Rocky Flats – A Lesson in Excellent Execution – Working in the ‘Abundance Gap’
Some Clearing / Cleansing Emotions
I just have to have a bleat about people who espouse project management approaches when in fact they ‘know nothing’ (said with Hogan’s Heroes accent). I have decided once and for all that there is a massive difference project management and project execution. Once upon a time, management could expect that a PM would deliver an outcome; now it seems all too often that PMs are simply mystified when, having done everything by the book, the project is a mess. Perhaps there’s something wrong with the book?
The Rocky Flats Story
Rocky Flats was a very contaminated nuclear site in Colorado. The Government decided to close it and repatriate the land. Experts were called in and the project budget, success criteria and timeline were planned and approved – 70 years, USD36bn and a prescribed level of residual contaminant. Over the next few years not much happened and the Government replaced the Program Director – inspiration or good luck – it was a great move!
Everyone who hears about Rocky Flats will take away their own lessons, but here are the ones I took away. Perhaps nothing new but wonderful to have reinforced that ‘you know, this stuff really does work!’ So, to the lessons as interpreted, understood and remembered by me.
1. It’s all about the people. At Rocky they shared the 100 million bonus with the ‘hourly staff’, unprecedented and brave, and very effective!
2. Use the culture of the organisation, not the one you think it should have.
3. Focus on a period or achievement pot the project – at Rocky they focused on the new jobs that each person would have after the site closed – a major project in itself as Rocky was a very large local employer where it was common for 3rd generation workers to be there and to have expected their grandchildren would work there too. A lot of effort was put into working with the staff for their personal future.
4. Afford all people dignity – but that doesn’t mean they get to stay.
5. Remove people who are either openly or passively aggressive. Do it quickly and don’t worry about loss of domain knowledge even if the people are the perceived top performers or critical to the operation.
6. When you remove troublesome people, cooperative people will come out of the woodwork – they’ve been waiting for a chance.
7. Don’t tolerate bullying – no matter who is doing it.
8. The program director doesn’t need domain knowledge – they need to be able to get the best out of the people you’ve got.
9. Use symbolism and ceremony to communicate support and change. At Rocky the admin building was demolished at the start and the admin and government staff moved into the buildings with the ‘nuclear’ staff, and the most senior management moved into trailers on site – providing a very clear message that this was indeed temporary.
10. Ask the staff what is the best solution – the staff came up with a solution that was 60 years and 30bn less than the experts planned.
11. Give the people what they ask for to achieve the job – if you truly want the outcome. At Rocky, as part of closing the site, the workforce almost doubled in the first couple of years of the program. That is, the first few years once the new Project Director was in place.
12. The only absolute rule was safety first.
13. The sponsor has to be brave and constant, and ready to move any and all obstacles.
14. Once success is in sight, don’t review the budget & time and hope for cheaper, quicker – the deal was already good. At Rocky, this was tried by the stakeholders and effectively fought off.
The bottom line is – it’s about the people. If you look after them, they’ll look after you. The researchers who watched and recorded the phenomenon called it “working in the abundance gap”, and that’s pretty much what it was.
The site is now repatriated, just under schedule, a few hundred k under budget, having exceeded the residue limit by 13 times (in the right direction).
I hope I’ve managed to convey some of the wonder of what was achieved. It reminded me why I went into this profession and why I stay to help out companies. It’s really rewarding!
I’m also glad I’ve met people along the way who have endorsed the approach and let me manage projects in the abundance gap.
Keep smiling, the best thing about projects is, there’s another one coming and another chance to be excited. Don’t you love it!