pM

PM NETWORK

october 2010 VOLume 24, number 10

network
making project management indispensable for business results.®

Leadership
the leadership issue

Do you have what it takes?

> Case by Case: Overcoming Leadership Obstacles

> Why Failure Can Be a Good Thing
october 2010, VOLUME 24, NUMBER 10

> How to Be a Good Follower

PMN1010 Cover final.indd 1 9/14/10 12:30 PM

 pM
PM NETWORK

october 2010 VOLume 24, number 10

network
making project management indispensable for business results.®

Leadership
the leadership issue

Do you have what it takes?

> Case by Case: Overcoming Leadership Obstacles

> Why Failure Can Be a Good Thing
october 2010, VOLUME 24, NUMBER 10

> How to Be a Good Follower

PMN1010 Cover final.indd 1 9/14/10 12:30 PM

 PMN1010 Cover final.indd 2
0071_MICROSOFT_PROJECT_ALL_TOGETHER.indd 1
 9/13/10 3:17:50
9/10/10 12:02 PM
PM
NORTH AMERICA
PMI® GLOBAL CONGRESS 2010
9-12 October 2010 | Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center | Washington, D.C., USA

ARE YOU PROJECT READY?

Keynote speaker
Employers have identified project management as an
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON
indispensable skill. Get the knowledge and practical ideas
that employers want at PMI Global Congress 2010— In his speech,
North America. “Embracing Our
Common Humanity,”
President Clinton
WHY ATTEND PMI GLOBAL CONGRESS? will draw upon
The time and money that you commit to professional his experiences to
development is an important investment in your career. provide insight into
Make it count at PMI Global Congress. the challenge of globalization, emphasizing
our growing interdependence and pointing
ƒ Gain fresh ideas, new skills and proven techniques to the way toward a future based on shared
generate high performance from your projects goals and values.

ƒ Implement the knowledge and skills gained “President Clinton was leading the United
immediately in your projects States during a time of unprecedented
prosperity and change,” said Gregory
ƒ Update your skills by selecting from over 150 Balestrero, President and CEO of PMI.
educational presentations “He continues to be a powerful voice for
progress around the world through his
ƒ Learn about PMI tools and resources to help start, work with the Clinton Foundation and
build and advance your career at PMI Career Central his tireless efforts in places like Haiti and
in the Exhibition Hall other regions. His insight and experience
will be an inspiration to project managers
ƒ Build your professional network and enjoy the and organizations as they reinvigorate the
inspiring setting of Washington, D.C., USA global marketplace and drive continued
economic recovery.”

Register now at www.PMI.org/na2010pm1

Save with early registration rates through 23 September!

© 2010 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. “PMI” and the PMI logo are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.
043-027-2010 (6-10)
>>>OPENING
SHOT
“
Koreans believe
in this project.
They view this

”
as an investment
in the future.
—David Moore,
Gale International, Incheon,
South Korea
PHOTO COURTESY OF TK\PR PUBLIC RELATIONS

N
ew Songdo City is trying to get But all the various proprietary systems have
New smart about urban planning. Built to be joined into a seamless whole—opening

Songdo City,
on 1,500 acres (607 hectares) the megaproject up to major risk. “Cities are
reclaimed from the Yellow Sea, the highly complex systems, and one of the ele-

South Korea
metropolis is on the leading edge of true
digital-city planning. Slated for completion in
2015, it will include 80,000 apartments and
50 million square feet (approximately 4.6 mil-
lion square meters) of office space—all with a
focus on the latest technology.
Apartments, for example, will be equipped
with LCD monitors and microphones for
video communication. A central console con-
trols heat and air conditioning—and can even
send blood pressure data and blood samples
digitally to a local clinic.
ments of highly complex systems is that when
you ‘monkey around’ with them, their predict-
ability goes to zero,” technology author Pip
Coburn told Fast Company in February.
About 10,000 people currently live in the
city, and it looks like there’s no turning back.
“Once you start something this big it’s unstop-
pable. Billions have been invested. If you stop
at one-third, the money is lost and the people
who are already there will be angry,” said Jon-
gryn Mo, PhD, professor at Yonsei University
to The Independent.
 Improved
competency
pays for itself.

Few companies match training investment

to changes in work behavior or improvement
in project delivery.

This is changing.

Learn how other companies

pmcollege
white paper series

are putting competency

improvement programs in Building Project Manager Competency
Improves Business Outcomes

place that build in hard data

© 2010 Professional Development Solutions, Inc.

on business value by down- PM College provides corporate project

loading our white paper, management training and competency
Building Project Manager
Competency Improves
development programs for clients
around the world.
pmcollege white paper series | p 888.619.2819 | pmcollege.com | ©2010 Professional Development Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.

Business Outcomes, at FREE DOWNLOAD

www.pmcollege.com/
pmcollege.com I 888.619.2819
bottomline.
 Success Through Failure
pg. 51 “though
We want the message spread wide that even
these projects didn’t succeed, they
weren’t mistakes. By sharing these stories we
hope to eliminate inhibitions that others might
have toward trying something new.
— R. Gopalakrishnan, Tata Sons, Mumbai, India
”

contents
features oct10
48 The Upside of Failure
If they want to retain their edge, companies have to be willing to stumble
occasionally. by Sarah Fister Gale
56 Voices on Project Management: the courage to fail by Steve DelGrosso, PMP

58 Masters of Servitude
Giving up control doesn’t mean losing control.
by Sandra A. Swanson pg. 58
64 Voices on Project Management: The fine art of followership
by Gina Abudi

66
Career track
Fast Track to the Top
Doing your job well is a good start. But if entrée to the elusive
executive suite is your goal, you have to think strategically.
by Chauncey Hollingsworth
72 Voices on Project Management: Rising star by Luiz Andre Dias, PMP, PgMP

74 Full Bloom
Project managers aren’t always seen as leaders—but some simple steps can
help you grow into one. by Denene Brox
80 Voices on Project Management: Of Might and Men
by Col. Dionysios Anninos

special section page 23

case by case: leadership

Detailed case studies provide shining examples of cross-cultural, change
management, talent management, sustainability and virtual team leadership.
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 pg. 9

Youth Movement
“ Younger managers came up through the ranks differently
than some of us older folks, perhaps faster and with less time
to let organizational thinking settle in.
”

oct10
—William Gutches, WHG and Associates, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA

calendar of events
UPCOMING MAJOR
PMI GLOBAL EVENTS

viewpoints 9-12 October PMI Global Congress 2010—

North America. Washington, D.C., USA.
17 From the Top
Flying High 9-11 May PMI Global Congress 2011—
Joe Eng, JetBlue Airways, Forest Hills, EMEA. Dublin, Ireland.
New York, USA

18 Thinking Positive Visit www.PMI.org for details.

Sunny Disposition
by Alfonso Bucero, MSc, PMP,
Contributing Editor

19 The Agile Project Manager

October
Led Astray
by Jesse Fewell, CST, PMP 28 PMI China Congress 2010,
Beijing, China.
20 Take the Lead pmicongress-china.org
Words of Wisdom
by Neal Whitten, PMP, 29 PMI Oklahoma City 2010 Fall Conference,
Contributing Editor Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
www.pmiokc.org

November
also in this issue 10 PMI-Montreal Symposium, Montréal,
01 Opening Shot 82 Help Desk Québec, Canada.
07 Contributors 84 Featured Books
08 Behind the Scenes 87 Services Directory symposium.pmimontreal.org
09 The Buzz 88 Metrics
47 In Brief 19-21 Project Management Conference,
Mumbai, India.
on the cover www.pmi.org.in/conference2010
23 Case by Case: Overcoming Leadership Obstacles
48 Why Failure Can Be a Good Thing
58 How to Be a Good Follower

Winner of a 2009 Honorable Mention for general excellence and

a 2009 Silver Award for a single-topic issue from Association
Media & Publishing (formerly Society of National Association
Publications) for general excellence among magazines with a
circulation of more than 100,000.
pMnetwork
PMI Staff Contributing Editors
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 >>contributors
i n thi s i s s ue
people page people page DENENE BROX has written for Yahoo!,
Jerry Ball, PMP, Entity Group Ltd. ..............68 Merete Munch Lange, PMP, monster.com, Community Banker,
Vidvinkel Media .............................................. 26 MyBusiness and Hospitals & Health
Gareth Byatt, PMP, PgMP, Lend Lease ......77 Networks. She lives in Kansas City,
Don Ledbetter, L-3 Communications ......... 60
Kansas, USA.
Matteo M. Coscia, Projectize ........................70
Jerry Manas, PMP, Planview ...................... 50
Brian Cotton, PhD, Frost & Sullivan ........... 71 Guru Dutt is a corporate and
Christopher C. Mathews, Yunio .................. 43
aerial photographer based in Mumbai,
Bill Crider, PMP, Intel .....................................36
Shane McWilliams, PMP, The Knot Inc. ..... 51 India. His clients include Sahara Group
Luis Roberto Cuellar, Softtek ....................... 51 and the Indian Navy.
Osnat Niv-Assa, PMsphere ........................... 61
Joseph R. Czarnecki, PMP,
ESI International ..............................................76 Kim Norlen, Twitter ....................................... 30 SARAH FISTER GALE is a journalist
based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She has
Dipanker Das, PMP, CGN ............................. 60 Michel Operto, PMP, covered business and technology issues
Orange Business Services ...........................77
for the Economist Intelligence Unit
David Davis, PMP, PgMP, AT&T ..................76
and Training.
Alcides Santopietro Jr., PMP,
Joe Eng, JetBlue Airways ............................ 17 SNC-Lavalin .....................................................76

Monica Semeniuk, PMP ................................ 61

Randy Englund, Englund Project
Management Consultancy .............................68
R. Gopalakrishnan, Tata Sons ..................... 50
Peter Hargis, PMP, Intel ................................36
Ed Slavin, Mosaic ............................................68
Simon Sue, SL+A International
Asia Inc. ............................................................38
CHAUNCEY HOLLINGSWORTH
is a journalist and owner of a web design
company in Chicago, Illinois, USA. His
work has appeared in Playboy and Chicago
magazines.

Jeff Hodgkinson, PMI-RMP, PMP, gil lavi is a photographer based in

PgMP, Intel .......................................................35 Tel Aviv, Israel. His clients include
Deloitte & Touche, Laurus Consulting
Group and Delta.
organizations page organizations page
AT&T, Sylvania, Ohio, USA ...........................76 Mosaic, Dallas, Texas, USA ..........................68
SANDRA A. SWANSON is a Chicago,
CGN, New Delhi, India ................................... 60 Orange Business Services, Illinois, USA-based reporter who has
Valbonne, France .............................................77 contributed to Crain’s Chicago Business
Englund Project Management and BtoB.
Consultancy, Burlingame, Planview, Feasterville,
California, USA ................................................68 Pennsylvania, USA ........................................ 50

MALCOLM WHEATLEY is a U.K.-

Entity Group Ltd.,
Wellington, New Zealand ...............................68
ESI International, London, England .............77
Frost & Sullivan, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada ............................................................... 71
Intel, Phoenix, Arizona; Chandler,
Arizona; Austin, Texas, USA ........................35
JetBlue Airways, Forest Hills,
New York, USA ................................................ 17
The Knot Inc., Austin, Texas, USA .............. 51
L-3 Communications, New York,
New York, USA ............................................... 60
Lend Lease, Sydney, Australia .....................77
PMsphere, Tel Aviv, Israel ............................. 61
based freelance writer who has been
Projectize, Collegno, Italy ..............................70 published in a variety of business magazines
on both sides of the Atlantic.
SL+A International Asia Inc.,
Taipei, Taiwan ..................................................39
B.G. YOVOVICH is an Evanston, Illinois,
SNC-Laalin, Montréal, Québec, USA-based writer who has contributed to
Canada ...............................................................76
The New York Times, BtoB and CIO. He is
Softtek, Monterrey, México ........................... 51
working on his third book.
Tata Sons, Mumbai, India ............................. 50
MANUELA ZONINSEIN is a Brazilian-
Twitter, San Francisco, American writer who splits her time
California, USA ................................................ 31 between Beijing, China and Taipei, Taiwan.
Her work has appeared in Newsweek, the
Vidvinkel Media, Oslo, Norway ................... 26 Engineering News-Record, Monocle and
Travel + Leisure.
Yunio, Shanghai, China ................................. 43

october 2010 PM NETWORK 7

>>>behind the scenes
Here’s a peek at some of the project professionals providing an insider’s view
in this month’s features:

With over a decade of Project managers shouldn’t be afraid to delegate author-

global experience in ity to their team members, says Osnat Niv-Assa in
portfolio, program and “Masters of Servitude.” With a background in manage-
project management, ment information systems and industrial engineering,
Matteo M. Coscia she’s now the CEO
shares his advice for of PMsphere, an IT
advancing up the cor- management company
porate ladder in “Fast in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Track to the Top.” A
founding partner of
Projectize, a consulting and training firm in Col-
legno, Italy, and president of the European School
of Project Management, he has designed and rolled
out several systems and project management offices
for major institutions.

Rewarding project Michel Operto, PMP, brings more

failures may sound than 25 years of global experience to his
counterintuitive, but for role as IT transformation lead at Orange
Tata Sons, it can spur Business Services, Valbonne, France. He
innovation. In “The has worked across several dimensions
Upside of Failure,” R. of IT projects, including applications
Gopalakrishnan, development, portfo-
executive director of the lio prioritization and
Mumbai, India-based governance. In “Full
company, explains how Bloom,” he says
giving out awards for projects come down
project misfires is “our to the individuals
way of telling people we want them to try new things, and involved—and proj-
if they make good, honest efforts and fail, that’s okay.” ect managers should
Mr. Gopalakrishnan is also the chairman of Tata Auto- focus on their team
Comp Systems, Rallis India and Advinus Therapeutics, management skills.
vice chairman of Tata Chemicals, and a director of Tata
Power and Tata Technologies.

8 PM NETWORK October 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

 thebuzz

Submit news to pmnetwork@imaginepub.com. All monetary figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.
The Young
and the
Restless
The upstarts are taking over.
Looking to cut costs wherever
possible, many companies took an ax
to the organizational chart, leaving
younger (and typically lower-paid)
project talent in charge.
These days, it’s no longer unusual
for veteran project managers to have
a boss with a decade or two less
experience.
Forty-three percent of 5,200 U.S.
workers ages 35 and older said they
currently work for someone younger
than them, according to a survey
released by human resources giant
CareerBuilder in February. Of that
group, 69 percent of workers age
55 and older said they have a boss
younger than them, as did 53 per-
cent of workers age 45 and up.
All of this creates an interesting
dynamic. Top complaints cited in the
survey from older workers about their
“whippersnapper” bosses included:
in these pages n 
They act like they know more than
me when they don’t.
n 
They act like they’re entitled and
illustration by keith negley

12 Think About It didn’t earn their position.

n 
They micromanage.
14 Mastering the Great Unknown n 
They play favorites with younger
workers.
n 
They don’t give me enough
direction.

