Abidemi Bolatiwa

OGL 321: Project Leadership

Final Paper

Arizona State University

Part One:

Introspective Ideologies

For the past month, I’ve had to go through an introspective phase of my career and life as I

worked to utilize my project management and leadership skills in various aspects of my life.

Even now, I understand that I am not even halfway on a journey of such undertaking. With the

Harvard simulations, I learned how every detail needs to be meticulously planned, and the

causal relationship between all of my decisions intertwined. I learned how scope alone cannot

carry the project, and the larger the scope, the harder the project is to maintain, and even with

a generous amount of time, the resources and the people will always prove an issue that needs

to be resolved. In the previous scenarios, I quickly realized that lack of properly allocated

resources and policy can be devastating, but the final scenario showed me just how

catastrophic it can be. Project managers are required to remain flexible yet pragmatic in their

management of tasks, coordinating with line managers to create a plan of action and get things

done on time and within budget. However, the more intrinsic aspects of being a proper project

manager lies in one’s ability to coach, guide, and lead members of the organization to work

towards a shared vision, unifying their efforts to create the best product possible.

Taking the Quiz

I took the quiz “How Good Are Your Project Management Skills?” and it identified a lot of my

feelings regarding project management. In the quiz, I received a 69 due to conflicting ideologies

of “taking care of people” and cutting my losses. At my current skill level, I can manage projects

with a smaller scope, but I feel it would be a challenge as the project and its scope grows larger.
The biggest issue for me are principles. I try to be pragmatic when I employ practices as

efficiency is my dogma, but I also feel conflicted when I try to be ethical, but I’m faced with

situations that may potentially hurt others. A good example of this would be having to remove

a veteran from the team because they are not performing up to standard, but they have been a

part of the team far longer than others and are a personality leader in the office. On one hand I

can replace them with someone with more technical skill, and on the other hand I can attempt

to coach them, and give them the tools to be more productive. Both options have their own

issues alongside them but when scheduling is involved, it forces the conflict.

Experiences with project management as a lifelong theme

From my previous experience, and the assessment of leadership exercises I conducted, I realize

that I am an active experimenter when it comes to project management. I am content with

drawing up a plan as a guideline, following it as specifically as possible, preparing for every

contingency, and ensuring the cost of business remains consistent throughout. However, I am

also willing to listen to employee feedback, track individual and team progress, and letting the

scope grow as necessary. I feel this is an important aspect of a high-performing PM as it is

important to have flexibility while maintaining a strong sense of duty and dedication to

established criteria. I try to emphasize communication and timeliness in the workplace when I

have a project that needs to be completed, but I find myself struggling with process

improvement and best practices, which I rely on team members to develop. Consistency is also

a key attribute for me, because I try to be methodical when I plan things out, and ensuring my

team is on the same page, expecting the same results every day, makes day-to-day processes

run smoothly and efficiently, with little room for deviation or unfortunate contingencies that
plague many projects. I also need a better understanding of risk analysis. I tend to go overboard

when it comes to keeping risks to a minimum, but as a high-performing project manager, I must

learn how to identify which risk poses the most threat to my project. Until recently, I always

stretched myself thin trying to think of ways to counteract every single issue that may plague a

project, and I’ve learned that it is all a delicate balancing act. Too many resources allocated into

one thing tends to hurt the other processes, and too little focused on one aspect can be

disastrous to the whole. Even with the score I received, I understand that I cannot always

control everything, and it is all a learning experience, but understanding where my weaknesses

lie allow me to focus on them and work on what makes me weak in those areas. It is all a

journey of self-discovery and I know that I will always be on that path.

Understanding Strengths and Weaknesses

To support my point further, I would like to recall a piece of the reading material. In his book,

“Managing Project Uncertainty” David Cleden asserts that confronting uncertainty can be

reduced to four key nodes in the process (Cleden, p 37). He describes suppression, adaptation,

detouring, and reorienting oneself in order to confront uncertainty. When I began working on

the simulations from the courses, I noticed that these nodes could be applied to some of the

contingencies I encountered, because being able to adapt to a detrimental event kept me from

losing a tremendous amount of progress and showed me what my weak points were. There

were times I attempted to suppress problems before they arose, but often suppression

becomes a problem when considering the opportunity cost of that contingency mitigation.

Additionally, adapting to any and all potential issues as they come can easily leave a project

manager vulnerable to more extreme contingencies like competition and an outside

intervention. The two nodes I felt were most secure were detours and reorienting. Both nodes

cover the dilemma of preventing unnecessary cost and covering weak points in the project.

Cleden further goes in depth in confronting uncertainty by highlighting indicators of

symptomatic and root problems. In my experience, when something big goes wrong, I’ve

always noticed there is a pattern of smaller issues that led up to the problem. Professional

organizations typically employ analysts to investigate cost and risk management to avoid large

scale issues and find the cause of those problems. A good analogy of treating a symptomatic

issue and finding the root problem was training class I pushed through Joint-Service-Mask-Leak-

Testing. I once had a member who continued inhaling the tear gas due to a faulty gas mask.

Rather than ask for a new mask, he insisted on using his old one and tried to deploy. We later

found out weeks later that he died from the fumes he inhaled as I trained him with that faulty

gas mask. I was afraid that my job was on the line because I could have done a better job

helping him test the mask for functionality, but the in-depth investigation came, and it turned

out the manufacturer mislabeled the gas masks. Rather than recall the gas masks at the base,

they recalled the gas mask air force wide and held that company responsible.

