AOM 2010 Montreal (Day Four – Part One)
Hi, back again with some more gems from the conference. Day Four already – here comes the “R” word… Today I listened to some research, undertaken by academics, on the status of project management in organisations. The research was conducted variously by interview, questionnaire and observation and ranged from sample sizes based on Geography (e.g. Chicago area) to industry (e.g. banking) to firm size (e.g. sme, big or mega), to sector (i.e. private, not-for profit or public for profit) to across all of these with 15,000 participating orgs.
As for the other days there were several presentations so I’ll only highlight here the consistent comments across them. If you’d like more just call and I can draw from the copious notes I took. (comments in italics are mine)
- Project management has evolved as a discipline that is a miss match to what orgs want (oh dear, here we go again)
- The most effective PMs are able to access and use memories of other places and times and amend what they are doing to fit the world they find themselves in (now we’re talking)
- Project managers seem to be blinded by their own training (heavy sigh)
- Getting PMs to manage and not do the domain work is a big challenge and seen as an obstacle to success – but the PM does need to be a quick learner of culture, language and drivers to succeed…(I’m good with that as it speaks to our main philosophy at RNC).
- Project Management is moving down from mid-level to lower level skill requirement –as it is being avoided for actual delivery and used for admin…..(sad but apparently true)
- Most success stories of projects had something in common, they chose not to match PMs to the domain of the project (now that’s interesting) and the PMs kind of ignored the PM rules….. (There were lots of examples sited here and I sat on the edge of my chair soaking it up as it was music to me ears.)
- Project failure is sustainable in orgs reporting a determination to build PM experience and capability (no – sh*t – shows that effective PMs want and need variety – and they don’t seek the perceived safety of permanent employment)
And so ended the day ………… tomorrow still remains and I’m starting with a session on Southwest Airlines – one of the most successful companies in the US…….. can’t wait! And then there is the session on positive deviance – no jokes please!!!
Oh, and remind me to tell you about Black Swans as well…….things are finally looking brighter. (And to the people who have asked why I persist in reporting stuff that apparently goes against RNC’s business – the reality is I care less about the ‘profession’ of PM than I do about being part of the answer to achieving what people want achieved – you can snigger if you like, but its true).
Best wishes, Diane.