Joe WynneRetired from BankingCharlotte, NC Area, United States
Friends,
I received the following review to my article comparing the interactions on the Survivor television series to real-life workplace problems. Is the reviewer right? Is the show just too artificial to be meaningful? Or do you see parallels in your workplace? Can we learn from the show? (Please refer to my article to see what lessons I drew.)
REVIEW ___________________ "Joe, Get a life! You are spending way too much time watching TV. I think its a streach to compare a TV game show to real life projects. The big difference is that the so called teams on Survivor are just partisiciapting in an adult version of the king-of-the hill game. Real project teams work toward common goals that will have a benefit for the common good of the team, the company, organization, whatever. The motivation is completley different. In 10 years of being on and leading teams, I really haven'y saw the type of behaviour that you allude to. Even in the worst situations, the dysfunctional team members usually leave early on in a project by either their own choice or are removed. -Dave " Saving Changes...
I don't know what project life is in other sectors, having spent the greater part of my career in professional services firms, but I can tell you that while project teams tend to work towards a common goal, there are plenty of prima donnas that want to win at all cost:
1) The technical project manager who is a Microsoft junkie and wants to use Microsoft products at all costs, even if if means not using a potentially better product
2) The CTO who hates Microsoft and wants to use Linux and open source software at all cost and who argues constantly with the above mentioned project manager.
3) The gen-x art director who ignored the advice and strategic instructions of the Creative Director because they think he is too old and way too out of the Web to offer any good advice.
In PSFs, with the lack of manpower that we have in these times, there aren't enough skills to go around to easy fire or pull dysfunctional people off a project, simeply because we have no one to replace them with.
Sometimes I feel more like a father than a project manager, having to pull bickering kids aprat and having to pull out my hidden feminine-style facilitating side to listen and try to calm the frayed nerves.
Listening more than you talk can really be a big help in a siutation like this. Saving Changes...