Only through self-improvement methods like these do I feel ready to take on the tasks assigned

to me in my professional life. Since moving from South Dakota and stationed here, I am

currently in charge of a warehouse that stores and issues millions of dollars’ worth of protective

equipment. I now maintain gas masks, assault rifles, ammo, plates, and chemical warfare

equipment for the base. Due to the high-value of these assets, I am always under the constant

stressor of ensuring I have 100% accountability of everything. To maintain the rapid influx of

assets, I am tasked to designate projects for many of these items. One peculiar project required
me to move 300+ pieces of gear to deploy for a new mission for service members going to Al

Udeid. It was my first major project and the largest group of people I have had to issue gear to,

and it was to happen over the span of six weeks. The plan was to inventory all the assets, pre-

build each bag, tag all bags, issue the assets, and then reconcile the remainder of what was left

to ensure the computer got an accurate count. My team and I were able to complete the first

two tasks in two weeks, then the scope was limited by the deployment managers, when they

downsized the number of men and women deploying overseas. That affected many

organizations, but none more so than mine, because I now had to re-inventory hundreds of

assets, reconcile them, and put them back into storage. The team’s morale was low, and it

would take another two weeks tops to complete, which also hurt the schedule. I considered

calling an audible to outsource some of the work, but we were able to come together as a team

and finish the project in a week. The rapport I had with my team, combined with some creative

accounting, led to us finishing the project only a day behind schedule. I have always wondered

what type of leadership can inspire men and women to face impossible odds, and thanks to the

courses and teachings I received in my courses and my previous role models, I was able to guide

the team to getting things done ethically. Our leadership had our backs throughout the process

due to the regular feedback and status updates I provided.

Overall Summary

The best takeaways I received from those projects was that things happen, and while it is

always the mission to finish the task within a schedule and using minimal resources, it is

important to understand that what constitutes failure for some, does not do the same for

others. Everyone in the course debriefs received very different scores, and the responses I read
had different processes and different aspects of the project prioritized, ultimately leading to the

amalgam of scores that everyone posted. Since this course, I have learned not to look at things

in a black/white perspective, as everything can be viewed subjectively. I try to take away good

things from each encounter I have and every situation I am in, while making sure I do not get

completely absorbed by my responsibilities.

Part Two:

First advice navigating Project Management Simulations

The first piece of advice is to enjoy yourself. Really put some value into learning what this class

is meant to teach. No one wants to devote hours to tasks they don’t understand, and If you feel

the simulations will be a chore, then the next few weeks are going to be unpleasant. It is an

amazing opportunity to be put in charge of a lot of responsibility with very little risk.

Simulations nowadays are a great way to obtain results without subjecting oneself to

unnecessary repercussions, especially with thousands of dollars at stake. This opportunity does

not present itself often outside academia, so it can be seen as a reference when faced with

similar situations in the future. And don’t be afraid to fall a few times while on the path to

better project management. No one likes to fail, but it is only through failure that one learns,

and repeated failures in these simulations can make quite the renaissance manager out of

anyone.
Secondly,

Be very open when it comes to debriefs. Do not forget that this is somewhat of a team effort,

and you are being graded by your ability to show improvement in the simulations. Be open and

honest about your shortcomings, that way it is easy to see what you are lacking in and are able

to better rectify it. The same also goes for those who are doing well, so others who are

struggling may learn a thing or two. I have been in situations where individuals try to jealously

guard their secrets and watch others flounder, only to fail humanity and earn the ire of those

they work with. The ongoing motto in my organization is “don’t be that person”. This is a

classroom and we are all here to learn and better ourselves. By collaborating and truly giving

each other the means to excel by working as a team, we learn and grow exponentially faster.

The best part of finding yourself among peers that have the same experiences as you is that it

helps affirms your assumptions and feelings, which steer you in the right direction for any

issues that you may encounter. Much of project management is an accumulation of many trials

and errors and it is impossible to go it alone without peers to suffer with or learn from.

Finally,

Learn to take what the instructor says with introspection. So far, I have had the pleasure of

working with Ben Pandya and despite many of my shortcomings, the guidance, motivation, and

understanding I have been shown has really given me an intrinsic need to outdo myself when it

counts. Project management requires people, and being an effective manager requires one to

understand their people. Know what it is like to be led, coached, and taught, in order to better
empathize with those you lead. Those inspired will follow through thick and thin, and devote

themselves to completing every task outlined and give 100% of effort in the process.

I have learned a lot, gained a lot of knowledge, and learned to prioritize what is important

throughout this class. My old supervisor always told me “learn something, no matter how small

it is, and you’ll make something out of the accumulated knowledge”. I can’t speak for most

people, but I feel like your experiences ultimately define who you are, and that identity may or

may not be consistent depending on what role you play in your life. In this course however, you

are playing the role of a student, and respect, consistency, and an eagerness to learn are three

characteristics that will carry anyone looking for a decent grade, and even afterward you might

find that you have learned many applicable skills and thought processes that can be

implemented to your day-to-day. Keep doing what needs to be done, and it’ll be worth the

effort.
References:

Cleden, D. (2009). Managing project uncertainty. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate.