The 1954 Milan High School State Champions and Successful Work Management

 

In 1954 the Milan High School Indians were the Indiana state high school basketball champions.  The movie Hoosiers was loosely based on the story of the Indian's 28-2 season.  With an enrollment of only 161, they were the smallest school to ever win a single-class state basketball title in Indiana.

Coach Marvin Wood was a controversial coach who closed practices to outsiders, and taught a more patient and defensive game than the run-and-gun basketball the local fans were used to seeing.  Following the State Championship win, 40,000 people descended on Milan (population 1,150) lining the highway for 13 miles to congratulate the team.

Coach Wood's style wasn't flashy.  It wasn't sexy.  But it allowed the smallest school in state history to win a single-class basketball championship.

Like Coach Wood, successful business leaders understand that there are some basic, time-tested formulas for business success.  What's more, there are also simple and proven techniques for guaranteeing the success of any project-based work.

1. Business leaders must validate that the projects being executed by the workforce align with the strategic objectives of the organization.  If project teams are working on initiatives that don't provide business value, it doesn't matter what methodology is being used to manage projects, business success will be elusive.
2. Increasing the efficiency of the workforce can produce a competitive advantage that can be exploited to make the business more competitive.  By increasing efficiencies, many businesses are better able to compete in an ever-changing marketplace.
3. It's not always the big things that make the biggest difference.  It's often small, incremental gains in productivity that give a business the biggest gains.

It's not very sexy.  But effective and sexy don't always fit hand in glove.  For example, I was reviewing an old analyst report recently and found a basic truth for project and portfolio management success:

1. Organizations that have taken the time to establish a project management methodology before they implement project management software are likely to experience a successful implementation.
2. Those who don't, will likely struggle or ultimately fail.

Project software isn't a magic bullet, successfully managing project based work usually relies upon common-sense, time tested best practices.

How does your project management software facilitate the implementation of success best practices?