Are You a Tortoise or a Hare?

 

I've recently come to discover something about myself. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or if I've always been this way—but it has felt kind of revelatory to me.

I'm a tortoise rather than a hare.

This might not come as a surprise to any of my colleagues, but I think I'm more of a "slow and steady wins the race" sort of guy. I'm going to assume that you all know the story of the tortoise and the hare—if you don't, click HERE to read more about it.

I have always felt that I am the willing accomplice of change. Change doesn't frighten me, I like the change in scenery and attitudes that come with implementing change. However, I'm not a big fan of change for change sake (which I think makes me more like the tortoise than the hare). I think this is particularly true within the project environment.

Although I am a real advocate of taking a new look at the project management process with fresh eyes, I'm not advocating a new approach simply because it's new. I think we need to change the way we manage process and work with teams because the current system is broken. Over the last thirty years, I've seen the workforce dynamic change—particularly with the millennial generation—while the way management interacts with the workforce hasn't kept up.

In my opinion, slow and steady wins the race, and change for change sake doesn't make sense, but many organizations are coming to the realization that it's time for a new work management paradigm. The days of command-and-control are fast dissipating and being replaced by a more democratic work management approach.

I don't think there's any question that an engaged workforce is the linchpin to a successful project-based organization (or any organization for that matter). Creating that environment requires that project leaders empower team members to create and invent—which the traditional top-down project management approach stifles. Our role as project leaders needs to become one of facilitation, not command-and-control.

Are you a tortoise or a hare? What are you doing to create a more democratic project environment?