See the latest news about project, program and

portfolio management online at www.PMI.org/PMport.
 thebuzz
Younger project managers may indeed face a
rough reception. A young leader’s experience—or
lack thereof—can sometimes prompt skepticism
among the “old pros.”
If a younger person’s track record is different
than theirs, it’s hard to trust that experience,
“especially since there’s less of it,” says Johanna
Rothman, president of Rothman Consulting
Group Inc., Arlington, Massachusetts, USA.
“People who are older do have more experience.
But that doesn’t have to mean they know how to
succeed better.”
There’s the stereotype: The brilliant young
geniuses glued to their smartphones,
tweeting at 3 in the morning
and tracking project status at 8 that night.
But there is something to it...
She recalls a relationship with a slightly older col-
league who had difficulty taking direction from her.
“I think he was jealous of my standing. I had
built relationships across the organization and I
had high influence. He did not,” says Ms. Roth-
man, author of Manage It!: Your Guide to Mod-
ern, Pragmatic Project Management [Pragmatic
Bookshelf, 2007]. “I asked other people to deal
with him directly so I was not rubbing his face
into the fact that he had to report to a younger
woman program manager.”
For the relationships to work, both parties
have to capitalize on each other’s experiences and
strengths.
Old School
Older project managers may need to shift their
attitudes, says Lisa DiTullio, author of Project
Team Dynamics: Enhancing Performance, Improv-
ing Results [Management Concepts, 2010].
“Be prepared for a boss with high energy
and expectations,” says Ms. DiTullio, principal,
Your Project Office, a project management office
(PMO) consultancy in Cohasset, Massachusetts,
USA. “Younger people work at a fast pace. They
may push for more work to be delivered within
tighter timelines.”
10 PM NETWORK October 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “Their
eagerness and excitement are contagious,” Ms.
DiTullio says. “They often lift others in spirit
and morale.”
Then there’s the stereotype: The brilliant
young geniuses glued to their smartphones, tweet-
ing at 3 in the morning and tracking project status
at 8 that night. But there is something to it...
“They are not stuck in a 9-to-5 schedule.
They tend to live a 24/7 schedule. They have
all the latest gadgets, making it easy for them
to be connected and available,” Ms. DiTullio
says. “This makes them nimble and efficient in
managing different communications at once. Be
careful—you may find yourself more connected
to your boss than ever before.”
That tech savvy extends to how young leaders
manage projects and teams, often by introducing
new collaboration and communication tools.
That said, most seem to realize they’re run-
ning a team, not a dictatorship.
“They are more accepting of multiple learning
styles and how to best get the work done,” Ms.
DiTullio says. “They are capable of multitasking
and are less hung up with operating rules.”
But even that can be tough for older project
managers set in their ways. “If you like consistent
process, be prepared for some curves and short-
cuts along the way,” she says.
It helps to understand a younger manager’s
expectations, says William Gutches, an IT con-
sultant who works for several young clients.
“Younger managers came up through the
ranks differently than some of us older folks,
perhaps faster and with less time to let organi-
zational thinking settle in,” says Mr. Gutches,
owner of WHG and Associates, King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania, USA. “I do my best to try and
understand why and how they have succeeded at
an earlier age than many of my peers, and what I
can learn from them.”
While working with a company to implement
a PMO, Mr. Gutches reported to the chief tech-
nology officer, a man in his 30s who was used to
working on his own rather than as a team leader.
“I made it my goal to stop in to see him occa-
sionally so I could get the latest update on what
our client was asking for, getting, and how we
were going about building these work products,”
 thebuzz

he says. “I think he enjoyed my visits and I saw

some distribution of work in parallel with my
assignment with him.”
But this type of work style and communica-
tion can be a sticking point. Younger bosses tend
to give team members free rein on projects, while
older project managers like Mr. Gutches might
be accustomed to frequent meetings.
“Meaningful communication about the rea-
son I am doing what I am doing with a project
can be different with younger management. I try
to pay particular attention to the directions they
give me and make sure I feed that back to them
before I proceed to do the work,” Mr. Gutches
says. “My usual premise includes the assumption
that I have more experience in managing projects
and people than they do and I might have a sug-
gestion that they could use to their advantage.”
One way to offer ideas without ruffling feath-
ers is “in an informal coaching context,” he says.
“This exchange builds a much better relationship
between my superiors and me.”
ing my requests,” she recalls. “After we missed
With Age Comes Experience an early milestone, I talked to each person
No matter how much of a wunderkind they individually and explained we were going to suc-
are, younger bosses should capitalize on all that ceed as a team or fail as a team—their choice. I
wisdom of their more seasoned project team knew some ways to make it work, but were they
members. interested? Each of them decided they were more
“They have lots of experience, lots of subject invested in their careers than in trying to trip me
matter expertise and know the office politics,” up or not cooperating.”
Ms. DiTullio says. “Leverage their knowledge The workplace and the economic environ-
to improve your project management skills and ment have certainly changed, but the lesson
your understanding of the office culture.” remains the same.
Over the years, veteran project managers “Younger and older workers both need to
“have stockpiled a variety of helpful tools to sup- recognize the value that each group brings to the
port project success and meet specific project table,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president
needs. Suggest a tool swap.” of human resources at CareerBuilder. “By look-
Her only caveat: “Be careful. Some older proj- ing past their differences and focusing on their
ect managers who have been around for a while strengths, workers of any age can mutually ben-
may also be a bit cynical in their views.” efit from those around them.”
Although it may be a bigger trend right now, the Whether it’s age or cultural background, there
young boss is not an entirely new phenomenon. will always be differences on a team—but those
With more than 30 years in project manage- distinctions don’t have to hinder projects. Just
ment, Ms. Rothman recalls leading a team of as younger workers can bring fresh ideas and
people older than her on a software project while new techniques, older workers bring insight and
she was in her mid-20s. The venture was highly knowledge.
technical and something they’d never done before. In today’s economy, it all comes down to who
“It took me awhile to realize they were can get the job done. “Performance trumps age,”
humoring me—‘Sure, we’ll do that,’ but ignor- Mr. Gutches says. —Rachel Zupek

october 2010 PM NETWORK 11

thebuzz
Think About It
Str ategic thinking is the latest career
strategy.
Executives ranked strategic thinking as the
quality they most value in leaders, according
to a survey released in February by Bloomberg
BusinessWeek.com and Hay Group. By con-
trast, last year’s survey found senior manage-
ment focused on leaders who could execute.
Priorities have shifted: As the recession eases,
companies are looking for strategies and initia-
tives that will deliver long-term growth.
That means project managers who want to
get ahead must be able to see their projects in the
context of not only their companies but of the
business world as a whole.
“Of course it is critical for project managers to be
able to manage resources and execute projects—but
it’s not enough,” says Rick Lash, PhD, director of the
leadership and talent practice at Hay Group, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. “They’ve got to know when to keep
their heads down, but also when to look up.”
For project managers who want to be seen
as leaders, that means taking the time to look
beyond the immediate goals of the project at
what’s going on in the business and marketplace.
Project managers then need to apply those
observations to think strategically about their
own project decisions and how those projects can
“support the future of the company,” says Renato
12
0052_UMT_SELFPACED.indd 1
PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
Lourenço, PMP, executive director at Rencorp
Consulting, a management consulting company
in São Paulo, Brazil.
Project managers will only win a seat at the
leadership table by delivering project informa-
tion in the context of business goals. “They have
to be able to frame objectives, constraints, risks
and current status around how that initiative will
bring value to the company,” Mr. Lourenço says.
To achieve the greatest leadership potential, he
advises project managers to increase their strategic
knowledge through education and reading business
magazines. They must then leverage that knowl-
edge to bring innovation, value and better execu-
tion to projects.
The best project managers out there often
demonstrate a competency called broad scan-
ning, Dr. Lash says. “They are naturally curious
and tend to dig deeper into issues, asking ques-
tions of senior management about the business,”
he says. “Even asking simple questions like, ‘How
does my organization make money?’ can lead
to new insights that put their projects into the
broader context of the organization.”
Life on the Outside
Of course, project managers can only accom-
plish this strategic thinking if they’re not being
constantly pulled into the day-to-day quagmire.
6/23/10 11:11:59 AM
 thebuzz

David Elkin, CIO of the Australian government

agency Queensland Building Services Authority,
recommends setting aside specific time.
“It frames the notion of strategic thinking as
a task,” he told CIO in August. “Strategic think-
ing at the right level of maturity is more a ‘state of
awareness’ than a concerted effort.”
Treat it as you would any other commitment, Dr.
Lash advises. “Schedule it into your busy calendar.”
Looking past the minutiae requires a mature
understanding of the organization and its indus-
try, the micro and macro environments, and
emerging trends and technologies, Mr. Elkin says.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
should frame discussions and issues.
It may even help to find the time to spend with
end-users who will benefit from all that strategic
project thinking.
“Whether they be staff at the front of the coun-
ter, specialists in data mining in the control groups
or customers documenting their thoughts on the
portal—these are the discussions that trigger the
strategic side of the brain,” John Wadeson, deputy “Project managers like to build networks with
secretary for information communications technol- other project managers—but it’s important to
ogy infrastructure for Australia’s Department of build relationships with people in other functions
Human Services, told CIO. and business areas,” he says. “The quality of the
Developing diverse networks lets project man- people you know determines how well you can
agers get beyond their bubble and become more overcome obstacles when they arise.”
strategic in their thinking, adds Dr. Lash. —Sarah Fister Gale

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october 2010 PM NETWORK
 thebuzz
Mastering the Great Unknown
Scarred by a volatile economy
and high-profile project failures, companies are
painfully aware that this is not the time for tak-
ing random gambles. For organizations (and
their project managers) looking to stake their
claim as leaders, risk management is fast emerg-
ing as a top priority. And that’s prompting execu-
tives to invest more time, money and talent in
developing robust risk-management practices.
In the IT sector in particular, risk-management
skills will remain in high demand over the next
decade, strategic forecaster David Pearce Snyder
told Computerworld in August.
The Exxon Valdez oil spill led to an overhaul of ExxonMobil’s risk-management processes.
“When you’re in the time of rapid innova-
tion,” as we are now, he told the magazine, “you
run into the law of unintended consequences—
when you try something brand-new in a complex
world, you can be certain that it’s going to pro-
duce unexpected consequences.”
As such, organizations are seeking IT workers
with risk-management skills to predict and react
to these challenges.
14 PM NETWORK October 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
For many companies, it comes down to simple
survival skills.
“If you have risk-management skills, you are
less likely to have projects that fail,” says Bart
Jutte, managing director of Concilio, a project
risk-management consulting company in Delft,
Netherlands.
Still, even as they’re starting to recognize a
need to improve, most companies have immature
risk-management processes, he says.
Nearly half of senior executives surveyed
in December 2009 said their risk-oversight
processes are immature to minimally mature,
according to the 2010 Report on the Current State
of Enterprise Risk Oversight—Second Edition.
And 39 percent admitted they were caught off-
guard by a significant “operational surprise” in
the last five years.
Sometimes it takes a disaster to make com-
pany leaders invest in better risk-management
strategies. ExxonMobil, for example, completely
revamped its risk management following the
disastrous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the
Alaskan coastline of the United States.
In a July interview with National Public
Radio, Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers says
the spill marked a turning point for the com-
pany. Following the catastrophe, it assembled
a group of senior leaders to develop a robust
risk-management plan that included a guide to
assessing risks in every aspect of the business.
Exxon also gave project leaders the authority
and encouragement to share their concerns Photo courtesy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.
when risks arise.
Mr. Jeffers points to the company’s Black-
beard well in the Gulf of México as an exam-
ple of how the new risk-management tactics
paid off. In 2006, the drilling project had been
going for more than 18 months, at a cost of
nearly $200 million, when the engineers felt
the conditions presented unwarranted risks.
“The drillers came to the management and said,
‘Here’s what we found: We’ve done a risk assess-
ment, and we don’t think we can mitigate the risk
to an acceptable level,’” Mr. Jeffers told NPR.
The leadership team agreed, and the site
was shut down.

Four years later, the project stands as a text-
book example of effective risk management.
And it’s getting renewed attention, especially
as oil giant BP attempts to mop up the larg-
est accidental oil spill in history—in the same
region where drilling at the Blackbeard well was
aborted.
BP, of course, is now being blasted for its fail-
ure to properly assess and plan for risk. For other
companies to avoid a similar devastating blow,
the lesson to be learned is that risk-management
strategies mean more than just running numbers.
“In light of uncertainties, you’ve got to be able
to make tough decisions, and that takes vision and
leadership,” Mr. Jutte says. “You’ve got to be able to
trust your gut and say, ‘This is what we need to do.’”
Risk and Reward
Whether a project team is designing a bridge,
making a consumer product or implementing a
software upgrade, risk management is at the fore-
front. But perhaps nowhere is it more relevant
than in the tumultuous financial IT sector.
Risk management ranked among the top
10 most sought-after technology skills in a July
review of job opportunities at eFinancialCareers, a
career website for financial markets professionals.
“It’s a growing need for project managers,
especially as financial instruments become more
exotic,” says Constance Melrose, managing direc-
tor for North America at the New York, New
York, USA-based site.
As financial markets have evolved, so too have
the project risks. That means project manag-
ers need to look beyond the basics, like missing
deadlines or going over budget, and examine
bigger issues, such as data-security risks that can
damage the entire company.
“If your system can be hacked, you expose
your organization to financial, legal and opera-
tional risks,” Ms. Melrose says.
The new environment puts a pressure on proj-
ect managers—but it’s also an opportunity for
them to prove their value. No matter what the sec-
tor, those who take on more responsibility in man-
aging risk from a strategic business perspective will
become essential assets to their organizations.
thebuzz
“If you want to move into a leadership posi-
tion, demonstrate that you are thinking about
risk management and how it affects the orga-
nization as a whole,” Ms. Melrose says. “The
more you can think about risks in the broader
context of the organization, the more value you
will bring.”
To hone those skills, project managers should
consider risk management coursework. Armed
with the knowledge he gained in preparing for
>>If you want to move into a
leadership position, demonstrate
that you are thinking about risk
management and how it affects the
organization as a whole.
—Constance Melrose, eFinancialCareers, New York, New York, USA
the Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)®
credential exam, Mário Henrique Trentim,
PMI-RMP, PMP, was able to help his company
improve its practices in the area.
“We’ve created better communication and
risk governance, and we’ve improved risk
identification and analysis,” says Mr. Trentim,
director at iPM Consult, a project manage-
ment training and consulting company based in
Recife, Brazil.
It may also be worth volunteering for special
projects where project managers can showcase
their risk-management skills to key decision-
makers.
“You may be able to spot something in the
organization that would benefit from a risk
assessment,” Ms. Melrose says. “That’s an oppor-
tunity to prove what you can do.”
For project managers looking for an edge in an
increasingly competitive and chaotic landscape,
that’s a risk worth taking. —Sarah Fister Gale
october 2010 PM NETWORK 15
 GROW THE BUSINESS OF YOU
in Project Management

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©2010 DeVry Educational Development Corp. All rights reserved.

Joe Eng, JetBlue Airways, Forest Hills, New York, USA
Flying High
Joe Eng refuses to settle for
the status quo—even if it
means a bit of turbulence.
JetBlue’s new executive
vice president and CIO is
revamping the way the air-
line chooses and manages
IT projects as it transitions
from a fledgling upstart
to a leading player in an
industry marked by cut-
throat competition.
“JetBlue is growing fast,
and it has had to scale up
quickly as the business has
changed,” he says.
With a history manag-
ing IT in the financial
and telecom sectors, Mr.
Eng says it comes down to
delivering results.
“It’s not about the tech-
nology. It’s about enabling
the business,” he says.
“We don’t talk about IT
projects. We talk about
business projects. We focus
a lot on alignment of
scope requirements with
the business. If a project
doesn’t have a strong busi-
ness owner and driver, we
won’t execute it. We know
that without that leader-
ship support, it’s less likely
to succeed.”
What role does JetBlue’s
IT project management
office (PMO) play?
We constantly strive to nail
down the scope and direc-
tion of projects. As with
any IT department, there is
always more to do than we
have resources to accom-
plish. So the biggest chal-
lenge the PMO faces is to
bring senior business leaders
together to assess the port-
folio of opportunities and
If a project
doesn’t have
a strong busi-
ness owner
and driver, we
won’t execute
it. We know
that without
that leadership
support, it’s
less likely to
succeed.
to align our priorities so we
can pursue the projects that
will best achieve corporate
goals.
Sometimes that means
we have to make tough
choices. Maybe there are
not enough resources to
do a project or we can’t get
financing, or maybe
the business can’t
absorb all the change.
The PMO provides
a mechanism for
understanding what’s
in the pipeline.
What’s a tough
choice you had to
make in your
project portfolio?
Recently, we decided
to launch a new cus-
tomer sales and reservation
system, which is the heart
and soul of an airline com-
pany. The change is part of
a new business strategy, and
it’s a massive undertaking.
As part of that decision,
we also had to freeze all
projects relating to the cur-
rent reservation system. If
we didn’t have an explicit
statement of goals, people
in different areas of the
organization might think
we should continue to
invest in projects to squeeze
incremental improvements
out of the old system.
Would you change
anything about JetBlue’s
approach to project
management?
We continue to evolve our
processes on an ongoing
basis. We regularly bring
fromthe
top
together our people to
talk about what’s going
right and wrong with our
projects and processes, and
what needs improving.
We pride ourselves on
being an innovative com-
pany, which means looking
for ideas throughout the
organization. But at the same
time, I’m a big proponent of
consistency when it comes
to the way projects are man-
aged. When your IT group is
predictable and transparent,
you can count on them to
deliver greater efficiencies and
foster more credibility. And
when project managers man-
age projects in a consistent
way, you can move them
around the company and
into different roles and you
know they will be successful.
That adds real value to any
organization. PM
october 2010 PM NETWORK 17
 viewpoints
Sunny Disposition
t h inking po s iti v e
Good leadership starts with a good attitude.
b y A l f on s o B u c ero , M S c , P M P , Contri b u ting E d itor
I
used to have a bad attitude.
I was negative about my job and the projects I man-
aged. I presented a poor image to my colleagues, team
members and bosses, and spread negativity through-
out the organization.
As I matured, I realized how badly I needed an attitude
adjustment. It was only then that I could become a true
leader.
There’s a power within each of us that propels us in the
direction of our dominant thoughts. The key word here is
dominant. Your attitude shapes your ability to lead. Your
team members use you as their reference point. They need
to see you have confidence and that you believe in their
projects from beginning to end.
Doom and Gloom
Each of us has an internal voice, and many times what we
hear is negative, critical and self-limiting. Perhaps you find
yourself thinking, “I can’t do this” or “I always mess things
up.” These thoughts work against you.
18 PM NETWORK October 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
>>Your attitude shapes your ability
to lead. Your team members use you
as their reference point. They need
to see you have confidence and that
you believe in their projects from
beginning to end.
Many times, we don’t consider the words we use on a
regular basis and continually use negative ideas to express
ourselves. Instead, repeat to yourself that you can—and
will—meet the requirements of your project.
Sometimes a positive attitude and sincere passion can
supercede even the greatest shortcoming. In 1992, when
I was a project manager at HP Spain, I decided to present
my first paper in English at a project management con-
ference. The trouble was, I didn’t speak English fluently.
But I was willing to take a risk to fulfill a dream. I was
nervous—yet in that moment, my level of English wasn’t
what was important; it was my passion telling my story to
the audience. I believed in the project I was discussing and
the experience I gained while leading my team.
A positive belief in yourself is the starting point for suc-
cess. Since that first conference, I’ve presented at interna-
tional congresses and symposiums, sharing my experiences
in English with different audiences every year.
Of course, a little positive thinking is no guarantee of
positive results. I’d be lying if I said the last five years were
a never-ending string of successes. There have been some
failures, and, you, too, will experience setbacks along the
way. Still, if you continue to believe in yourself, you can
overcome those obstacles. PM
Alfonso Bucero, MSc, PMP, is an inde-
pendent consultant who manages projects
throughout Europe and Asia. He is the
author of Project Management—A New
Vision and Today Is a Good Day: Atti-
tudes for Achieving Project Success.

