Mastery Point
How much Chaos is your Fault?
I used to keep a cartoon posted on my wall at work. It said,
“Being a Project Manager is like riding a bike. Except the bike is on fire.
You are on fire. Everything is on fire and you are in hell.”
If I’m being completely honest, it still brings a smile to my face. Perhaps, not because it’s true, but it always flashes in my mind when I hear someone say, “I want to be a project manager!”
There is a definite possibility that unforeseen risks can impact your project in ways you’ve never encountered before (I’m looking at you Covid pandemic). However, there is also a noticeable difference in the frequency of chaotic events when comparing new project managers vs. their more experienced counterparts. This is evident in nearly all places. Even if the project delivery methodology is a total dumpster fire, a more experienced PM will be able to navigate it with less churn.
Therefore, the important question becomes: How much of this chaos and disorder can we take personal responsibility to eliminate? Look, it’s not all of it, but it’s also a non-zero amount. If every day at work is completely putting out fires that could have been avoided, how can you suggest that your system is working correctly? How can you expect your Project Managers to actually have the time to follow it properly? Even the fire department knows that training their public about the prevalent causes of fires and general fire safety practices lessens the likelihood of actual fires. Why wouldn’t you invest even ten percent of the time you spend putting out a fire into making sure it won’t happen again?
The sad fact is that there are plenty of ego-manical workaholics that thrive on the thrill of the churn. The more chaos they can battle, the bigger their “success.” I’m here to say that, “smarter work is better than harder work.” The more efficiently and effectively one can achieve their goal, mentally, physically and emotionally, the more financially and motivationally rewarding their work becomes. Don’t sleep on the fact:
Being able to do one’s job better, makes the job easier!
If you are trying to build a team of people that feel rewarded and valued, it should be evident to them that you consider it part of your responsibility to make their work lives better. I have NEVER argued that a process was unnecessary, but I have pointed out the effort seemed wasted when no one cared enough to actually do something with the results. Are you forcing your team to waste time going through motions that have no real impact on their success? Are they pencil-whipping the documentation and reporting, because they don’t understand how this impacts your decision making? These are sources of chaos that are within your control.
As I’m known for saying, “the algorithm of successful project delivery has a multitude of variables...” Shouldn’t it be your goal to at least understand which of these variables is under control and which are out of control? Wouldn’t your efforts be spent in a more productive way if you knew which of these out of control variables are actually within your control?
If your everyday is total chaos and fire fighting, metaphorically speaking, of course, shoot me a message. Let’s see if there’s something we can do to help put you on track to where you’d like to be headed.
