For many years since the publication of my various papers on technical performance measurement, I have been asked to update my perspectives. Over the years I largely declined, mostly this was due to the fact that I had nothing of importance to add to the conversation. I had staked out what I believed to be a reasonable method of integration between the measurement of technical achievement in human effort and the manner in which the value of that achievement could be documented, along with a reasonable model of technical risk to inform us of our ability to achieve success in the next increment of our technical baseline. A little background may be helpful.
(more…)Author: Nick Pisano
My Generation — Baby Boom Economics, Demographics, and Technological Stagnation
“You promised me Mars colonies, instead I got Facebook.” — MIT Technology Review cover over photo of Buzz Aldrin
“As a boy I was promised flying cars, instead I got 140 characters.” — attributed to Marc Maron and others
I have been in a series of meetings over the last couple of weeks with colleagues describing the state of the technology industry and the markets it serves. What seems to be a generally held view is that both the industry and the markets for software and technology are experiencing a hardening of the arteries and a resistance to change not seen since the first waves of digitization in the 1980s.
(more…)Synchroncity — What is proper schedule and cost integration?
Much has been said about the achievement of schedule and cost integration (or lack thereof) in the project management community. Much of it consists of hand waving and magic asterisks that hide the significant reconciliation that goes on behind the scenes. From an intellectually honest approach that does not use the topic as a means of promoting a proprietary solution is that authored by Rasdorf and Abudayyeah back in 1991 entitled, “Cost and Schedule Control Integration: Issues and Needs.”
(more…)I Got Rhythm — Project Failure and the Criticality of Moving from Ad Hoc
The initial period of project ramp-up often is a period of intense activity and, in many cases, chaos. People are brought into unfamiliar surroundings and are dealing with both unfamiliar peers and management structure. The business environment is new and in the developmental phases, resources are being identified and applied to the project tasks, roles and responsibilities are being defined and documented, methods of planning and assessment are yet to be determined, and the project plan and goals must be decomposed and then recomposed to ensure fidelity to the scope of the effort. Much of what is done on a day-to-day basis, despite the plan that was devised regarding ramp-up constitute ad hoc adjustments to the reality being faced. As a wise general once said: “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” The enemy, in this case, being entropy (that is, chaos).
(more…)Let’s Work Together — The Goal of Contract Negotiations
I’ve been at this acquisition management profession for quite some time, but nothing gives me more pleasure than returning to the basic and necessary process that precedes the management part of contract and project management, which is contract negotiation. I began as a negotiator as a young U.S. Navy Lieutenant when I was selected as one of the members of what was to be a Navy Procurement Corps. Over the years politics–both intraservice and otherwise–undermined the Procurement Corps idea, which I still think was and is a good one, but that is the way it goes sometimes. It has been more than thirty years since that time and the basics of negotiation have served me well over the years.
Negotiations, when they go well, are based on several factors:
(more…)Mo’Better Risk — Tournaments and Games of Failure Part II
My last post discussed economic tournaments and games of failure in how they describe the success and failure of companies, with a comic example for IT start-up companies. Glen Alleman at his Herding Cats blog has a more serious response in handily rebutting those who believe that #NoEstimates, Lean, Agile, and other cult-like fads can overcome the bottom line, that is, apply a method to reduce inherent risk and drive success. As Glen writes:
“It’s about the money. It’s always about the money. Many want it to be about them or their colleagues, or the work environment, or the learning opportunities, or the self actualization.” — Glen Alleman, Herding Cats(more…)
Take Me Out to the Ballgame — Tournaments and Games of Failure
“Baseball teaches us, or has taught most of us, how to deal with failure. We learn at a very young age that failure is the norm in baseball and, precisely because we have failed, we hold in high regard those who fail less often – those who hit safely in one out of three chances and become star players. I also find it fascinating that baseball, alone in sport, considers errors to be part of the game, part of it’s rigorous truth.” — Fay Vincent, former Commissioner of Baseball (1989-1992)
“Baseball is a game of inches.” — Branch Rickey, Quote Magazine, July 31, 1966
I have been a baseball fan just about as long as I have been able to talk. My father played the game and tried out for both what were the New York Giants and Yankees–and was a pretty well known local hero in Weehawken back in the 1930s and 1940s. I did not have my father’s athletic talents–a four letter man in high school–but I was good at hitting a baseball from the time he put a bat in my hands and so I played–and was sought after–into my college years. Still, like many Americans who for one reason or another could not or did not pursue the game, I live vicariously through the players on the field. We hold those who fail less in the game in high regard. Some of them succeed for many years and are ensconced in the Hall of Fame.
(more…)I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction) — When Software Tools Go Bad
Another article I came across a couple of weeks ago that my schedule prevented me from highlighting was by Michelle Symonds at PM Hut entitled “5 Tell-Tale Signs That You Need a Better Project Management Tool.” According to Ms. Symonds, among these signs are:
a. Additional tools are needed to achieve the intended functionality apart from the core application;
b. Technical support is poor or nonexistent;
c. Personnel in the organization still rely on spreadsheets to extend the functionality of the application;
d. Training on the tool takes more time than training the job;
e. The software tool adds work instead of augmenting or facilitating the achievement of work.
(more…)Keep Away from Runaround SOO — The Pitfalls in Contracting Objectives
I recently ran into an agency where the rule of thumb in contracts is only to use Statements of Objectives, also known as SOO. This is a different animal than the usual Statement of Work (SOW) and Performance Work Statement (PWS).
The SOO, according to DAU’s Acquipedia “is used in solicitations when the Government intends to provide the maximum flexibility to each offeror to propose an innovative approach. That portion of a contract that establishes a broad description of the government’s required performance objectives.”
(more…)I Can See Clearly Now (The Risk Is Gone) — Managing and Denying Risk in PM
I just returned from a project management conference, and among a very distinguished venue of project management specialists, one of the presentations that really impressed me by its refreshingly candid approach was given by Dave Burgess of the U. S. Navy Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) entitled “Integrated Project Management: ‘A View from the Front Line’.” The charts from his presentation will be posted on the site (link in the text on the first line). Among the main points that I took from his presentation are:
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Life, Project Management, and Everything 