Credibility Taken Too Far

Continuing with the last week’s topic of credibility I would like to give an example of a time someone I knew took taking credibility too far.

One person I can easily recall who took credibility to the point of excess I will call Paul (name changed to protect the innocent). Paul demonstrated the excess of development to vanity.

I was the owner of an office much like someone who owns a McDonald's. Owners of McDonald’s own the store, but sell McDonald’s products. I had been very prosperous doing this and Paul wanted to do the same. I helped him establish his office by putting him in contact with the appropriate people, and answering his questions on what I did  to become successful.

Paul was very focused on starting his office the proper way, and this served him well. He established the processes needed to succeed, and succeed he did. His office became profitable quickly, and he was very happy and easy going.

After a few short months, I could see he was changing as a person. Paul became obsessed with being perfect for what he did. A great person once said (Mahon, L.) “Many of us think that perfectionism is a good thing as we always strive to do our best - right?” I agree in this statement. I believe anyone who has ever been successful has had the drive to perfection to some degree.

Paul’s drive for perfectionism had its downside. “He was never satisfied with his performance, or the performance of others ( (Mahon, L.). Each month Paul was always looking for ways to outperform his previous month’s results. This is not a bad in itself but Paul’s approach was detrimental.

At the time, Paul was running his business out of his home. This was not unusual, but he took it to be excess. He began to work longer, and longer hours at home. Paul took less free time. He had a wide social network, so he would go out a lot. Again, this is not a bad thing. Balance in life is very important but Paul partied too much. Paul attempted to be the perfect friend, and not let the number of hours he was working interfere with his socialization. He was becoming spread thin.

Paul never showed humility. He was more concerned with his external appearance then he was his internal well-being. Paul began to get stressed about the smallest details. A quote by A. Maslow is “If the only tool you have is a hammer; you tend to see every problem as a nail.” Paul took this approach, and attacked every issue that he encountered. He expected perfection out of his business partners, and when this did not happen, he became more overwhelmed.

The results of Paul’s excess were a mental breakdown that caused him to be unproductive for three months. He never shaved, looked like hell, never went out, and gained weight. Paul was engaged to get married, and this almost caused him to lose his fiancé.

The moral of this post is sometimes when a person is involved in their work they might not be able to see beyond a to-do list. They probably are working to build credibility even though they do not call it that.

Relax, take breaks, and look at your work and social life. Everything worked out in the end, but it took Paul several months to regain his focus, and to understand what happened. He kept his office, fiancé, and he went on to be very successful. Looking back on those times taught him (and me) a lot. Paul recovered but many people never do.

The Six Disciplines of Creditability

There are six disciplines of creditability defined by Kouzers, and Posner. They are:

1. Discovering Yourself
2. Appreciating Constituents
3. Affirming Shared Values
4. Developing Capacity
5. Serving a Purpose
6. Sustaining Hope

In this week’s blog I will discuss two of the six disciplines of creditability that I find are the most important. These two disciplines are affirming shared values, and developing capacity.

Affirming shared value is when a leader understands the diverse values among those in a project, and uses this understanding to find a unifying purpose everyone involved in a project will support. This unifying purpose then becomes the voice of the project (Kouzes & Posner, p. 68). The voice represents a common understanding of all those involved in a project but is not a formal declaration.

Shared value is best created when open "dialogue and debate "(Kouzes & Posner, p.68) among all those involved in a project are brought together, and their voices heard. A shared value properly created through open "dialogue and debate" promotes unity within a project. My experiences have shown me that people who are united work harder, and smarter to accomplish their goals. I believe a less talented team can outperform a more talented team 60% of the time by having more unity. When a talented team has unshakeable unity great things occur.

Developing capacity is when a leader makes available to those involved in a project the needed "resources, time, and opportunities" (Mahon, L, 2010) to grow, learn, and refining their individual skills. A good leader will incorporate the skills and knowledge of the project team into a project knowledge base then blend the skills and knowledge into the project.

Capacity also means ability and a leader must promote those involved in the project to use their knowledge, and skills to accomplish the goals of the project. When people feel they can use their abilities to serve their project the project will become stronger. This will make team memebers feel empowered and empowerment leads to learning (Bartle, http://www.scn.org/cmp/modules/cap-int.htm).

I believe when a leader instills empowerment through developing capacity, and marries empowerment to a shared value; a project will overcome many obstacles. When a leader practices these two of the six disciplines of creditability they reinforce three of the other disciplines of sustaining hope, serving a purpose, and appreciating constituents.

Customers, Change Requests, and Staying on Track

One time I was asked, "How do you as a project leader balance listening to the customer and managing change requests while keeping your project on track?"

The first thing I do as a project manager to balance listening to the customer and managing change requests while keeping my project on track is to understand that change management and risk management work side by side. That is, one cannot function without the other (Kerzner, p.350). By doing this change management becomes a greater focus to me than it normally would because I am viewing any change in a project as a potential risk.

When change is more visible to me; I make sure I use the change management processes of addressing the three questions that need to be asked according to Kerzner (p. 350):

• What is the cost of change?

• What is the impact on the change on project schedules?

• What added value does the change represent for the customer or end user?

My experience with customers is customers always want more for less. I have not led multi-million dollar or global projects, but I have experienced this often. My experience has been if I do not address a customer request for change as quickly as possible the customer's perception of what was initially planned for, and what they now want can quickly escalate, and cause a project to fail. I like to say, “If you let the customer dream of something, their dreams will almost always become unrealistic.”

I am not saying that change cannot be positive, but it must be tightly monitored. By controlling change, I am more able to manage my customers. My experience tells me that Kerzner (p.350) is correct when he states, “you must be able to predict immediately the impact of change on schedule, safety, costs, and technical performance.” Getting back to the customer as quickly as possible is extremely important. I have learned if I do not have the answer I tell my customer. This way, I have made contact, and addressed the change request. I have learned if I do not at least do this the change request can morph three or four times in the blink of an eye.

Kerzner (p.350) also tells us that involving the customer in the change control process right away through educating them on how their request will impact a project is also important. I agree in this statement. I always educate my customers every step of the way. I find a few extra minutes spent here and there addressing their requests or concerns can save valuable time later.  I believe education makes a customer feel empowered over a project and even if this power is only perceived, perception for many people is reality.
Kerzner, H. (2004). Advanced Project Management. Best Practices on Implementation. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken: NJ.