Led Astray
Sometimes project leaders turn out to be their own worst enemies.
b y Je s s e F ewe l l , CS T , P M P
I
t has become a familiar refrain. A new vice president
rolls into town and declares, “Our new strategic plan
is to implement agile project management.” This
grand announcement is followed by great fanfare,
expensive consultants, and exciting new job titles like agile
evangelist, process coach and ScrumMaster.
But after a few months, success is spotty and random,
the best people have left, and that vice president is com-
pletely disengaged from what he put into motion. After
all the cost and effort, the organization finds itself living
the reality of the business axiom, “Culture eats strategy for
breakfast.”
Strategy needs to involve more than just lip service
toward an agile methodology. It needs to be based on an
awareness of the leadership your project culture requires.
After many years of sharing war stories with colleagues,
I’ve learned there are a few things project leaders do to
undermine their own efforts to achieve results:
They mistake process as the solution. Every week I
run into new people who show a sincere interest in agile
project management as a way to get work done: “We want
to be agile. How much does training cost?”
Everyone dreams of an easy answer to hard problems.
We look to a mish-mash of backlogs, burndowns and busi-
ness value points as the silver bullet. A true agile project
leader understands how deep problems run—and that
there’s no miracle cure.
They have the wrong people. Many project managers
make the mistake of looking at their team members as
interchangeable parts, each encapsulated by their “human
specification sheet” (a.k.a. résumé or CV). We demand
that a new person have 10 years of experience, a master’s
degree, and two or three certifications, and then wonder
why we can’t fill positions.
We don’t need an expert in every slot. I’d rather have an
ambitious newcomer with a genuine thirst for knowledge or
a veteran generalist who’s developed a knack for picking up
new things. Passion and perspective trump technical skill, and
as a project leader it’s your job to appreciate the difference.
They tolerate the wrong people. Even after you arm
a project team with the right mix of technical and people
skills, you have to remain vigilant.
viewpoints
t h e a g i l e pro j e c t m a n a g er
>>Strategy needs to involve more
than just lip service toward an
agile methodology. It needs to be
based on an awareness of the
leadership your project culture
requires.
I once worked on a team where the best engineer
became bitter over persistent organizational issues, and
it impacted his performance. Another quality assurance
guy simply became apathetic. In both cases, good people
turned into bad apples. The rest of us on the team were
quietly hoping our manager would do something about
it. He didn’t, though, and eventually the whole team
dynamic was spoiled.
The project manager could have reassigned those two
to harmless “special projects.” He could have helped them
find better jobs. In short, he could have done something.
As a project leader, you must know when your team is
infected by a “cultural virus”—and then figure out how
to cure it.
They fail to lead up. Executives need managers who
can give them the facts on the ground. The conventional
project manager tends to either be too gentle (“No prob-
lem. We’ll get that extra work done before the deadline”),
or too truthful (“Sure we can do the extra work—if you
want us to fail”).
If you are not effectively communicating to execu-
tives the detailed consequences of their decisions, then
you only set yourself up to suffer. A good project leader
instead makes the effort to lead upward as much as in
any other direction. PM
Jesse Fewell, CST, PMP, is the managing
director for offshore agile projects at Ripple-
Rock India and founder of the PMI Agile
Community of Practice. He can be reached
at jesse.fewell@vcleader.pmi.org.
october 2010 PM NETWORK 19
 viewpoints
Words of Wisdom
ta ke t h e l e a d

Leadership advice—from those who said it best.

b y N e a l W h itten , P M P , C ontri b u ting E d itor

T
he leadership you demonstrate each and every
day shapes your career, but many of us need a
little reminder from time to time. Here are 12
quotes that may help you through your day,
your project or your profession.

1. Every one of us alone has the power to direct the

course of our lives by choosing what actions we will
or won’t take. While sometimes it’s easier to believe
you don’t have a choice, the reality is that you always
have a choice to behave differently. —Francine Ward,
business leader
Your project’s success is directly tied to your actions.
You decide if a solid project plan is created, if effective
tracking meetings take place and if problems receive the
appropriate attention.

2. I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I

can give you a formula for failure: Try to please every-
body all the time. —Herbert Bayard Swope, journalist
Don’t trade integrity for popularity. It’s not about
being liked; it’s about doing the right thing. Don’t delay
or fail to perform a necessary action on your project
because you perceive that someone will get testy. Work
with them, listen to them, negotiate with them—but
when the dust settles, it’s most important that you
ensure the best business decision has been made. 4. People will forget what you said. People will forget
what you did. But people will never forget how you
3. Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! made them feel. —Maya Angelou, author
Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your Treat people with respect and dignity. Show team
own powers, you cannot be successful or happy. members they’re appreciated. Ask their opinions. Include
—Norman Vincent Peale, minister and author them in solving problems on the project and then rec-
Your strength and confidence come from within you, ognize them for their contributions. And don’t forget to
not from others. Your team is looking for you to lead; celebrate when major milestones are reached.
they draw strength and inspiration from you. Being a
leader can be lonely at times, but you must learn to feel 5. If you listen to your fears, you will die never
comfortable in making decisions in the best business knowing what a great person you might have been.
interests of the project. —Robert H. Schuller, minister and author

20 PM NETWORK October 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG


Rather than fearing and fleeing from conflict, meet it
head on, mitigate it and move on. If you have difficulty
mustering the courage, fake it—you can become brave
over time.
6. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a
human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes
of mind. —William James, philosopher and psychologist
Take charge of your attitude—don’t let someone else
shape it for you. As a leader, your attitude has a direct
impact on the attitudes of your team members, stake-
holders and sponsors. Choose your words and actions
accordingly.
7. The grass is not always greener on the other side
of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The
grass is greenest where it’s watered. When crossing
over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass
wherever you may be. —Robert Fulghum, author
If you’re discontent with the progress on your proj-
ect or the infrastructure and processes that support
you, dig in and address the problems. Don’t wait until
the next project or organization. Be a catalyst for nec-
essary change.
8. People are responsible for motivating themselves.
You are, however, responsible for creating a work
environment in which people can motivate them-
selves. —Paul Falcone, author
Don’t take responsibility for the attitudes of your team
members and other stakeholders—that’s their job. But do
nurture an environment that breeds success. Create a pro-
ductive and secure environment where all team members
want to get out of bed, come to work and make a difference.
9. At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes
of your performance. The results should either applaud
you or prod you. —Jim Rohn, motivational coach
viewpoints
ta ke t h e l e a d
Are you making the same mistakes over and over?
Are your team members? Look at each day’s accomplish-
ments, as well as the missed opportunities, and apply
these lessons to the next day.
10. Asking for help does not mean we are weak or
incompetent. It usually indicates an advanced level of
honesty and intelligence. —Anne Wilson Schaef, psycho-
therapist and writer
In today’s fast-paced, competitive world, we need one
another more than ever. Encourage your team members
to request assistance whenever they need it, then do your
best to be accessible to them.
11. I am personally persuaded that the essence of the
best thinking in the area of time management can be
captured in this single phrase: Organize and execute
around priorities. —Stephen R. Covey, author and man-
agement consultant
Determine your top three priorities at the start of
each day. They define your value, your contributions
and your career. Then tenaciously drive to resolve them
throughout the day.
12. Leadership is not about the ability of those
around you to lead; leadership is about your ability
to lead despite that which is happening around you.
—Yours truly
Effective leaders rise to the occasion rather than
search for excuses. The chaos around you doesn’t really
matter—how you handle it does. PM
Neal Whitten, PMP, president of The
Neal Whitten Group, is a speaker,
trainer, consultant and mentor. He
is also the author of Neal Whitten’s
No-Nonsense Advice for Successful
Projects.
october 2010 PM NETWORK 21
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 leadership
case by case
A project team transplanted to
an African slum. A social media
start-up that’s growing exponen-
tially. An IT giant grooming its
talent. The tallest green build-
ing in the world. And a Chinese
entrepreneur who leads teams
virtually—without overrelying on
technology.
Five case studies reveal how
these organizations overcame
leadership obstacles.

24 Cross-Cultural Leadership
30 Leadership in Change Management
34 Leadership in Talent Management
38 Leadership in Sustainability
42 Virtual Team Leadership
Worlds Apart

24 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

 case by case // Cross-Cultural Leadership
Western expectations complicate
a project to build a school
in an African slum—as the whole thing
is filmed for a reality show.

by B.G. Yovovich

T The project plan was quite remarkable from the get-go: Take 10
Norwegian volunteers who’d never met one another, send them
to Africa and put them to work building a school for orphans
and poor children in the slums of Tsumeb, a small mining town
in Namibia.
It was also prime fodder for a reality show. And indeed, viewers
could tune in to watch the story unfold on Project X, which aired
last year in Norway.
Traveling nearly 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers) from the
rugged fjords of northern Europe to the dry sub-tropics of
southern Africa, team members weren’t prepared for what they
experienced. Not only were they forced to adjust to a vastly dif-
image courtesy of sos children’s villages international

ferent language, climate and cuisine, but only one of the 10 had
previous construction experience.

One of the reasons we chose
Namibia is because it has great
infrastructure, and it is not as
dangerous as some of the other
countries. But it turned out it was
not as Western as I had expected.
—Merete Munch Lange, PMP, If P&C Insurance, Oslo, Norway
And only one person had proj-
ect management experience: Merete
Munch Lange, PMP, project manager
at Vidvinkel Media, a production com-
pany in Oslo, Norway.
The team also faced a brutal dead-
line: The project, a partnership between
not-for-profit SOS Children’s Villages
International and Norwegian television
station TV 2, had to be completed in
just 30 days.
The marketing blitz for Project X
played up the drama with an intriguing
tagline: “Can they achieve the mission?”
Spoiler alert: The answer is yes.
But the team first had to battle
culture shock and communication
issues—all while the TV crew fol-
lowed them around, sticking cameras
in their faces and asking how they felt.
26 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
False Expectations
Although the team was enthusiastic
about the project, discontent began to
emerge almost as soon as they arrived
onsite in May 2008.
The sweltering heat and lack of
culinary variety led to numerous
complaints: “I can’t sleep.” “The food
is bad.” Team members were also
unhappy with security restrictions.
“They wanted to walk on their own
into the ghetto that was close to the
village, but it was too dangerous to do
that without bodyguards,” says Ms.
Lange, now business liaison at If P&C
Insurance, Oslo, Norway.
She and her team ended up apply-
ing Western expectations in the
African country—even on an uncon-
scious level.
“One of the reasons we chose
Namibia is because it has great infra-
structure, and it is not as dangerous as
some of the other countries,” she says.
“But it turned out it was not as Western
as I had expected.”
One of the most significant mis-
calculations was in applying a Euro-
centric sense of time, planning and
urgency. Those didn’t play well in
Africa.
“I brought my Danish mindset that
‘On Friday we will do this and on Sat-
urday we will do that,’” she says. “Then
I came to understand African time, and
that was the biggest surprise.”
Figuring it’d be a good way to secure
local buy-in, Ms. Lange arranged for a
local carpenter to construct desks and
tables. A few days before the furniture
was needed, she was alarmed to dis-
cover the work hadn’t even begun.
“I got pretty stressed and tried to
be my best at being diplomatic,” Ms.
Lange recalls. “I asked, ‘When do you
think you will be ready with this fur-
niture?’ The carpenter said, ‘Time is
unpredictable. I will call you.’”
Looking back, she would have
started the process earlier or had her
own team tackle the task.
 case by case // Cross-Cultural Leadership
>>Show Time
Being part of a reality TV show added another layer of complications to
an already complex project.
Team members had joined the project for altruistic reasons, and
“they got tired of being interviewed all the time,” explains Merete
Munch Lange, PMP, If P&C Insurance, Oslo, Norway. “In reality TV
shows, the participants are constantly being asked, ‘What do you
think now? What do you feel now?’ They got to the point where
they kind of boycotted that.”
Ms. Lange stepped in with a new twist on stakeholder management.
“We had a meeting in which the producer and the director talked
with the team and really explained how important it was for them to
share their feelings and experiences,” she says.
That cooperation would help increase viewership and ratings—which
in turn would raise more money for the charity.
The pitch worked. The team opened up to the camera crews and
shifted into high gear.
 The local head of When managing cultural differ-
ences, Ms. Lange recommends incor-
SOS Children’s porating a sense of humility—and
perspective. What works in one coun-
Villages was a try might be disastrous in another.
“You cannot come to Africa with a
man, but it was mindset that ‘I know best,’” she says.
There will most likely be plenty of
really the females situations when project leaders must
make the case for what they think is
who were doing the right decision.
“When we got down there and found
the jobs. Talk- out what we had to deal with, negotiation
skills definitely were the most valuable of
ing directly to all the project management training that
I have taken,” Ms. Lange says.
them instead of The trick is reflecting upon “where
people were coming from, how to meet
going through him them there and how to create a win-win
Lange, laughing. “It helped me to avoid
rushing into things and to make sure to
take time to think, ‘Who is this person?
How should I attack this matter?’”
Negotiation was embedded in
almost every aspect of the project,
including a means to improve morale.
“I had to negotiate to get the kitchen
staff in the hotel where we stayed to
put more spices in the food to make the
crew happier,” she says.
Ms. Lange’s skills earned her a
nickname among the townsfolk. They
called her “The Diplomat.”
Winning Over Locals
Inspired by the fact that a group of
foreigners would sacrifice their time
and donate their efforts, Tsumeb

helped a lot. situation that would satisfy both par-

ties,” she says.
And sometimes the best advice is
—Merete Munch Lange, PMP
“learning to count to 10—really,” says Ms.
locals volunteered to pitch in on the
project. Ms. Lange nurtured that buy-
in by initiating sub-projects aimed at
improving community life.

