The Project Management Circus: Act 1 - The Tightrope Walker

I have heard several people in my career say that project management is easy - just give someone a project, resources and a goal and all he has to do is create a plan and monitor it to completion.

This is similar to what I hear from my co-spectators when I see a circus.

Truly, Project Management can be like a circus - in more ways than one and the performers are the project managers.

Take the tightrope walker as an example. What does he need to do anyway? He only needs to walk from end to end - how difficult could that be? Let see...

A tightrope walker, like a project manager, to succeed in his endeavor, would need to

a)know first where is his starting point - including information about how high he is from the ground, is there a net below him, how strong is the post he will stand on before he begis the walk, what is the length of his balancing pole,  how hot the spotlights can be, etc... - much like project initiation

b) know where his end point is and what is the definition of success (eg making it to the other side alive maybe in 5 minutes), what resources does he has to reach the other point (eg does he have a pole to hold on to and use as a balance), how many steps would he most likely need to take and how much can he trust his resources(eg his rope quality, his pole quality or the net quality if he falls). At the same time, he must know the pace he needs to take and how to take the steps - much like planning, contingency allocation and resourcing

c) know how to traverse the rope and keep his balance ensuring that he checks at each step whether he is on the right track or not. He must also know what to do when something goes wrong along the way(eg an ant is biting his armpit - sometimes called management pressure - or when his rope starts to shake because of a sudden wind gust - sometimes called sponsor wind) - much like project monitoring and control

d) know what to do when he gets to the end - if he gets to the end - including putting the pole down first (let go of resources), ensuring both his feet are really on the other end and raising his arms and waving to his adoring crowd - much like project closure and team celebrations.

Easy you say? Maybe...up until you are truly the one walking the rope.