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Taming Wicked Projects [Audio CD]
[9781895186406] |
$14.87 |
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| Displaying 1 to 2 (of 2 reviews) |
Result Pages: 1 |
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| by Eileen Andreason |
Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008 |
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While listening to this audio book, I was struck by something I heard recently about cats. Cats, this source said, have never been domesticated. Cats simply joined human communities centuries ago of their own free will, out of what they recognized to be a mutual self-interest. Humans stored grain, which attracted rodents in greater numbers than they would find in the wild, so they came, ate, and stayed.
Schwab uses dogs and cats to describe different types of projects, and the breadth of this metaphor was amazing to me. "Cat-like projects," Schwab says, are ones that are executed in dynamic, uncontrollable, fast time-to-market environments and can have unclear purposes, shifting goals, competing agendas, scarce resources and inflexible schedules. For historical reasons companies have assumed that they could use "dog-training techniques" to manage these "cat-like projects"--probably because "dog-like projects" came first, and defined the project management field. But guess what--it doesn't always (or even usually) work.
Schwab describes these particularly gnarly innovation-based projects as being not about counting the number of rivets that will eventually hold a bridge together, but more about "shared conjuring"--making it up as we go along, out of thin air. The "wickedness" associated with these types of projects exists because of our expectations--what Schwab calls "the supposed-to's." Schwab very adroitly debunks many of the myths and methods we commonly apply in our well-intentioned but none-the-less misguided attempts to manage these types of projects.
Schwab proposes, instead, a concept she refers to as a "project community." She then goes on to explain how this community forms and behaves, and what the role of the project manager is on these types of projects. A project community is not necessarily "domesticated"--you can't force people to work together toward a common goal, no matter how much power you might think you have over them. But Schwab describes how, by coming to understand some of the (actually very human) characteristics of a project's community, it is possible to nurture the process of self-discovery that is the foundation of motivation. This, in turn, helps the community coalesce in a form of mutual self-interest that will fuel a "purr." The "purr" is the flow of ideas, processes and practices that allow a group of people working together toward a common goal achieve more than the sum of its parts might at first suggest. This amplification effect, or synergy, is both at the heart of very successful innovation-based projects and the dream of every project manager and company.
Those times when your project is "curled up and purring in your lap" are memorable for a project manager. Listen to this CD several times, and augment it with a companion volume, The Blind Men and the Elephant: Mastering Project Work," by David A. Schmaltz, Schwab's business partner and husband. Schwab and Schmaltz make a great team, and will help companies--and especially project managers--learn how to reduce the angst which can accompany an attempt to "inflict" inappropriate management methods on these potentially very exciting and rewarding (that's why we do this kind of work--right?) projects.
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| by Reader Views (Regan Windsor) |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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Have you ever had a project that could be characterized as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and inconsistent? If so, chances are you’ve struggled through what Amy Schwab characterizes as a Wicked Project. “Taming Wicked Projects” will arm you with the skills to recognize the type of project you’re attempting to manage and what you can do to work with, rather than against, the flow of the project.
On the project continuum at one end is what you can characterize as manageable, consistent, predictable, traditional projects. These are what Schwab refers to as the Dog Projects. At the other end of the continuum are those Wicked Projects – or Cat Projects to follow the analogy.
The first step is distinguishing where on the spectrum your project lies – is it a Dog or a Cat project? Some questions that can help you in determining this include:
How clear/ unclear is the purpose?
How stable/ unstable are your goals?
How scarce are the resources?
Is the schedule fixed?
How familiar is the technology?
What is the scope of the project focus?
If you determine it is a Dog-like project you have unlimited resources and techniques at your disposal, your schedule might actually be meaningful, and your work breakdown structures might actually work! You will have a predictable environment – and the traditional project management techniques such as critical path and PERT will be of great value.
If it is a Cat-like or Wicked Project you will be more successful in taming the projects than attempting to manage them. Some suggestions for “Taming Wicked Projects” include:
Embracing them for what they are – challenging and unpredictable!
Pay attention to the context – the project will become clearer as the project progresses – patterns will develop.
It is essential to focus on managing the project through a project community with the Project Leader as a facilitator rather than a manager.
Try to move some of the uncertainties toward stability – understand which of the drivers are moving the project toward Wicked.
“Taming Wicked Projects,” part of “The Project Management Audio Library,” provides essential information for Project Managers or Business Leaders finding themselves in consistently unstable and/or uncooperative projects. It is often the simplistic realization that a spectrum of projects exist, or the understanding that some projects are not built to follow traditional methods, that provide those moments of clarity, enabling us to see beyond the management of a project and toward the facilitation of a goal. “Taming Wicked Projects” provides great value for the small time commitment it demands in return. A must have for project and business leaders!
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| Displaying 1 to 2 (of 2 reviews) |
Result Pages: 1 |
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