Meme #2: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions …milestoneplanning.net/whitepapers/Meme 2...

Meme #2: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

Project Management Ethics: A Discourse on Fairness, Honesty and Realityon Fairness, Honesty and Reality

© 2008 Milestone Planning & Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved

PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

The code of conduct imposes an ethical obligation upon the project manager to adhere to:

• Responsibility• Respect • Fairness• Honesty

•These are necessary but not sufficient activities for achieving y gsuccessful project outcomes consistently.•Much of the code is targeted to contractors. •In game theory simulations “ethical actors” often lose out to theIn game theory simulations ethical actors often lose out to the “unethical actors” when one party cheats.


Dilemma: if everyone claims to consistently act in good faith and follow good PM practices, why do projects perform poorly so often?

The answer is embedded in our title…”the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. People acting in good faith can make progressively poor decisions because theircan make progressively poor decisions because their processes are flawed. Sometimes “cheaters” don’t believe that they really are cheaters, and almost never will they admit to being cheaters.

Project Management is intended to mitigate these risks, but specific PM tools are secondary to a strong foundation built on ethics and philosophy In this memefoundation built on ethics and philosophy. In this meme we explore these concepts.


To get the discussion started let’s first review:PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional ConductPMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

•PMI’s Code contains many essential points, but it is so general that most Project Managers of failed projects could argue that they complied with the Code.

•Experience has shown that the “Honesty and Truth” p ycomponents are key yet the complexity of technology can make objectivity difficult to achieve. We need to add a 5th dimension to the code Realitydimension to the code---Reality.


•A discussion of ethics must begin with reality in the commitment making process and managing the expectations of the project owner/sponsor. This begins during the Initiating and Planning phases.

•Not even the best project management process can rescue a project that is anchored in an unrealistic but firm commitment to a fixed CSSQ bundle. Challenging but achievable plans are required.

A ti iti •Detailed Product •Product is t blProgressive Detailing of Plan

Resources

Activities (Scope)

eta ed oductRequirements

•Detailed Project Plan

•Recalibrate

stable

•Steady state operations

•Value attainmentD

esig

n

Bui

ld

Test

Dep

loy

•Business Case

•Charter

•Approvals

•First Cut

Progressive Detailing of Plan

Budget

Expectations

•Commitments made subject to understanding of scope and risks

attainment steps underway

•Lessons learned

•Redeploy D D

Product R l

•First Cut Expectations

•Ready for planning

•Scope

Quality

Schedule

•Change control in place

p yresources or prepare for next releaseInterim Deliverables

ReleaseScope Statement

m/d/ym/d/yRefers to major milestone © 2008 Milestone Planning & Research, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

•Two Cases in Point•Two Cases in Point

Your instructor walked into two SAP implementations as a contract project manager with scope of $20+Mil in whichcontract project manager with scope of $20+Mil. in which management had an expectation of $ 7-$8 Mil budget communicated by the vendor.

Plenty of other similar examples exist.


Project Management and Reality

The discipline of project management is anchored in a cybernetic process grounded in the assumption y p g pthat actual project performance is a mind‐independent reality.

It assumes that project stakeholders are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that y g y p p ;project stakeholders gain objective knowledge by measurement.

Things are what they are regardless of our wishes or hopes ‐ our role is to measure it accurately.


Two Philosophical Worldviews in W t Ci ili ti D ib dWestern Civilization as Described

by Ayn Rand

Aristotle Reality is Mind Independent

Science, Progress

through Self-

Man Can Be Objective,

Emphasis on theInterest,/Capitalism

Emphasis on the IndividualExistence

Exists

Plato Reality is aMan is Incapable

of Being ObjectiveImpoverishment of

HegelKant

Reality is a Collective Hunch

of Being Objective,Emphasis on the

Collectivity

Man Through Altruism/Socialism

Wishing Makes it so


Project Management’s Cybernetic ProcessDefine Scope The Vision of the ProjectDefine Scope,

Goals and Objectives

Change Control

Change OrderThe Vision of the Project Deliverable Begins Here

Plan the work and assign No

Control Process

Commitments to a CSSQ bundle should include

resources

Team

Effective?

Ch ll H

a statement of risks

Measure R t

CorrectiveAction

Team Executes

Tasks

Challenge: How to Measure Reality Under

ComplexityMeasure

Work Performance

Report Publicly Create

Remedies To ShortfallsIssues

Assess

ShortfallsIssuesand risks


h b l f l l f

Project Management and RealityThe cybernetic cycle fails as a management tool if:

• the perception of reality becomes completely subjective and left to one's feelings, desires, intuitions, or whims.

• measurement is obfuscated, selective or slanted to support a pre‐determined point of view.


Reality as Perceived By the Inexperienced Person

Iceberg

Snow Ocean Cold

Reality as Perceived By the Experienced Person

unobservable

Iceberg

Fire Collision Electrical

AccidentsRisks

Snow Ocean Cold Fire Collision Electrical


Snow Ocean Cold

Limitations of Perceived Reality by an Individual

Mountain‐like Shape

Reality as perceived by the group due to variations in sensory input and y p

experiences

Mountain‐like Shape

SnowOcean

Iceberg

Cold

Mountain

Land

∑ © 2008 Milestone Planning & Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Reality as Perceived By a Person with Orientation A

Objects

Milk Flower Iceberg

Reality as Perceived By the Person with Orientation B who happens to be in the business of selling Colorado vacations

Objects

Milk Iceberg Mountain

Sales


The context of Ocean vs Land is critical here.

