Taking a line from one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite groups… BUSH… I’m thinking about how this line relates to many of our project management experiences. Often, as project managers, the projects we run can seem like we are walking through a series of fires with our teams, our customers and our stakeholders and reacting to many out of frustration looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. But does it really have to be that way? No.
I realize that in the everyday world of project management we are usually – at least once per day – acting “reactively” so something that has arisen on one of the projects we are leading. We try not to make reactive management a way of life because if we do we end up basically putting out fires all day long and all project long. That’s no way to live, no way to manage, and there’s almost on way to keep your project on time and on budget when you are always just reacting to the latest issue. Managing an engagement this way means we’re always going to be one step behind the competition. One step behind the issue or risk. One step behind the real need. Everything will be a surprise. Success will happen because you’re lucky, not because you’re good...
I realize that in the everyday world of project management we are usually – at least once per day – acting “reactively” so something that has arisen on one of the projects we are leading. We try not to make reactive management a way of life because if we do we end up basically putting out fires all day long and all project long. That’s no way to live, no way to manage, and there’s almost on way to keep your project on time and on budget when you are always just reacting to the latest issue. Managing an engagement this way means we’re always going to be one step behind the competition. One step behind the issue or risk. One step behind the real need. Everything will be a surprise. Success will happen because you’re lucky, not because you’re good...
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