Anticipation: The Greatest Project Management
Skill
In the
last issue of this newsletter we discussed “anticipation” as the
greatest project management skill. We defined anticipation as
the ability to predict the uncertain situations and circumstances
that often face project managers. It can really be summed up
with one simple phrase.
TOP
(Training, Observation,
Practice)
The
combination of these three activities aggressively deployed provides
the ability to anticipate and the confidence to act.
Training
– There
are always rare exceptions, like someone born with a gift that can
play the piano masterfully without training. As a rule though,
expertise and even basic proficiency cannot be achieved without
training. If it wasn’t so prevalent and sad, the number of
companies that expect their project managers to be successful
without training would be amusing.
Do you know any project management quacks
(PMQ's)?
Would
you go to a medical doctor who had no formal training but said “I
have been doctoring on people for 15 years”. Most would
quickly identify this doctor as a quack. There are a lot of project
management quacks out there. The doctor without training may
indeed be able to practice medicine with minor or perhaps moderate
success but certainly not at the level of someone that is a trained
physician. What would you think of the football coach who told
his team we’ll learn as the game goes along because we don’t have
the time or budget for training?
Part of
what makes Tiger Woods the golf champion that he is, was training
from an early age. In the absence of that training he would
not have been a child prodigy or dominating golf as he does
today. In fact, he still values training and still submits
himself (even at his level of expertise and accomplishment) to
coaching. I am always amazed when I come across project
managers who don’t feel the need for training. Projects
involve lots of variables including technology, resources and the
most complex variable of all – people. Project management is
so complex it is worthy of life long study if you choose to excel at
it. There is a marked difference between proficiency and
excellence.
A PMP doesn’t make you or anyone else a good
project manager!
Yes, the
basics are easily acquired. PMP certification is in fact
readily acquired with effort. A PMP certification by itself
does not make you a great project manager or even capable of
managing a challenging project. Greatness in any endeavor is
the application of the basics and the summation of a large number of
little things done well. This is what characterizes the
masters in any field of endeavor. When I go to training
(and I do) I am looking for the little things that take the basics
to another level.
Since my
book, The Handbook of Program
Management, is published, I am working on the
next. The new book is tentatively titled “Hundreds of Real World Project Management
Tips.” The book will be a compilation of tips
(little things) from real project managers like you. You may have
one or more tips that could apply. If so, please fax it to
321.577.0210 or email your tip to jtbrown@sebasolutions.com.
In order for your tip to be used I will need your name and title
to be included with the tip in the book. Additionally, I
will need your contact information (email will suffice) to send a
release before publication.
In the
next issue of this newsletter, we will discuss the O and P of TOP
(observation and practice) and their role
in obtaining the greatest project management skill of
anticipation.
Copyright SEBA®
Solutions, Inc.
2007 | 
