"Ignorance keeps you perky"

Earlier this year Peggy Noonan wrote an article about President Obama's new term: "Every new president starts out fresh, in part because he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Ignorance keeps you perky."

The months since have shown that running a government is more challenging than running a campaign. Though you and I are not seeking to be the leader of the free world, Noonan's point can be translated to those who strive to deliver projects and lead teams. When we first take over a project or team, our optimism may be based on ignorance. What is it that we don't know?

This all comes to mind as I prepared for my podcast interview next week with Michael Roberto, author of Know What You Don't Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen.

In the book, Professor Roberto essentially tells us that leaders must first hone their skills as problem-finders, not just problem-solvers. He offers very practical advice on how leaders can overcome the many barriers that make it a challenge to discover problems earlier instead of reacting to them later when the consequences can be much more severe.

The podcast episode is not scheduled to be published until late October but I invite you to get your copy of Michael's book now and enjoy the interview when it comes out.

In addition, here's an article that Michael just recently published that will give you a taste for what's in store.

Here's to us all becoming better problem-finders!

Labels: Books I Love, conflict, crisis, denial, illusion, podcast, project management, project sponsors, risk management

posted by Andy at 11:00 AM  

"Trillion is the new billion"

It's a key message in my book Navigating the Winds of Change: Staying on Course in Business & in Life: Perspective matters.

It's so easy to lose perspective. Whether you're trying to convince a boss to make a change or trying to evaluate if a government reform idea is a good deal or not, getting a sense of perspective can make all the difference.

Frankly, I have trouble visualizing a trillion of anything. As reported this last week, the White House predicts a deficit of $1.841 trillion dollars for the current fiscal year.

Seems like a really big number. To get some perspective, how does that compare to some previous years? The biggest deficit for any fiscal year on record is $454.8 billion, rung up in fiscal 2008. So we're predicting to be $1.4 trillion dollars worse than the worst year on record. Yet as bad as that sounds, I still find it difficult to get my arms around how big a trillion really is.

Often a picture can serve up perspective more effectively. Here are a couple examples that illustrate a trillion dollars:

• From PageTutor.com
• From YouTube

This posting is not about whether health care reform or stimulus spending is a good idea or not. It's not about left vs. right or Republicans vs. Democrats.

Here's my point: when you hear any leader (whether in government or in business) throwing around numbers that are difficult to comprehend, try to get perspective using a picture. It will help you better evaluate the long-term implications of their statements.

Labels: accountability, communication, culture, illusion, integrity, managing change

posted by Andy at 4:51 PM  

Strategic Misrepresentation?

I was doing some research today on project cost overruns. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of high-profile examples of massive project failures when it comes to cost.

I was particularly intrigued by an article entitled "Underestimating Costs in Public Works Projects: Error or Lie?" by Bent Flyvbjerg, Mette Skamris Holm, and Søren Buhl. Just the term underestimating instead of overrun caught my eye.

Yet even more interesting was a conclusion they put forward in their paper: "Cost underestimation cannot be explained by error and seems to be best explained by strategic misrepresentation, i.e. lying."

Strategic misrepresentation? That could be the most creative way of saying lying that I've heard in quite a while!

"In case after case, planners, engineers, and economists told Wachs that they had had to 'cook' forecasts in order to produce numbers that would satisfy their superiors and get projects started, whether or not the numbers could be justified on technical grounds...."

As we discuss in our project management workshops, reality has this annoying way of always winning. Bad news doesn't get better over time. If your project is struggling, rather than trying to find creative ways to cook up a batch of strategic misrepresentation, how about applying that creativity into innovative solutions to get back on schedule.

We-can-make-this-up: 5 of the most dangerous words in project management. It's not that you can't. It's just that hope is rarely a good strategy. And that's what we see way too often.

Check out our Lipstick on a Pig: How Illusion Leads to Crisis keynote. It's perfect for a company meeting, retreat, or association gathering. We can help your teams learn to lead and deliver.

Labels: accountability, crisis, denial, illusion, keynotes, risk management

posted by Andy at 10:25 PM  

You are invited! Free webcast to learn how to manage risks

Risks are a daily part of being a leader. It's not a matter of if things will go differently than you planned: it's only a matter of when.

One of my favorite employees ever said, "The project schedule is the schedule for exactly how the project will not occur!"

Yet I find few people have a practical understanding of risk management. What if there were some straightforward steps you and your team could take to get a better grip on the projects you are working on?

There are. And we're offering a free webcast to help you learn.

Date: Thursday, September 18
Time: 11:00am Central (Noon Eastern, 9:00am Pacific)
Duration: 45 minutes

Click here to register. I look forward to meeting you!

P.S. For a recent article about risks, check out this newsletter issue.

Labels: illusion, risk management, webcasts

posted by Andy at 10:19 AM  

Join me in Atlanta or Lacrosse for Professional Development Days at the local PMI Chapters

If you live near Atlanta, GA or Lacrosse, WI and have an interest in project management, I invite you to join us for a day of learning with the local PMI chapters!

