The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management

“We’re not losing him, we’re just putting him to work at something that can make use of all his talents. That’s what we do as managers. Apply people where their skills and talents can really shine. That’s what management is all about.”

Do you think that’s because you have authority over us?” “Isn’t it?” “No. Wake up dummy. Your power comes from something else entirely.” “You’re saying people do what I want because they like me? Maybe that’s true, but how can I get Dr. Menotti to . . . .” “It’s not because they like you. It’s because you like them.” “Huh?” “You like and respect th

“There is no such thing as a job with no politics,” the ex-General agreed. “Politics is the bane of every manager’s life.”

You can’t get people to do anything different without caring for them and about them. To get them to change, you have to understand (appreciate) where they’re coming from and why.

Negative Reinforcement Threats are an imperfect way to motivate performance. No matter how serious the threat, the work still won’t get done on time if the time originally allocated for it was not sufficient. Worse still, if the target doesn’t get met, you may actually have to make good on your threats.

Role of the Catalyst There is such a thing as a catalytic personality. Such people contribute to projects by helping teams to form and gel and to remain healthy and productive. Even if our catalysts did nothing else (the usually do a lot else) their catalytic role is important and valuable. Mediation is a special case of the catalytic role. Mediati

Pathological Politics You have to be willing to put your job on the line any day . . . . . . but that doesn’t guarantee that pathological politics won’t affect you. Pathological politics can crop up anywhere, even in the healthiest organization. The defining characteristic of pathological politics is that goals of personal power and influence come

Risk Management Manage projects by managing their risks. Create and maintain a census of risks for each project. Track the causal risks, not just the ultimate undesirable outcomes. Assess each risk for probability and likely cost. Predict for each risk, the earliest symptom that might indicate materialization. Appoint a risk officer, one person who

“Is creating the atmosphere where healthy interactions have their best chance to happen. That’s what I call building soul into the organization. You do that in various ways, but you have to do it. Maybe you make a cult of quality work, or you instill in people the sense that the group is, in some sense at least, an elite, the best in the world. You

“She was the world’s greatest project manager in her day. She never missed a deadline, never brought in a project that was less than a success. And there are about a thousand people in the industry who would work for her again in a minute, who would follow her into battle.”