The role of the project management requires primal instinct. Through the forest of the business, one must have a natural ability to identify the landmarks that define the business, analyze the landscape and scout the path without getting eaten by all the beasts along the way. Schooling helps, experience matters, but at the end of the day it seems the greatest success factor is the amount of raw instinctual talent. Let’s look at three factors: Awareness, Sense of Direction, and Agility.
Awareness
Pay attention. Listen. Observe. The best first step is to do nothing, except to watch and learn. Take notes. Gather gross amounts of information. Ask a lot of questions, even if you think you know the answer. Animals that survive are fully aware and alert, constantly organizing data from observation, and keenly in tune with everything happening around them. Information is essential to an analyst; awareness is what widens our perspective so we can correctly organize that information.
Sense of Direction
One who is fully aware will have a keen sense of direction, speed and timing of movements. The best second step is to gain a sense of direction. Note that I didn’t say ‘move’. Action is not prudent until we are certain about the direction and comfortable about what will result from our action. There is an amount of gut in setting a course. Some of it comes from experiences we’ve survived. But, sometimes we just know. It feels right. But don’t let feeling trump logic every time. It’s a dangerous place – proceed with caution, even after careful consideration and planning.
Agility
After stepping into action, be ever ready to dodge the bullet and adjust course. Even the best plans can get spoiled. Stuff happens. Change is sure. Someone who can adjust to unpredictable situations is the one that lives to take on the next project. Rigidity can sometimes make things easier to brake. Be agile enough to keep everything in tact while still moving forward.
0 comments:
Post a Comment