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"

Manage Risk through Reuse

Cadbury plans to leverage its enterprise architecture on IT projects by reusing components across independent lines of business. ...

... "Cadbury Schweppes said the aims of the strategy were to improve the way IT delivers projects to the business, to reduce the risks associated with large roll-outs, and to enable the business to adapt more easily and quickly to change. " ...

Via ComputerWeekly: Cadbury Schweppes

Rails to Trails Thai Style

How flexible are your project teams? Check out this flexibility in Bangkok. ...


http://view.break.com/368159 - Watch more free videos

Project Methodologies: Keep 'Em Flexible

Time and time again, I've seen organizations spend months devising the perfect project management methodology, sometimes even building it into their EPM tools, only to find people complain that it slows them down and doesn't add much value.

In many cases, they're right. The problem is that not all projects require every step, and in many cases there are easier ways to accomplish what certain steps are meant to do. Another mistake many people make is forcing task dependencies into the project template, such that design cannot happen until planning is completed, and construction cannot occur until the design is approved, and so on.

While this may be true of some projects, on many others, work does not occur in a linear fashion. For instance, certain segments of a project can udergo development while other segments are still being planned. On agile IT projects, the feedback from prototypes and iterations will often dictate the design, and rightfully so.

When it comes to methodologies, frameworks, and templates, the most effective organizations use one or more of following approaches:

- A methodology and project schedule template that allows project managers the discretion of which steps to apply to their project.

- Multiple methodologies and templates for various types of work, with streamlined versions for smaller or more flexible efforts.

- A methodology that identifies which items are mandatory for all projects versus those that are at the project manager's discretion.

In project management, as in pretty much any field, one size does not fit all.

Change Management Situational

Get aligned, find a champion, and leverage the art of change management to your project situation. ...

... "In my experience, successful projects tend to revolve around a certain type of project manager or coordinator. Someone who really knows the organization, is respected, collects chits constantly, listens well, doesn't personalize disagreement, remains flexible, and generally wraps a friendly persona around a persistent pursuit of project objectives. " ...

Via CMS Watch: Change Management Challenges