected sources, and different fields. (Unexpected is one of the Made to Stick principles.) In my opinion, the very best definition of the word project comes from personal productivity guru David Allen, in his brilliant book Getting Things Done. Here it is...

• A project is any outcome you’re committed to achieving that will take more than one action step to complete.

Why is this a great definition?

(1) This definition is water tight. Unlike the other 23 definitions, I can’t think of a single exception to this definition. (If you can, please post a comment.)

(2) The word outcome covers a lot of PM territory. The word outcome includes the concepts of “deliverables” and “creating unique products, services or results.” It applies to your garage project and it applies to “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.”

(3) The word action captures an essential element of every project – making progress one discrete step at a time.

(4) The word committed filters out activities that are not projects.

(5) The three key words outcome, action, and committed are simple and concrete (two more Made to Stick principles).

Most of the definitions in Widemans’s glossary define projects as the way very knowledgeable people LIKE TO MANAGE projects, especially large ones. Knowledgeable project managers like clear specifications (or user stories), they like budgets and change control, they like project-friendly cost accounting, they adore network schedules (or iterations), they like to manage risk, they manage resources, they create return on investment in their project portfolio, etc. There's nothing incorrect about any of these ideas, but these XL clothes don’t fit very well on small projects. After all, small projects are projects too, and there are far more small projects than there are large ones!

Example: If we are visiting a science museum (just a casual visit) it is certainly not a project. However, if we are committed to organizing a safe, enjoyable learning experience at the science museum for a large group of Third Graders, our project is the set of actions that we take to achieve this intended outcome. It isn't about abstractions like temporariness and uniqueness. This project does not have a budget, it doesn’t have a logic-driven schedule network, there’s no accounting system, there are no deliverables, we might repeat the adventure every school year, and it isn’t formally risk-managed or resource-managed. But anybody that has organized a major field trip for a large group of kids knows that it is indeed a project! Why? Because it has an intended outcome, it has action steps, and it requires commitment.

David Allen's definition deserves to be in the Hall of Fame of Sticky Ideas.

P.s., Thanks for reader Kurt U. for prompting this post.

Made to Stick -- for project managers

Projects are about implementing new ideas, but it's difficult -- sometimes incredibly difficult -- to translate new ideas into new action. For this reason, the book Made to Stick is a "must read" for project managers and project sponsors. This book will entertain you, but more importantly, it will compel you to be a better communicator. Written by brothers Dan and Skip Heath, this book describes two communication skills:
(a) Find just one core idea. Experts in any subject find this very hard to do, because their enemy is the Curse of Knowledge.
(b) Follow a six-step checklist to make the core idea "sticky." The six steps are summarized by the words Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotional, and Stories.

I have written a two-page book review for project managers (PMI Tulsa Chapter, June 2007 newsletter, pp. 10-11.) Also, check out the Heath Brothers' blog.

Made to Stick is a book that will transform the way you communicate ideas, and the way your team translates ideas into action.

Just the Facts: Evidence-Based Management

I recently read an enlightening book by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, titled, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management.

The premise of the book is that many organizations follow the guru du jour, or manage according to the book of "someone said so." As the book points out, if we only looked at the evidence, we'd see that may of these so-called truths are anything but.

Here are some examples of the lessons the book has to offer, always supported by evidence:

1) Forced ranking of employees doesn’t work, especially where people’s performance depends on interdependence with others. Furthermore, a survey of over 200 HR professionals by the Novations Group found that forced ranking (employed by more than half of the companies) resulted in lower productivity, injustice, skepticism, less employee engagement, reduced collaboration, lower morale, and mistrust in leadership.

The authors add that, if an organization trains people right and places them in an effective system, there’s no reason why 10 or 20 percent would automatically become incompetent every year.

2) Beware of your biases as a manager. Studies of NBA drafts showed that players picked earlier and paid more were less likely to be traded and had longer careers, regardless of their actual performance.

3) In the war for talent, don't forget that bad systems cause far more damage than bad people. Try redesigning systems and jobs before judging individuals. And don’t give people objectives unless the system and staffing can support it.

4) Watch out for dangerous incentives. One organization's salespeople shipped too far ahead of schedule just to win a prize. Some salespeople would hold customer returns in the trunk of their car so they still get their commission for that period. Others opened bad credit accounts because any order counted as a good order. In another company, incentives to complete truck routes early led to increased accidents and overloading of trucks to avoid multiple trips.

5) Strategy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Operational execution often has a greater impact on performance. The CEO of Wells Fargo once said, “I could leave our strategic plan on a plane and it wouldn’t make any difference. No one could execute it.” In U.S. football, virtually every play is designed to go for a touchdown. Unfortunately, reality gets in the way, as do mistakes in execution.

The authors point out that time spent pursuing strategic options could be better spent solving operational problems or focusing on customer needs. Organizations such as eBay and Intel use a “learn as you go” approach, putting something in the market and tweaking accordingly. Doing the right things is important, but not at the expense of doing them effectively.

6) Many changes, including mergers and acquisitions, ERP implementations, Six Sigma programs, Business Process Reengineering, cost cutting initiatives, and others, carry risks that outweigh the benefits and can be easily misapplied. People tend to underestimate the costs and overestimate the gains.

However, if it is determined that the change is still needed, the authors suggest we:

a) Ensure dissatisfaction with the status quo (i.e. the burning platform)
b) Communicate the same message repeatedly about the need for the change
c) Express extreme confidence in the change, but listen to concerns and adjust accordingly
d) Expect setbacks, errors, and miscommunication; Learn from it and revise processes. Never point fingers.

7) Based on proven evidence, in order to gain respect and trust, leaders should:

a) Act "as-if" - Be sure to act and talk like a leader
b) Have some sense of modesty. Understand the difference between knowledge (knowing things) and wisdom (knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know).
c) Know when to get out of the way.
d) Above all, be an architect of systems, teams, and cultures.

These are but a few of the valuable nuggets in the book. The book offers additional tips as well, plus loads of supporting stories, examples, and research. Perhaps most valuable is the chart on the various types of changes and risks associated with them. I highly recommend this book to all leaders.