Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Viewing Posts by Lung-Hung Chou
Get With the Program
Categories:
Program Management
Categories: Program Management
| For the past two decades, television dramas in Taiwan have faced fierce competition from Korea, mainland China and Japan. But in 2011, a modern Taiwanese drama -- "In Time With You" -- managed to challenge these markets, with ratings that rocketed to 2.7 million viewers. The production team responsible for this success warrants a closer look. In television, there is a type of producer known as a "show runner." This person is responsible for both the execution and creative aspects of the show for each individual episode and throughout the series. The role is similar to a project sponsor who not only needs to raise funds, but also has to clarify project scope, acquire the team and determine an acceptable risk tolerance. For "In Time With You," Jason Hsueh is such a show runner. In 2011, Mr. Hsueh started to adapt a Korean TV drama, "The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince," for Taiwan. But he found the terms of the adaptation agreement too restrictive. Eventually, when pre-production costs reached $50,000, he decided to stop -- it would be pointless if he couldn't make creative changes so the drama would be relatable to Chinese-speaking target audiences. This timely decision also stopped further financial hemorrhage of a high-risk project. But more importantly, it forced Mr. Hsueh to reconsider previous drama ideas, including "In Time With You." "In Time with You," a love story written by scriptwriter Hsu Yu Ting, had been considered for years but had not been brought to the screen. The story didn't follow the established formula for romance. However, Mr. Hsueh felt that this light love story, based on the lives of ordinary people, had potential. He boldly adopted a script many others wouldn't have attempted. The foundation of a successful drama is first a good script, and then a good director. Consider the drama to be the project, with the director comparable to a project manager, the person responsible for the production of the show. He or she is the one who puts all the artistic elements together, who brings the story to life by interacting with actors and interpreting the script. Mr. Hsueh knew that if he wanted to decrease risk on "In Time With You," he needed to find the right director. That's why he handed the reins to Arthur Chu, a director famous for a subtle, refreshing touch. Mr. Chu shot every take beautifully, and was very loyal to the original script. He directed the drama with good quality control, and the production team never inflated the script. Plenty of product placement opportunities knocked, but Mr. Hsueh only considered products that were in tune with the original story. This steadfast commitment to the original story -- along with a sophisticated, approachable marketing effort -- resulted in soaring ratings. Through careful execution, a previously neglected idea for a TV drama series became a blockbuster success in Chinese-speaking countries in 2012. It started with a good script (program management plan), a project sponsor and program manager (show runner), project managers (producers and director) and project team (technicians, actors and marketing staff). Even if the success of "In Time with You" was a surprise, it was not an accident. Have you seen program management adapted to other creative industries? |
When Passion Drives the Program
Categories:
Program Management
Categories: Program Management
| Mayday is a Taiwanese rock band with a massive worldwide following. In fact, two concerts promoting their 2012 album, Noah's Ark, were held in the world's largest sports venue, Beijing's National Stadium. Those two performances alone drew 200,000 fans — an astonishing feat for any band, anywhere in the world. Believe Music manages Mayday — and staged the larger-than-life concerts in Beijing last year. For the music management company, performance — and particularly, passion for performance — is the key to industry success. In fact, the company's success comes from harnessing and managing passion for live music as a program. The focus on passion as a business driver starts at the top. CEO Yung-Chi Chen believes in the power of live music, and that success comes if you just do what you're good at, and do it properly. Artists and bands that write and perform with passion will naturally attract a dedicated audience large enough to help sustain them in a career. Believe Music's head manager, Yiu-Yang Chou, has the interesting title of "Creator of Satisfaction." This reflects the company's emphasis on live performance — as long as audiences demand performances, try to satisfy them. Mr. Chou manages over 100 concerts every year. His managerial level is that of a program manager, rather than a project manager. So when asked how he balances project constraints like scope, time and cost with quality, he says: "You can tell from the sofa bed in the meeting room that our management concepts on time and cost are very weak! But the most important requirement to work in this job [and industry] is enthusiasm. With enthusiasm, you dedicate yourself to creating something that'll make an impact. Time and money will be spent, but something great will be produced." Across the board at Believe Music, passionate employees define cost control as "surviving" and risk management as "we've still got next time." And although that approach might seem like unsound business sense, the company's faith in passion for performance counts on a major stakeholder — the audience. Believe Music considers audiences not just passive viewers, but also as appreciative co-producers of the live event. Their enjoyment is a key measurement of the performance's success. It is what Believe Music, and their artists, define as a successful result with each concert (i.e., project). Such word-of-mouth and long-term audience growth cannot be bought overnight, and that is why passion — and satisfaction — is so important in Believe Music's business. Believe Music team members attribute enthusiasm over any business model for their success. When their specialized experience and passion is combined with a mature concert management system, the power of live performance becomes a money-making enterprise. How do you apply non-traditional business drivers — such as passion — in your programs and industry? Share your experiences below, and Voices on Project Management will publish the best response as a blog post. Learn more about the art of project management in the entertainment sector in "Let Us Entertain You," the cover story of the May 2013 issue of PM Network®. |
The Making of "Life of Pi" and Program Management
Categories:
Program Management
Categories: Program Management
