Kryten is a mechanoid in the British science fiction TV series Red Dwarf.
The Cat: Why don’t we drop the defensive shields?
Kryten: A superlative suggestion, sir. With just two minor flaws. One, we don’t have any defensive shields. And two, we don’t have any defensive shields. Now I realise that technically speaking that’s only one flaw but I thought it was such a big one that it was worth mentioning twice.
The Cat: Good point, well made.
Firstly project managers need to communicate and ensure that the stakeholder community understands both the issues and their importance to the project. And, secondly, project managers need to communicate and ensure that the stakeholder community understands both the issues and their importance to the project.
JFK was the 35th President of the United States and delivered some of the greatest project leadership speeches of all time. Kennedy stood before Congress on May 25, 1961, and proposed that
this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.
and later at Rice Stadium the following year
We choose to go to the Moon! … We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win …
No one could have been left in any doubt from the highest to the lowliest employee of NASA, the American people and the wider world what the United States wanted to achieve, the reasons behind doing it and the resolve to make it happen. The vision statements were not only inspiring rhetoric but contained the essential project information regarding timeliness (by the end of the decade), quality (getting a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth) and cost (it will be difficult and by inference expensive).
So often difficulties in projects are seen as ‘failures of project management’ but without inspiring and effective project sponsorship the efforts of project teams can often founder. Every project needs sound project leadership not only from the project manager but also from the project’s sponsor.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during WW2 and responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942-43 and for the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45 (Operation Overlord). After the war he became the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961.
Operation Overlord involved the movement of a total of 3 million men, moved by 6000 ships with aerial cover provided by 5000 fighter planes. Support facilities included laying a fuel pipeline under the English Channel and the creation of floating prefabricated docks (Mulberry harbours) which were at the cutting edge of technology at the time. Arguably one of the largest projects in history, the success of this endeavour was largely down to the meticulous planning which Eisenhower headed up.
In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
In the world of projects the failure to plan is planning for failure. However in the press of action managers often jump right to execution, either skipping planning entirely or paying it mere lip service. A phrase that encapsulates this problem is “Ready, fire, aim” – PM-speak for the failure to plan.
Creating the plan is merely the first part of a process that should include updating and revising the plan as the project progresses – your project plan really should be a living document.
Eisenhower, whatever your view on his politics, was an inspirational leader in time of war and peace. Every project manager should take this quote from the great man to heart.
A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.
Baldrick is the servant and sidekick of Edmund Blackadder in the BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. He is famous for his ability to come up with a cunning plan at times of crisis.
Private Baldrick: I have a plan, sir.
Captain Blackadder: Really, Baldrick? A cunning and subtle one?
Private Baldrick: Yes, sir.
Captain Blackadder: As cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?
Private Baldrick: Yes, sir.
Captain Blackadder: Well, I’m afraid it’ll have to wait. Whatever it was, I’m sure it was better than my plan to get out of this by pretending to be mad. I mean, who would have noticed another madman round here?
Captain Blackadder: [whistle blows] Good luck, everyone.
(Blackadder Goes Forth, 1989)
Here at On a Back of an Envelope we like to honour individuals both real and fictional who have added to our understanding of Project Management or have offered an insight into the way the project world works.