Boyd’s OODA “Loop” Has Proven to be a Useful C t t F D ibi th I t f O i t tiConstruct For Describing the Importance of Orientation

I li it I li it

Observe Orient Decide Act

FeedForward

Observations Decision(Hypothesis)

Action(Test)

CulturalTraditions

HeritageAnalyses &SynthesisFeed

ForwardFeed

Forward

ImplicitGuidance& Control

ImplicitGuidance& Control

UnfoldingCircumstances

(Hypothesis) (Test)New

Information PreviousExperience Unfolding

InteractionWith

EnvironmentUnfoldingInteraction Feedback

OutsideInformation

Note how orientation shapes observation, shapes decision, shapes action, and in turn is shaped by the feedback and other phenomena coming into our sensing or observing window

Note how orientation shapes observation, shapes decision, shapes action, and in turn is shaped by the feedback and other phenomena coming into our sensing or observing window.

WithEnvironment Feedback

other phenomena coming into our sensing or observing window.

Also note how the entire “loop” (not just orientation) is an ongoing many-sided implicit cross-referencing process of projection, empathy, correlation, and rejection.

From “The Essence of Winning and Losing,” John R. Boyd, January 1996.

p g g g

Also note how the entire “loop” (not just orientation) is an ongoing many-sided implicit cross-referencing process of projection, empathy, correlation, and rejection.

From “The Essence of Winning and Losing,” John R. Boyd, January 1996.

What we “see” is a function of our orientation which is tied to past experiences and other components.

To Mitigate Different Interpretations of Reality MeasuresTo Mitigate Different Interpretations of Reality Measures Must Be Shown In Context

For Example……global warming

Newspapers and politicians tend to make statements without showing context. Comments like…”Since 1980without showing context. Comments like… Since 1980

the earth’s temperature has been rising, we have only 10 years to do something about it”.

Wouldn’t the conversation be more meaningful if we showed data within context…such as…


Example of Showing Context:Estimated Global Temperatures Since 1 ADEstimated Global Temperatures Since 1 AD

Example only….It should be noted that numerous studies have been performed on this subject showing varying results.

Cumulative Resources $$ On Technology Projects the Results Can

Be DisastrousHow early anchoring can effect downstream decisions

decision

Actions taken toActions taken to secure decision

Time© 2008 Milestone Planning & Research, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

Checks and Balances

•To understand the concept of checks and balances we need lookTo understand the concept of checks and balances, we need look no further than the constitution of the U.S. The founding fathers understood the potential treachery of human nature. Thus, our government is divided into executive, legislative and judiciary g , g j ybranches that “check and balance” each other.

•A wise project manager sets up a similar mechanism to mitigate conflicts of interest on his/her project.

•Nature helps us a bit here as all organic adaptive systems (from b t i t h ) f l f i lbacteria to human groups) perform roles for survival:

• Conformity enforcers• Diversity generators• Utility sorters• Utility sorters• Resource shifters• Inter-group tournaments

•In a group different people tend to fit these roles These can help orIn a group different people tend to fit these roles. These can help or hinder the project management process.


Summary of Key Concepts

How does one make these values operational:• Adhere to the Code of Conduct in good faith.• Adopt an unwavering philosophy that reality is mind

i d d l f jindependent at least for your project.• Proactively manage commitment making to CSSQ• Establish a system of natural checks and balances

b t ti (t b ) th t i l d ibetween parties (team members) that includes issue management.

• Make risks visible; trust your instincts.E t bli h P f M t b d• Establish a Performance Measurement based upon criteria that accommodates complexity.

• Create good contracts with performance milestones for t t th dtrustworthy vendors.

• Embed the PMBOK into your PM process.

and this is our segue to introduce project management tools….and this is our segue to introduce project management tools and PMBOK concepts.


PMI’s Body of KnowledgeC i t f lti lConsists of multiple resources:

• PMBOK Guide• Library, journals and other documents• Membership and meetings to share information

To an extent we might consider the PMBOK a framework somewhat like the constitution. It contains the collective wisdom of past and present enabling us to learn from history without having to repeat it.y g p

On the down side:• the PMBOK consists of what the PM committees can agree upon, and it

may suffer from “regression toward the mean” effect potentially leadingmay suffer from regression toward the mean effect potentially leading to mediocrity.

• There is a certain level of inbreeding in the process of generating standards. PMI certified committee members are more likely to suggest the need for PMI based practices because they are “safe”the need for PMI based practices because they are safe .

• Software and IT are relatively new fields. Is there really a universal model to project management that holds for engineering, construction, IT, R&D, etc?

We will adopt the PMBOK structure in our discussions but add nuances based upon experience and variations of project type.© 2008 Milestone Planning & Research, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

Meme #2: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions …milestoneplanning.net/whitepapers/Meme 2...

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