Location	Date	Keynote	For More Information
Atlanta	8/16	Lipstick on a Pig: How Illusion Leads to Crisis	Click here
Lacrosse	9/18	Beyond Time Management: 5 Keys To Getting More Done with Less Stress	Click here

I would love to have the opportunity to meet you! Check the chapter websites for details.

Labels: illusion, keynotes, Lipstick on a Pig, project management, Project Management Institute, time management

posted by Andy at 2:28 PM  

The Illusion of Knowledge

So what are you reading? I just started Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which is certainly a departure from the business books that typically keep me busy. I had to present a paper on Gibbon's classic back in high school and I’ve been wanting to re-read it. With trips to Europe and Africa in the months ahead, the timing is perfect for a book nearly 3 inches thick!

Daniel Boorstin’s introduction had an interesting quote: “For Gibbon, while human nature is anything but unintelligible, it remains only partly explicable. For him the menace to understanding was not so much ignorance as the illusion of knowledge.”

In my business of speaking and executive coaching I have the opportunity to help leaders become more productive by learning rich theories and models that explain personality styles and other aspects of human nature. Yet upon reflection, I’m probably less immune than I want to admit to the illusion of knowledge—that I can explain it all because “they’re an ENTJ” or “a High D”, when in fact I’m over-simplifying and perhaps being held back from greater understanding because of it.

I can too easily jump to conclusions about people. I can put people in a style box and not recognize when they're trying to be more versatile. I can try to apply simple solutions to complex problems.

What about you? Are you being held back from deeper understanding on something because you hold up the illusion of knowledge? How willing are you to take a fresh look at long held convictions? When was the last time you admitted, "I'm not really sure. I will look into that more."

As we discuss in our keynote "Lipstick on a Pig: How Illusion Leads to Crisis in Real World Projects", reality has this annoying way of always winning. Here's to all of us gaining greater understanding by being more willing to combat the illusion of knowledge.

Labels: illusion, Lipstick on a Pig, personality styles, reality, uncertainty

posted by Andy at 10:52 PM  

Leadership Lessons from William A. Osborne

A recent Crain's Chicago Business "Talking Business" episode included an interview with the Chairman and CEO of Northern Trust, Bill Osborne. I've had the distinct pleasure of facilitating training & offsite meetings for the Northern, as well as some executive coaching. You can often learn a lot about a leader by what people in their organization say about him or her. Here are some things I consistently hear people say about Bill:

• "He's so personable."
• "He's very approachable."
• "He doesn't talk down to you."
• "He's very down-to-earth."
• "He's sharp. He knows the business."

Here are some notes from the brief video:

• You're not a leader if you're not respected. We continually need to be reminded that we're not a leader simply because of our title. In many of our leadership workshops (such as Influence & Accountability for Project Success), we discuss the difference between positional power (you follow me because of my position) and personal power (you follow me because of who I am). There are times when leaders need to exercise their positional power, but the most effective leaders for the long-term are those who have a well-developed arsenal of personal power. One of the keys to increasing your personal power is increasing the respect others have for you, and respect is something that is earned day-by-day, decision-by-decision, one interaction with a person at a time. Contact us to learn how we can help you better develop your influence.
  

• Leaders are visible and accessible. Bill spends half of his time visiting offices, meeting with employees. I don't remember meeting a partner (what the Northern calls their employees) who had been with the organization for more than a year that has not met Bill. We coach leaders to Manage By Wandering Around, which sounds a lot like Manage By Walking Around, with some subtle differences. Wandering implies less of an agenda, with the true agenda being available for interaction. The ivory tower syndrome hits too many leaders, often due to death by meeting. Certainly you are required to participate in more than you share of meetings, but you must carve out time to be on the floor, available to team members.

• Leaders listen to all levels. I appreciated Bill's comments about not simply listening to his direct reports. It's been observed there's an inverse relationship between someone's level in the organization and their ability to see reality! We can joke about that, but the truth is that reality is often obscured in the executive ranks because the food chain under them overly massages the information to the point that it bears only a shadow's resemblance to the original message.
  

• Leaders learn from others. Though Caterpillar and Northern Trust are quite different enterprises, Bill provides a good example of how serving on the Caterpillar board has benefited his business. Too many leaders have the mindset that they already have the answers, and stop actively working to learn from others. In discussions with friends and colleagues in other companies, ask them questions about the business. Try to understand the business models and operating principles. Intentionally watch for ideas you can apply to how you manage your areas of responsibility.

I strongly suggest you invest the time to learn from one of the great leaders in the banking industry, Bill Osborne.

Labels: accountability, executives, illusion, leadership, learning, listening, reality

posted by Andy at 4:22 PM  

Oversimplifying the issue

“Idealism increases in direct proportion to one's distance from the problem.”
John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright

A customer recently shared this quote with me based on a topic we had covered prior to a break. I had to share it with you… Have you seen Galsworthy’s wisdom in action?

