Don’t Fall in Love With Your Plan
From the Voices on Project Management Blog
by Cameron McGaughy,
Lynda Bourne, Kevin Korterud, Peter Tarhanidis, Conrado Morlan, Jen Skrabak, Mario Trentim, Christian Bisson, Yasmina Khelifi, Sree Rao, Soma Bhattacharya, Emily Luijbregts, David Wakeman, Ramiro Rodrigues, Wanda Curlee, Lenka Pincot, cyndee miller, Jorge Martin Valdes Garciatorres, Marat Oyvetsky
Voices on Project Management offers insights, tips, advice and personal stories from project managers in different regions and industries. The goal is to get you thinking, and spark a discussion. So, if you read something that you agree with--or even disagree with--leave a comment.
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Date
Witnessing so many unsuccessful projects these days, I keep asking myself why execution continues to fall through the cracks while organizations apparently grow in project management maturity.
If organizations are more mature in project planning, why aren’t we reaping better results? It’s easy to see we have an execution gap.
I think this is because some project managers are so immersed in the minutia of best practices that they don’t understand the big picture.
They don’t understand that project management processes, tools and techniques are only a means to an end. The final goal of every project is to jointly create value by engaging stakeholders to build a unique result under constraints (scope, time, cost and more). In other words, a successful project delivers benefits and satisfies stakeholders.
Execution demands proactivity. Project managers should embrace change, keeping their eyes wide open to take their project plans out of the paper. Making things happen is easier when you have a good plan, but it still demands a lot of energy and motivation.
Practitioners sometimes put their well-crafted, detailed plans on a pedestal as trophies of great project management. In fact, planning is only half, or less, of the way to the finish line.
To paraphrase the boxer Mike Tyson, “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” The real world is volatile and complex; missing and incomplete information is the norm. Will your plan survive the challenge? It depends on how well you execute. As many in the military learn, strategic, tactical and operational plans need to be executed with maximum agility. Adjustments, adaptations and unexpected decisions must be made along the road to project completion.
To execute well, you need clear goals, resilience, flexibility and a high degree of “alertness.” The OODA loop, created by John Boyd, revolutionizes goal-centered execution by adding flexibility and velocity in the decision-making process. Here are the four steps.
Figure 1- OODA loop (Source: Defense and the National Interest)
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Observe. Collect current information from as many sources as practically possible: Keep in touch with stakeholders, collect project data, and gather information about context and environmental factors. Alertness is critical to project execution.
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Orient. Analyze information and use it to update your current reality. Monitor and control, including looking for variances’ causes, forecasting and re-planning.
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Decide. Determine a course of action, updating the project plan on the fly using an effective integrated change control.
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Act. Follow through on your decision, observing the results of your actions. Assess whether you achieved the results you intended, and review and revise your initial decision as necessary. Then, move on to another decision.
Next time you start execution on your project, put the OODA loop to work for you. It will guide you through the project plan as a series of linked decisions to help you make sense of the environment, update the plan and observe results.
If you have any comments—or perhaps a negative or positive story about execution—please share below. Thanks!
Posted
by
Mario Trentim
on: June 26, 2015 06:27 AM |
Permalink
Comments (9)
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Adilson Pize
CEO and Consultant| Excellence Consultants
Caxias Do Sul, Rs, Brazil
Great post! When we asked executives which means maturity or high performance in project management, they usually say that is nothing more than getting the expected results. In short, for the top executives of organizations no matter the techniques, models, methods, etc. adopted, which they hope is that the goals set for the project are achieved. In this way, the project manager can not fall in love with technical, and should be ready to change the way the project driving along the same if this is necessary to achieve the expected results.
Catalin Dogaru
Managing Partner| TSP (smartprojects.ro)
Bucharest, Romania, Romania
Interesting post! You are right - I saw many cases where extensive planning tends to be the "safe-guard" measure. The "prevention through planning" part is seen as the best way to prevent failure. And this is actually moving the focus from implementation/execution etc.
Great post! Alertness to change is most important in any organisation.
Mario Trentim
CEO| PMO Global Alliance
Sao Jose Dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil
More on this topic: https://youtu.be/xXANM9ctMA0
The OODA Loop is about speed, predictive behavior, adaptiveness, and alertness. Proper execution, in current times, is as important as good planning (or even more).
Kevin Coleman
Subject Matter Expert, Author, Speaker and Strategic Advisor| - Insights
Pa, United States
Creators of plans and ideas tend to defend their designs rather than positioning it as a starting point so that other can contribute to create a more robust design!
Jaydip Das
Project Manager| Globant
Pune, Maharastra, India
Loved reading this post...
Nicely written and explained why things go in wrong direction.
Ezara Penning
Systems Administrator I| Lincoln Land Community College
Springfield, Il, United States
Fantastic post! Thank you!
Luis Branco
CEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, Ldª
Carcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Mario
Interesting your perspective on the topic: "Don’t Fall in Love With Your Plan"
Thanks for sharing
Important point to remember:
"The next time you start executing your project, put the OODA loop to work for you. It will guide you through the project plan as a series of linked decisions to help you understand the environment, update the plan and observe the results. "
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