Program Management and Leadership

Book Review: The Science of Successful Organizational Change by Paul Gibbons

Winston Churchill said that every man makes mistakes, but it is the successful man who  learns from his mistakes. My bet is that Paul Gibbons, the author of The Science of Successful Organizational Change, would agree. Paul Gibbons who founded his own consulting firm has appeared in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, to name a few. He comes at the generic change management topic with a little “c” instead of a capital “C” and not from a project manager or program manager point of view. He was a quant derivatives trader who had worked for Price Waterhouse Coopers in their “Strategy, Innovation and Change” group and as his bio indicates, he helped them develop methodologies (like we need more) in change management, innovation and transformation.  

As Gibbons debunks neuroscience of program leadership, but does not truly provide a logical framework for this belief. He instead believes that every person can be a change agent, and a successful one, if they hue to the following strategy: think about the risks of the decision and change, think about the economics of the situation, and behavior of the individuals, circumstances and environment. He puts forth several novel ideas which while logical and commonsensical are designed to make one re-engineer a project plan. He mentions that an individual should reverse-engineer the requirements and project plan. Take the completed project plan and list the circumstances where the project could fail. In other words, force the project plan, project objective to fail. What could go wrong? Start with a blank piece of paper on a white board and collaborate with the stakeholders to understand what could go wrong. Risk rank these factors. This is more than generating the run-of the mill risk log. This is using the risk log to see how project success can be enhanced. Make the leader more accountable for decisions. His theory is that we are all change agents on a project, but it is the successful leader who performs change leadership on a global scale for the programs. Projects do not fail for the same reason, but he identifies an acronym “SOCKS” to be able to categorize these failures. This taxonomy can help identify unexpected costs, shortfalls or other analytical factors such as limited capital budgeting which will affect project success. This is more than a failed acronym or metaphor. It is a way of life to make an effort to lead unsuccessful projects to success. SOCKS – “S”, stands for “Shortfalls”, “O” for cost overruns, “C” for “unexpected consequences”,  “K” for “killed programs and “S” for “unsustainable project results.”  He believes that every project should undergo a SOCKS review. This is more than a review of a risk log. It is a scientific and intuitive way of fleshing out more risks or identifying unexpected tasks to drive a stalled project to success.  I agree with his methodology.

Another idea that he hopes to teach to the reader is that the project manager is a change agent at least 80% of the time, the rest is leadership and people management. This is a mindset which sometimes is easier said than done. It becomes a people problem and not a technical problem, why projects fail. The author mentions that change management is looked at as a cost to the business instead of a revenue generator. He doesn’t look at change management as an engineer using scientific or software tools to move code from test to production. This is too mundane. He looks at change management as the approach to review undervalued projects or failing projects at the enterprise and determine what can be done to save them through SOCKS or understanding the motivations of the people assigned to the project. Not to discount them, but to challenge them to success. Another words, as the project management textbooks have generally said, it is the soft skills which can ensure success, not the hard or technical skills. The challenge is that a project management neophyte is not exposed to this philosophy in school or in the study toward certification. Changing habits is about having a big goal to get you motivated. I agree with him that education is seriously lacking in the field of change leadership and the people skills needed to ensure success.

Paul does highlight that several Fortune 500 firms, make change as part of their mission statement, and use this mission statement to motivate employees to “knock down” barriers and succeed. He does mention that more science and analytics should be done to ensure accountability of the leader too. He believes that HR should work with Senior Management to identify the general traits that a person needs to succeed in the specific position that he or she is interviewing for, and that these factors will differ by company. This is a novel approach to identify what about meshing the person’s skills with the enterprise will help the person succeed.

In the end of the book, it is the belief that people can ensure success of organizational change or ensure that the organizational change will fail. And in the end, does this mean that the students of organizational behavior and psychology make the most optimal program managers and leaders instead of ones who major in accounting or finance or computer science? I wonder.

A recent phenomenon in project management is for some to try to use neuroscience, psychiatry and psychology to identify the skills and capabilities that make one a strong project manager or leader in an organization and to coach others how to make better decisions or empower those around them.  I had read this book, Neuroscience for Leadership, Harnessing the Brain Gain Advantage, which was written by 3 subject-matter experts in Neuroscience. Dr. Tara Swart who designed the Neuroscience Leadership program at MIT, Kitty Chisholm coaches in leadership development, and Dr. Paul Brown is a clinical and organizational psychologist at Monarch Business School in Switzerland. The  theory or practice of neuroscience is that if we can understand how the brain works, its behaviors, beliefs and attitudes and how one obtain beliefs and how does one develop a positive attitude or a feeling of ownership of a task, then one can develop signposts or markers to give direction to people to understand how leadership works. If one can understand how leadership works, then the thinking goes, leadership can be taught like learning how to ride a bicycle as a youngster, and can be fine-tuned in one’s career. This transcends one’s career, man or woman, project manager or not. There is a basket of skills that one can train his or her mind to develop to succeed as a manager of people.

