Finding the Balance between the High Level and the Devil

It is amazing that a lot of projects get derailed because new details are found late in the project and some of these projects even become un-recoverable but sponsors still avoid discussing details during the initial phases of the project.

Understandably, at the early stages of the project, not much is known about the deliverables but sponsors and project managers must consciously allocate time early on to talk about potential risks and not put those discussions on the parking lot with the hope that eventually people lower than the managers will think about it.

Sponsors and Project Managers always say that "the devil is in the details" but let the devil remain uncontrolled. Control the devil - or at least identify the worst case scenarios - early on and the probability of project success increases.

The key is finding balance between defining deliverables and identifying critical risks that might derail the project.

Projects Must Align with Corporate Priorities

In the everyday hustle and bustle of user communications and the desire to serve by managing the low hanging fruits as fast as possible, project management teams are most likely to miss out on a critical aspect of a project - is it really needed by the corporation?

Most of the projects I have seen are more responses to the short term pains of a few groups of people rather than an answer to an over-arching need of the company. Most of these pains are mere symptoms of the root problem rather than the problem itself and thus there are several project teams that deliver what we call "band-aid" solutions rather than long-term pain relief.

There are some questions that help determine where the project request is truly rooted on and what need does it truly answer and some of them appear below. In several cases, just asking the project sponsor a few of these questions can get people collaborating more across peers or having them re-think their original requests.

1. Priority -> How does this project tie-up to the corporate priorities(sometimes call the CEO agenda, the company mission,etc)?

2. Cost/Benefit - > What will the company gain if we do this project? Don't forget to ask as well what will the company lose if we don't do the project? The more specific the answer - the better. It is, for example, better if the sponsor can tie it to profit growth or profit loss or if the user can tie-it to a specific business process problem that the project will address.

3. Project interactions -> Does this project tie-up with any existing or planned projects that the company is already undertaking?

4. Resources -> To what extent will the company support the resource requirements of the project?

It would be an eye-opener if our executives realize how many projects failed (and costed the company money) because the questions above were not asked(or answered) early on.

Gray Areas are Wonderful Places

As people rise up the ranks in management, there comes a time that they learn a very important lesson - management exists to live in the gray and to provide direction for the rest of the team to follow.

Managing gray is really a very dangerous activity -> if you lean toward one end more often than is perceived as required will bring you negative reviews. An example of a gray area is "the desire to service your customers" vs "the capacity to realistically deliver everything they ask for" or the gray area on " I believe in this employee and will give him a second chance" vs "I am sacrificing my company's interest by keeping him" or a simpler gray area that matches speed vs thoroughness. Work too fast on a project and you can be called reckless, work too thorough and you can be labeled as slow.

The key to successfully managing the gray is developing the ability to develop the sense to know, case by case, where you would lean into - to truly understand where the benefit will really lie and be wise in deciding and communicating the basis for the decision and what it means tactically to your team. There is no "one size fits all" nor a "silver bullet"

Few people understand the gray areas and fewer still write about it but there is a book that writes about it that I found enlightening in this discussion - >Managing the Gray Areas.

The thing is - we also quickly realize that the higher we go up the ranks, the bigger the gray areas become - eg "should I keep the model of this company being its new CEO and be reviewed as risk-averse" or "I should change the model of this company as its new CEO so I will be reviewed as revolutionary and out-of-the-box" thinker.

Bottom line - if you can't swim in the gray area and if you can't grow it - it will quickly show - not only through your output but also in the belief your team has for you...manage it will and it will be the only place you want to be.

Vision Creation is Easy

I see a lot of courses offering training on how to create vision but everyday I see a lot of people creating visions and I believe that the true test for a leader is not the ability to create a vision but to see them through.

I have seen successful leaders realize their visions and I have looked at some of the strategies they applied to make them members of the rare few. Here are some of my observations.

1) They look for big gaps that require a solution - if the problem is not big enough and impact of the solution not magnificent enough - the vision is not a vision but simply a glance.

2) They connect the vision to reality including planning out resources that will be needed to bridge the gaps. Without the connection to reality - the vision is not a vision but simply a dream.

3) They are persistent in seeing the vision through and does not allow obstacles to get in the way. Without persistence - the vision is not a vision but simply a hobby.

4) They are flexible on the approach. Although they are clear on the desired outcome - they realize that challenges will be present and they constantly re-evaluate if the path they are currently taking is still the right path to get them through. Without this constant check and flexibility - the vision is not a vision but simply a task.

If you cannot make your vision realizable and see them through - a leader is not a visionary but simply a manager.

The Power of Belief

Whether you believe you would succeed or not in your endeavors and projects - you are right. Similar to the saying "what you eat is what you are" - what you truly believe will be will be.

I have read and heard so many stories that centers on the power of belief - the miner that never stopped believing he will one day find gold and after 17 years - he did and for each day of that 17 years he never stopped believing - or the story of the lottery winner who said that 2 months before she one it - she believed 100% that she will win and the belief was so strong that she actually won the amount she believed she would win - 100,000. Just read around - the stories are all over if you open your eyes to them. So many of them that it can't be just a matter of luck or due to chance encounters. It can only be because of one thing - a strong belief - faith.

The same goes with those projects that seem to be way over what you are capable of or too career risking or too complex or too difficult. They are what they are because you already convinced yourself early on that they carry those characteristics. If you believe though that whatever gets thrown at you - you would make yourself succeed then congratulation - you are already on your way.

A lot of people want to believe and a lot more would claim they tried it and it never happened. Doubt is the enemy because doubt paralyzes potential and prevents success.

Don't be a victim of doubt - believe - have faith - and it will be.

How to Reach Your Career Destination - the GPS Way

A lot of us wonder why we seem to be stuck in our careers or why we have not yet reached our goal but at the same time though we have no problem using our GPS to get to our destinations so let's see how we can use the same GPS methodology to get to where we want to be.

1. Know exactly where you are going. Don't just think to yourself - I want to be a CEO or a VP or the best entrepreneur there is - really plan out the details - as if you are already living it. Write down your age, what your position is,what you are earning, where you a living - with as much detail as possible. Even GPS units need the whole address to get to its destination.

2. Know exactly where you are now. If you are not entirely sure by just thinking about it yourself because you are too "in to it" - do what GPS units do - find satellites. Industries typically call these reviews a 360 degree review but be brave and ask the questions that need to be ask from your peers, direct reports, managers - anyone who can give you their perspective of where you are right now.

3. Know how to get from here to there. Determine the best route possible based on your risk-tolerance or desire. Do you want a faster route - which may mean higher levels of stress(GPS analogy - tolls)? Do you want the scenic route? Do you want to avoid side streets or what we may call horizontal learning?

4. Check regularly if you are still on track and if not, recalculate. Putting down the end point, knowing your start point and drawing a line between the two points is just the start but a big start. You must also be prepared for unexpected turn of events or change in plans. The "street" you were planning to traverse might be under constructin or closed and thus you must regularly check your progress and make changes when necessary. You might even decide along the route that your end point has changed but the same steps apply - just follow your own internal GPS.