Forget the Rearview: What Did You Do Differently Today?
Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.
I sometimes use the analogy of driving a car to make a point about something related to project management. I’m going to do it again, and it often involves me talking about looking through the windshield more than looking in the rearview mirror.
I’ve been managing projects for a long time, and in that time the discipline has changed immensely. As a result, I have also changed as a PM. But if I’m honest, a lot of that change has been forced adaptation and adjustment to what has happened or is happening, rather than a conscious decision to embrace different ways of approaching the role.
I’m not sure that’s the best approach.
Striving for continuous improvement
In the first few years of my career, I always felt as though I was fighting to keep pace with project management. Starting out, I knew nothing more than what I had been taught on a PM 101-style training course.
When I was let loose on real projects, I realized that I was horribly underprepared for the reality of schedules, risks, challenges, stakeholders and team members.
Every new project seemed to present new challenges and new issues that I wasn’t ready for. I had to keep changing how I worked, switching up how I spent my time, and reconsidering what my priorities were. I don’t know how I managed to get through those projects without my manager telling me to try…
Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.
|
"I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate." - George Burns |
