Why We Pick Leaders with Deceptively Simple Answers

In the Harvard Business Post from May 2016, Gianpiero Petriglieri, wrote an article on Why We Pick Leaders with Deceptively Simple Answers. He opened the question. Mr. Petriglieri makes the point that a growing amount of recent research shows that the more uncertainty we feel, especially about our identities, relationships, and future, the more vulnerable we are to the reassuring appeal of leaders peddling the simplest and most dangerous of narratives.

So what the article really says is that we, as human beings, are drawn to people who give simple, clear and concise messages. That is a truth but also can be vouched for as in 2015, the Harvard Business Review voted Lars Sørensen, the CEO of Denmark-based Novo Nordisk, as the world's top chief executive due to his company's high ranking for both its financial metrics and its performance on environmental, social and governance issues. Why did Mr. Sørensen get this accolade over some of the more notable, marquee-named and controversial CEO’s in the world?

Lars Sørensen came from the operational side of the business. As a CEO and leader his first principle was to change his perspective - to be less operational and more involved in setting the direction of the company. He had to focus more on establishing the tone and the values and personally communicating with those around him. In an interview with Harvard Business Review in Nov 2015, he admitted that was a big transition as he was more comfortable running the business, selling stuff and manufacturing stuff. Now his job is to sell the business to his shareholders and those around him. You could argue that Lars Sørensen is a man that changed his view from the detail of what needs to get done to the objective of keeping his message simple and effective.

 

So for Project, Program and Portfolio management, what can we take from the messaging of Why We Pick Leaders with Deceptively Simple Answers. For me there are five things:

1. Think about your top three priorities to communicate rather than the noise around you
2. Sell the value and talk about value rather than delivery
3. Be interested about those around you and think about those personal relationships
4. Believe in what you are doing and show that. Stick with your guns
5. Take time out and chill out and relax… your value is in being constructive and not exploding

Turlon & Associates (www.turlon.com) have a very successful workshop on the Hidden Skills of a Project and Program Manager which discusses the traits needed for successful leadership in pressurised environments.

Reasons and Solutions for Projects Failing

For over 10 years, the Project Management Institute (PMI) have been conducting research into projects and the rationale or value of project management. Here are some of the findings and trends on why projects are struggling for 2016:

1. In 2016 it was found that there is 5% decline in organisations having a formal Project Management training process 
2. Just 16% of projects have deemed to be a failure to their organisation  
3. 32% of organisations do not have a Project Management Office in place  
4. 41% of projects do have not have an actively engaged sponsor  
5. 43% of organisations do not make use of any standardised project management practice or processes 
6. 44% of organisations report a high alignment with the strategy of the organisation

This year’s results are not very encouraging. It is estimated that 12% of project spend is wasted due to poor project performance and 16% of projects are deemed to have failed.

Most organisations have experienced projects managers. While there are many pitfalls that can sink projects, experience has shown us in Turlon & Associates that there are four basic reasons why projects struggle.

1.     Lack of Visibility of all Projects

A common reason why projects fail is related to visibility. All organisations need access to the right level of information at the right time. There needs to be a consistent flow of communication between the tiers to ensure proper escalation, management and distribution of the right information

The best solutions are a combination of tools, process, and people-based actions that gives a centralised location for publishing all project information. The best tool for the job is to provide a complete enterprise project management solution where all projects are centralised in one database. If the team uses a web based system, then project information may be accessed from remote if team members travel, work from remotely, or need to update information from client offices.

2.     Unclear Project Objectives

Most organisations have more opportunities and project initiatives than they can ever hope to fulfil. Many companies embark upon more initiatives than they probably should which leads to insufficient time being given to define the scope of the objectives.

To avoid this, deploy a portfolio prioritisation to avoid too many initiatives been given to project managers without thought or detail. Some of the largest and most sophisticated corporations have risk assessment prioritisation whose objective is to evaluate all the possible opportunities of the organisation and determine which initiatives have the most revenue potential.

3.     No Visibility into Resource Workload

Following the lack of project prioritisation are usually overloaded resources. It is a circular problem as well. That is, because executive management has no visibility into all of the projects and tasks the team is performing, they are often working under the belief that the organisation can achieve more than it is capable of in terms of sheer workload.

To alleviate this, enterprise resource management should be used. To most organisations, this can be a good system worked out using spreadsheet software. There are many other ways to uncover what resources are working on and when. The simplest tool is to use a white board with a daily grid displaying the task being performed and the team member that is working on that task.

4.     Gaps in Communication

Once a project is in full swing, a common issue is communication. Most project teams use email to communicate about their projects and tasks. The biggest complaint here is that project communication resides in each individual's email box. So, if a new resource joins the project, there is no centralised view of the project history.

