Going for PM Gold

 

Although project managers often feel they've been launched into space, it's not pole vaulting. It's an event that demands mastery of multiple skills, self-discipline and flexibility in changing circumstances.

The Olympic event most like project management is the modern pentathlon. In a single day the pentathlete will shoot a pistol, fence against a series of opponents, swim 200 meters, ride a horse and run cross-country. Sounds like a normal day of politicking, estimating, planning, negotiating and leading team meetings, doesn't it?

Added to the Olympics in 1912, the modern pentathlon captures the heroism of a liaison officer during the Napoleonic wars. Racing across enemy territory, your horse is shot out from under you. You defend yourself with pistol and sword, swim a raging river and finally race to deliver your intelligence report to your general. Each event in the modern pentathlon is a sport in its own right, and athletes dedicate themselves to each one. Pentathletes are different. They have to master all of them.

I haven't had to shoot my way into many project review meetings lately. (Out of one, perhaps, but never into one.) Leading successful projects requires the same sense of mission. It demands mastery of a toolbox full of special skills and knowledge. In a single day, the project manager will be called on to bargain for top-flight team members, …

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