Chuckie’s not a monster

I am going to call out a team member in this post. To protect his identity, I won’t tell you his middle name. Anywhoo … Chuck [?] Bryan exhibits behaviors that deserve recognition:

• He calls people directly on the phone to discuss complex topics.
  
• Even when he disagrees with me, I feel like buying him a beer.
• He properly prioritizes the workload on his desk.
  
• He plays nice with the other kids in the sandlot.
  
• When he takes an action, he writes it down.
• He’s a closer - he gets things done.
• He knows when to start talking.
  
• He knows when to stop talking.
  
• He tells me ‘No.’
  

On the last point, who do you like better: a) the team member who tells you ‘yes’ and than chronically fails to deliver or b) the team member that flatly refuses to do some task? Today, Chuck told me, “Nobody cares about this particular deliverable, except you ... I’m not going to do it.” After the initial jolt of indignation, I had to acknowledge to myself that he was right.

Did I mention that Chuck is the offering manager for six solutions that will announce 4Q? While shepherding those offerings, he's engineering changes to our solution edition process to scale our operations with fewer resources. He's relentless about finding ways to circumvent unnecessary Process Scope.

Give me 10 Chucks and 10 “Nums” and I’ll beat our competition senseless.

Balmy Breezes and Blackberries

We enjoyed a family reunion on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina this week. I'm an introvert so I don't feel comfortable in large gatherings, but Doris and Walter (my in-laws) were clever enough to rent a home with this view out the back window.

Here's a few things that caught my eye or touched my heart on the trip:

• Dolphin swam by the dock every morning to say 'hey' and to remind me that we aren't the only intelligent creatures on this earth. They told me to tell you to break away from your computer every once in a while to step outside and feel the sun on your face.
• Long, uninterrupted, unhurried, unforced, chats with the family. Jim discussed his breakthrough idea about personal growth that he calls "Crisis to Creation." In a nutshell, his principle states that people often need a crisis to force them to abandon their current life course. But once they do, they often find an infinitely more rewarding mission. I know that it is a good idea because I kept asking myself, "Will it take a crisis for me to throw away my Big Blue security blanket and start work on something new?"
• Dad looked great and in the best of health. The walks on the beach gave all of us a little more zip in our step.
• I brought along two emergency beers and they were sorely needed. The risk mitigation planning we do in project management saved me again.

"Key lime pie - a magnificent study in balancing the sour with the sweet."

• My only decision for this week was whether or not I should gobble up real key lime pie or Blackberry ice cream for desert at night. This is the first time in years that I've said "blackberry" and didn't think about something buzzing in my pants.
  
• You had to see Chris, Elke and Doris in the kitchen preparing meals. There was no designated leader just a chaotic symphony of motion that produced consistently excellent meals ... which confirms my premise that mothers make natural project managers. You put my brothers and me in a kitchen with knives and tell us to make something and I guarantee that there is only one person standing at the end of the hour.

It's going to be hard to focus my mind on my October solution launches. I feel slow, lethargic and oh so happy. I think I'll live on virtual island time for a few more days.

NEVER Try this at Work

I was on a long drive with my brother and his girlfriend Kim. We were swapping tips about improving relationships and dealing with difficult people. Kim offered this gem:

When you are discussing your issues or concerns, turn off the TV go to a neutral place like the kitchen table and make sure that one part of your body is touching. Before your mind goes off in the wrong direction, it can be your hand or a barefoot touching, just make sure that one part of the body makes physical contact.

I looked up the word touch in Webster’s and the first definition states, “Handle or feel gently usually with the intent to understand or appreciate.” Why do you touch soft silk? Because you just love the smooth, cool feel. In other words, you appreciate the material. Why do you hold hands when you walk with your date or mate? Holding hands makes it hard to get around fixed posts, but again there is an element of appreciation in that simple gesture.

I think that a simple touch can be a powerful tool to reach a compromise when you disagree on an important issue because it reminds you that your appreciation for that other person is more important than winning the argument.

I hear some tips and say to myself, “I’d like to try that.” I heard this tip and said, “I have to try it.”

