Stand Back and Deliver
I am an advocate of taking the ego out of management and believe that managers acting as facilitators and stepping in when necessary rather than taking an ever-present command and control attitude, gain far more productivity from their teams.
The authors of this book (Pollyanna Pixton, Neil Nickolaisen, Todd Little and Kent McDonald) have provided me with additional tools in their arguments and instruction in 150 pages than most Project Management book three times the size. They keep things simple and are concise without the patronizing tone that can be felt when reading other books of this nature.
They explain 4 simple models that can be used today in many different industries and write in a way that motivates the reader to try these out as soon as they get back to the office. They focus on:
Purpose Alignment Model – which allows for a clearer vision of what categories projects fall into. I have seen more generic and complex ‘Business Alignment Models’ where many projects are incorrectly categorized as ‘differentiating’ but do not add this type of value to the organization. By focussing on the purpose and using their ‘Billboard’ technique, insight is given into which projects truly are differentiating to the organization.
Context Leadership Model – giving visibility into the complexity and uncertainty values of a project to help leaders manage projects, with the right people, more effectively.
A Four Step Collaboration Process – designed to assess the right people for the job, allowing transparency in environments and then trusting people to get on with what they do best to produce high quality work.
Value Based Decision Making – Determining which projects to start, continue and stop based on making decisions at the last responsible moment. This model is taken from Lean Product Management and has worked well in the past.
These are simple models, easily implemented, directed at resolving common root causes that are systemic in many activities. The concise, real, case studies accompanying the ideals show what is not only possible, but achievable. Using the ‘Purpose Alignment Model’ I found myself not only looking at current projects but completed ones to determine, in retrospect, whether we overspent resources into what we thought was a differentiating project when really it was one that actually retained business parity.
I know this will quickly be one of the dog-eared, bent out of shape, probably missing its cover type books that I often return too.
If you are a business leader and want a fresh perspective of the projects currently underway in your organization or group this is a valuable resource that will provide, in my opinion, huge ROI.
Recent Comments