Hitting the Box

Michael Aucoin, D. Engr., PE, PMP is president of Leading Edge Management, LLC in College Station, Texas and author of Right-Brain Project Management: A Complementary Approach. He can be reached at [email protected].

  Agile  

It is a widely accepted truth that agile is a relatively recent development in the evolution of project management. Yet thousands of years ago, humans developed a sophisticated system of navigating at sea, a methodology that is nothing if not agile project management. Their skill and their wisdom, known as wayfinding, have much to teach us as we navigate the challenging waters of the agile project.

Anthropologists once believed that the islands of the Pacific Ocean were populated entirely by chance. These islands are scattered across vast expanses of water, and some island groups are so isolated in the ocean that they are almost impossible to find.

Instead, it has been learned that beginning over 10,000 years ago, the people of southeast Asia and Polynesia developed a sophisticated methodology for journeys at sea. Long before navigational instruments were developed, they learned to observe and expertly read the environment at sea--using sophisticated methods for interpreting the sun, moon and stars; and reading subtle signs in the ocean and its birds and fish. There is even an entire vocabulary in their language to describe and interpret clouds.

In wayfinding, navigation must be done by dead reckoning--a crew only knows its position relative to where it has been. At sea, there are precious few fixed landmarks. Therefore, the navigator on any voyage must memorize …

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