Why does it appear that most people working on a project lack any perspective of deadlines, milestones, or the importance of completing a project on time and schedule? I recently tracked the progress of two similar project through the organization. On the first, I poked and prodded, continually reminded people of the next step and what the impact would be if the deadline was missed. On the second, I didn't speak up about anything. I just watched and observed. There was very little sense of urgency. People working on the project just permitted it to happen, they weren't engaged and didn't show any concern for the projects success. It was an interesting phenomenon.
Maybe the problem is that the term deadline is a bit like crying wolf. When was the last time someone died because one was missed? What are the implications of missing the deadline? The typical response is, "Oh the next person down the line has plenty of slop in their schedule, they will get things back on track". I don't see companies succeeding unless they employ and reward people who never think like this. All things being equal, stating something like this would be grounds for dismissal, if I were king.
A wise person once said, "Important things are missions not projects. Projects can fail; missions can't. I don't remember where I heard it, or who said it, but I'm thinking that it might have been my DCM, Deputy Commander for Maintenance, in the Air Force. He was right. When the plan fell apart, we adapted and came up with a new plan. When the plan falls apart on projects around here, the first response is for people to throw up their hands and surrender.
I think I'm going to rename all of our projects as missions and start hiring mission managers and mission engineers.
-LGM30 Clear.
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