MyProjectAdvisor Newsletter
March 2009
President Obama has stated that, “project management though this crisis … it’s going to be a discipline that is critical.”1 The service-based project leader is going to be fundamental to a successful economic recovery. Let’s not forget that in 2004, the Chaos study found that close to 70 percent of projects fail or are significantly challenged. And now we are going to run a trillion dollars through the project pipelines!
Throughout the intense debate surrounding the United States Congress' economic stimulus package, one theme that has remained constantly present is that of “oversight” and “transparency.” Whether or not people understand the complexities of the financial collapse or how the bailout is supposed to help, they have a sense that this rescue plan is a huge undertaking with equally huge consequences, for good or ill. Citizens also know that they, as taxpayers, will be financing this bailout for a long time to come, regardless of its success or failure.
Knowing how much of the risk involved in the stimulus package rests on their shoulders, taxpayers are very concerned that the spending of the bailout money not be taken lightly, nor do they wish to see the money passed off to those who will simply use it to line their own pockets. They want results, transformation of the healthcare and educational systems, jobs, and financial regulations, and demand the most efficient and effective use of the funds possible.
Where do you fit into this equation? If your organization becomes a recipient of bailout money, you could potentially be asked to make decisions or give advice regarding the way it is spent, or lead the people who are charged with using the money. While the ethics of responsible spending apply to the project manager regardless of the source of the funding, the recipients of government bailout money are charged with a special responsibility that extends beyond the confines of the project to the citizens in general. In a sense, every taxpayer becomes a stakeholder in your project, as some fraction of their tax payments will go to support it.
With this in mind, it becomes especially incumbent upon you to be good stewards of this money, and secondly, to make sure it is dedicated to worthwhile, meaningful work that creates valuable products, services and results. To get everyone on board, you must lead with your customer’s interests ahead of your own. This is why a service-based project leader is fundamentally different from a project manager - all your stakeholders are customers.
In The Strategic Project Leader, I call individuals like you and me to a new role: “The new role of the project manager is to serve the project organization, creating a meaningful experience for team members, customers and critical stakeholders. This experience is the fuel that ignites the transformation of people, systems and organizations. Such service not only achieves successful projects on time and within budget, while meeting the needs of stakeholders, but also places the project manager in a unique position as a spearhead of transformative change.”
Regardless of how you feel about this massive government intervention, it is done. What happens next is up us; the results are in our hands, not the bureaucrats'.
The responsibility of handling government bailout money only brings into sharper relief the everyday duty of the service-based project leader. While the current trillion dollar financial stimulus package presents a heightened call for fiscal responsibility, the need for conscientious guidance and the streamlining of projects through service-based project leadership is one that we must face every single day. I hope we are ready.
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Links of Interest
New review posted for “The Strategic Project Leader” on PMLectures, a downloadable lecture introducing Jack's book, worth 2.5 PDUs. Check it out here!
Interview with the Project Management Podcast (TM) on what it takes to be a successful project leader - give it a listen!
Follow Jack on Twitter.
Great things come to those who serve!
Sincerely
Jack Ferraro PMP
President MyProjectAdvisor
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