First-time project managers need failures
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 02:23 PM
One of the greatest impediments to first-time project managers' success is their need to succeed. There are three things they really need--and early success isn't one of them.
Nothing succeeds like success, except in project management where nothing succeeds like failure.
Managing an IT project is very difficult, especially the first time you try it. The project manager's days and nights are filled with stress, worry, dreams, aspirations, and fear. Some first timers are overwhelmed by their newfound power, while some are weighed down by the responsibility.
But for most, the overriding concern is to avoid both personal and project failure.
This fear is often instilled and/or reinforced by the project manager's supervisor. The new assignment is often initiated with comments like, "Don't screw this up." "This is your big chance to shine.” Or, "don’t make me look bad and regret giving you this opportunity." Trust me, those sorts of comments really help first timers succeed.
For the project manager, this sort of fear is not only counterproductive, but also misplaced. In fact, I think that every first time project manager desperately needs to fail. That's right. I'm not just saying that it's ok to fail; I’m saying that if they don't fail, they may never learn to be effective project managers. In fact, complete success may set their management careers back by years.
As a manager, consultant, trainer, and coach, I've had the opportunity to work with hundreds of first-time project managers, and I've become convinced that one of the greatest impediments to their success is their need to succeed. If against all odds they do manage to succeed, they fall prey to the twin career killers, arrogance and self-confidence, depriving them of the opportunity to grow and learn.
Project management is such a complex discipline that it is completely impossible for a first timer to have mastered all the subtleties of task, people and risk management. In fact, it's impossible for anyone, no matter how experienced, to have mastered it all. The successful first timer is invariably lulled into a false sense of security that they know much more than they really do. They become convinced that they are now fully-fledged managers and can take on anything.
What's more dangerous is that they get brain freeze. They stop learning. Why learn when you have mastered a topic?
It can take two or three failed projects to undo the career damage inflicted by early success before a new project manager reclaims the humility and open-mindedness that they started with. Unfortunately, by that time, their careers have probably absorbed major damage. It is one thing to be seen as making a few mistakes as a first timer; it's another to have demonstrated a pattern of failure. Both the manager's image and self-image have been irretrievably damaged.
So what does the first timer need?
- A few big mistakes
- Permission to make those mistakes
- Coaching and introspection to learn from them
If you are a first-time project manager, be prepared for some problems along the way. Relax and enjoy the ride. No one will lose respect for you.
If you are the manager of a first timer, give them permission to make mistakes. When they do, make sure that they learn from them and don't make the same ones again. Coach them about the sources of problems and the meaning of their failures. It's normal for them to have difficulties, but make sure that you view them as training investments and not as screw-ups. Your job is to ensure that you get the maximum return on investment for the training that mistakes offer.
Becoming a project manager is hard work, but a little failure will help make the transition from individual producer to manager more successful.
Paul Glen is the author of the award-winning book "Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead People Who Deliver Technology" (Jossey Bass Pfeiffer, 2003) and Principal of C2 Consulting. C2 Consulting helps IT management solve people problems. Paul Glen regularly speaks for corporations and national associations across North America. For more information go to www.c2-consulting.com. He can be reached at info@c2-consulting.com
First-time project managers need failures
I tend to agree with much of this post. However, I think we are missing a significant success process within the project management framework.
While we will all most frequently learn the most from our failures, those same failures could easily expose our sponsors'/stakeholders' to serious--and unnecessary--financial/operational risk. Instead of merely encouraging new project managers to make mistakes, perhaps it would be more productive for the enterprise to establish a more effective record-keeping process (as in more thorough lessons learned documents).
In effect, the new project managers will participate in creating, and have open access to, the project "notebooks" of previous projects. Within those notebooks, the primary (successful) project managers document (among other critical factors) what worked; what didn't work; why; and how they resolved issues. Up-and-coming project professionals are then expected to use these materials to more clearly understand the most common problems in their space. This way, when they do take on the larger project responsibilities, they have a valuable silent partner in their efforts.
It's been my experience that very few individuals or enterprises are willing to publicly admit their mistakes. However, when an honest and thorough post project lessons learned process is built into every project, these experiences are much more likely to see the light of day. After all, when we clearly document that problem X has cropped up in our last eight projects, it becomes logical that we establish and communicate a range of resolutions for problem X -- up front, before the next project begins.
When we couple this "learn from the failures of others" with a formal process of progressive participation in project responsibilities, everyone can succeed. Obviously, new problems, issues, and/or failure factors will continue to crop up but each of us can easily use this process to establish a continuous forward learning pattern. (One that give us the experience of failures, without the high cost of failing.)
Posted by Alan Plastow on Thursday, May 21 2009 08:57 PM