Sucked Into A Pattern. The Source Of Project Problems.

 

In projects many things can “just happen”. Things start out with the best intentions and spirits. Everyone is excited. There is enough time and budget. We all decide on the path to be taken.

But during the ride, people get lost. They start questioning the road. Are wondering if there is a road. Heck, nobody told them what the road looks like.

I remember some research that suggested that problems in projects occur not because of the lack of process components, like procedures and techniques. At project start up all the things that we are supposed to put into place, are put into place. But somewhere during the trip, when pressure gets build up, we seem to forget about them. I can't find the reference anymore. Sorry.

Forgetting about why we do stuff in the first place.

Many people just drift away on a certain feeling. They need to reconnect. It is a bit like remembering why you fell in love with someone, after many years.

I think that problems occur when we get stuck in patterns that we are unaware off and don’t think we can get out.

Why do you use a certain method? Perhaps because your organization has it defined as a standard. Why is it defined as a standard? Because it's a dominant method in our profession. Why is it a dominant method? Because it's the best? Who knows. But perhaps you think it is the only one you can use.

A method is a pattern. Might be a good pattern. But still. It is something we can get sucked into. After a while we can't remember why we choose this one.

Why is an team member so negative? For some reason he has this horror picture of the organization in his mind. The story that is told inside his head is not one of joy. Sometimes it's hard to remember how he got to this behavioral pattern. He loved the organization when he joined.

Things just grow out of synch. People enter a pattern and get stuck in the pattern. They end up on a road some how and just keep on following the same road.

I think this is the source of project problems.

If we think there is only one way to organize a project. If we think everything around us just sucks.

Because we are unaware of other roads. Because we are afraid to explore other roads. Because we are convinced other roads suck. Or every body else is using this road so it must be a good road. Or we forget why they are on this road in the first place.

The trick is to recognize you are sucked into a pattern. It's repeating behavior. Many times others have to point this out to us. It can pop up everywhere. In relationships with the team, the project, individual stakeholders, your role and your working environment. Problems around expectations, trouble caused by friction between the project and the host organization.

The trick is to recognize the source of the pattern. Did you copy it from someone else? Does your organization dictate or enforces this pattern? Did something trigger a part of your personality? (Oh yes, doing a Meyer-Briggs personality test can be revealing for some :))

There is more to it. For sure.

But, as always, recognizing the problem is already half the solution.
 

Bas = Writer who draws. Author of  A Travel Guide for Transitions: Because Freaking Out About This by Myself Totally Sucks.