The authors propose the proposition that leadership is not inherited. One is not born a leader. It is taught. This is the continuing struggle, ying-yang, discussion of what are the qualities of a good leader, and whether in these days where we are getting ready for the 2016 presidential election, whether one can read a book and become a true leader, or develop them based on circumstances, or by virtue of his or her birth and upbringing. This is not answered in the book.

The book is quite a memorable read given the layer of neuroscience background that they try to bring the reader up to the layer of understanding in order to explain what the qualities of a good leader are. That said, the book reiterates in memorable fashion the attributes of a good leader: strong character, plausible reason for event, explicit goals for actions, emotional language, consistency and a clear and consistent vision of the future, and an ability for storytelling. Most project and program managers, child psychologies and parents agree that goals or objectives can help direct and guide a person to succeed. The writers mention that the “human brain is geared towards enabling goal driven actions.”  A good leader is motivated to succeed.

The writers also mention that trust (and the inherent chemical in the brain, oxytocin) is a good component of a successful relationship whether in business or one’s personal life. Leaders who are charismatic but is ineffective is unlikely to remain influential. However, one who is interested in his others is perceived as charismatic. They do mention that as the brain is action and objective driven that solving a hard problem or accomplishing a difficult goals creates the synergy and conditions for brainstorming and new ideas. Those activity feeds on itself. They mention that in some cases, it is stress and negative conditions that in some cases motivate some, but generally it is the leader who can use self-management to better control stress and adversity. I do not agree that one can reprogram one’s brain connections and change them significantly to help a youngster or adult better meet stress or issues in one’s life. It should be one’s belief in oneself, values and grounding that will support system which will help a leader or other individual success and meet stress. Some have said it is a “fight or flight” mentality when trying to conquer one’s foibles, inadequacies or stressful situations. The writes mention that the brain uses past experiences to “predict” or condition the person to make assumptions or realize the next steps or how to avoid discomfort.

• The writers also refer to the qualities of good communication skills which help a leader succeed. They mention  that it is the leader who can control his or her emotion, or convey that emotion to the audience which what can motivate a follower. It is the intellectual understanding of one’s background. These skills are not taught in university. It is the inspirational speaker who can: present “precise and metaphorical language, appreciate visual imagery, explicit goals for action, emotional language, consistent, and a clear vision of the future.”  These are the motivations that can be used to motivate employees to “ a call to arms” to succeed. These elements are on the plus side of the ledger,  but on the challenge side of the ledger which the authors do not mention are elements which may detract from success, unless the leader can address them. These are, to name a few:
• matrix management,
• the politics of the environment and project and circumstances,
• degree of collaboration between the employees, departments and stakeholders,
• employee challenges,
•  enterprise-wide challenges such as staffing, inconsistent stakeholder or sponsor support, budgeting and,
• other obstacles to success.

I am sure that the reader can name several others.

The authors start the book discussing the chemistry of the brain and the chemicals or enzymes in the brain which affect behavior. For example, adrenalin is an endocrine which sends messages around the body, telling the body what to do. It can be a motivator or de-motivator. Adrenalin is one of many neurotransmitters around the body which stimulates the heart to beat, lungs to breather and stomach to digest, and also to emotionally react to situations. They refer to the neuriobiology as a mechanism to make the enhance one’s leadership, such as it can affect whether the leader is seen as authentic. The authors discuss neuroscience how the body works so a leader can better understand how to think more clearly or speak clearly or identify the impediments in affecting his or her success. So, from that point of view, the background presented by the authors is successful. Because of the concepts presented, this book cannot be read in one sitting. However, it teaches the reader to be more cognizant and self-aware of his or her surroundings, environment, and body. That is, their reactions, their emotional intelligence. The authors do not go to the extreme and mention that the leader should his or her neurotransmitters such as increase the adrenalin or dopamine when presenting to stakeholders. On the contrary, it is that the leader should be aware in order to increase his or her effectiveness.

Overall, I would recommend this book since it can help increase the efficiency of their brain and emotions. I have not worked with a program manager or project leader yet who used their neuroscience to harness the energies of their employees to drive a project or endeavor towards success. But it will make me more cognizant of the chemistry at play.