ON THE EDGE
Exploring Project Management
by Carl Pritchard, Pritchard Management Associates
From Chambers Dictionary of Etymology:
Explore v. 1585, in letters of Queen Elizabeth I…in some instances, a direct borrowing from Latin explorare…originally said to be a hunters' term meaning to set up a loud cry to scare an animal from its hiding place, but later changed to mean beat the bushes.
Project managers as explorers. It's an interesting concept. I had the honor of sitting in for Dr. Young Hoon Kwak at George Washington University recently, and as I arrived for class, the students were turning in their mid-term examinations for Risk Management. Seizing the opportunity, I took a look at a few of the exams and reflected on my college days -- as a Journalism major at The Ohio State University. It struck me how far the profession has come in the past quarter-century. 25 years ago, no university offered a Master's in project management. Now, dozens do, and more are added every year. 25 years ago, people didn't think in terms of project management as a career path by itself. Now, it's evolving that way.
This means a sea change in the way project managers evolve professionally. Rather than being thrust into completely unfamiliar territory, the new project managers have some grounding. They have an understanding of what they're in for. They know what to expect. They know what a Gantt chart is before they're asked to present one for the first time. They have a sense of what teambuilding is supposed to be, and how a communications plan is deployed. 25 years ago, project managers were on a voyage of self-discovery, and in the process, they were setting down practices that have now become commonplace.
Explorers and Pioneers
It's not unlike difference between the pioneers and settlers. Pioneers are the first to tread into unfamiliar turf. They find the paths that work, and suffer through those that don't. Some don't make it to safe ground. Pioneers are the first in their country or organization to set down the rules and name the terms. "We will call this state 'Nevada'." Or in the project management sense, "When we say 'risk plan,' this is what we mean." 25 years ago, the terms were still being defined. Now, the maps have been drawn and we're working toward common definitions, terms and routes. That's not to say there's not still plenty of exploration, but the major paths for the uninitiated have been carved out, tramped down and paved.
Those coming through now still have a chance to do some exploration. Not necessarily in terms of setting down the terms and terminology but, instead, the more classic definition of "explore" found in Chambers: to scare animals from their hiding places! Project managers get to raise the alarm. They get to warn, alarm and alert. They get to flush out the last vestiges of antiquated practice and move project management toward a recognizable, consistent profession. As they do so, there are explorers' tools, just as there have always been—but now they take on a different look and feel.
Explorers' Tools
The tools we use to "frighten" the last vestiges of aging practices away are not the same tools (Gantt, network diagram, responsibility matrix, etc.) used to implement project management. If we want to make project management "habitable" and inviting, the tools to deploy are those that ensure best practice takes hold. Three examples:
- ISO 10006 - The basic guidance on project management from the International Organization for Standards provides a benchmark as to what protocols to follow. It doesn't spell out the specific paths or methodologies, but tells what signs are out there to indicate best practice project management.
- The Software Engineering Institute's Taxonomy-Based Risk Identification - This monstrous list of risk questions on the SEI website is a classic example of taking advantage of the insights others have gained blazing a trail. And because the list of questions highlights past experience, there's evidence of potential gain from its use.
- The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge - PMI's landmark work spells out terms, definition and guidance as it has developed over the past few decade. As with the other tools, it is highly regarded not because of its specificity, but because of its widespread acceptance from organization to organization and industry to industry.
What makes these tools work? They work because we can point to them outside our organization, and say that it is time for change. We can use them to highlight that there are others who are blazing the same trails in different cultures, organizations and industries. We can use them to show there is a path ahead worth treading, and if we don't "frighten" existing ad hoc practices away, we will be left behind by the settlers who are willing to trace the paths that pioneers and explorers established.
Back Where We Started
TS Eliot, in Gerontion, captures this interesting notion:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
In project management, we find ourselves repeating similar projects, reliving similar experiences and encountering similar challenges day-to-day and year-to-year. 25 years ago, each time it happened was a fresh opportunity to blaze the trail. Today, we start afresh at the beginning of the project road, but armed with new tools and insights, we have the opportunity to make the trip more smoothly, more efficiently, and more skillfully than the project explorers ever could.
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