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28
0062_KRISTEN_LABROSSE_BE_SMART.indd 1 7/23/10 5:15:02 PM

PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG


“We got them started on growing
vegetables,” she says. “We helped them
build ovens so they could make money
by baking bread, and we bought sew-
ing machines for the women.”
Those sub-projects took time. On
future projects in far-flung locales,
Ms. Lange says she would front-load
the schedule with a greater number of
community projects to secure the local
population’s support sooner.
When thrust into a new environ-
ment, Ms. Lange also advises figuring
out not only who’s in charge but who’s
actually performing tasks.
“I spent a lot of time especially
getting the local women involved,”
she says. “The local head of SOS
Children’s Villages was a man, but
it was really the females who were
doing the jobs. Talking directly to
them instead of going through him
helped a lot.”
Networking had other benefits:
“One of the workers was a quiet woman,
but once you got to talk to her, she was
a wealth of information and other con-
nections,” Ms. Lange says.
This proved handy when the team
ran out of the tiles needed to complete
a key project milestone. “Because it
was Sunday, all of the stores were
case by case // Cross-Cultural Leadership
closed,” Ms. Lange recalls. The well-
connected woman worked her magic,
and her nephew’s friend left a family
barbecue to open his store and sell the
team some tiles.
What Doesn’t Kill You…
About 20 days in, it wasn’t looking
good. At that point, the entire team
worked in shifts through the night to
make sure the project would be com-
pleted on time.
“The team realized what it was
doing, that we had a deadline and
that, if we did not do this, we would
have a lot of children who would be
very disappointed,” Ms. Lange says.
The impact was striking. “We
could not have completed the project
without that increased commitment,”
she says.
Despite all the difficulties—or per-
haps because of them—Ms. Lange is
enthusiastic about leading other cross-
cultural projects.
“It’s a miracle that we built a kin-
dergarten in 30 days,” she says. “Just
talking about it, I get emotional. What
I can say is that I am not afraid of
any project now. Bring them on. Even
though it might be very difficult, I
thrive on it.” PM
Avoiding the Fail

The massively popular social media site Twitter all began

with this brainstorming session. Now, more than 300,000
people a day sign up for new accounts.

30 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

 case by case // leadership in change management
Whale
Twitter is growing at a ridiculously
frantic pace. Can its project
management keep up?

by Malcolm Wheatley

E Even by the standards of the Internet era, the rise of Twitter is

simply stunning. Used by consumers, businesses and government
agencies alike, the microblogging site has transformed into a full-
on global phenomenon. Since its genesis just four years ago, more
than 20 billion tweets had been sent as of August—with half of
those coming in the five months prior.
“Twitter is growing incredibly fast, and just when you think
it can’t grow any faster or get any bigger, it does,” says Kim Nor-
len, operations project manager at the San Francisco, California,
USA-based company. “On 1 January 2009, Twitter had 5 million
registered users. Today, that figure has grown to 125 million.”
With those kinds of numbers, it’s up to the Twitter team to
keep the site running smoothly—a job described by employees
as “keeping the fail whale at bay.” (When Twitter experiences
an outage, the screen reads, “Too many tweets! Please wait a
moment and try again,” accompanied by a drawing of a whale in
a net hoisted by a flock of the birds used in the company’s logo.)
image courtesy of wikipedia
300,000
The average number
of people a day who Looking to avoid the dreaded whale
sign up for a new screen, Ms. Norlen recently helped
lead a high-profile four-month project
Twitter account to establish a custom-built data center
near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. It’s the
first of a planned series of data centers
750
The average number
to house Twitter’s fast-growing techni-
cal operations infrastructure.
“With over 300,000 people a day
signing up for new accounts on an
of tweets per second average day, having dedicated data
centers will give us more capacity to
accommodate the growth in users and
3,283 activity on Twitter,” Ms. Norlen says.
That activity often follows a dra-
matic ebb and flow, adding another layer
The number of tweets of complexity to managing projects.
per second at the end Although users average a combined 750
tweets per second, the numbers shoot up
of the Japan-Denmark at times of high shared emotion. During
World Cup match the National Basketball Association finals,
for example, fans dashed off 3,085 tweets
per second. That record didn’t stand for
long, though: The World Cup prompted
users to send 3,283 tweets per second dur-
ing Japan’s nail-biting win over Denmark.
32 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
“We often say that every day is
potentially our biggest day and that we
have to be ready for whatever it throws
at us,” Ms. Norlen says.
All Hands on Deck
While certainly desirable, Twitter’s
amazing growth often leads to upset
stakeholders when problems pop up.
On 19 July, for example, Twitter’s
database, which holds more than 125
million user records, got hung up in a
long-running query. As a result, people
were unable to sign up, sign in or
update their profile. The project to
force-restart the site took more than 12
hours, during which time the database
remained unavailable.
That long of an outage can perma-
nently damage a company’s relation-
ship with its users. In those situations,
it becomes a matter of “all hands on
deck,” Ms. Norlen says.
Managing change comes with the
job. “In the project manager role, you
have to be willing to wear a lot of hats.
 case by case // leadership in change management
I’m not just managing a data center
project,” she says. “I’m looking at appli-
cations management projects, hard-
ware allocation and things like that.”
Part of her project management
role also entails a slot on the compa-
ny’s “on-call” roster, which includes
four leadership positions: incident
manager, operations manager, engi-
neering manager and communica-
tions manager. “If a failure happens
while you’re on call, it’s a question of
dropping everything else and getting
to work,” she explains.
The rotation list currently contains
only nine or so individuals, further
straining the system. “Even the director
Tip Give your colleagues a
of operations is on it, which gives you heads-up when you’re going
some idea of pressures we’re under,” Ms.
Norlen says. to be unavailable.
Having to step in and put out fires
has made it difficult to initiate projects
“I recently had to tell people on
devoted to innovation and strategy. certain projects that I won’t be
“The on-call roster can take up a
lot of time, but you still need people able to help them as much as I
whose job it is to focus on the future,”
she says. “And for that you need people
had been doing until new hires had
who aren’t being interrupted all the arrived,” says Kim Norlen, Twit-
time.”
ter, San Francisco, California, USA.
Playing Catch-Up
To better keep the fail whale at bay, “There was too much work to do,
Twitter is quickly increasing employee
headcount—though staff numbers
and it’s better to manage expecta-
remain around 200, with many new tions than disappoint people.”
hires working in an IT capacity.
Ms. Norlen’s “skeleton crew” stays
constantly busy, but sometimes gets It’s a chaotic environment in which
bogged down in bureaucracy. “You to lead projects—but that’s actually
have to be very flexible and under- what makes it so appealing, she says.
stand that in some cases you’re going “You have to think creatively in
to have multiple meetings before you order to get things done,” Ms. Norlen
get the answers that you need,” she says. “There’s no model to follow, and
says. often there aren’t any processes in place.
With the company ramping up, So you have to invent them and make
she’s looking at new ways to streamline. sure that they fit the culture. There’s
“As the organization grows, it’s bet- a sense of freedom, and the sense that
ter to set up processes for things like you’re inventing the structure.”
obtaining hardware or rotating a team, For Ms. Norlen, change is indeed
rather than getting involved in every good—a good vehicle to showcase her
single request,” she says. leadership skills. PM
Building Leaders

34 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

 case by case // Leadership in Talent Management
Intel’s mentoring program helps
groom a new generation of project
management talent—and teaches
the old pros a thing or two.

by Sarah Fister Gale

H Hiring the right candidate is only the first step. No one in project
management—no matter how experienced they are, no matter
how many credentials they hold—comes into a new position
knowing everything.
Organizations need a way to mold that promising raw tal-
ent into a true leader. That includes training, guidance, career
development and, perhaps most important, mentoring from
senior staffers, says Jeff Hodgkinson, PMI-RMP, PMP, PgMP,
a Phoenix, Arizona, USA-based senior program manager at IT
behemoth Intel.
Mentoring rising stars is always considered a best practice, but
it’s especially needed in project management. Unlike more tradi-
tional management roles, project managers move from initiative
to initiative, often working with cross-functional teams aligned
with different departments. That can create an isolated environ-
ment where learning and knowledge-sharing are difficult.
The support of a mentor can help ease that isolation and give
project managers the lifeline they need as they work their way up
through an organization. “Mentoring is how we groom the next
generation of talent,” Mr. Hodgkinson says.

Mentees’ questions
make me step back
and think about why I do
things the way I do.
—Bill Crider, PMP, Intel, Austin, Texas, USA
A 30-year veteran at Intel, he has
mentored dozens of people across the
corporation—from fresh-faced recruits
to senior-level program and project
managers looking for help as they tran-
sition to new roles.
“I had great mentors and man-
agers over the years, and now I’m
at the age where I feel obligated to
pass that knowledge on to the next
generation,” Mr. Hodgkinson says.
“Besides, I want to make sure the
next generation of Intel employees
keeps our stock up and keeps putting
out good products.”
When mentoring is incorporated
into the talent-management process,
companies reap generous rewards. The
guidance from an “old pro” can trans-
form even the most skittish micro-
manager into a well-developed and
confident project leader ready to take
on the most complex initiatives.
Too often, though, companies don’t
invest the time or resources.
36 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
“A lot of companies hire new project
managers, then expect them to figure
things out by themselves,” Mr. Hodg-
kinson says. “But most new project
managers need guidance. Without it,
they either fail or spend a lot of time on
a longer learning curve.”
That failure inevitably extends back
to the business. “Your people hold your
tribal knowledge,” he says. “If you don’t
share that knowledge, you lose it, and
that affects your bottom line.”
Watch and Learn
More than 15 years ago, Intel was
building wafer-fabrication plants. Peter
Hargis, PMP, senior project manager
in the flex services group in Chandler,
Arizona, was interested in project man-
agement but had no formal training,
experience or skills. So he watched Mr.
Hodgkinson.
“I was intrigued by how he docu-
mented everything and the charts he
used to track his projects,” Mr. Hargis
says. “I kept bugging him to teach me
how to do this stuff.”
Mr. Hodgkinson became an infor-
mal mentor to Mr. Hargis, and they
built a relationship that continues,
even though they have both moved to
different areas of the company. “There
was no plan, but we always talked.
He’s a great resource for me,” Mr.
Hargis says.
The two men continue to talk on
the phone and exchange e-mails when
Mr. Hargis runs into a project man-
agement issue he’d like advice on. “If
Jeff doesn’t have the answer, he usually
knows where to get it,” he says.
Mr. Hargis especially values having
someone outside of his office he can
turn to. “The whole project manage-
ment path, especially at Intel, can be
daunting,” he says.
Role Model
Even the most seasoned professionals
can benefit from mentoring. One of
Mr. Hodgkinson’s more experienced
mentees is Bill Crider, PMP, senior pro-

gram manager in the engineering com-
puting program management office at
Intel in Austin, Texas, USA. The two
met in 2008 while Mr. Crider was in
the midst of running a massive five-
year IT upgrade project that involved
48 sub-teams, more than 85,000 com-
puters and 24 project managers who
reported to him.
The project had been Mr. Crider’s
idea, and at Intel, if you pitch a project,
it’s usually yours to implement. It was a
great career opportunity, but he’d never
led anything of that size or scope before.
“There were many times on that
project where I felt completely in over
my head,” Mr. Crider admits.
During the last year of the program,
Intel launched a principal program
manager career path, and Mr. Crider
was assigned Mr. Hodgkinson as a
mentor. It was a formal relationship,
and the two often met three times
a week to discuss how the project
was going and brainstorm solutions to
tackle problems Mr. Crider was facing.
“The mentoring philosophy at Intel
is that it’s up to the mentee to set the
agenda, which was fine with me,” Mr.
Crider says. “I never had any problems
finding reasons to talk to Jeff.”
He brought many problems and
questions to Mr. Hodgkinson during
that year, ranging from his own frus-
trations and shortcomings as a pro-
gram manager to problems with the
people on his team. In one instance,
Mr. Crider struggled with a project
manager who had an autocratic and
aggressive style that put off team
members.
“Jeff gave me good advice on how to
set an overall example for team man-
agement, and how to help the project
manager let go and trust his team
more,” Mr. Crider says. “As a result of
the feedback I gave that project man-
ager, he changed his behavior.”
The mentoring relationship also
helped Mr. Crider improve his own
project management style, teaching
him to focus on the big program man-
case by case // Leadership in Talent Management
agement issues and delegate more of
the daily tasks.
“I was heading toward a classic
burnout situation. I was working
12-hour days, but I couldn’t complain
to anyone over or under me,” Mr.
Crider says. “Jeff helped me see that
I was taking too much on and how to
worry less about the little things.”
Even now, after the project has
ended, he continues to reach out to Mr.
Hodgkinson for help and advice.
Coming Full Circle
Mr. Hodgkinson is hardly alone in his
role as mentor at Intel.
“It’s not a requirement of the job,
but it’s encouraged,” he says.
Mr. Crider himself now mentors
and coaches about 15 people, includ-
ing a very junior project manager and
a more senior colleague who was once
Mr. Crider’s own manager but is now
pursuing a project management career
path. He admits mentoring can be
time-consuming, but he says it’s worth
the effort—both to the mentee and to
the organization. “You need to mentor
because it’s wrong not to pass on what
you know,” he says.
Being a mentor also helps Mr.
Crider think more deeply about his
own choices in his role. “Mentees’
questions make me step back and think
about why I do things the way I do,”
he says.
For Mr. Hodgkinson, mentoring
has expanded his network and estab-
lished him as a project management
go-to guy at his organization.
“When you mentor other people,
you earn respect,” he says. “They come
to you for help, which establishes your
reputation as an expert. And that’s a
valuable thing to be known for, espe-
cially in this economy.”
Mentoring also increases your
own job satisfaction, Mr. Crider says.
“When you see the role through the
eyes of someone just coming up in
your field, you appreciate what you’ve
accomplished”. PM
The Sky’s the Li

38 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

 case by case // leadership in Sustainability
mit
Taipei 101 “LEED”s
the way in sustainability.

by Sandra A. Swanson

I It was eclipsed by the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building,

but Taipei 101 is now reaching for new heights in sustainability.
Launching a project to revamp its building operations in a more
eco-friendly fashion, owners of the skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan
are out to make it the world’s tallest green building.
Part of the effort includes a push to earn LEED-EB: O&M
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design–Existing
Buildings: Operations & Maintenance) certification. Leading
the charge is Simon Sue, division director of sustainable design
at SL+A International Asia Inc., an architecture, interior design
and project management consultancy in Taipei.
The US$1.8 million transformation project began in
September 2009 and could be a powerful role model for how to
cost-effectively integrate eco-friendly practices into any building,
no matter the size.
“Being the tallest building in East Asia, the Taipei 101 tower
needs to set an example to the world that an existing building
can be sustainable,” Mr. Sue says.
 A Deeper Shade of Green
When developers broke ground on
Taipei 101 in 1998, several sustain-
able elements were incorporated into
the skyscraper’s original design. Low-
emissivity windows reflect radiant
heat and reduce the amount of heat
that flows through them, for example.
In addition, energy-efficient heating,
ventilation and air-conditioning sys-
tems and double-deck elevators with
smart controls put the building ahead
of the curve, Mr. Sue says.
Even the shape of the skyscraper
evokes a sustainability sensibility: “It
resembles a bamboo, a symbol of learn-
ing and growth in Chinese culture,”
he says.
That’s not to say that Mr. Sue
doesn’t have a lot of work ahead of
him. Most sustainability rating systems
weren’t available during the original
Many studies
show that buildings
which performed
an energy audit or
commissioning can
reduce their energy
consumption up to
30 percent or more,
and the ROI
can be as short as
two years.
40 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
design phase: The U.S. Green Building
Council’s LEED program wasn’t even
launched until 2000, and its LEED-
EB: O&M certification program only
became available two years ago.
For the revamp, Mr. Sue must over-
see changes to a wide array of essential
functions that affect the skyscrap-
er’s daily operations. This includes
designing, revising and enforcing
building-management policies such as
eco-friendly purchasing, cleaning and
solid-waste management.
In addition, to obtain certification,
Taipei 101 must provide a healthy
office environment for all workers. To
that end, Mr. Sue created an indoor
air-quality education and assessment
model, along with a program to con-
duct inspections and maintain indoor
environmental quality.
Another concern for Mr. Sue’s
team is energy use, a challenge for
most building projects but particularly
intense for a 509-meter (1,670-foot)
skyscraper.
Following an audit of the mono-
lith’s energy consumption, Mr. Sue
will recommend ways to optimize the
building’s operating sequences and
maintenance programs. He’s also look-
ing into replacing existing systems with
newer equipment—if the life cycle cost
analysis shows a reasonable return,
that is.
As with any project, cost plays a
crucial role.
“Many studies show that buildings
which performed an energy audit or
commissioning can reduce their energy
consumption up to 30 percent or more,
and the ROI can be as short as two
years.”
Mr. Sue and his team have already
identified simple changes that could
yield dramatic improvements. A water
usage analysis led to the replacement of
all toilet and urinal flush valves in the
entire building, for example.
“The result will reduce more than
35 percent of potable water use,” Mr.
Sue says.
 case by case // leadership in Sustainability
His team has also reduced the faucet
flow rate in the bathrooms, from 2 gal-
lons per minute to 0.5 (from 7.6 liters to
1.9). Additionally, lighting in the public
restrooms (aside from an emergency
light) now automatically turns off after
15 minutes during unoccupied hours.