Remember when you wore diapers?

My Mom was 19 years old when this photo of her and Dad was taken holding my oldest brother, Jimmy. I wasn’t born yet.

Do you think she was properly trained for the heavy responsibilities that lay ahead? She wasn't. She didn't even know that she would charter five more kids and run those projects synchronously. Yet she is content and confident in this pic. You can see it in her eyes. Even the chubby baby knows he’s safe. There’s no fear or anxiety about the future. There is only promise ahead. She’s got the leader look down cold because she also adds that intangible aura of genuine concern for the chubby baby. Do you see it? It’s not about her taking a pretty picture. It’s about her family.

Now let’s compare pics. Sam Palmisano wears the mantle of a leader by virtue of his amazing technicolor title: Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. I’m not making that up. He’s an amalgam of three top dogs in one! A Chairman, el Presidente, and a c-class executive. The combined titles scream, “This is a LEADER!”



Carefully examine his face in this photo. He’s got the funky “smile for the camera” unnatural pose. Does he look confident? Does he welcome the future and the unexpected twists that it will bring? Does he make you feel safe and cared for? of course, I could just as easily pick on myself. My picture says, "I did something really bad today and I'm waiting to get caught." But this rant isn't about pictures at all. It's about people who care for each other. Leaders care. And Leaders are cared for.

The essence of a leader
I’m biased, but I contend that my Mom sets the highest bar for leadership in the technology industry because she somehow convinced me that today is going to be a good day. So is tomorrow. She told me that I was ready for the future and that I would be successful. Most important, she let me know that there is always someone in this world interested in me and not just my project.

To all of the battle hardened executives in this company who think that I’m talking about soft skill mushy nonsense here, I challenge you to pull out the photo with you in diapers cradled in your Mom’s arms. Did you ever feel more comfortable about the future than you did then?

Mothers Make Natural Project Managers: Part 3

My Mom took the grandkids to Brice Canyon, Utah last week. The kids were scared to take the trail ride; they had never ridden a horse before. My Mom told them that if they’d do it, she’d do it. I've heard her say those words to me many times. Once she challenged me to a straight up 400 m race around my high school track to help me prepare for the Latin Forum. Stop laughing, I almost died.

Her challenge this week at Brice had everybody, including a 71 year old grandma, on the dusty trail in five minutes. She forced them to capture a life moment that was dangerously close to evaporating. I don’t know who was more excited, the kids or Mom, when she called me last night to tell me about her first horse ride.

Mom’s still challenging us to take risks. Or maybe she’s simply challenging herself. In either case, Leaders are willing to jump in and live life with you.

Mothers Make Natural Project Managers: Part 2

I called Mom some years ago when I felt an urge to leave my IBM cocoon and told her that Cisco, a company down the road, offered me a job (when they were just starting up). I could continue to work on a big blue crappy 6611 router or jump ship and work for high flying Cisco. The call went like this:

Me: “Mom, this cool fast growing company called Cisco offered me a great job with stock options. Should I take it?”
Mom: “What does Cisco do?”
Me: “They make routers.”
Mom: “You should take the job. You’ve always been good with wood.”

It really wouldn’t matter what Cisco did. If they had made shortening, my Mom would have said, “You’ve always enjoyed good food.”

Mothers are exceptional leaders because they want you feel good about the decisions you make. They also tell you that you can do anything. And believe it.

Mothers Make Natural Project Managers: Part 1

I’m a momma’s boy. I call my Mom every week just to hear her voice, get her views on important decisions, and ask her for $20 for gas. We don’t talk long. We have mutual hang-up pact after five minutes. Click we’re done. Those five minutes are important to me.

My Dad was the undisputed head of the household, but Mom quietly ran the whole show behind the scenes. She taught me to tie my shoes, balance a checkbook, play baseball, fold shirts. Who forced me to sit at the table every night and do my homework? Mom. Who once pinned all six of my brothers, sister and me at one time in a wrestling death match? Mom.

