Entrepreneurial Project Management

A project manager/program manager needs to be somewhat entrepreneurial.  I feel that you have to be that way, because many times projects and programs are charting new ground.  Many projects are developed for things that the organization has never done before and it sometimes it takes pure willpower just to get the project done. 

A lot of projects are resourced starved, until the business case is fully developed.  Even sometimes it is resourced starved even if there is a clear ROI, bootstrapping in a way.  Risks are different, but there is still risk involved.  The PMs career depends on success and many times the success is uncertain until it happens.

Building a project/program is a lot like building a business.  The work is fulfilling.  Learn from your failures and keep working on building a successful career.

My Advice to Graduates

Since it is the season for graduation, I wanted to say a couple words of advice about being a Project Manager and starting a new career.  Graduation marks a new beginning.  This marks not the end to school, but the beginning of a new adventure.  This new adventure may take you places which you never thought you would go and do things that you never thought you would do.

My first piece of advice to new graduates is to take a course of action.  If there is no clear answer to the problem or dilemma, a bias for action is almost always better than inaction.  As a new manager, you might make a mistake or you might fail.  Making a mistake and failing is forgivable, if a lesson is learned, but inaction is not excusable.  These lessons learned will be far more valuable to your life as a manager or person than living a cold and timid life where nothing is ventured and nothing is gained.

I also think that things that come too easy are not appreciated as fully as things that have to be earned. This is an important lesson as life is going to be hard. Leadership and management are hard. I sometimes as know to say that if leadership or your job is too easy, you probably aren't doing it right. Do not shy away from the hard path, take it with gusto and remember those days as the good days.

Do not think that this first job as the only job you will ever have. You need to figure out what you can learn from the job and what the next step in your career will be.  This might mean learning a new skill by going to a course or taking a job that expands your experience.  Never stop learning and never stop growing.

Graduation is an accomplishment.  Take a moment to reflect on this accomplishment and then get to work.  Time is the only resource that you can't make more of, so don't waste it.

When Projects Fail

Most organizations do not take on projects unless there is a business imperative that makes the success of the project critical.  Unfortunately most projects fail.  They fail for a variety of reasons.

One of the reasons that projects fail is that the project does not really have the support of senior management. Anther reason is that the organization does not have the skills to actually do the project or that the organization will not dedicate the resources to project success.

Regardless of the reason, when projects start to go bad, the project manager will ultimately take the blame.  When they go bad, then the organization brings in a new project manager, but if the root cause isn't addressed then the project will continue in the downward spiral.

I have taken over many a failing projects over the years. It isn't a pleasant thing to take over a failing project.  Sometimes you have to let people go, fire a sub-contractor, convince management to properly resource a project, or anything or everything to get the project done.  It isn't pleasant to sit in a project status meeting getting beat up because the project is over budget, behind schedule, or looks like no product will be delivered. As they say, "success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan." I just know that by making this project a success, people are going to be mad or upset or feel threatened. I will forge ahead, people are destined to feel the way they feel.

Some projects can't be saved due to the structural issues outlined above or nobody wanted the project in the first place. It is gratifying when the project succeeds in the end. It takes a fighter to fight through all the opposition and pull that project out of the jaws of failure.