An Uphill Battle
Initially, tenants were not familiar with
some of the eco-friendly moves—proof
that sustainability projects require
more than engineering savvy, Mr. Sue
says. Often it takes a solid education
and communication blitz to get every-
one onboard—and he had little room
to maneuver.
“All the stakeholders must partici-
pate in this certification process,” he
says, noting that every tenant must
chip in to the recycling and waste-
management program. “Many meet- It took about eight months for the
ings are set up to educate the building
management team, facility teams, ten- Taipei 101 managers and facility group
ants, contractors and suppliers.”
Making the case requires a signifi- to fully comprehend and accept LEED
cant effort, in part because there are so
many tenants to win over. About 85 requirements and the meaning behind
organizations, employing more than
10,000 people, currently occupy the these requirements.
skyscraper.
“It took about eight months for the —Simon Sue, SL+A International Asia Inc., Taipei, Taiwan
Taipei 101 managers and facility group
to fully comprehend and accept LEED Mr. Sue says. “These global companies
requirements and the meaning behind may all have corporate social responsi-
these requirements,” Mr. Sue says. bility policies about sustainability, but
Even now, buy-in hasn’t been com- when it comes to their office fit-out proj-
pletely secured. Some LEED credits ects, most of them were more concerned
require tenants to provide expenses with budgets and schedules. So many
on purchasing of recycled paper and people will never consider the impacts of
other environmentally friendly office construction materials and construction
supplies—information that tenants wastes to our environment.”
aren’t always eager to hand over. Changing people’s attitudes toward
“Most of the companies won’t reveal sustainability by far remains the great-
their financial data,” Mr. Sue says. est challenge, he says.
LEED certification also designates “People know our climate is chang-
how tenant design and space configu- ing. The Earth’s natural resources are
ration projects must be run—another disappearing. But to change our life-
area of resistance. style for sustainability is not easy.”
“None of the current tenant fit-out To make his project deadline, Mr.
project stakeholders wanted to imple- Sue has less than a year to convince
ment sustainable design or construction,” Taipei 101’s tenants. PM
Less Is More

42 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

 case by case // Virtual Team Leadership
When managing virtual
project teams, sometimes
it’s best to keep it simple.

by Manuela S. Zoninsein

Y You might think the cofounder and CEO of an Internet start-up

would be a pushover for all the latest tech tools when it comes to
managing virtual teams.
But Chris C. Mathews of Shanghai, China-based software
maker Yunio actually espouses a minimalist strategy—even
as he virtually corrals teams around the globe. In China, Mr.
Mathews leads teams in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing and Nan-
jing, and he also oversees players in the United States, Australia
and Europe.
Without meticulous coordination, those varying time zones
and cultures could wreak havoc on projects. Yet while Mr.
Mathews is the first to admit technology has its place to ensure
nothing gets lost in translation, he also says project managers
shouldn’t just rely on cumbersome gadgetry and overly complex
interfaces to manage their teams.
First identify natural social interactions, he says. Then
develop techniques and choose technologies that seem instinc-
tual and comfortable for users. Above all, focus on clear com-
munication, no matter what channel or vehicle is used.
 Sometimes it’s more effective for
project managers to show rather
than tell, particularly when leading
virtual teams with different cul-
tural nuances. Because team mem-
bers look up to the project manager,
they’ll mimic his or her behavior,
Mr. Mathews says.
When he first began working
with his Chinese teams, for exam-
ple, he noticed it wasn’t the norm
for an employee to let teammates
know when he or she would be
absent.
“I learned then that you have to
be responsible about saying, ‘If you’re
going to be gone, let everyone know
what is the best way to reach you,’”
he says.
44 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
So he started leading by exam-
ple: Whenever he would be unable
to attend a meeting, he e-mailed his
teammates. From there, he clearly
instructed employees to emulate the
behavior, and eventually it became
part of new-employee training.
“When good behavior becomes part
of the culture, it’s very hard for future
employees to resist following the good
habits,” Mr. Mathews says.
That said, project managers should try
to “respect the culture that already exists
as much as possible and not create extra
work,” he adds.
Easy Does It
Despite the lure of cutting-edge commu-
nications platforms, rarely-out-of-reach

smartphones and endless whiz-bang
apps, Mr. Mathews tries to keep things
as simple and seamless as possible.
Ultimately, virtual communica-
tions solutions must be dynamic and
will vary with the size of the project
team. For example, a wiki isn’t all
that effective for smaller teams, he
says, because “it becomes too much of
an investment.” Collaborative by their
very nature, wikis rely on input from
an online community of users to create
and customize content based on their
needs. They demand sizeable infra-
structure, typically incorporate numer-
ous stakeholders, and require time and
money to organize and “make them
nice and shiny,” he says.
Wikis do, however, “become increas-
ingly more efficient as your team
grows,” Mr. Mathews says. And in the
right circumstances, they can improve
knowledge management. After mak-
ing a new hire earlier this year, Mr.
Mathews conducted training sessions
in person. “I had her read all the sup-
port tickets that I would write so she
could see and understand the type of
attitude and position I take,” he says.
Later, though, Mr. Mathews realized a
wiki made more sense as a sort of online
training manual.
For teams of fewer than 15 consis-
tent members, Mr. Mathews says group
chats, supplemented by chat logs, are the
best way to manage communication.
Instant messages, as it turns out,
don’t require instant responses.
“There are quick things you want to
tell people, but they don’t necessarily
need immediate attention,” he says.
“That’s when we use chat. We can
use it at our leisure and don’t need
to stop what we’re in the middle of
doing. If you miss some of the con-
versation, just come back online later
and find out what’s happened while
you were gone. It’s an effective way
of keeping the team synced as much
as possible.”
And although it might sound obvi-
ous and downright pedestrian in today’s
case by case // Virtual Team Leadership
Tip Go with what you know.
Using a famil-
iar technology
like instant mes-
saging makes
sense “because
people are on
it anyway,”
says Chris C.
Mathews,
Yunio, Shanghai,
China.
He points to a situation when a col-
league wanted to introduce a new proj-
ect management software across the
company, but it just wasn’t intuitive for
those who would ultimately be using it.
“You shouldn’t start from a higher
channel and then make people use it
below,” Mr. Mathews warns.
tech-driven world, Mr. Mathews says
he still relies on e-mail when it comes
to more important matters. For one
thing, it guarantees a written record,
which online chatting does not.
To keep matters in order, project
managers may want to create distinct
mailing lists for various units on proj-
ect teams. For instance, Mr. Mathews
has one group e-mail list to coordinate
with a team of developers.
Mr. Mathews is no Luddite, but he
does insist that tech products aren’t the
defining feature of managing virtual
teams. “They are just a part of your
toolkit, one tool among several on your
belt,” he says. PM
 
 


 


""  ""

   "   
!   
                
"              

""


  
 





 


 





 


 

*Evening dinner and drinks available Monday through Thursday. Subject to state and local laws. Must be of legal drinking age. Pool and outdoor grill are subject
to availability at participating hotels. Other restrictions apply. Points & Miles® and No Blackout Dates. Only from Hilton HHonors. ©2010 Hilton Worldwide. #
inbrief
48 The Upside of Failure
october
2010


* teams
To remain competitive, companies must create a culture that encourages project > “ Leaders must
work to make the
to be innovative—even if that means risking failure.
team successful,
* Companies should consider trying out small-scale innovations, which can be less
risky and help pave the way for larger groundbreaking initiatives. which means putting
ome organizations even reward failed projects because of the valuable lessons
* Slearned
aside the leader’s ego
from them. and issues to focus on
the team’s success. In
this context, a leader
58 Masters of Servitude

must be selfless.
”
* approach.
Servant leadership inverts the typical organizational hierarchy for a bottom-up
—pg. 60, Don Ledbetter,
L-3 Communications,
New York, New York, USA

* The leadership style revolves around supporting team members and leveraging
individual strengths to help secure buy-in.

200+
66 Fast Track to the Top
o get ahead, project managers should try to think strategically and align themselves
* Twith an organization’s objectives.

* Project managers looking to advance their careers should use metrics to showcase the number of
their performance and promote their successes to senior management. applications Tata
Sons received for
its annual banquet
rewarding failed
74 Full Bloom projects
trong leaders balance the demands of their organization, clients and individual
* Steam pg. 50
members.

* Some of the best opportunities to grow as a leader are hidden in the rubble of
setbacks.

october 2010 PM NETWORK 47

R. Gopalakrishnan,
Tata Group,
Mumbai, India
 If they want
to retain their
edge, companies
have to be
willing to stumble
occasionally.
the

Upside
by Sarah Fister Gale *
of Failure
photo by guru dutt

october 2010 PM NETWORK 49

 B
“Be innovative—just don’t fail.”
Those are the marching orders execu-
tives love to hand out to their project
managers. But can a team take risks and
try new things while steering clear of even
the slightest whiff of disappointment?
The answer is no. Failure is a part
of the process. If a company is try-
ing something that’s never been done
before, chances are pretty good it will
crash and burn every now and then.
“Failure is a necessary evil of innova-
tion,” says Jerry Manas, PMP, senior
writer and editor at Planview, a portfo-
lio management software organization
in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, USA.
“For every Gmail, there are Gnotes
and Google Buzz. Those were consid-
ered failures,” says Mr. Manas, author
of Napoleon on Project Management:
Timeless Lessons in Planning, Execu-
tion, and Leadership [Thomas Nelson,
2006].
The best way to transform a bleeding-
edge concept into a viable business
strategy that lets a company stake its
spot as a true leader is to acknowledge
that not everything will pan out.
And the push to innovation can’t
come to a screeching halt when a com-
pany dreams up a game-changing prod-
uct or service. Too many organizations
launch revolutionary projects and then
shun risk once they make their mark.
Yet in the process, they sacrifice their
leadership position. “More adventur-
ous companies that aren’t afraid to take
those risks do something innovative and
pass them by,” Mr. Manas says.
>>The best way to transform a bleeding-
edge concept into a viable business
strategy that lets a company stake its
spot as a true leader is to acknowledge
that not everything will pan out.
50 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
And those companies that stay safely
on the sidelines pay the price. “The
corporate graveyard is full of companies
that never took a risk, experimented
with new ideas or adapted to change,”
he says.
Celebrating Failure
Taking the acceptance of failure to new
heights, Tata Sons, the primary holding
company of Tata Group in Mumbai,
India, actually rewards project failures
at a formal annual banquet. The com-
pany had always celebrated success sto-
ries, but three years ago it added an
award for the three best unsuccessful
innovations in the company.
“Celebrating failure is our way of
telling people we want them to try new
things, and if they make good, honest
efforts and fail, that’s okay,” says R.
Gopalakrishnan, the company’s execu-
tive director.
It took a while to get buy-in from
employees, though. The first year, event
organizers received only 12 applica-
tions, but this year there were more
than 200. Each application represents a
project team that set out to accomplish
something but failed. “That’s more than
1,000 people who got over their inhibi-
tions and took a risk,” Mr. Gopalakrish-
nan says.
In 2009, two of the winning teams
worked on the Tata Nano, the revolu-
tionary low-cost car aimed at the Indian
market. One team focused on plastic
composite doors to help reduce the car’s
weight; the other on a gear shift that
used micro-sized gear teeth to transmit
power. The smaller teeth cost less to
manufacture, which would help bring
down the car’s price.
Both projects ultimately failed: The
doors were too costly to manufacture,
and the gear shift team ran into techni-
cal problems.
“But they were good ideas,” Mr.
Gopalakrishnan says. “They just haven’t
worked yet.”
As part of the failure award process,
the teams must explain what they were
trying to accomplish and what went
wrong. The interviews are recorded,
with the results published in a book and Information about the
most innovative projects
shared as case studies open to the public
on the Tata website.
“We want the message spread wide
that even though these projects didn’t
succeed, they weren’t mistakes,” Mr.
in the company is in [a]
Gopalakrishnan says. “By sharing these
stories we hope to eliminate inhibitions
database, including who
that others might have toward trying
something new.”
started it, who champi-
When failures occur, they shouldn’t
be hidden away. It may not be pretty,
oned it, what we tried,
but armed with that information, team
members won’t struggle nearly as much what we accomplished
when it comes to launch another new
project to deliver the next big thing. and what didn’t work.
Like Tata, Softtek, a global IT ser-
vices firm, maintains extensive docu- —Luis Roberto Cuellar, Softtek, Monterrey, México
mentation on its past projects—even
the ones that didn’t quite deliver.
“Information about the most inno- about what they’ve accomplished and
vative projects in the company is in what they’d do differently the next time.
that database, including who started
it, who championed it, what we tried, Quick Wins
what we accomplished and what didn’t Unencumbered by layers of bureau-
work,” says Luis Roberto Cuellar, head cracy, smaller upstarts are often more
of the process improvement and com- willing to push the boundaries and bump
pliance group at Softtek, Monterrey, off the established leaders, says Shane
México. “And whenever we start a new McWilliams, PMP, Austin, Texas, USA-
project, the first thing we do is go to based associate director of The Knot Inc.
that database to see what’s been done That said, there’s also less room—and
before.” less money—to offset failures.
Having that information in one “You view risk a lot differently at a
place and encouraging teams to access it small company,” says Mr. McWilliams,
helps them avoid making the same mis- who previously worked as lead program
takes over and over again. It also creates manager at global IT giant Dell. “At
a network among team members to talk Dell, the business was large enough that

october 2010 PM NETWORK 51

 we could take big risks because we had a
Celebrating failure financial foundation to work from. But
here at The Knot, if we have a big miss,

is our way of
it can have a pretty direct impact on the
bottom line.”
That forces his team to adapt its

telling people we risk-management strategies. The com-

pany relies on frequent smaller projects
to deliver innovation while minimizing
want them to try risk. For example, The Knot added
functionality to its website so brides

new things, and if can review vendors and vendors can

respond.
At the same time, the company also

they make good, pursues one or two larger projects each

year. It recently launched a project to

honest efforts and

create a service that allows users to reg-
ister at multiple stores from one online
location, and for the stores to automati-

fail, that’s okay. cally update the database when gifts are
purchased. While these bigger projects
may prove to offer great rewards, they
—R. Gopalakrishnan also present greater dangers.