Leader’s don’t complain
Mom has all the answers to the thorny problems in life. For example, I once called her for advice on raising my daughter. In truth, I wasn’t looking for advice. I just wanted to complain about how hard it is to raise a kid nowadays. She quickly set me straight, “Tell it to someone who doesn’t know better. Do you really think that you and your brothers were angels? Your Dad used to say that raising you kids was ‘like raising a litter of six Dobermans … all rabid.’”

Why do we feel that complaining somehow makes a situation feel better? It feels like everybody is walking around with the “need to vent.” Take your situation at this moment, for example. Right now, you’ve got pressure from the job and from the home front. Something is causing you pain or anxiety. You complain about that issue to anyone who will listen. We’re all behaving like nobody’s seen the troubles we’ve seen.

Call my Mom and she’ll set you straight. The conversation will likely end with “Stop complaining and do something about it” or “toughen up you big baby.” She’s earned the right to dispense this tough love counsel because I never heard her say that her problems were unique. I never heard her grumble about how hard it was to raise six rowdy kids. When I was expelled from High School, she responded: “You’re going to work with your dad [a mechanic] on boat engines in the Florida heat from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm while you enjoy your time off school.” Dad got free labor. I learned the value of staying in school.

Leaders don’t complain. They just roll with the punches.

Scope Creep

When I talk about "scope creep" does my team think I'm talking about a person?

Now a Word From Our Sponsor

TO: Team Members

FROM: Sponsor

You have been selected to participate on the new [project name] team led by John. The team will meet once per week. The activities performed by this team will include:

• Defining the project requirements for each decision gate.
• Committing a closed plan to deliver project scope on [x date].
• Sponsoring change requests to modify product plans based on significant changes to the committed baseline.
• Communicating project status for your deliverables with the project manager to confirm that we have alignment of the piece parts.
• Highlighting project risks in a timely fashion.

You have been selected to participate on this team because you have the knowledge and experience to make important contributions to this initiative. If for any reason you feel that you will not be a productive representative on this team, just let Eddie know.

Regards,
Cornelius Vanderbilt

__________________________________________

Here are the important elements of this letter:

1. Communicates meeting frequency
2. Defines activities
3. Sets expectations
4. Establishes referential authority


Moments after this letter was sent, it became readily apparent that some members of the team never agreed to support your project. How often do you hear, “I don’t have the time for this, go away?” Yes, this letter will trigger an avalanche of resistance from employees who never signed up for the assignment. That’s the beauty of using this letter, since it flushes out resistance early in the process so that you can deal with it.

If a team member’s workload is constrained, then become an advocate for that team member and ask his/her manager to reprioritize that person’s work. Functional managers and sponsors who tell the employee to “just do it” are your worst enemy. You should never be the source of a major work/life balance issue in your team and you shouldn’t have to beg and cajole resources to help. Use your sponsor to help resolve these resource issues.

Big ears .... little brain

They say that owners start to look like their dogs.

My dog Andy has very large ears.

He doesn't use them.

"Shutup!" is bad word in our house

I fell in a rabbit hole during a meeting this week ... someone started to "data gather" and before we knew it our time was up before we could cover the full agenda. How I wanted to stand up with arms outstretched and yell, "Shutup!" several times during the call, but it was a telecon so the dramatic acting would have been lost on the audience. Besides, my Mom would have probably heard me and driven 8 hours straight up from Florida just to slap me on top of the head.

Nonetheless, the word "Shutup" was flashing like a neon sign in my mind even if I lacked the gumption to yell it. Does the fact that I'm thinking the bad word matter? The answer is 'Yes' because thoughts lead to action; it's the thought that moves us precipitiously close the bad manners cliff. So what can I do to control my thoughts? Hmmm ...

John's Self Indulgent Rules for Meeting Behaviors

If I could rewrite the rules for meeting behavior, here's what my list would look like:

1. Please help me control my bad thoughts - keep the meeting focused and on track.
2. Join the meeting on time so that we don't have to retrace our steps to bring you up-to-speed.
3. Schedule side meetings with core team members to properly vet complex topics.
   
