Agile Has A Better Legend Than Project Management.

 

There were a few hero's that couldn't stand it anymore. They had a hard time fighting The Mechanistic Man. Fighting those who thought of humans as resources. Fighting those who wrote large documents. They were tired of that. They couldn't stand it anymore.

But their group was small. Determined. But just seventeen people.

On a legendary November day they met in a ski resort in Utah. The resort was called The Lodge. Of course it was. What else would you call it.

They secretly crafted their manifesto. Against something. Or in favor of something. Whatever. Seventeen hero's sitting around a fireplace drinking wine, and crafting there Message To The World.

The Agile Manifesto was born.

Now THAT is a story. Now THIS is how you create a legend.

Who cares if it exactly happened like that. What matters is that you have an awesome narrative and a one page manifesto you can print out and stick to the doors of your office. It's a declaration. "This are my principles."

Agile has it covered. They even have a "Scrum Gathering". I mean. How mythical can you get!? The leprechauns are meeting in the enchantment forrest. It's their annual gathering.

And they have icons. Kent Beck. Alistair Cockburn. Jim Highsmith.

For Project Management it gets a little more complicated.

Some say that the Egyptian pharaohs had Project Managers when building the pyramids. Others say it started either in the first or the second world war. Or even as late as the 1950s.

That's confusing. That ruins a great story. There is not just one.

"Project Management. What is that?" "Hmmm. Well. Something old I guess."

And it is very hard to nail 500 page explanation of the discipline to the door of your office. "This are my principles." "Did you read them?" "Nah."

And although Henry Gantt and Henry Fayol where immensely intelligent, influential, and probably very cool in their days, I'm not sure they are icons with a mass appeal in todays world.

So. In The Project Management Makeover Project, my attempt to make Project Management sexy, we have to pay attention to The Legend Of Creation and we need a nice collection of icons. Preferably still alive.

"The legend tells that a Dutch guy was sitting at his kitchen table and typing away. What he typed was obscure. But important. Some called him The Project Shrink. Because they couldn't pronounce The Project Sociologist. Some joined him in his quest to make PM sexy."

That's all I have at this moment. Nobody joined yet. But I am typing this at my kitchen table. Do you care to finish this story? Or rewrite it. Because it stinks.

Now for icons.

We need people that have something important to say.

Let me start with two suggestions.

Havi Brooks. For explaining everything about communication and culture. In the most fascinating way.
Jon Whitty. For doing the most interesting PM research I know. About why we do what we do.


Do you care to add some icons?

Bas de Baar is a writer who draws about people in transition. He loves to make visual maps and travel guides for the collaborators of our brave new world.