52 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

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The corporate grave-
yard is full of compa-
nies that never took
a risk, experimented
with new ideas or
adapted to change.
—Jerry Manas, PMP, Planview, Feasterville, Pennsylvania, USA
>>read more about
the benefits of failure
in voices on project
management on page 56.
54 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
By launching lots of little projects and
only a few large ones, Mr. McWilliams’
team members spread the risk while con-
tinuing to deliver new solutions.
To further mitigate the risks of a
failed project, the team relies on agile
methods. Projects rarely last more than
a couple of months, and every two
weeks the team brings a finished pro-
totype for beta testing. “We deliver real
functionality at the end of each sprint,
and if something’s not right, we get
that feedback right away,” he says.
Armed with a steady stream of com-
mentary, his team can adjust the project
plan by devoting time and money to
fixing failures—without being scared
away from trying cutting-edge ideas.
On a recent website interface upgrade
project, for example, the review process
revealed that vendors were getting stuck
at what should have been a trivial point
in the workflow. With that feedback,
the development team altered that step.
“If you wait 18 months to show
your customers what you are working
on, you may not discover that you have
a significant pothole until the end of
the project,” he says. “We may still find
problems at the end of our projects, but
instead of taking a fiscal quarter to fix,
they take a few days.”
Selling Failure
One of the major benefits of a corporate
culture that accommodates failure is the
chance to try out truly bleeding-edge
concepts. And those are what can bring
a company to the top.
Yet while pursuing a slew of innova-
tive project ideas sounds good in theory,
there’s rarely enough time or budget to
go after every one, especially when cli-
ents are involved, Mr. Cuellar says. That
means project managers have to work
extra-hard to sell the potential windfall
that can result from taking chances.
“If you go to a customer and say,
‘We’re going try some new things,’ they
get nervous,” he says.
But if a project manager is up-
front about both the possible risks
and benefits of trying—and occasion-
ally failing—stakeholders are more
likely to get on board.
“It helps to have the customer
involved, and to be open about what
you are trying to do and what you hope
to accomplish,” he says.
To secure buy-in across the board,
companies should clearly identify how
project teams should approach innova-
tion, how they are expected to set goals,
how they should report progress—and
what steps they’ll take to learn from
their failures.
Only then will teams be able to con-
sistently turn negatives into positives. PM
 THE 77 DEADLY SINS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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the courage t
Project leaders and their teams
should be encouraged to take
prudent risks, even if that means
W
they fail every now and then.
We are in a world of unending flux. The
business landscape has changed, stakeholder
expectations have changed, the workforce has
changed and even project management practices
have changed. Yet one thing remains the same:
A company’s culture must still promote risk-
taking.
Even if taking a calculated gamble results in
failure, that can be a boon. I learned this early
in my career when I led the design and installa-
tion of a new material-handling system used in
an electronic printed circuit-card manufacturing
plant. I was new to project management at the
time, but as an engineer I believed I had provided
detailed specifications for system requirements.
Unfortunately, I had yet to hone the most
basic project management skills, so I failed
to use any type of risk-management plan-
ning or take advantage of the skills offered by
the broader project team. Undiscovered stake-
holder requirements appeared each week, long
after the equipment orders
had been placed.
As you might expect, this
constant change impacted
the project cost and sched-
ule, eventually forcing me
to explain to my manager
why the project was not on
track. My manager, an old-
school manufacturing engi-
neer known as “the Bear”
because of his imposing physical stature, greeted
me with a worried look. The installation of a new
solder machine and scrubber depended on the
installation of my conveyor system.
He knew there was a possibility that I’d fail,
but the Bear took a chance on me. He was not
56 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
only understanding of what had happened, but
also paired me with an experienced engineer for
the rest of the project. As the project reached a
much smoother conclusion, I discovered that my
near-failure helped me grow as a project manager.
Fast-forward to today, where I find myself
in a leadership position quite different than the
Bear’s back in that manufacturing plant. I am
part of a team of experienced program manag-
ers who are called upon to assist project teams
running behind schedule or over cost targets on
complex engagements.
Recently, I tried to help rescue a project that
not only had technical and schedule issues to
overcome, but language barriers as well. Upon
arrival, I determined some fundamental proj-
ect management issues were preventing team
members from performing to their highest lev-
els. For example, the project manager had not
enforced documented change management pro-
cesses, thus allowing unauthorized changes to be
forced through by our client. There also wasn’t
a formal communications management plan, so
team meetings with our global colleagues were
ad hoc, infrequent and ineffective. Finally, a
sense of urgency was not instilled in all team
members, despite the fact that the project was
running over cost and behind schedule.
I quickly addressed the project management
issues by insisting on documented and approved
client change requests, conducting daily telecon-
ferences with our global colleagues, and holding
“scrums”—brief project status meetings—with
all our team leaders to inject the missing exigency.
We also brought in additional technical
subject-matter experts who helped turn things
around. Unfortunately, the stakeholders had
lost patience as a result of our schedule slips and
eventually postponed implementation—even
though the project was back on track.
This was a personal failure, for sure—but one
that actually produced almost immediate payoff
for me. Near the end of my 10 weeks with the
group, I discovered that the client was impressed
with my efforts to get the project back on track.
They wanted our team to compete for a similar
 voices on project management

o fail by Steve DelGrosso, PMP

project in another part of the company. In a vote
of confidence, my executive team asked me to lead
the effort to pull together a proposed implementa-
tion plan and schedule for the second program,
which was even bigger than the original effort.
I helped organize a program management
office and select a new project manager. I
remained involved as an executive sponsor for
more than a year while the team rolled out the
program on schedule and under budget.
A Learning Opportunity
The economic downturn of the past two years
has increased anxiety for many project man-
agers who are working long hours to deliver
projects. Too many have their heads down,
focusing solely on delivering on time and
on budget. They’re afraid of failing because
they’re afraid of losing their jobs. This myopic
viewpoint can lead to reduced risk-taking when
it comes to accepting assignments or trying
something new.
During a time as stressful as this, I’m grateful
to work in an environment where an occasional
failure is viewed as a learning opportunity and Steve DelGrosso, PMP,
where risk-taking can lead to reward. is the director of the proj-
It is incumbent on an organization’s senior ect management center
leadership team to establish a culture and pro- of excellence and global
mote core values that allow employees to take business services project
prudent risks and learn from past failures. There management competency
can be no better way to develop people than to at IBM Global Business
encourage them to stretch themselves—even Services, Raleigh, North
as we recognize that stretching introduces a Carolina, USA. He served
potential risk for failure. The reward is a more as the vice chair of the
experienced project management staff ready to PMI Global Corporate
lead more complex projects. PM Council.

Do your projects need a better planning

and control structure?

Transforming your projects into results

Project Management Training
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info@alphapmconsulting.com The PMI Registered Education Provider logo is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

0071_ALPHA_CONSULTING.indd 1 9/1/10 1:54:14 PM

Giving up
control
doesn’t mean
losing control.
Osnat Niv-Assa, PMsphere, Tel Aviv, Israel
Masters of
Servitude
by Sandra A. Swanson // photo by Gil Lavi
 It seems
wrong.
By their very nature, leaders, are, well,
supposed to lead the way. But sometimes
embracing the qualities of a good fol-
lower can make a more effective leader.
So-called “servant leaders” focus on
the needs of their teams rather than
adhering to a top-down hierarchy cen-
tered on commands barked from the
upper echelons. For project managers,
the leadership style can help secure
buy-in from team members by playing
to their particular talents.
“Project managers are ideal exam-
ples of servant leaders,” says Don Led-
better, director of management and
organizational effectiveness at L-3
Communications, a defense contractor
headquartered in New York, New York,
USA. “The role they play is to work
to meet the customer’s and employer’s
objectives. Leaders must work to make
the team successful, which means put-
ting aside the leader’s ego and issues
to focus on the team’s success. In this
context, a leader must be selfless.”
That philosophy can take some get-
ting used to, though.
Servant leaders foster the
growth of the members of the
organization so that each may
achieve their full potential.
—Dipanker Das, PMP, CGN, New Delhi, India
60 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
Inverting the Pyramid
The concept of servant leadership isn’t
new. It actually originates in such phi-
losophies as the Tao Te Ching, written
around the 6th century BCE. But it
caught on as a business buzzword in the
1970s, when former AT&T executive
Robert K. Greenleaf wrote The Servant
as Leader. Although it’s now a stan-
dard tenet of leadership training, many
people and organizations still struggle
with implementation of servant leader-
ship, mainly because it upends traditional
thinking.
Much of what we assume about
leadership is rooted in a hierarchical
view of organizations, says Dipanker
Das, PMP, senior project manager in
the New Delhi, India office of CGN, a
global consulting firm.
“Our classic image of the effective
leader is one who is strong,” he says.
In other words, someone who has the
answers, someone who may seek input
but who ultimately makes the decision.
“The leader is expected to know best,”
Mr. Das explains.
This creates the prevalent top-down
view of organizations. But flipping the
organizational chart and working from
the bottom up “suggests a fundamen-
tally different leadership role,” he says.
For project managers, it means
“always keeping the interests of others
first, understanding their needs and
recognizing the necessity of developing
the people on the team.”
 Transformative Power
Project managers struggling with looming schedule and budget constraints
might feel it’s better to just take charge and give orders to team members.
But that can actually be counterproductive.
“One of the ways to achieve engagement is to motivate members to take
a leadership role by delegating authority to them,” says Osnat Niv-Assa,
PMsphere, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Here’s some advice for helping team members transform into true leaders
from Monica Semeniuk, PMP, an independent project manager in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada:
Demonstrate the behavior you would like others to emulate. “There is
nothing as powerful as seeing a living example of leadership, and how others
respond to it, to inspire others to take similar actions,” she says.
Provide training. “Give team members the opportunity to learn the concepts
behind leadership and to experiment with new behaviors in a safe setting,” Ms.
Semeniuk says.
Show support. “Listen to the team members’ thoughts and concerns,” she
says. “Help them to see themselves as leaders. Provide encouragement and
feedback when they show leadership or when you anticipate potential oppor-
tunities.”
Reinforce desirable behavior. “Rewards need to be sensitive both to the
organizational and environmental culture, as well as to the individual,” Ms.
Semeniuk says. “A quiet word of congratulations may be more meaningful to
some people than parties at an expensive hotel.”

By taking on the servant leader role, Israel-based PMsphere, an IT manage-

project managers help ensure each indi-
vidual brings his or her own experience
and expertise.
“Project management typically takes
place in a cross-functional and often
a matrixed environment with diverse
internal and external stakeholders,” Mr.
Das says. “The successful project man-
ager will be one who works to bring
this diverse group together toward a
common goal, with a shared vision and
with a focus on the whole.”
Servant leadership can be especially
effective given that project managers
aren’t always granted official authority
over team members.
“A project manager has to motivate
people and devote them to the proj-
ect, in particular when they are not
under his or her direct responsibility,”
says Osnat Niv-Assa, CEO of Tel Aviv,
ment company.
A dash of servitude can be just what
project managers need to win over
new team members. “Qualities that are
required for motivating people can be
found in servant leaders”—empathy
and persuasion, for example.
That Doesn’t Quite
Sound Right
There’s one major complicating factor,
however: For people who aren’t familiar
with servant leadership, the term itself
can be misleading.
“The word servant tends to imply
that the person simply follows orders
and fulfills the requests of the ‘mas-
ter,’” says Monica Semeniuk, PMP,
an independent project management
consultant in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada.

october 2010 PM NETWORK 61


Listening to people
sometimes triggers
project modifications.
Try to limit the number
of project modifications,
and avoid changing the
scope according to a
single person’s request.
—Osnat Niv-Assa
>>read more about
followership in
voices on project
management on page 64.
62 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
“This is a far cry from the role of
the project manager. We are expected
to utilize our expertise and experience
to provide the best solution that meets
the strategic objective of the project,”
she says. “This may include offering
alternative solutions, recommending
termination of a project or even diplo-
matically questioning the selection of a
project from the very beginning. None
of these responsibilities fit within the
traditional concept of being a servant.”
Some project managers may also be
wary of the passivity implied with the
term.
“Servant leaders are sometimes mis-
conceived as people without leadership
skills because they don’t use power to
manage their people,” Ms. Niv-Assa
says.
Servant leaders tend to focus on
organizational rather than personal
success—with the idea that if the com-
pany succeeds, so will they.
“They are not motivated by power,
nor do they have an ego need for
authority,” Mr. Das says. “They tend
to be selfless, altruistic, humble and
motivated by some greater purpose or
greater good. Servant leaders foster the
growth of the members of the organiza-
tion so that each may achieve their full
potential. While formal authority may
get superficial compliance, high levels
of engagement and discretionary effort
come when people make a choice to
offer it.”
Serving Many Masters
Fundamental to this leadership style
is asking, “How can I help?” Equally
important, though, is how a leader
behaves when team members ask for
assistance.
It’s not merely the act of listening
that distinguishes servant leaders. They
“listen not to seek input so that they
can make a decision, but for what the
organization needs from them to enable
others to make effective decisions,” Mr.
Das says.
You can’t please everyone, though,
warns Ms. Niv-Assa. “Listening to peo-
ple sometimes triggers project modi-
fications,” she says. “Try to limit the
number of project modifications, and
avoid changing the scope according to
a single person’s request.”
In that regard, servant leaders must
walk a fine line. Supporting the needs
of followers does not mean attending to
their every whim.
“Advocates of servant leadership who
suggest that the leader should focus on
meeting the needs of the team members
are forgetting that our first priority
must be to meet the needs of the proj-
ect’s sponsor,” Ms. Semeniuk says. “Is
this a license to ignore the needs of the
team? Absolutely not! It is the job of
the project manager to find balance and
alignment of those varied needs from
the multiple stakeholders.”
It seems servant leaders have many
“masters”—and it’s up to them to find
the balance. PM
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The Fine Art of Fol
Project managers must be willing to hand over
the reins to team members every now and then.

P
Project management is, essentially,
about the ability to influence others,
often without the benefit of any direct
authority. But sometimes the success
of a project hinges upon your ability to
let your teammates influence you. It all
comes down to followership.
What exactly is followership? Robert
E. Kelley, author of The Power of Fol-
lowership [Doubleday/Currency, 1992],
identified “exemplary followers” as those
individuals who excel at the tasks they
are assigned, engage with teammates
and provide intelligent, well-thought-
out support.
For project managers, that means
knowing when to abdicate their role
as leaders and temporarily become fol-
lowers.
Imagine a large IT integration proj-
ect that would have a major impact
on an organization. Chances are the
project manager isn’t aware of all the
complexities of the systems or the
possible failure points. An application
development specialist approaches the
project manager with her concerns
about the direction the project is head-
ing and offers solutions. The project
manager brings this advice to the team
and stakeholders, crediting the appli- facturing processes and notices the schedule was
cation development specialist for her keen eye adjusted after being approved by the team and
and expertise. That person then gets approval the stakeholders. When the team member asks
to change direction and successfully concludes the project manager about the change, the proj-
the project. ect manager says that in reviewing the schedule,
Take a counter-example in which a project he determined that adjustments could be made
manager fails to see the merits of followership. to reduce the time, which would look better to
A team member is helping develop new manu- the stakeholders. The team member points out

64 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

 voices on project management

lowership by Gina Abudi

that the original schedule was, in fact, already n  onceding that even junior team members
C
an aggressive one. She expresses concern that may have expertise of great value
the new schedule would be impossible to meet n Asking for assistance when a component of Gina Abudi is a part-
and could create anxiety and frustration for an the project falls behind schedule or needs ner and vice president
already-overworked team. The project manager additional support of strategic solutions
refuses to budge. By failing to heed the advice n Providing suggestions to get a project back at Peak Performance
of a team member, he has put the project in on track when it falls behind schedule Group Inc., a consulting
jeopardy. A project manager who blames the team company in Gloucester,
for every problem, takes credit for all the good Massachusetts, USA.
From Leaders to Followers work, micromanages and permits no autonomy She currently serves as
Good followers are not focused on themselves, will soon be pushed aside as team members president-elect of the
but rather see the greater good. look elsewhere for the leadership they need. PMI Massachusetts Bay
Here are some actions project managers can Good followership also sets the stage for a Chapter Board of Direc-
take to exhibit effective followership: new generation of leaders. Team members fol- tors and served on PMI’s
n Allowing team members to make decisions— lowing a good leader—one who knows how to Global Corporate Council,
when appropriate—for their components of be a good follower—will eventually turn into including as chair of the
a project some of the best leaders in an organization. PM Leadership Team.

8th annual
acquisition research symposium








  

www.researchsymposium.org

The Graduate School of Business & Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School announces the 8h Annual Acquisition Research Symposium
to be held May 11-12, 2011 in Monterey, California.
This symposium serves as a forum for the presentation of acquisition research and the exchange of ideas among scholars and practitioners of
public-sector acquisition. We seek a diverse audience of influential attendees from academe, government, and industry who are well placed
to shape and promote future research in acquisition.
The Symposium Program Committee solicits proposals for papers and/or panels from academicians, practitioners, students and others with
interests in the study of acquisition. The following list of topics is provided to indicate the range of potential research areas of interest for this
symposium: acquisition and procurement policy, supply chain management, public budgeting and finance, cost management, project manage-
ment, logistics management, engineering management, outsourcing, performance measurement, and organization studies.
Proposals must be submitted by November 5, 2010. The Program Committee will make notifications of accepted proposals by December 10,
2010. Final papers must be submitted by April 1, 2011 in order to be included in the Symposium Proceedings.
Proposals for papers (plan for a 20 minute presentation) should include an abstract along with identification, affiliation, and contact informa-
tion for the author(s). Proposals for panels (plan for a 90 minute duration) should include the same information as above as well as a descrip-
tion of the panel subject and format, along with participants’ names, qualifications and the specific contributions each participant will make
to the panel.