4. Schedule the side meetings yourself (I'm not your admin assistant).
   
5. Better yet, don't schedule a side meeting. Pick up a phone or walk on over to the person and talk.
6. Talk into the wee hours of the night. Explore the subject for as long as you like with every interested person, but do it outside of my meeting.
   
7. Come to my meeting with a crisp summary or proposal of the topic at hand.

As I review this list, it sure does feel a bit harsh. Shame on me.

Mind Your Own Business

It may be difficult for the technical Project Manager to mind his or her own business. Let me explain. Functional employees (say programmers) are like the engineer on a locomotive. It's a great job. You get to pull levers and stick your head out the window. You are on the front line. You are the first to see an obstacle on the tracks ahead. Very exciting. Many PMs just love to ride in the front locomotive and diddle with the levers. These PMs tend to slow project delivery. Other figurehead PMs like to ride in the front cab just to pull the steam whistle. In either case, these PMs riding in locomotive bother the real engineer.

The mature project manager recognizes his critical role on the project train and stays out of the locomotive cab. Like a train conductor, the project manager is the focal point for project communication. He or she coordinates activities, communicates status, and marshals the resources to respond to emergencies. He supervises rail service to ensure that the train runs efficiently and on schedule. Unfortunately, some of these key responsibilities are neglected when the PM is riding in the front blowing the whistle.

I'd argue that successful PMs let the crew do their job while he or she focuses on developing a high performance team. You are probably on a team right now. How much time does your PM spend developing the team? I'm guessing that the number is exceedingly low <5%. Is that the proper balance? How do you develop a team? It's not as simple as facilitating introductions between all of the team members, folks.

On the Cannball Express project, we're going to deliberately tip our hat to soft skills. We're going to explore the nature of team development throughout the journey. Let's see how it plays out.

Climb Aboard the Canonball Express

Welcome. Climb Aboard

Beginning with this blog entry, I'm going to take you on a real live project journey from the boarding station to final destination. For the purpose of this blog and to protect the innocent, let's call this project Cannonball.

Who knows how this journey will end? Will the team get along? Will stakeholders help or hinder progress? Will this project make money for the company? I'll just report the facts as I see them and together you and I can share lessons learned along the way. If you are looking out our project window and you see a potential obstacle ahead, I expect you to warn me.

Project Summary

• Cross Brand Solution that integrates software, hardware and services
  
• Final decision arbitar: Don't know yet. With three brands involved, every decision could be a dog fight
• Scope:
• Perform integration tests and performance validation
  
• Create auotmation scripts to install and configure the solution
• Time: target launch in November
• Team:
• Geographically dispersed virtual team
• Morale: Very high. I hear a brass band playing on the kick-off station platform and free donuts are luring unsuspecting team members on to the project train.
  

Challenges:

• Securing hardware for test. It aint cheap.
• Cross function coordination. Can't we just get along?
• Fulfillment process may require invention.
• Pricing process may require invention.
  
• A strong date constraint: launch a pilot in just a few month.
  

Take your seat and enjoy the ride.

The best years of my life

My wife and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary this weekend. She's still gorgeous. Me ... not so much.

She bought me two presents which is cunning because no matter what I bought her, she had me one upped. Her presents to me: a blown up framed picture of the book I wrote and a canoe for our lake. It was the second gift that left me a bit puzzled. She's been begging me to get her a canoe for years and now she buys me one? It reminded me of the time I bought my mom a football when I was twelve. Every day during that summer, I'd yell, "Hey Mom, can we borrow your football?"

No resources ... No problem

I don't have formal sponsorship for the projects that I work on. I usually tin cup for resources. Strange enough, people always seem willing to help! And that's starting to bother me. I am sensitive to the fact that nobody in IBM is just sitting on their hands. So their commitment to support me usually means that they will be working more overtime than they are already. It's sad to see how helping me hurts them.

Common sense tells you not to start a project without a committed sponsor and a formal kick-off after funding and resources are secured. That's why I'm actively trolling for a sponsor who has the political clout, financial resources and interest to properly support my next project. I've tapped my network of friends for long enough. It's time to bring my skunk work projects above board!

