The Partial Project Manager
04. May, 2009 
0 Comments
In this posting I am going to tell you what the main theme of my blog is… wow. Do I really have an answer?
Six weeks ago I released the first draft of my ebook “Project Shrink: Linear Edition“. The reason for publishing unfinished work is to get early feedback. I am very happy to receive a lot of usable comments that will improve the material in the next releases.
Hal Macomber of Reforming Project Management made me aware that releasing the ebook in this fashion makes it an unbook. From now, it will be called my unbook. Sounds way cooler.
What Is The Main Theme?
The number one question I get about the, uhm, unbook is: “what is your main theme?” Just yelling “Projects are about humans!” is not going to cut it.
Recently, one reader (thanks Amos!) pressed some more on this topic.
Alright, alright, I’ll have a go at it!
Partial Information, Partial Influence, Partial Capability
Think about a Project Manager as a person in a huge network of interacting people. The PM can interact only with a few of them (his team, the stakeholders). The stakeholders interact also with others. People the PM knows, but more likely with people invisible to the Project Manager.
The Project Manager is running his project by interacting with his team and stakeholders, but the actual behavior of the project organization is determined by the sum of all interactions, including from the part of the network invisible to the PM.
Because of the size of the network, because of limited visibility on the network, because of the complexity of the network, the PM is getting partial information, always.
For the same reasons the PM has only partial influence. He cannot interact with “everyone”. He has no “power” over everyone.
If the information is the input and the influence is the output of a PM, his mind can be regarded as the transformation process. Because the amount of knowledge a brain can hold is limited, the PM is using partial capability.
How does a Project Manager run a successful project when he has partial information, partial influence and partial capability?
This is why I am focused on Project Management in a global, mobile, virtual and multi-cultural world. This is the context in which the image I just painted comes to life, is more visible.
Does This Make Sense To You?
I would love to get your feedback on this picture!
This makes perfect sense to me. I see PMs being like butterflies – flitting between one group of stakeholders and the next – exchanging just enough information then moving on. The moment you try to get more involved, you start to lose objectivity. A good PM is not only partial – but impartial. I could chat about this topic all day but alas that’s not what blog comments are for
This makes sense to me as well. Especially the partial information aspects because there are other interactions going on that the PM simply cannot always be a part of. I look forward to your Unbook!
It’s a lovely graphic. A particularly nice shade of blue.
It’s a good post also. It links in with the netwok analysis stuff going on elsewhere.
And management theory.
And stuff.
Will project mamagers take over the business?
Hi all, thanks for the comments and cheers. I really appreciate them.
@Craig: PM will not take over business. Definitely not
But in our work the challenges are very good visible.
Good pictures, right perspective and a different approach. But the same pictures would fit in for any business scenario (not only project manager) – say for a CIO, Managing Director, Operations Manager and so on.
What do you say?