Don’t grease the squeaky wheel, realign it
Every organisation has its share of squeaky wheels – individuals who complain loudly and demand immediate attention, regardless of the real magnitude of their problems. Often, people give these individuals priority just to shut them up. This attitude – known as greasing the squeaky wheel – is counterproductive, because the effect of the “grease” runs out sooner than one thinks. Once that happens they’ll be back, squeakier than ever.
So, if greasing the wheel isn’t an option, what else can one do? The wheel analogy suggests a couple of alternatives. Here they are:
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Ignore it: Although ignoring the squeaky wheel is an option, it is an approach I don’t endorse. In analogy with real (i.e. circular, rotating) wheels that have an alignment problem, the complaining is likely to get worse if ignored. Who knows, the complainer may be well connected in the organisation – in which case you’re in for some trouble. Bottom line: don’t ignore the squeakers.
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Realign it: In the case of real squeaky wheels, realignment is better than turning a deaf ear or applying grease because it addresses the root cause of the problem. So how does one realign a (human) squeaky wheel? Here’s a strategy I’ve used often: Get to know the complainers better so that you can understand their role in organisation, their (perceived and real) obstacles and what they think you can do to help them. It is best to do this in an informal setting outside the office- may be over a coffee or something. Because constant cavillers are used to being ignored, one can often gain credibility by listening and following-up with a few simple actions. Sure, on occasion you might come across a particularly intractable squeaky wheel who isn’t amenable to being realigned thus. In such cases you may, out of frustration, consider talking to the offender’s manager. I don’t recommend this because a) it is a one-way process that can’t be undone and b) nobody likes telltales.
Pursuing the analogy with real wheels, there are a couple of other approaches that come to mind: replace the wheel and change cars, for example. These would be analogous to firing the squeaker and changing jobs respectively. I don’t consider these as serious options because the first is very likely out of your domain of authority, and the second is simply not worth doing on account of a squeaky wheel.
Rumours of a new project management paradigm
Many project managers spend a great deal of time on the technical aspects of project management, often overlooking the “softer”, people-oriented, issues that can derail a complex project. Although many books – including the gospel according to PMBOK – stress the important of soft skills, the current paradigm of project management is essentially mechanistic. In simple terms this means that the discipline is built on the assumption that future outcomes can be predicted accurately based on current information and actions. It is also implicitly assumed that human actions, interactions (and consequences thereof) can be objectively observed and then corrected or controlled.
A paper entitled Mapping the Strange Landscape of Complexity Theory and Its Relationship to Project Management, published in June 2007 of issue of the Project Management Journal challenges this paradigm of project management [Aside: The print version of the paper has an even more memorable title – see the reference at the end of this post]. According to the authors, recent advances in the study of complex systems suggest new ways of looking at the discipline. The idea of applying concepts from complexity theory to the social sciences is not new. In fact, a quick search revealed an introductory book on the topic in five seconds flat. What’s new, the authors claim, is the application of these ideas to project management.
In the paper, the authors start by briefly describing some well-established concepts from complexity theory which form the basis of their proposed paradigm. It would take me too far afield to discuss these in detail, so I refer my readers to Wikipedia for details and further references:
It is broadly accepted that many of the above concepts played an important role in modifying, if not overthrowing, the mechanistic (or Newtonian) paradigm in the natural sciences. In particular, these concepts led to the invention and adaptation of a host of new qualitative and quantitative research methods. Based on this, the authors make the following plea, and I quote : “ …If even pure science is finding the need to become more flexible in its research methods while not relapsing into ‘anything goes’, is it perhaps too much to hope that research into projects and their management will take account of these developments…”.
The authors then proceed to outline how the discipline of project management might take account of the new developments. As a first step, they highlight connections between complexity theory and the recent development of the concept of complex responsive processes of relating (CRPR) in organizational theory. This concept (which I confess, I don’t fully understand) is apparently a means of looking at complexity in organizations in a manner that emphasises interactions or communication among people. As I understand it, CRPR is concerned with how conversation and other communication patterns in specific situations are determined by, and in turn determine or modify, power relationships in organizations. An organization is thus viewed as an emergent property of interaction between humans, who use language to converse and also to negotiate status and power. Basically- again, as I understand it – the organization is created by individuals communicating (or relating) with each other in complex ways.
The outcome of a specific instance of interaction (or relating) between individuals is unpredictable because people are different, and there is an element of spontaneity to any specific interaction, even those that occur regularly. This allows for the possibility of transformation and novelty as the organisation continually evolves via CRPR. The future is thus continually being constructed through processes of interaction. Moreover, since outcomes are not predictable to a fine level of detail, people involved in these interactions experience anxiety. This anxiety has to be acknowledged and managed. However, as all individuals in the organization are linked in a complex web of evolving relationships, managers themselves are participants in these processes of relating. A manager (however high up or powerful) cannot be an objective observer of the system, as her or she is a part of it. An organization, can thus be viewed as a complex system displaying properties analogous to those displayed by complex physical systems (unpredictability and emergence, among others)
Some implications of CRPR for project management include:
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Any project structures (work, tools, plans) must be viewed as forming and being formed by interactions between people (in a complex feedback loop). Projects are thus social arrangements, not structures.
