Good Cop/Doom Cop
From the Drunken PM Blog
by Dave Prior
Drunken Boxing for Project Managers
“The main feature of the drunkard boxing is to hide combative hits in drunkard-like, unsteady movements and actions so as to confuse the opponent. The secret of this style of boxing is maintaining a clear mind while giving a drunken appearance.”
Yeah... just like that… but with network diagrams and burndown charts… and a wee bit less vodka.
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Date
I am working on a project right now with a practice lead that grew up in Melbourne. What this means is that in the part of the US that I live in, as long as he is smiling and ends every few sentences with the phrase "no worries mate", regardless of what he says, folks are just plain happy to talk to him. He is a very positive guy. He lives in a world where he doesn't have "challenges", he has "opportunities". He is the power of positive thinking. It is an amazing thing to witness... and sometimes, being afflicted with the terminal ailment of project management, it leaves me feeling like I'm from an alien race.
We got into a bit of a debate today regarding the whole good cop/doom cop thing. Typically, when we are discussing things related to the project, a shard of jagged glass nowhere remotely near the table is, to him, a glass half full of the most profound vino known to man. He looks at things through a lens of what will be, when things line up perfectly... which, they naturally will... no worries mate. I think, for what he does, this is completely necessary and a very good thing in that someone with that positive, can-do mindset is absolutely needed.
Me? Well... lets just say, you can have a glass filled to the brim, resting safely in the center of a table designed to keep it from spilling a drop and all I see in a very fragile risk factor that will most certainly crash to the floor, spill everywhere and result in deadly sharp fragments of glass hiding all about on the floor just waiting to start cutting into everyone who comes near. But the way I look at it, that's kind of the gig. One of our jobs, as PMs, is to see the risks before the others do and be ready for whatever can, and will, go wrong. In a perfect world, we are all Radar O'Reilly, hearing the choppers minutes before anyone else does.
The conversation left me wondering, is it better for a PM to be optimistic and able to approach the project through the smiley, shiny happy people lens, or are we doing a better job of serving our projects and clients looking at the world like a bunch of Schleprock's and preparing for the inevitable... and, are there actually people out there who have been able to find themselves some kind of balance or middle ground?
Posted on: August 14, 2008 10:28 PM |
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Comments (2)
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Naomi Caietti
Senior Project Manager | ePMO | Higher Education | Healthcare & IT| Linkedin.com/In/NaomiCaietti
Dave:
You know that a postive attiude can go a long way to delivering a successful project. Of course, I will be the first to say pay attention to your team's skillset and what they bring to the table. I think you're questioning the fact that you need to continually wear this hat...no, this is the perfect opportunity to coach and mentor your team. You want your team to identify as many risks in the beginning and throughout the project so pose questions, brainstorm and draw out those on your team who are afraid to speakup.
Luckily, I always have a team member who I call the "what if" or "devil's advocate" team member and if I don't; I wear the hat for the team to initiate the discussion of risks, document and manage throughout the life of the project. You know when you've done a good job coaching when a team member will offer up a risk during a meeting, call you to discuss it or just stop by your desk. Personally, I think if you make yourself available and open your team will help you do the necessary work to manage project risk. I don't think a PM can ever remove themselves of the mindset to manage risk but your team will be your best source of project risk identification.
Teams generally like to solve problems but project risks are like the big elephant in the room no one wants to talk about for various reasons so coach them in identification and ownership. Sounds like you're the PM with the "What If" hat so share your hat with others and perhaps you will find the balance middle ground you are looking for.......
Janet Rolsma
Sr Technical Program Manager| LinkedIn
Portland, OR, United States
Dave,
I feel your pain. After awhile as a PM, I started to think "Couldn't I be the glass half full person just this once?" Quite often I find that I need to be the cheerleader for the team even though I look at the situation and think "There are 5 things that could go horribly wrong with this."
If you don't take the time to manage those things that can go wrong, then you will be caught flat-footed. Unless you have a team that has worked together for a long time (in the "performing" stage) and who understand what they're doing well enough to take the risk management burden from the project manager, you will always be the "glass could break into deadly shards of glass" person. But every now and then you get lucky and find a great team to help bear some of the burden.
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