| "This film has its own fate, and it chooses me." Director Ang Lee said this not out of arrogance, but out of recognition he had been given a unique opportunity to make "Life of Pi" with people who could help him produce a film from Yann Martel's "unfilmable" novel. Based on interviews, the production involved the most difficult demands you can place on filmmakers: children, water and animals. Previous directors had failed to see the film through due to artistic or budgetary problems. Like the best program managers out there, Mr. Lee succeeded by combining two approaches: one creative (by incorporating pre-visualizations), the other pragmatic (by inspiring others in controlling costs). To tackle the visual special effects, the director and the producers settled on Rhythm & Hues Studios. In the year leading up to actual production, Mr. Lee worked on pre-visualizations -- a storyboarding technique that emulates scenes with music, sound and stunts -- of the most difficult parts of the film and shared them with the studio. This allowed both the director and the studio's artists to plan how to best create the shots. These pre-visualizations were like a feasibility study in program management. It enabled Mr. Lee to focus the studio on the development of special effects. Via this process, the different types of visual effects professionals -- from physical props people to computer modelers -- could be properly integrated into the film's production plan and schedule. Being able to see who was working on what helped the director bring to life the characters and events in the novel -- and ensure that it was done in a style that remained faithful to the novel's spiritual themes. The second challenge was the budget. Mr. Lee's original budget was US$70 million -- cheap, considering the production's challenges. Mr. Lee had persuaded the producers to make most of the film in Taiwan, which dramatically reduced costs. But it was still a big-budget film, and as actual costs looked as though they might climb over estimates, production halted. Mr. Lee met with studio executives and showed them finished shots. Although the execs were impressed, they were also honest: Film production could only resume if Mr. Lee kept down the budget. He agreed. Rhythm & Hue Studios' cooperation helped cut the costs, and Mr. Lee was grateful. He also knew the California, U.S.-based studio was trying to expand internationally -- and that the Taiwanese government was trying to attract investment to the creative industries. So as film production ended, he suggested a mutually beneficial deal between the studio and the government. The result was the building of a new Rhythm & Hue Studios facility in Taiwan and the creation of in-studio training and internships, a partnership between the studio and a Taiwanese telecom company to provide cloud computing services for local creative industries, and an investment company for film production. In the end, all stakeholders -- Fox Studios, Rhythm & Hues Studios, the Taiwanese government and Mr. Lee -- recognized the mutual benefits of working together. Key to this was Mr. Lee showing the professionalism we should expect from a program manager, and recognizing and then creatively combining benefits. Do you think creativity combined with pragmatism can drive project success? |
How to Manage Multiple Stakeholders on a Program
| Programs are formed by projects with stakeholders from both similar and different backgrounds. Therefore, program managers must be able to work with diverse personalities. For example, Taiwanese fashion designer Sun Hua Chen wanted to get young people interested in the fashion industry. He saw an exhibition by fashion photographer Su Yi Liang, which spurred the idea that a fashion photography exhibition would be a good way to interest upcoming generations in fashion. "The Big Shot Charity Photography Exhibition" first held in 2011, will hopefully become an annual event held at the Fubon Cultural & Educational Foundation in Taiwan. The foundation is known for its work in supporting young people. The end result that first year was 111 designers, photographers and non-profit workers who collaborated to make the exhibition a success. The event raised US$308,200 to support young adults' work in art and design. But reaching that level of success wasn't easy. For starters, Mr. Chen found it challenging to get the foundation to understand his vision, mainly because of the vast difference between the fashion industry and charity work. To secure buy-in, he presented a benefits realization plan in a way that the foundation would understand. They translated the potential effect of the fashion event into how much money could be raised, which would in turn benefit the foundation's stakeholders. The stakeholders also had different concerns based on their interests. On one hand, there were artists and designers seeking perfection and impact. On the other, there were volunteers and professionals seeking efficiency and effectiveness through non-profit. However, both groups understood that they needed each other's strengths to make the event a success. In this case, that meant utilizing one group's creativity and the other's business sense. It was the eventual synergy of both groups that resulted in the event becoming an annual success. How have you managed a large, complicated program successfully? Do you have any tips for managing multiple stakeholders? |
Create Program Visibility
| Many organizations have a vision statement focused on long-term goals. In my experience, project professionals tend to dislike such vague objectives because they lack detail on how the goals should be achieved. This is program or project work: We want to turn a sponsor's idea or goal into actual plans. But in reality, vision statements in a project or program can be very impactful, as they lend themselves to collaboration among stakeholders. As an example, let's look at the Buddha Memorial Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. At the heart of this religious center is a relic of the Buddha that avoided destruction when it was snuck out of the country during the 1960s Cultural Revolution. Three decades later, Buddhist monks in India felt the relic should return to Taiwan. For Taiwanese citizens and politicians, as well as Buddhists worldwide, there was a wish to do full justice to the relic and its religion. Planning for the Buddha Memorial Center began in 1998 when the relic arrived in Taiwan. Construction launched in 2003 and was completed in 2011. During that time, the design for the center changed more than 114 times, growing from 20 to more than 100 hectares (247 acres). Even when construction finished in 2011, the world's largest copper Buddha statue, at 108 meters (354 feet) high, was added to the center in the spring of 2012. Although it's in every project professional's nature to keep as close to plans as possible, and keep change to a minimum, change management was a key factor to success with the Buddhist Memorial Center project. The project managers had to be flexible and communicate. Traditional tools and techniques such as 'rolling-wave' and 'fast-track' planning allowed constant change to be embraced. Program visibility was also important. 'Program visibility' refers to making sure everyone involved is aware of objectives and strategy risks, and that everyone feels involved in the management and its outcome. (Program Management Standard, p14. Doman IV: Stakeholder Management.) In this case, regular meetings were held for all the major stakeholders. The meetings were often open to the public and media, which helped generate even more support. Meetings are as much about reaching consensus as sharing information. Program visibility also ensures that all stakeholders, from sponsors to workers, share a sense of purpose and commitment. The lesson learned from building the Buddhist Memorial Center shows how important it is to share your vision for a project or program. Doing so can allow you to create a lasting impact. How have you made your project or program more visible? Editor's Note: Photographs taken by Liang Ching Chih. |