The Merlin Exercise
Mike Griffiths is an experienced project manager, author and consultant who works for PMI as a subject matter expert. Before joining PMI, Mike consulted and managed innovation and technology projects throughout Europe, North and South America for 30+ years. He was co-lead for the PMBOK Guide—Seventh Edition, lead for the Agile Practice Guide, and contributor to the PMI-ACP and PMP exam content outlines. Outside of PMI, Mike maintains the websites www.LeadingAnswers.com about leading teams and www.PMillustrated.com, which teaches project management for visual learners.
According to legend, Merlin the magician was a great help to King Arthur because he knew what was going to happen next since was living his life backward. This allowed Arthur to avoid obstacles and thwart enemy plots before they happened, or were even schemed of.
Project managers can benefit from engaging the team in backward planning from the desired end-goal through the required deliverables to where they are today. The “Merlin Exercise” is the name given to a group-based, reverse planning activity that does just this. On agile projects, the exact end-point may not be known as some requirements will likely evolve as new details emerge. However, the Merlin Exercise is great for iteration planning and release planning where the end-goal can be described.
To use this process, start by describing the final solution with all the components and success criteria completed. Next, get the team to list all the technical attributes that must be in place to support this. Then, moving backward, brainstorm each successful step that occurred to produce the desired outcome. Ask the team what the likely roadblocks for each of these steps might be and then ask how they would best be overcome.
The real power of the Merlin Exercise comes from imprinting an image of success, seeing solutions to potential roadblocks that may occur and starting with a picture…
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