Centralised and structured communication is a must and should be the main priority for any project manager. It helps to resolve questions and issues that arise on projects and tasks.

Solutions to these common issues are a combination of people, processes and tools. There is no 'magic button.' The common goal is to achieve results that will make the statistics on project failure reduce.

Turlon & Associates (www.turlon.com) are leading providers of program management consultancy and training services

Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) Questions

Are you interested in doing PMI’s Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) certification? If so, here are some of the toughest ACP® questions that we have come across.

Turlon & Associates (www.turlon.com) next Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) preparation course is being held in Dublin, Ireland on 5th to 6th September 2016. Our course outline can be viewed here

Question 1

At a sprint review meeting (demo), the product owner reviewed the working software and indicated that it does not fully meet what was required in the user story. Which of the statements below is not accurate?
 
A. This should not happen because the Product Owner is expected to verify and approve working software prior to the demo
B. This may have happened because acceptance criteria for this user story were not defined in sufficient detail to avoid ambiguity
C. A possible cause is that the Product Owner was not really available to the team during the Sprint
D. There is nothing wrong with the situation if the team's definition of done does not include Product Owner verification and acceptance

Question 2

Cognitive intimacy allows teams to better understand individual perceptions, thoughts, frames of reference and general reactions. Aside from this beneficial attribute, why is it imperative that managers coach their teams to communicate through some degree of cognitive intimacy?
 
A. Cognitive intimacy not only allows team members to identify group level misunderstandings but also helps members to remedy those misunderstandings before they become serious issues
B. Team members who are cognitively intimate have the ability to better calculate potential issues with project processes before they become serious
C. Cognitive intimacy allows team members to better understand each team member's individual intentions in behaving a certain way
D. Cognitive intimacy allows managers to better understand group level mistakes at a macro-level

Question 3

An agile team is beginning a new release. Things are progressing a little slower than they initially estimated. The project manager is taking a servant leadership approach. Which of the following actions is the project manager most likely to do?
 
A. Create a high-level scope statement and estimates.   
B. Intervene in non-productive team arguments.   
C. Do administrative activities for the team.   
D. Demonstrate the system to senior executives.

Question 4

Two of your expert team members have been in a heated argument over the use of new software plug-in. Now, recently you noticed that the argument, instead of increasing creativity is bringing in conflict between the team members. All of the following statements about a conflict are false EXCEPT:
 
A. Conflict resolution should always be done by scrum master 
B. Conflict is a team issue 
C. We should not have conflict in team 
D. Conflict resolution should focus on personalities

What are the Program Management Challenges?

As part of a project and program management consultancy company, I visit companies which both struggle and succeed with program management. I sometimes stand back and ask myself the question, "why"? Why does program management fail or doesn't have a presence in this company? I do not believe company's overall problems in program management can be attributed to specific tools or techniques or even the process of working. To me the problem stems from a culture of acceptance and need. Let me explain this. Do you or your company believe program management to be a vital part of the company's overall performance? If the answer is YES, then you will be more successful than a company who considers it irrelevant. In other words, program management needs to be an integral part of the corporate culture.

Let's consider some of the challenges / barriers to successful adopting of a program management culture within any company:

• Develop knowledge – your people can simply lack the basic knowledge of what program management is trying to achieve. I do not run into too many companies anymore with a total absence of knowledge in this regard. The conceptual foundation of program management has been around for a number of years. But the gap in knowledge is not what program management is, but how it will be adopted to drive success through the organisation.

• Lack of organisational view – adopting a formal approach to program management and showing how it links with project management and strategic management is a must. A company that does not adopt a formal structure / process for program management will struggle. Consequently, informal and inconsistent approaches to program management are used with mixed results. This is a much more common occurrence than finding a company devoid of knowledge in program management.

• Poor connection to strategic management - People seem to naturally underestimate the magnitude of program management and what it can achieve. For example, program management is another level of business management and should be treated as such. Program management should be used to run the business and deliver the strategy of the business. This is the primary purpose of what textbooks say. However, program management needs to be adopted to deliver value on how strategy can be delivered on.

It must be remembered that program management is first and foremost a philosophy of management, not an elaborate set of tools and techniques, nor is it an administrative function. Rather, it is concerned with managing an organisation towards the accomplishment of whatever it has set out to do. As such, program management will only be as effective as the people and structures that are used.

Ultimately, program management represents discipline, organisation, and accountability within a multi-project environment. 

Turlon & Associates (www.turlon.com) are leading providers of program management consultancy and training services