We are a culture that loves the sound bite. Wrap the concept up in a 10 second blip… that’ll do just fine. From a cultural standpoint, think about how we oversimplify issues. For example, you’re either a liberal or a conservative. You’re either for saving the lives of millions of people through embryonic stem cell research or you’re a religious whacko. It would appear there’s no middle ground or shades of grey.

In business, think of how many times training classes or articles state we need to “do the right thing”, “put the right people on it”, “ask the right questions”. A recent article recommended that prospective leaders make sure they “do the right thing at the right time”. Uh, thanks for the insight.

At 30,000 feet, everything looks pretty simple. As Galsworthy states, “Idealism increases in direct proportion to one’s distance from the problem.”

Think about projects that, once you dig into the requirements, are not as simple as they might have seemed on the white board with the sales & marketing folks. How about an employee who is struggling with his performance but has some real world challenges going on in his personal life? Or maybe you can think of processes that are a good idea but require changes to the culture to allow for acceptance?

Start digging into issues a little deeper and we’ll often find there’s less black and white and more shades of grey. It becomes more apparent that answers aren’t quite as easy as we may have thought.

For example, the whole stem cell debate has caught my interest. Did you know that while the politcally active mud wrestle about funding of stem cell research, adult stem cells are being used to treat over 67 diseases... today? And there’s promising research (here’s one example) that may make embryonic stem cell usage irrelevant some day.

In business, the reality is some things are black-and-white. There are generally accepted accounting principles that need to be followed. It’s not all shades of grey. Also, we need to simplify at times. In fact, I’ve found many an aspiring leader who failed to influence a situation because they presented too much detail to their executives. They should have provided more headline, less encyclopedia.

We can often win when we do a good job of simplifying.

But oversimplifying can be deadly. This blog entry is a call for you to be wary of oversimplifying.

Suggestions:

• Spend some time in the mud. If you are not spending enough time managing by wandering around, your idealism might be unfounded.


• Check yourself to see if you too often speak with the “right ______” phrasing. If you catch yourself saying, “We need to do this the right way” or “use the right tools”, let that be an alert that your altitude may be causing you to not appreciate the reality of the situation. Is it really a matter of right and wrong? It might be! But often it’s a matter of trade-offs.


• Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth. You need people around you who will tell you the truth, not just defer. Though it can drive me crazy at times, I purposely develop relationships with people who look at the world differently from me to make sure we’re not all sharing the same Kool-Aid.

Labels: culture, idealism, illusion, planning, project management, reality, requirements

posted by Andy at 3:18 PM  

Join me for a Day at the Races!

If you plan on being in the Chicago area on September 12, I invite you to join me and other Chicago area leaders for the Daugherty Day At The Races at Arlington Park.

Come enjoy a great lunch and an afternoon of networking with other leaders. I'll be sharing our Lipstick on a Pig: How Illusion Leads to Crisis in Real World Projects keynote. It's an outstanding event sponsored by the good people at Daugherty Business Solutions.

Click here for more information and to register. I look forward to seeing you there!

Labels: illusion, keynotes, Lipstick on a Pig, reality

posted by Andy at 10:02 AM  

Illusions in the Maine Medicaid Project

In a recent issue of CIO Magazine, Allan Holmes details the Maine Medicaid project. If you're tired of failed IT projects, I have bad news for you--it's another one. But don't let that stop you from learning from it....

In my Lipstick on a Pig keynote we discuss how you can often deconstruct a crisis to find fundamental illusions that eventually led to the disaster.

This story is packed with examples. Here's a learning exercise for you... Block out 15 minutes to read the article. If you have any leadership role on projects, it's a must-read. But don't stop there. Browse the comments that other readers have left. As you read both, note the illusions that led to this unfortunate crisis. I found the illusions in the reader feedback almost as interesting as those in the article.

OK, here's the link. Zap me a quick e-mail (or post a comment here) regarding your observations.

Labels: illusion, keynotes, Lipstick on a Pig, project management, risk management

posted by Andy at 10:44 PM  

Leaky Decisons: Illusions that Led to the Great Chicago Flood Crisis

Our Lipstick on a Pig keynote is based on an insightful quote by Jerry Weinberg: "It may look like a crisis, but it's only the end of an illusion."

For those of us who have a passion for getting things done, delivering projects, and leading people, there are powerful lessons to be learned by exploring the illusions we face.

Charles Leroux provided an entertaining and insightful look (Chicago Tribune link no longer available) into a crisis that gripped the Chicago area: the Great Flood of 1992. It clearly illustrates how illusions led to the crisis that cost the area an estimated $800 million.

Do you have an upcoming company or department meeting that would benefit from an entertaining, business-focused keynote? Give us a call to get our Lipstick on a Pig keynote added to your meeting agenda!

Labels: crisis, culture, illusion, keynotes, Lipstick on a Pig

posted by Andy at 1:46 PM