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Power is located in the processes of relating, rather than individual managers. So, close attention should be paid to importance of local communication between team members.
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Managers need a “new” set of competencies that might include: a) sensitivity to patterns of conversations, and the ability to enable conversations that enhance learning and generate knowledge and b) the ability to deal with anxieties that are an inevitable consequence of constant change (i.e. evolving relationships).
The authors conclude by discussing some implications of complexity theory (and CRPR in particular) for what happens when people work together on project teams. This ties in with the much neglected “soft side” of project management mentioned in the first line of this post.
A caveat is in order at this point: although I do know something about physics, I’m no expert in the social sciences. Therefore I may well have misinterpreted the authors’ meaning and intent in areas where they discuss CRPR. What’s presented here is my interpretation of their words. Having said that, I can now venture a few comments on the paper in the spirit of a curious layman. They are:
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The word “complex” and “complexity” is used in two senses in the paper: first, in the context of complex projects and second in the context of complexity theory and complex systems. The former (what is a complex project?) is left undefined in the paper. However, from what the authors discuss, it appears (to me, at least) that the ideas from complexity in the second sense apply to any kind of project, not just complex ones.
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The connections or analogies between the eight or nine concepts from physics and CRPR are not obvious from a reading of the paper. I can see some connection between CRPR and unpredictability and emergence, and have alluded to this in an earlier paragraph. But the others, I don’t see at all. This may well be due to my lack of knowledge of the social sciences and CRPR in particular.
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The physical concepts of complex systems have very precise meanings (as readers might gather from following the Wikipedia links above). However, the social analogues of these concepts are considerably harder (for me) to understand. Again, this is likely due to my lack of knowledge than any fault of the authors.
Despite my aforementioned quibbles, I found the paper very intriguing, as it dealt with issues that are of interest to me as a project manager. I look forward to the day when the social and people aspects of projects become the prime focus of project management, but I think we’re a long way from that at present. To conclude, I refer once again to the title of the print version of the paper : Dorothy and Toto may know they’re not in Kansas anymore, but they haven’t yet figured out where they are.
Reference:
Cooke-Davies, T., Cicmil, S., Crawford, L., and Richardson, K., We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto: Mapping the strange landscape of complexity theory, and its relationship to project management, Project Management Journal, 38 (2), 50-61 (2007).
The fat accomplice and other sneaky ways to sell ideas
In many organisations, innovative ideas have a much better chance of acceptance if they are proposed by (external) consultants rather than (internal) employees. In the course of assorted stints at various companies, I’ve seen several employees frustrated by the rejection of their ideas by management. Chances are this has happened to you at one time or another. In this post I’d like to discuss a few strategies for getting those “way out” ideas off the ground. I’ll leave out the most obvious strategy- which is to attempt to sell the idea yourself. I’m assuming you’ve tried this and it doesn’t work or isn’t going to. OK, so here are a few other things to try:
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Invoke the “fat accomplice”: If you are convinced of the value of your idea, you could just do it, much as the popular purveyor of footwear exhorts. Implement the idea or get moving on it without waiting for official sanction. Once the wheels are set in motion, present management with a fait accompli, or “fat accomplice” as my four year old calls it. I quite like the imagery evoked by the aforementioned cross-lingual confusion (or False Friend) – a fat partner in crime who can take the rap if something goes wrong. One caveat though, if you are going to call on a fat accomplice, you’d better be sure your idea is going to work. Else be prepared for consequences.
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Sell by proxy: Discuss the idea informally with people who have influence in the organisation. These folks aren’t necessarily managers. They could, for instance, be people who have built up personal credibility through their contribution to the business. Although not managers themselves, they generally have more access to decision makers, and thus might be able to do a better job selling the idea.
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Give it away: If you discuss the idea with enough people, someone may appropriate it and sell it as their own. They might have better luck selling it to management. This is a viable option if you don’t mind someone else getting the bouquets (or brickbats) for the outcomes. A common variant of this case is when a manager appropriates the idea as his or her own. Although it is natural to feel a little cheated if the boss takes the credit, you should really be quite pleased. The sneaky strategy has worked – the idea made it through without people being aware of its real origin.
I’ve tried each of the above at various times with varying degrees of success. You’ll need to figure out which is the best one for your particular situation, factoring in things such as work environment, politics and corporate culture. There’s no guarantee that any of them will work for you. The only sure thing is that if you don’t take the responsibility for selling your ideas, they’ll never to get off the ground.
Eight to Late 