Tip to start meetings on time

Meetings in my company chronically start ten minutes late. Why? Because nobody ever says, “Please make an effort to be here on time.” Instead, people say “it’s Okay” or shrug it off until tardiness becomes an institutionalized behavior. What is going wrong here? Why doesn’t a published list of guidelines stop the bad behaviors? The answer is that guidelines are worthless unless someone enforces them. Lists don’t stop bad behaviors. Leaders do.

In practice, people look to the project manager to be the gatekeeper or meeting cop. Most people don’t feel comfortable counseling other human beings about bad behaviors. It's not a skill taught in business school. As the PM, if you tolerate bad behaviors, you will lose the respect of your team. So tell your team that you are going to make a serious effort to start your meetings on time and finish 5 mins early (as a courtesy to give them time to stretch before their next meeting).

Here's a practical tip to get your start your recurring team meeting on time:

1. Create an instant message Group with everyone who participates in your recurring meeting
2. Send an announcement to everyone in the group to remind them, "Our meeting will begin promptly in 5 mins."

Note: Instant message tools (AIM, Sametime, Messenger) will differ in how they broadcast a single chat message to multiple recipients. Refer to the user guide for instructions.

Don't teach your wife project management

My wife Christine asked me for status on checking the car tires for proper air pressure.
"It's a recurring task ... it needs to be done every month."
"You know you consume more gas when the pressure is low."
"Can I count on you to do it without follow up from this point forward?"

My responses:
"Mark it zero percent complete."
"What's the dollar impact?"
"No you can't. Welcome to my world."

Managers who yell are confusing people with horses

One etymology of the word “manage” is from Latin manus, hand. The word was originally used by the French to mean to “train a horse in its paces.” Picture a trainer in a fenced ring slapping a horse on the butt to make it canter, trot or gallop.

Managers who yell are confusing people with horses.

It's not worth my time

Have you ever noticed that people who are aren't very handy usually say "It's not worth my time?" when prodded to do a project around the house?

I used the "It's not worth my time" excuse when my wife asked me to fix something the other day. I was lying on the couch watching a basketball game when the words slipped out.

Have you ever noticed that we are always doing something stupid when we say "I'ts not worth my time?"

The Presentation Salt Mine

I entered the deep, dark presentation salt mine this week to produce a slide deck that presents options to deal with a thorny issue. Several of the options were ... well ... silly. For example, an executive asked us to double the headcount to cut the schedule in half. I can't recall the last time somebody asked me to do that. Most managers now recognize that people are not interchangeable parts, that there is a learning curve to bringing new people on board, and there is communication overhead to leading a larger crew. In short, there no straight line math between resources and schedule.

In any case, we exercised every option to demonstrate our ability to do completed staff work. The slide deck was then reviewed by multiple layers of management in a beautifully choreographed dance of meetings, edits, and updates. One executive with a touch of formatting flair even added a cool blue arrow pointing from one place to another! The finished product was truly elegant. In the reflection on my computer screen, I could see my mouth was slightly ajar as I gasped in awe at the creation.

Slide Junkies

Although the presentation salt mine did produce a stunning work of art, I'm mindful that Lotus Notes will automatically throw it in the trash (delete it) in another three months. I was left to wonder if all the work to produce the deck was worth the cost? Would it have been possible to discuss this topic with no slides? I know that I'd feel a little exposed without my PowerPoint Protection (PPP) force field, but the truth is ... there was nothing on the slides that couldn't be discussed interactively with an archaic process known in the 20th century as face-to-face communication. And here's where I experienced a revelation: when you give a presentation using PowerPoint, people are looking at the slides ... not at you. Maybe we use slides unconsciously to deflect attention?

Let's Just Talk

I challenge progressive managers to accept and encourage fireside chats where you discuss a topic with very little slideware. That cultural change could have any impact on IBM's bottom line. I recognize that executives are busy people and we shouldn't waste their time with ill conceived proposals. So all parties must be prepared. Likewise, they shouldn't waste our time by jamming us into a presentation salt mine for countless hours. After all, there is an opportunity cost to producing slides since the people creating them aren't doing value add work.