Strategic Project Management

When I was a kid, whenever my sister and I would argue, my mother would say, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Although that was probably good advice for keeping two young siblings from killing each other, I wonder if that's the best way to keep projects on track.

Sometimes there are things that need to be said, even if they're painful to hear.

One of my favorite blogs to read is The Critical Path by Derek Huether. Derek provides a great perspective and is an interesting and informative writer. In his blog yesterday he shared that he would be writing an article for PM Network magazine, to which he was asked not to write anything about the current program he is advising. "I was asked not to write anything disparaging about the program I'm advising," he said. "I was told it would be bad if anything I said or wrote cast an unfavorable light on the project."

Like Derek, I think we need to honestly ask ourselves, "How many of you out there in the industry have perfect projects, where nothing goes wrong?"

I have to admit, that I can't even think of the last project that I was a part of that didn't at least have a hic-up or two. Adapting to challenges and overcoming obstacles is what managing projects is all about. With that in mind, Derek has decided to call his current program, "Project Voldemort," the project "that-must-not-be-named." It made me smile—and frown.

Until organizations are willing to face the challenges (and warts) of their projects and allow project leaders to acknowledge what's broken and work to fix it, we will continue to have failed projects and shot messengers. In the trenches, at the project level, I think we all realize that perfect projects just don't exist. What's more, I don't think that negatively reflects on project teams. I think it's the nature of the beast. In my opinion, every organization has to deal with a "Project Voldemort" or two. However, the more the project "that-must-not-be-named" stays in the shadows, the more powerful and dangerous it becomes.

Thanks for the great post Derek. So if the project is "Voldemort" what does that make you?