“When the Student is ready, the Teacher will arrive”.
My motive is not to boast, but rather to capture here an experience that went well. At the request of my lecturer, I delivered a presentation at University on Tuesday after I made some points on between my own experience and ‘what is not stated’ in the text book and notes for my Project Management class.
In the presentation I leveraged some scenes from some of my favourite DVD’s, 'Apollo 13' and 'Master Commander' to drive home some key points.
The point of the presentation was that the role and mindset of a Project Manager is not the mind of a Technical Lead (or expert).
A Project Manager only needs only conceptual understanding of the key technical aspects of the Project and the ability to ask hard the questions – at the right time. A good PM could lead a project in an unrelated field – and could put a man on the moon if tasked with that mission. The scene I used was when Gene Kranz (Mission Controller played by Ed Harris)) directed his technical people to come to him ‘with a solution and not a problem’ when the air scrubbers were failing.
Secondly, a Project Manager can be friendly with his team – but not a friend. The scene I used was when the young midshipmen was ‘knocked’ by his subordinate, and then lectured by Capt. Jack Aubrey about leadership) being an " 'Unfortunate business’, - You need not be a tyrant – but you cannot be their friend ‘lest they see you as weak’.
In every Project (usually during the 'storming' phase) there is a time when someone with more technical experience than yourself will challenge your Leadership. This has to be 'nipped in the bud' efficiently. Be prepared to remove people with a bad attitude - regardless of their techical capability. No one is irreplaceable. Keep a Professional distance.
Having the opportunity to ‘Captain my own ship' over the past few years, (ie. lead some great IT Projects) – these things are learned only through reflecting on the experiences of yourself and that of others.
I also handed out this sheet, the collective wisdom of a Project Director at NASA which is something not found in text books.
In particular I like rule No. 5:
“Rule #5: Vicious, despicable, or thoroughly disliked persons, gentlemen, and ladies can be project managers. Lost souls, procrastinators, and wishy-washies cannot”.
Anyway, I guess most of this stuff is only really learned (like matters of faith) hen you have experienced it in real-life.
“A proverb is never learned until it is lived”.
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