Headaches and mega stressors
Whether you are a veteran or new to project management, using guiding principles will enhance both your PMO journey and the achievement of goals. The ongoing chaos on projects, the lack of timely decisions, and the lackadaisical approach to governance and controls cause you to doubt the existence of guiding principles or their ability to make any difference in improving delivery performance.
Obviously, there are procedures and accepted standards recognized as necessary to conduct any semblance of effective program, project, or portfolio management. The never-ending challenges and failures inspire continual efforts to improve such methods, processes, and frameworks. However, this post is an introduction to principles that can strategically guide their development or improvement.
The difference between principles, processes, and practices is unclear to some. The next blog post will cover more detail about their definitions and why these terms can be confusing. For now, the following differentiation is a good start toward clarity. A principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that is the foundation for a system of belief, behavior, or chain of reasoning. Practice is an application or use of a principle. A process is the steps and decisions involved in the way work happens [1].
Why haven’t these principles worked? Or have they?
Yes, and no.
That you and your team successfully deliver any programs, projects, or portfolios is evidence that the fundamentals you use are helpful. However, there are multiple layers of principles, each having distinct attributes. For instance:
Project and program management principles define a distinct profession and practice.
Ethical and moral principles guide the actions, reactions, and thought processes of those within a society, industry, or organization.
Regulatory principles smooth the operations and relationships between federal, state, local, and corporate governments.
Strategic principles determine the attitude, approach, or philosophy guiding all others. The principles of war are strategic.
The constant disruptions, the volatility of our time, and the day-to-day struggles with delivering projects and value to companies are a constant battle. Battle? Wow! It’s more like an ongoing war. Don’t you feel that way all too often? So, we looked to other professions that best adapted to the most volatile situations for a better strategy, asking where we could find a model of success in times of warlike conditions. We chose the U.S. Military as a prime model.
The U.S. Army has enjoyed over a century of generally considered superior forces despite some failures. What was most impressive and relevant to our interest in their guiding principles was their incredible buildup and strategic success in aiding the allied armies during World War 1.
In less than two years, our military increased its forces from a few hundred thousand troops to millions. It built the bases to house them, the arms to arm them, the staff and supplies, including uniforms, to sustain them, and established training. It also raised funds to pay for this massive, complex undertaking with a short deadline of months[1][2].
How was the Army able to carry out such a massive undertaking? It had used the Nine Principles of War (9PW) at least since the Civil War [3].
Objective
Offensive
Mass
Economy of Force
Maneuver
Unity of Command
Security
Surprise
Simplicity
The overwhelming success of its war initiative and its transformation into an agile, innovative, powerful force makes the Army a great parent and model of project and program management.
In fact, American Colonel John T. Thompson adopted the new Gantt chart in 1918 to manage the production and distribution of his newly invented Thompson machine gun to our troops in World War 1 [4]. In 1950, Lockheed Martin’s Polaris missile project and the Navy’s development of the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) shaped project management, laying the foundations for the Critical Path Method of project scheduling. So, you could say that the nine principles of war gave birth to the project and program management industry we know today. It’s time for us to go back to our roots.
Check back for future blogs and articles detailing more about the Nine War Principles and others that shape how we manage projects, programs, and portfolios, mainly adapted for the PMO and its team.
References
"Principles, Processes, and Practices of Project Success," Performance-Based Project Management®, 31 March 2017. [Online]. https://herdingcats.typepad.com/my_weblog/2017/03/principles-processes-and-practices.html#:~:text=Practices%20and%20Process%20are%20Fads,of%20such%20application%20or%20use.
J. Garamone, "World War 1: Building the American military," 26 February 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.army.mil/article/185229/world_war_i_building_the_american_military.
"United States in World War 1," 27 February 2022. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_in_World_War_I.
W. Butler, "Hist 1416 American Military History Butler, W., Nine Principles of War," 16 February 2022. [Online]. Available: https://bartonline.instructure.com/courses/2269/pages/nine-principles-of-war.
R. Burger, "The Project Manager's Guide to Gantt Charts," 9 March 2015. [Online]. Available: https://blog.capterra.com/guide-to-gantt-charts/.
Image by https://pixabay.com/users/903115-903115/? Bruce Mewett
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