Submit paper and panel proposals to www.researchsymposium.org

acquisition research: creating synergy for informed change

www.acquisitionresearch.net

65
0062_NAVAL_POSTGRAD.indd 1 7/23/10 9:56:51 AM

october 2010 PM NETWORK

66 PM NETWORK Month 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
 careertrack

Fast
Track
to the

top
by Chau n ce y H o l l i n g swo rth - i l l u stra ti o n b y ian w h adc o c k

Doing your job well is a good start.

But if entrée to the elusive executive suite
is your goal, you have to think strategically.

october 2010 PM NETWORK 67

A golden
ticket
to career acceleration—everyone wants
it. But unless you’re one of the rare
superstars whose dazzling combination
of business acumen, technical savvy
and disarming charisma propels you
straight into a corner office, your key
to the executive suite won’t be waiting
for you by the water cooler. You’re
going to have to work for it.
Some of the very qualities that
make you a good project manager
could be inadvertently steering you
off the path to senior management.
That legendary scheduling prowess
may mean you hit your deadline, but
that won’t matter much if the project
isn’t aligned with the organizational
strategy to start with.
“You need that focus on execution—
obviously that’s the key of any project.
But it’s imperative that project manag-
ers also be aware of what’s going on
in their corporate surroundings,” says
Experience in project man-
agement alone is generally
insufficient to progress to
upper-level management.
—Jerry Ball, PMP, Entity Group Ltd., Wellington, New Zealand
68 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
Ed Slavin, Dallas, Texas, USA-based
senior vice president of Mosaic, a mar-
keting products, programs and services
provider.
Project management can be a solid
training ground for “somebody who’s
looking to be more of a generalist and
go higher up in the organization,” says
Randy Englund, executive consultant,
Englund Project Management Consul-
tancy, Burlingame, California, USA.
Unfortunately, though, some proj-
ect managers have a specialist men-
tality, he says, taking a rigid and
literal approach to A Guide to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide).
“That’s not going to fast-track
them,” Mr. Englund says. “You have
to use these things as guidelines and
really think business—not just what
deliverables and what outputs you
have to get down to.”
A New Way of Thinking
All of this is not to say that a project
manager can’t make the leap into
upper management.
But “it’s unrealistic to think that
there will or should be a direct progres-
sion,” says Jerry Ball, PMP, chairman
of Entity Group Ltd., a Wellington,
New Zealand-based program and proj-
ect management consultancy. “Experi-
 >TIP
ence in project management alone is
generally insufficient to progress to
upper-level management.”
Ideally, Mr. Ball says, project
Ask your stakehold-
managers should have experience ers probing questions like, “What
in real-world strategy development,
new process development, product keeps you up at night?” suggests Ed
development, organizational develop-
ment, marketing, financial manage-
Slavin, Mosaic, Dallas, Texas, USA.
ment, process improvement, human “I just got off the phone with Dell,
resources, IT and communication
skills. and what keeps them up at night? It’s
Project managers also need to know
how to “make nice” with the upper
Apple and HP,” he says. “The change
echelon. in the organization at Dell has gone
“As project managers, we need to
work our sponsorship and get opti- from the world of clicks and calls to
mum management support,” Mr.
Englund says. “You’re going to have
now including retail, where people
to manage up the organization and get on their site or phone in. You’re
mentor the people above you. A lot of
people don’t think that’s their job. But only going to find out those clients’
the upper managers are our audience,
and those are the things that are going
specific needs if you probe and ask
to move you up because it’s demon- and listen.”
strating interest in the business
and the organization.”
It may be a jarring transition.
Project managers are known for
pinning down specifics—“Did
you mean to say a day and a
half or 36 hours? And can we
get it in 30?” But those kinds
of discussions are best saved
for team members who actually
need to know such informa-
tion. Among upper manage-
ment, it creates an impression
that you’re counting beans
while missing the fallow fields
just over the horizon.
Instead, link the progress of
projects to the organization’s
larger interests and focus on
furthering those interests when
you interact with stakeholders
and superiors. Bonus: Unlike
many other layers of the corpo-
rate food chain, project manag-
ers can use facts and figures
from their projects to show
quantifiable results.

october 2010 PM NETWORK 69

 Captivate upper manage-
ment, but do so with the
notion that your contri-
butions are boosting the
organization and all those
around you—not just your
own career aspirations.
Don’t ignore colleagues or
underlings in your quest
for upward mobility.
70 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
Court Attention
To show you’ve got your eyes on
something outside your own critical
path, create a name for yourself and
your projects.
This is the time to leverage your
VIP access.
“More than people involved in line
operations, project managers have a
chance to show on a widespread basis
that they create professional value,” says
Matteo M. Coscia, partner and senior
project management consultant at Pro-
jectize, a project, program and portfolio
management consultancy and training
firm in Collegno, Italy. “Especially when
they work on projects with stakeholders
who are at fairly high levels, they have a
chance to show they are actually doing a
good job, that they’re good at problem-
solving and executing tasks.”
In many instances, project man-
agers can maneuver between depart-
ments and disciplines internally in
ways that other personnel cannot.
That exposure enables them to famil-
iarize themselves with every part of the
company—a prerequisite for getting a
Google Earth view of the organization and
its best interests.
“Not that many people can see the
organization as a whole,” Mr. Coscia
adds. “Lateral exposure is not just about
the group of people you see. You actu-
ally learn a little bit about the whole
organization. One thing about the proj-
ect managers I’ve met who progress:
They are able to speak the language and
know about the problems of each single
department.”
Take advantage of that fluidity to
connect with others across the orga-
nization and spread word of your
abilities. If you’re winning an uphill
battle in a project rife with unexpected
pitfalls, use that to build your reputa-
tion as a flexible problem-solver.
“Regardless of how well you plan
something out, how detailed your
Gantt chart looks, there’s always going
to be something that comes up that
could potentially derail a project,” says
 You’re going to have to manage up the
organization and mentor the people above
you. A lot of people don’t think that’s their
job. But the upper managers are our audi-
ence, and those are the things that are going
to move you up because it’s demonstrating
interest in the business and the organization.
—Randy Englund, Englund Project Management Consultancy, Burlingame, California, USA

Brian Cotton, PhD, vice president for
information and communications tech-
nologies at consulting giant Frost &
Sullivan, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
“So when you’ve got something that
is a challenge and you’ve succeeded
in bringing this project to the desired
results, it’s certainly legitimate to make
sure people don’t forget that.”
Me, Me, Me
Captivate upper management, but do
so with the notion that your contribu-
tions are boosting the organization and
all those around you—not just your
>>See how Raymond
Wong, PMP, made
his way to senior
program manager at
The Hong Kong Jockey
Club. Check out “An
Advanced Project
Manager’s Career Path”
on PMI’s Career
Central at PMI.org.
own career aspirations. Don’t ignore
colleagues or underlings in your quest
for upward mobility.
People who advance fast “are trans-
parent in their motives,” Mr. Englund
says. “It’s not just for personal gain.
They pay attention to the people work-
ing for them, with them, above them—
and people tend to appreciate that.”
The team instinct can even help
you land a promotion.
“Trust is the main driver in achieve-
ment,” Mr. Coscia says. “You tend to
belong to a sort of tribe and progress
with the tribe. I’ve seen a lot of people
progressing internally in organizations
where they gave them a big project and
they did well, and they gave them an
even bigger project, and eventually they
became the head of a program office
that reports to the CEO.”
In the end, it’s your reputation in
project management that’s going to
dictate whether you end up in the
executive cadre.
“You usually remember project
managers for the really good successes
and the really spectacular failures,”
Dr. Cotton says. “The failures are
hopefully a minimum of projects that
anyone ever manages, just as really
spectacular successes are the mini- >>read more about
mum. As a project manager, most the fast track to the
people are good when they’re trying to top in voices on project
strive for that middle.” PM management on page 72.

october 2010 PM NETWORK 71

 Rising Star
A mastery of methodology
and the courage to take on
big initiatives help this project
professional shoot to the top.
O
Over the years, I’ve been recruited by big-name
companies and received promotions after being
with an organization for only a short while. My
secret? There’s not just one magic fix. Instead,
I’ve relied on a mix of demonstrating my exper-
tise in project management methodology, taking
the initiative to tackle large projects and sharing
my knowledge base with less-­experienced col-
leagues.
Here are my tips to get on the fast track in
project management:
Obtain certifications
and you’ll gain credibility.
Earning my Project Management Professional
(PMP)® credential is truly what kick-started
my rise. In 1998, I was working for IT giant
IBM and was encouraged to take the PMP®
certification exam. Along with providing a two-
year project management training program,
the company also let me devote an hour to
study every day for a month before the exam.
I attained certification in March 2000, mak-
ing me one of the few PMP credential holders
in Brazil and one of about 15 in all of Latin
America at the time.
Being able to put the PMP certification
after your name makes you stand out from the
crowd. It’s amazing what three little letters can
do for your career. In my case, communica-
tions leader Ericsson actively recruited me as
a customer project manager based on its need
for the kind of expertise that only certified
and experienced project managers could offer.
It was certainly a big bump in my career, and
going in armed with the PMP certification
72 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
brought instant buy-in. My customer base had
faith in me and respected me from the outset.
And after only three months at the company,
I was promoted to program manager of a key
account.
If you’re more advanced in your project
management career, a good way to remain
ahead of the curve is to pursue the Program
Management Professional (PgMP)® credential.
Earning mine in February 2009 paved the way
for greater responsibilities.
Help others build their
project management skills.
IBM went above and beyond in helping me
attain my PMP credential. As part of the deal,
I was required to coach others to help them
earn their PMP credential. I took the same phi-
losophy at Ericsson, where I initiated a career-
development program for the project managers
in my division and helped five people obtain
PMP certification.
Mentoring not only boosts the career of the
person you’re assisting—it can boost yours,
too. Along with honing your own skill set,
you demonstrate your leadership abilities to
upper management.
 voices on project management
by Luiz Andre Dias, PMP, PgMP
>>Mentoring not only
boosts the career of
the person you’re
assisting—it can boost
yours, too. Along with
honing your own skill
set, you demonstrate
your leadership abilities
to upper management.
Tackle a large initiative or a
new sector—or both.
To get ahead, you need to show the execu-
tive suite you’re motivated and that you want
to help the organization streamline its project
management processes while increasing ROI.
One of the best ways to do that is by helping
create a project management office (PMO).
While at Ericsson, I started a PMO for
compiling metrics, key performance indicators
(KPIs) and standards to ensure the company’s
projects were managed in the same way. Soon,
customers saw the improvement, which in turn
made me look good.
That put me in a good position when
Oceaneering, an offshore oil and gas company,
was looking to hire someone to implement a
PMO. I had a background in IT and suddenly
I was entering the world of energy. I found that
dealing with people with different backgrounds
and skill sets helped diversify my résumé.
The next year, Telcordia Technologies
recruited me to run a huge provisioning
program for Oi, one of the biggest players in
Brazil’s telecom industry. While implement-
ing the program over the next two years, I
internally promoted the benefits of establish- Luiz Andre Dias,
ing a central and global PMO as a way to PMP, PgMP, is the
obtain better results and improve the bottom director of program
line. In 2008, I was assigned to establish and
manage the PMO worldwide, establishing
management and
PMO director at global
methods, procedures and a review process for
ongoing programs.
telecom provider
Telcordia Technologies,
Cultivate the right blend of
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
people skills and technical
knowledge.
As a leader, you will have to deal with all levels
of an organization. When you need to talk to
colleagues and address their issues, do so in the
language most appropriate for them.
Set goals for your projects—
then show off the results.
I’m driven to move the Telcordia PMO a step
further over the next year or two by improving
forecasting and enabling better tracking of proj-
ect KPIs, mainly cost, schedule and scope.
Once I’ve achieved my goals, I never over-
look an opportunity to demonstrate my proj-
ects’ ROI to senior management.
Be passionate about project
management.
Back in 1998, project management wasn’t as
well-known as it is today. At that time, my
title was coordinator. When IBM invited me
to attend that first course on the fundamentals
of project management, I knew then and there
that this was the career I wanted to pursue. As
I’ve joined various companies, I’ve done every-
thing I can to build upon what I have learned,
to develop my skill set and to share my own
experience. Another big satisfaction for me is to
see project management growing—boosting my
career prospects along with it. PM
october 2010 PM NETWORK 73
As a project manager, you
might not always be seen as
a leader—but some simple steps

full
can help you grow into one.

bloom
by Denene Brox
 W
>>To be seen as a leader,
project mangers should play
up their natural mediator
skills when dealing with
sponsors and stakeholders.
76 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
hen you look at influential
business figures like Bill Gates
and Warren Buffett, it seems
like they were born leaders. Not
only are they able to articulate
a clear vision, they also have an
uncanny ability to inspire people
and help them turn those visions
into reality.
Yet the ugly truth is that project
managers—caught up in a whirlwind
of budgets and schedules—often lack
those finely honed leadership instincts.
That doesn’t mean such instincts can’t
be cultivated, though. “Leadership skills
can be learned,” says David Davis, PMP,
PgMP, a program manager at telecom
giant AT&T, Sylvania, Ohio, USA.
However, this is only possible if the
project manager wants to learn them.
“This self-motivation is half the bat-
tle, and the rest becomes a combination
of style, day-to-day behavior and situ-
ational experience,” he says.
Sure, it helps to attend leader-
ship development seminars and read
the appropriate books. But the best
classroom is often the front lines of
a project—developing plans, commu-
nicating with clients, inspiring your
team and solving the problems that
pop up along the way.
“Project managers have the
opportunity to share their vision
about the scope of a project with
the team, to build trust through a
participative process when planning
the project, to listen to the team and
promote a work environment that
stimulates adaptation when changes
are necessary,” says Alcides Santopi-
etro Jr., PMP, project planner and
controller at SNC-Lavalin, an engi-
neering and construction group in
Montréal, Québec, Canada.
All of those responsibilities help
1
build a better leader, but you’re still
going to have to work at it. Here are
some other tips:
Avoid the power trip.
Humility might not be the first leader-
ship skill that jumps to mind, but even
team leaders must understand their
complementary role as a team player.
“I have seen many project managers
be condescending to their team and feel
that the title of project manager pro-
vides them with a certain power,” Mr.
Davis says. “You are still part of a team,
and your role is to make sure the team
understands what is trying to be accom-
plished, the timeframe to accomplish it,
their individual tasks and how the tasks
are related.”
Sometimes project managers have to
admit that someone else on the team is
more capable of carrying out a certain
task.
“Project management leaders insp-
pire confidence and trust when they
have the confidence to defer tasks
to those better-skilled, the ability to
admit they do not know an answer
and the wisdom to coach rather than
command,” says Joseph R. Czarnecki,
PMP. He is senior consultant of global
learning solutions for Europe, the
 The ability to get the most out
of all team members can make
the difference between a good
project and a great project.
—Gareth Byatt, PMP, PgMP, Lend Lease, Sydney, Australia

Middle East and Africa at project a global telecom services provider in

management training firm ESI Inter- Valbonne, France.
national, London, England. “Those “People make or break projects,”
who have a high regard for others, he says. “We ought to balance our

2 3
regardless of their experience and role,
are always inspirational leaders.”
Maintain balance.
Project managers must contend with
demands coming from several direc-
tions: the organization, team members
and clients. And they need to juggle
all those requests while staying on
schedule, within budget and without
scope creep.
To be seen as a leader, project man-
gers should play up their natural media-
tor skills when dealing with sponsors
and stakeholders.
“Subtly call out the elephant in
the room,” Mr. Davis says. “A project
manager leader has a knack for getting
people with opposing opinions into a
situation where he or she can address
the matter and look for a result. A proj-
ect manager must be good at presenting
the pros and cons of each position,
hopefully leading to a less-emotional
resolution.”
When it comes to team members,
avoid focusing too heavily on tasks
versus the individuals involved, says
Michel Operto, PMP, IT transforma-
tion lead at Orange Business Services,
investment between the ‘project’ and
the ‘management’ aspects of project
management.”
Play to a team’s strengths.
Great leaders realize each team member
has his or her own work style and per-
sonality, and they take the time to get
to know players on an individual level.
Expecting everyone to work in the same
way is naïve at best and can jeopardize a
project at worst.
“The ability to get the most out of
all team members can make the dif-
ference between a good project and a
great project,” says Gareth Byatt, PMP,
PgMP, head of the global informa-
tion and communication technology
program management office at Lend
Lease, a global project and construc-
tion management firm headquartered
in Sydney, Australia. “When people
feel empowered to perform to their
best ability, they display a sense of
enthusiasm and drive that benefits the
overall project.”
Project managers should be able to
detect each team member’s motiva-
tional factors and adjust accordingly,
Mr. Santopietro notes.

