Rules for Surviving a Project Zombie Apocalypse

Rob Saxon is a Project Management Professional, Certified Information Systems Auditor and a trained Six Sigma Specialist. Rob is currently developing methods to integrate project management into previously unexplored areas of business.

  Requirements Management   Risk Management   Scope Management   Strategy  

“A zombie film is not fun without a bunch of stupid people running around and observing how they fail to handle the situation.”
-- George Romero

I am a huge fan of zombie movies. In most zombie movies (28 Days Later and World War Z notwithstanding), zombies move almost comically slow. Any inexperienced zombie movie watcher might say to herself, “How is this even a problem? Anyone can outrun a zombie!” The fact that any one zombie is slow, however, is what makes zombie movies so terrifying.

No individual zombie is going to be a problem in most cases, assuming you don’t haphazardly trip over a rock. The horror of zombie movies is the slowly increasing number of zombies, and the seeming inevitability of all survivors’ demise. Projects do not have to be like zombie movies. The potential for slowly increasing numbers of risks and issues, however, can make a project apocalypse more likely.

Project issues and risks, like zombies, move relatively slowly. It’s extremely rare that a project manager will be introduced to a project one day and be overwhelmed by the same failed project the next. Therefore, like survivors of a zombie apocalypse, project managers have time to prepare--and to look for those indications that projects are turning.

Rule 1: Be Aware…Sometimes the “Limited Rabies Outbreak” Isn’t…

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