Watching
by jed simms on April 15, 2010
They say that there are three types of manager – those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and those that ask, “What happened?”
I recently watched a governance team in action (or should that be ‘inaction’?)
The project was not going well. The governance team, made up of senior managers from across the country, was moaning and groaning, blaming and complaining.
“The project’s not going well.”
“We’re not going to be successful.”
“We’re not getting the results we need.” And so on.
A group of ‘watchers’ – watching the project fail while spending their time complaining about it. This is typical of too many project governance committees. Made up of senior managers with vast knowledge and experience, authority and power; but all they do is watch and moan as the project sinks deeper towards failure.
Then, suddenly, one member of the committee said, “Failure is not an option; we’ve got to make it succeed! Now what can each of us individually do to ensure the project is successful?”
This notion of taking action, of actually doing something about it, of making something happen, seemed to strike the rest of the committee like a novel idea, even a radical idea. But they caught the fever and actually started coming up with ideas that would address some of the project’s problems.
Too often, governance committees are essentially passive. They’ll make a decision if you ask them, but they are not actively looking to take action to ensure the project’s success. They’d rather complain and blame; moan and groan and continue watching.
If they do this long enough they’ll join the ranks of those that ask, “What happened?”
In our governance training we emphasize that governance is about two things above all else – the delivery of desired business outcomes and benefits, and taking action. Project governance is not for watchers.
What governance role are you (or your governance team) performing on your project?
If they’re watching what’s happening, you need to educate them that (and how) they should be making things happen.
© Jed Simms, Australia, 2010
2 comments
I see this as a symptom of the fear of being seen to make the wrong decision. So no-one volunteers to make decisions where they are not forced to.
I have a philosophy that there are no right or wrong decisions, there are just better or worse ones.
The worst decision of all is not making a decision.
Make whatever decision seems best at the time and then take the actions required to make it the right decision.
by Melanie Kendell on April 15, 2010 at 11:04 am. #
When talking of managers/executive in governance roles, their role IS to make decisions
But the usual lack of clarity around EXACTLY what the project is going to deliver often makes ‘making a decision’ that you are confident is right or righter more risky
When you’re clear as to your end state, your desired business outcomes, it is much easier to make decisions as you can assess their direction and likely consequences in terms of their impact on the end states
Trouble is, few projects define their target end states
by Jed Simms on May 5, 2010 at 11:37 am. #