october 2010 PM NETWORK 77


4
>>read more about
leadership skills in
voices On project
management on page 80.
78 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG
People make or break projects. We
ought to balance our investment
between the ‘project’ and the ‘manage-
ment’ aspects of project management.
—Michel Operto, PMP, Orange Business Services, Valbonne, France
“Some individuals are naturally
more competitive than others. For oth-
ers, recognition of their work is very
important. And there are people who
value the process as much as the results
that come at the end,” he says. “The
true project manager leader will identify
these specific aspects and create a work
environment that satisfies as many of
them as possible.”
A project manager who doesn’t
respect team members as individuals
isn’t truly a leader. Mr. Czarnecki recalls
such a person: “He never valued the
judgment of his team member ‘experts.’
He always asked for our advice and
input, but never once used it,” he says.
“It ended up making the project hugely
over budget and resulted in a very
unhappy client. He was completely
unaware of how unhappy the entire
team was under his leadership.”
Be willing to cut your losses.
Imagine working for months on a proj-
ect, investing countless hours, only to
discover it’s a sinking ship. It’s unfor-
tunate, but a great project manager is
willing to do what’s hardest, Mr. San-
topietro says.
“A true project leader has the cour-
age to start over,” he says. “That means
scrapping a project plan and the work
that’s been done up to that point, rede-
fining the project objectives and scope
statements, and calling the client to
explain all of that.”
As tempting as it might be to just
wait it out and hope things will get bet-
ter, project managers must be willing to
deliver the unpleasant news.
“It’s a leadership skill that probably
isn’t practiced as much as it should be,”
Mr. Czarnecki says. “It is usually the proj-
ect sponsor that makes the final decision
to keep or kill a project. But a good proj-
ect manager leader ensures that the right
information gets to the sponsor with the
right recommendations at the right time.”
That message must be conveyed
5
with the conviction and confidence that
comes with knowing—and believing
in—the right decision, he adds.
Look for hidden opportunities.
If there’s one thing that became read-
ily apparent during the recession, it’s
that change can occur overnight. Those
project managers who adapted to the
shifts—and indeed even discovered
some hidden gems in the rubble of the
downturn—came out all the stronger.
“From a leadership perspective, the
recession has been both a good and a
bad thing,” Mr. Czarnecki says. “For
many project managers, especially dur-
ing the first six to eight months of the
recession, it was an excellent opportu-
nity to practice and grow leadership
skills. Natural leaders had an oppor-
tunity to rise. While it wasn’t pleasant,
the leadership lessons learned will guide
many professionals for years, if not
decades, to come.” PM
Of Might and M
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
colonel shares what it takes to
get the job done as he and his

W
team rebuild Iraq.

Whether you’re operating a combat theater or

a civilian construction site, project delivery is
a complex business executed in an endlessly
changing environment.
Over time, processes and Knowledge Areas
have evolved to bring structure to the delivery
of projects. Effective leaders obviously need
to balance cost, schedule and quality, but they
must build the right team, remain agile and have
confidence in their actions.
In my extensive project management expe-
rience in the U.S. military, I’ve discovered
unique friction points, cultural nuances and
atmospheric challenges to overcome. At the
same time, I’ve encountered many traditional
issues that rear their heads particularly in times
of urgent deadlines and constrained resources.
Along the way, I’ve identified three aspects
of project management leadership required to
synchronize any project delivery effort:

1. Team Building
Project managers must start by setting the right
tone and attitude among team members, and >>I firmly believe the gates
then ensure that everyone understands these
aspects of the project inside and out: of opportunity for solutions
n What the stakeholders want

n When they need it

will swing open with the
n What they can afford simple acceptance of ideas,
along with the skills and
n What they can sustain

n What level of quality they will accept

A project manager can’t just guess, nor can a

project team react to situations with incomplete
knowledge possessed by
answers to these questions. each team member.

80 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

 voices on project management
en by Col. Dionysios Anninos
Perhaps most important, each team member
must have a clearly defined role with a set of
responsibilities—and be empowered to carry
them out. Without these parameters, the team
will not achieve its fullest potential, and indi-
viduals will act as individuals, attempting to
maximize their own achievements versus opti-
mizing the group’s success.
A leader must take these initial steps in
“norming” the team, the stage of group devel-
opment when members focus on collaboration.
You must get the best out of others while giving
the best of yourself.
I typically ask my teammates these tough
questions:
n Is this the best we can do?
n Is there another solution?
n What have we not thought of?
n Are we challenging all the assumptions?
n What are the alternatives and associated risks?
The team’s response to these questions should
not be suppressed or censored. I firmly believe
the gates of opportunity for solutions will swing
open with the simple acceptance of ideas, along
with the skills and knowledge possessed by each
team member. Applying these team-building
skills will result in teams that anticipate poten-
tial friction points and take action to solve prob-
lems at lower levels while reducing the queue of
lingering problems.
2. Agility
With the team in place, success is often a mat-
ter of managing multiple priorities and changes
to requirements and conditions while achiev-
ing the right level of quality. A true leader
will embrace change by listening, monitoring
atmospherics, being proactive and consistently
processing new information.
Be engaged, but don’t bog down com-
munication with too much technical jargon.
Focusing on change itself does not constitute
agility—agility means an early and continuous
focus on customers’ needs, desires and required
end-state.
To constantly monitor the schedule, budget,
safety, quality and stakeholder concerns, I rate Col. Dionysios Anninos is
each category, giving it a green, amber or red senior engineering com-
status based on an established set of metrics. mander responsible for
the reconstruction efforts
3. Assertiveness of the U.S. Army Corps
Leaders must have the forethought and con- of Engineers’ Gulf Region
fidence to engage at the right place and right District, Baghdad, Iraq.
moment. The best way to achieve this is for The program consists of
project managers to build intelligence on the more than 300 projects
project, make atmospheric assessments and valued at more than
engage stakeholders. US$2 billion, spanning
Over time, I’ve learned there are two key deci- such sectors as security,
sive points on any project when the leader must transportation, communi-
provide intensive oversight to set the conditions cations, health, education
for successful delivery. The first is early in the and infrastructure.
planning, acquisition and design phase, when
you lay the foundation for everything that’s to
come. The other is when the project reaches the
“red zone”—when it’s 85 percent or more com-
plete—and tends to lose forward momentum.
Customers and stakeholders must be made
aware of cost, time and quality implications
throughout all phases of a project, though. Accept
appropriate trade-offs and offer recommenda-
tions for timely decisions to keep the project
moving forward. It is a project manager’s job to
effectively drive actions that will avoid increases
in cost, schedule and/or compromises in quality.
For example, you might decide to order long-lead
mechanical systems early from a vendor so that the
budget and schedule are not compromised.
As former U.S. President Harry S. Truman
famously said: “The buck stops here.” When it
comes to project management, the buck stops—
and starts—with a project manager’s leadership
capabilities. We have to create the right passion,
attitude, atmosphere and expertise within our
teams to anticipate and deliver excellence every
day. To accomplish this, we must be team build-
ers who are both flexible and assertive. Embrac-
ing these attributes will allow us to deliver the
timely, high-quality and cost-effective projects
our sponsors demand. PM
october 2010 PM NETWORK 81
 HELPDESK
>>>Leadership
There’s no such thing as a perfect leader—but these
resources should help you get pretty darn close.

There’s certainly no short-

age of brilliant advice about
leadership, but not all of it is really
relevant to project managers. Here’s a
look inside some books, blogs and web-
sites that cover leadership with a project
management slant.

1
Leading Answers: Leadership and
Agile Project Management Ideas,
Observations and Links
leadinganswers.typepad.com
What Works: Agile has moved beyond strictly software
projects, but its most fevered proponents are pushing
for even greater acceptance. Blogger Mike Griffiths,
PMP, a consultant and trainer in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada, is doing his part for the cause. Posts such as
“Decisions: Delayed, Dated or Done?” and “High Per-
formance Team” don’t just address agile methodology—
they explore what it takes to be a leader of agile projects
and teams. Mr. Griffiths also encourages readers to
become leaders within the agile community at large.
Covering A Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK Guide®) in “PMBOK v5—Raise a
Little Hell,” for example, he writes: “With this wider
acknowledgement of agile methods and a much larger
group of project managers advocating it, now is a great
time to have a real influence.”
What Doesn’t: More than two weeks can go by without
a new post—not exactly an encouragement for readers
to come back for more.

82 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG


Resource Guide
2 4
Making Things Happen:
Mastering Project Management
by Scott Berkun [O’Reilly, 2008]
What Works: Scott Berkun may be best known for
his commentary on project management and inno-
vation, but he has plenty of insights on leadership as
well. This book’s casual tone is typical of the author
and helps keep sometimes-dull topics entertaining.
Chapters cover everything from making decisions
to not annoying people. Instead of just pontificating
about theory, though, Mr. Berkun injects stories from
his experiences as a program manager at Microsoft,
helping readers relate to what they’re being told.
What Doesn’t: Books on leadership often fall victim
to the trite trap. And Making Things Happen is hardly
immune. Several topics, such as communication and
relationships, are what you would expect to find in
any leadership book. Also, readers of Mr. Berkun’s
The Art of Project Management might find this
expanded and updated version very familiar.
3 5
Napoleon on Project Management:
Timeless Lessons in Planning,
Execution, and Leadership
by Jerry Manas, PMP [Nelson Business, 2006]
What Works: Calling all history buffs! This book
uses the successes, failures and ultimate downfall of
Napoléon Bonaparte to discuss leadership and peo-
ple skills in the project management world. Excerpts
from the French emperor’s memoirs are sprinkled
throughout to illustrate what he viewed as the skills
that make a successful leader: “The first qualifica-
tion in a general-in-chief is a cool head—that is, a
head which receives just impressions, and estimates
things and objects at their real value.”
What Doesn’t: If you’re not really interested in this
historical figure, the book may fall flat. And do you
really want to take leadership tips from a fellow who
died in exile after his defeat?
b y K e l l e y H u n s b er g er
Results Without Authority:
Controlling a Project When
the Team Doesn’t Report to You
by Tom Kendrick, PMP
[AMACOM, 2006]
What Works: It’s no secret that project managers
struggle with leading a team they have no true
authority over or one made up of contributors who
have other bosses. This book offers detailed, practi-
cal advice for overcoming those challenges. Results
Without Authority is broken up into two parts. The
first explores three elements of project control:
process, influence and measurement. The second
illustrates how to use those elements to assert
control throughout the project life cycle.
What Doesn’t: In today’s fast-paced world, some-
thing published four years ago can come across
as dated. And many of the resources listed in the
references section are even older.
Project Shrink
www.basdebaar.com
What Works: A member of the PMI New Media
Council, Bas de Baar has created quite a tagline
for his site: “Projects Are About Humans. Deal
With That!” Articles, videos and blog posts cover
a plethora of topics, but one of the predominant
subjects is leadership—often served up with a dash
of pop culture. Pieces such as “What Leaders Can
Learn From Handsome Rob” (a reference to the
crime caper The Italian Job) and “More Leader-
ship Means Less ‘You’” pull from personal experi-
ence. Videos such as “Leadership and the Project
Manager” are over a year old, but still have useful
information for project managers. Plus, the website
is well-designed, clean and easy to navigate.
What Doesn’t: Project Shrink covers several topics—
social media, collaboration, project “ecosystems”—and
leadership can get lost in the shuffle.
october 2010 PM NETWORK 83
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(U.S. and Canada) or +1-770-280-4129 (international) • E-mail: book.orders@pmi.org

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It features country-specific cross-
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featured books
Barbee Davis, PMP
Quick Quizzes for Project Managers
D >>As we all know, it’s
o your projects always run
flawlessly, or, like most project
managers, do you face unavoid-
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That’s where Quick Quizzes for Project
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Read scenarios about interesting situa-
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they face in actual projects.
You choose what you think is the cor-
rect answer, and then check your choice.
Each answer is followed by a short,
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a fight to stay current
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knowledge.
october 2010 PM NETWORK 85
NORTH AMERICA
PMI® GLOBAL CONGRESS 2010
9-12 October 2010 | Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center | Washington, D.C., USA

ARE YOU PROJECT READY?

Keynote speaker
Employers have identified project management as an
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON
indispensable skill. Get the knowledge and practical ideas
that employers want at PMI Global Congress 2010— In his speech,
North America. “Embracing Our
Common Humanity,”
President Clinton
WHY ATTEND PMI GLOBAL CONGRESS? will draw upon
The time and money that you commit to professional his experiences to
development is an important investment in your career. provide insight into
Make it count at PMI Global Congress. the challenge of globalization, emphasizing
our growing interdependence and pointing
ƒ Gain fresh ideas, new skills and proven techniques to the way toward a future based on shared
generate high performance from your projects goals and values.

ƒ Implement the knowledge and skills gained “President Clinton was leading the United
immediately in your projects States during a time of unprecedented
prosperity and change,” said Gregory
ƒ Update your skills by selecting from over 150 Balestrero, President and CEO of PMI.
educational presentations “He continues to be a powerful voice for
progress around the world through his
ƒ Learn about PMI tools and resources to help start, work with the Clinton Foundation and
build and advance your career at PMI Career Central his tireless efforts in places like Haiti and
in the Exhibition Hall other regions. His insight and experience
will be an inspiration to project managers
ƒ Build your professional network and enjoy the and organizations as they reinvigorate the
inspiring setting of Washington, D.C., USA global marketplace and drive continued
economic recovery.”

Register now at www.PMI.org/na2010pm1

Save with early registration rates through 23 September!

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metr1cs
Silicon Valley, R.I.P.? The Leadership Track High Priority

68% 55%
CEOs ranked the top 5 leadership
qualities over the next five years:
The portion 1. Creativity
of IT professionals who say the 2. Integrity
United States has lost its position
as a global IT innovation leader
3. Global thinking of CEOs said risk management
4. Influence will be a top priority over the
Among the top reasons cited for 5. Openness next five years
the decline:
n Offshoring of jobs Source: Capitalizing on Complexity: Insights from the Global CEO Study, IBM. Results based on interviews with 1,541
global CEOs, general managers and senior public-sector leaders between September 2009 and January 2010.
n Failure of the U.S. educational

system to prepare students in

science, technology, engineering
and math Putting IN Their Time

11.2 years
n Lack of a cohesive national policy

in technology areas (mobile The average

payments, smart electricity tenure of
grids, transportation systems, chief executive
green computing) engineers
n Dearth of technology leadership

at the executive level

Source: Executive Compensation Report, Employers Resource Association. Results based on a May survey of
860 U.S. executives.

“
Some of the survey respondents
… are concerned that Silicon
Valley could become the next Information, Please

13%
Detroit, with tech companies so
entrenched in their traditional The portion of U.S. state government IT
ways of doing business, and so leaders who expect an increase in technology
overwhelmed by compliancy budgets from 2011 through 2013
concerns and related issues, that

50%
they might just succumb to the
pressure. We don’t believe things
are anywhere near that extreme— The portion who say they use a formal
there’s still a tremendous amount IT portfolio management process
of innovation coming out of the

31%
United States—but the volume

”
[needs to be pumped up].

—Lorna Garey, content director,

InformationWeek Analytics The portion developing green IT policies

Source: Research: Innovation Mandate, InformationWeek Source: The 2010 State CIO Survey: Perspectives and Trends from State Government IT Leaders, National
Analytics. Results based on a survey released in August Association of State Chief Information Officers and TechAmerica. Results based on a survey released in
of nearly 625 business technology professionals. August of 40 state CIOs and deputy CIOs.

88 PM NETWORK october 2010 WWW.PMI.ORG

1Management
# Project Portfolio

90 of the 100 Top Engineering & Construction Firms

12 of the 15 U.S. Federal Cabinet Agencies

9 of the 10 Top Aerospace & Defense Contractors

13 of the 15 Top Utilities

10 of the 10 Top Oil & Gas Companies

w
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