The Maverick's guide to Strategic Portfolio Management
March 20, 2025 | Live Webinar
It was a bright and cloudless day. I was sitting at my desk, reading the stenciled script on my frosted glass office door, yrrebpsaR .T ylnastS, eyE etavirP, when a very earnest looking young man walked in and, after checking the corridor behind him, closed the door.
“Are you Stanly Raspberry?”
“The door doesn’t lie.”
“I’ve heard about you at the local PMI® Chapter meetings. They say you can uncover the most anti-PM business model pathologies out there, no matter how well-entrenched. Is that right?”
“I can hold my own.”
“My company could really use someone like you. You see…”
“Wait” I interrupted, “what’s your name?”
“Oh, sorry” he replied nervously. “I’m Oscar Pennington, and I’m the Deputy PMO Director at Acme Corporation. Have you heard of us?” he asked as he sat down in the chair across from my desk.
“Sure” I began. “Acme is the main competitor to the Monolithic Corporation, my least-favorite organization. But it was my understanding that Acme was doing rather well.”
“We were. I mean, we are, but I don’t think we will for much longer, unless our PMO can get some real help.”
I took out my notebook and a pen and, leaning back in my chair, fixed Oscar in a scrutinizing gaze.
“Tell me.”
“About four months ago our Research & Development Department discovered a new technology, one that dramatically improves the material characteristics of a certain compound that’s in most of our products. They became both better in quality and easier to manufacture – I’m sure you realize why I can’t get much more detailed than that concerning our discovery.”
“I understand. Go on.”
“Well, our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Lindstrummer, immediately began to stress in board meetings the need to monetize the discovery, but my boss, the PMO Director, tried to push back, insisting that we put Acme’s energies into finding out how many of our products stood to benefit from incorporating it.”
“Oscar, what’s your take on Acme versus Monolithic’s strategic management baseline?”
“Yes, of course!” Oscar enthused. “I’ve been reading the blogs on ProjectManagement.com, so I know what you mean. Compared to Acme’s products, Monolithic’s output is more affordable, of comparable quality, but isn’t always available right away. Acme has a slight advantage in availability, which is why we haven’t been killed in market share space.”
“So, this discovery…”
“Changes everything! As we integrate it into more of our products, it will make them better as well as easier to manufacture, meaning we’ll be able to maintain our current pricing structure, or eventually even lower it.”
“What is Lindstrummer’s view point on this?”
“I’m not sure, because he keeps prattling on about calculating Return on Investment. He’s even insisting that proposals for new work include the ROI for evaluation purposes.”
I sat quietly for a moment, taking in everything Oscar was relaying.
“What do you see as the most urgent problem?” I asked him.
“Our CEO, Daystrom, is on the fence about this decision. He’s relied on Lindstrummer throughout most of his tenure for making high-level decisions, but Daystrom is also aware that we are currently at a competitive disadvantage with respect to Monolithic unless and until we can take advantage of our discovery, and integrate it into our product line. The pressure to make a decision – any decision – is mounting, but I think that if we pursue the immediate-monetization route, we’ll fail to press our advantage, and Monolithic will be able to counter it.”
“Oscar, you said you are the Deputy PMO Director. Who’s the Director?”
“See, that’s the other part of my problem. Jane West is an okay person, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that she’s reluctant to take on Lindstrummer. To be fair, Lindstrummer is a kind of intimidating guy, but Jane doesn’t have the confidence in her convictions to stand toe-to-toe with him in the board room. She has the skills – she’s a PMP® -- but her recommendations tend to be rather mainstream PM stuff, with no real implementation strategy.”
“So, you would like to see me provide Jane with the kind of expert-level PM guidance that will help her make a more convincing case for pursuing the product-first strategy?”
“Exactly! I knew you would be the person for this job!”
“Not so fast, Oscar” I countered. “I’ve dealt with tough-as-nails CFOs before, and I can virtually guarantee it’ll take more than a strong technical case to steer this decision in the direction you think it needs to go.”
“What do you need?” Oscar asked, a bit crestfallen at realizing that the solution would not be as easily executed as he had hoped.
“First, I’ll need a contract, cost plus fixed fee – my assistant will email you the details. Try to avoid using my name, in case Lindstrummer knows about me, too, and cancels this whole thing before it even begins. Just refer to “general consulting” in the scope documentation. Next, I’ll need to have a meeting with Jane, and a separate meeting with your Proposal Management division.”
“Proposal Management?” Oscar objected. “This is Project/Product versus Asset Management! What does Proposal Management have to do with this?”
“Indulge me. Lastly, arrange for my non-disclosure agreement and badge paperwork prior to the meetings with Jane and Proposal Management in such a way that I’m good to participate in Acme meetings before Lindstrummer – or anyone else – is in a position to put the kibosh on all this. Do-able?”
“Yes sir, Mr. Raspberry. Thank you for taking the time. I’m confident we can do this, together!”
Oscar left, almost exuberant in his confidence that I would reach a solution quickly.
I wasn’t so sure.
Next week: I meet the principals, and the plot thickens.
Posted on: February 11, 2025 10:02 PM |
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