Project management as an organisational capability · Part IV · Chapter 11 of 11
An honest look at your next undertaking
Not a test that passes judgement, but a thinking tool with which you recognise for yourself what holds, what can still become better and which next step makes sense.
You have now read everything essential. Now it is not about me telling you where you stand. I cannot do that from a distance at all, and I do not think much of pretending to. Instead, I put a simple thinking tool in your hands with which you can form your own picture, alone or with your people. It follows the same logic as good consulting: first the current situation, then the target state, then the steps in between.
It consists of two perspectives. Everything else follows from them almost by itself.
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First perspective: what is, and what is good about it?
First look at what exists, and do so appreciatively, before you name any problem. Four questions guide you:
This first perspective achieves two things. It gives you an honest assessment of your current situation. And because it begins with the good, it ensures that you can talk about potential without first having to construct a deficit. After this, you know your situation today and see more clearly where additional leverage is possible.
Source of thought, not evidence: The potential viewSources of thought →
Second perspective: what would it look like if everything were good?
Now imagine that all the difficulties were solved.
The question is stronger than it sounds. For your answer produces your target state, your own, not one I prescribe for you. You do not describe what is missing, but what the good state looks like that you want to reach.
Source of thought, not evidence: Steve de ShazerSources of thought →
What you now have in hand
You now have two things in hand. From the first perspective you have your current situation. From the second, your target state. The difference between the two shows not only gaps but also potential. And because you have both, you can derive a rough, high-level plan yourself and prioritise what makes sense first and what afterwards.
Put your answers from the first and second perspective side by side.
For orientation: the eight areas of clarification
When you put your current situation and your target state side by side, the eight areas of clarification from Chapter 5 can help you see which topics the difference lies in. They are an orientation, not a checklist and not an assessment.
- What is it for, and which undertakings contribute?
- How do we create value?
- Which undertakings do we start? (portfolio)
- Who decides about undertakings? (governance)
- How do we lead an undertaking? (project leadership)
- What can be relied on? (information)
- Which tools help? (digitalisation)
- How do we learn? (improvement)
Before the decision: the premortem
Before your rough plan becomes a binding undertaking, one last perspective from Chapter 5 helps. Imagine yourself one year ahead and picture the undertaking as having failed. Then each person writes down for themselves how it came about. The gain lies not in the answers but in the fact that doubts are permitted and even required.
Nothing more is needed to begin with. Take a quiet hour and go through the two perspectives honestly, alone or with the people who matter. Afterwards you will know what already holds, where more is possible and whether additional support would make sense at all.
Radical clarity does not automatically mean radical change. A deliberate “we'll leave it as it is” can be a good outcome if the consequences are understood and accepted.
If additional support can make a real difference, decide deliberately how you proceed: under your own steam or with support that suits your undertaking.
Good consulting does not automatically have to lead to more consulting.
An organisation capable of implementation is not one in which one person holds everything together. It is one in which nobody has to hold everything together any more.
If you are looking for support with a demanding undertaking, I describe how I work under “External Project Leadership and Project Management”.