The Top Five Ideas for Project Management that bring project success Create implementation teams around an attractive, compelling, and motivating project theme – a vision of outcomes with benefits Teams respond best to a compelling mission Identify the value that beneficiaries will place on outcomes Maintain priorities according to urgency and importance Accept and internalize the requirements paradox: Project success depends on complete and accurate requirements Requirements will never be complete, and are frequently inaccurate Plan incrementally; Work incrementally; Deliver incrementally Let the value proposition evolve as beneficiaries adopt incrementally Maintain a management focus on ‘effort-to-complete’ The best focal point for management is on outcomes

Create implementation teams around an attractive, compelling, and motivating project theme – a vision of outcomes with benefits

Teams respond best to a compelling mission

Identify the value that beneficiaries will place on outcomes

Maintain priorities according to urgency and importance

Accept and internalize the requirements paradox:

Project success depends on complete and accurate requirements

Requirements will never be complete, and are frequently inaccurate

Plan incrementally; Work incrementally; Deliver incrementally

Let the value proposition evolve as beneficiaries adopt incrementally

Maintain a management focus on ‘effort-to-complete’

The best focal point for management is on outcomes

Create implementation teams around an attractive, compelling, motivating project theme Teams are more likely to have successful outcomes than individuals A compelling mission joins individual agendas into collective effort Successful teams are multi-functional, self-contained, and empowered for self-governance Performance risks of individuals are mitigated by the redundant and collective efforts of members Teams don’t always work Intolerance of nemesis viewpoints leads to group-think and missed opportunity Leadership and management become confused: people are led; outcomes are managed Empowerment uncertainties kill productivity Awkward and untimely decision chains Confusion about roles and responsibilities

Teams are more likely to have successful outcomes than individuals

A compelling mission joins individual agendas into collective effort

Successful teams are multi-functional, self-contained, and empowered for self-governance

Performance risks of individuals are mitigated by the redundant and collective efforts of members

Teams don’t always work

Intolerance of nemesis viewpoints leads to group-think and missed opportunity

Leadership and management become confused: people are led; outcomes are managed

Empowerment uncertainties kill productivity

Awkward and untimely decision chains

Confusion about roles and responsibilities

Identify the value that beneficiaries will place on outcomes Define the community of beneficiaries and stakeholders Beneficiary’s lives and business’ are made better by project outcomes Stakeholders pave the way -- involved but not necessarily committed Ask what beneficiaries value What’s must-have for minimum success? What’s most important, and what’s least important? What’s most urgent and what’s the timeline? Let value evolve as incremental deliverables are absorbed Decide what stakeholders need in return for their support View stakeholders as indirect beneficiaries Show stakeholders a return on investment, even if not monetary Value the beneficiary where stakeholders and beneficiaries conflict

Define the community of beneficiaries and stakeholders

Beneficiary’s lives and business’ are made better by project outcomes

Stakeholders pave the way -- involved but not necessarily committed

Ask what beneficiaries value

What’s must-have for minimum success?

What’s most important, and what’s least important?

What’s most urgent and what’s the timeline?

Let value evolve as incremental deliverables are absorbed

Decide what stakeholders need in return for their support

View stakeholders as indirect beneficiaries

Show stakeholders a return on investment, even if not monetary

Value the beneficiary where stakeholders and beneficiaries conflict

Accept and internalize the requirements paradox Change is to be encouraged, not suppressed Users are ‘wicked’ – the solution often defines the problem Understand that changes will be offered after the first outcome Guide change management with urgency, importance, and feasibility Governance keeps the big picture in mind Ask: is everything consistent with the theme? Providing value is preferred to following a plan Know: beneficiaries care nothing for the plan; they care only for the benefit Plan, even though: planning is everything; plans are nothing … plans never survive the first encounter with reality Appreciate value is emergent: outcomes acquire value with application and experience

Change is to be encouraged, not suppressed

Users are ‘wicked’ – the solution often defines the problem

Understand that changes will be offered after the first outcome

Guide change management with urgency, importance, and feasibility

Governance keeps the big picture in mind

Ask: is everything consistent with the theme?

Providing value is preferred to following a plan

Know: beneficiaries care nothing for the plan; they care only for the benefit

Plan, even though: planning is everything; plans are nothing … plans never survive the first encounter with reality

Appreciate value is emergent: outcomes acquire value with application and experience

Plan incrementally; Work incrementally; Deliver incrementally Be incremental The ‘big-design-up-front’ – BDUF – rarely works The ‘big-bang’ at the end rarely works Break the time-line down into segments Schedule rollouts to a pace that can be absorbed by the beneficiaries Break the big theme down into smaller stories Each story is a feature and/or function with defined value Prioritize according to urgency, importance, and feasibility Develop each story on its own Allow time for reflection Between increments, solicit feedback from the beneficiaries Plan time to reflect, absorb lessons learned, and apply improvement

Be incremental

The ‘big-design-up-front’ – BDUF – rarely works

The ‘big-bang’ at the end rarely works

Break the time-line down into segments

Schedule rollouts to a pace that can be absorbed by the beneficiaries

Break the big theme down into smaller stories

Each story is a feature and/or function with defined value

Prioritize according to urgency, importance, and feasibility

Develop each story on its own

Allow time for reflection

Between increments, solicit feedback from the beneficiaries

Plan time to reflect, absorb lessons learned, and apply improvement

Maintain a management focus on ‘effort-to-complete’ Manage for outcomes rather than to conserve inputs Only outcomes have value to investors, stakeholders, and beneficiaries Keeping the inputs – cost and schedule -- on-plan does not necessarily create any outcomes Lead towards the objective: motivate, inspire, and demonstrate by example Ask: How much effort to complete the work? Remaining effort can be equated to required resources Required resources can be compared to remaining resources Gaps can be addressed once identified Never ask: How complete is the work? It may seem like an enigma, but workers usually have more insight for the way forward than the proportionality of past and present

Manage for outcomes rather than to conserve inputs

Only outcomes have value to investors, stakeholders, and beneficiaries

Keeping the inputs – cost and schedule -- on-plan does not necessarily create any outcomes

Lead towards the objective: motivate, inspire, and demonstrate by example

Ask: How much effort to complete the work?

Remaining effort can be equated to required resources

Required resources can be compared to remaining resources

Gaps can be addressed once identified

Never ask: How complete is the work?

It may seem like an enigma, but workers usually have more insight for the way forward than the proportionality of past and present

Credit where credit is due The requirements paradox: Niels Malotaux Planning is everything; plans are nothing: Field Marshall Helmuth Graf von Moltke Prioritize by urgency and importance: Stephen Covey People are led; things are managed: Admiral Grace Hopper, USN BDUF: Scott Ambler

The requirements paradox: Niels Malotaux

Planning is everything; plans are nothing: Field Marshall Helmuth Graf von Moltke

Prioritize by urgency and importance: Stephen Covey

People are led; things are managed: Admiral Grace Hopper, USN

BDUF: Scott Ambler