There have been many news stories in the last two weeks announcing fines handed out by OSHA for incidents involving loss of life in construction accidents. I am blown away by how small these fines are. Checking on the OSHA site I've found that these fines are limited by law. Numerous efforts over the years have been made to increase the fines. Each effort is met with strong industry opposition. Here is the schedule of fines from the OSHA publication:

Other-than-Serious

$0 - $1,000

Serious

$1,500 - $7,000

Willful

$5,000 - $70,000

Repeated

up to $70,000

Failure to Abate

$7,000/day

In assessing fines OSHA applies a fine to each non-complying aspect of the jobsite. So there could be 10 other-than-serious violations each carrying a $100 fine totalling $1,000. Adjustments are made to the fines (downward) based on the size of the company.

Have a look at the recent stories in the Construction Safety in the News sideblog on the Safety Everyday page. Tell me what you think about the fines. Is it time for a change?

Last week's State of the Art of Project Management got quite a bit of interest from readers. I've taken another look at Russell Archibald's report. He's covering the expected territory, but not reaching many useful conclusions. He sticks to describing the situation without making any value judgement along the way. I thought I might offer an annotated version of the paper. Instead, I've decided to offer a far less referenced commentary to spur discussion. So…here's my 2¢.

I'm offering the following assessments in the spirit of reform. I'll not repeat or defend my oft-stated position about uncertainty. By now you all know where I stand. I will offer a few perhaps far-fetched and internally conflicting views. While I can offer an essay on each statement, I prefer to respond to those statements you find most provocative. Please bear with me. I promise I will explain myself.

1. (After-the-fact) project control is not possible. Projects are emergent systems. Each agent in the system needs to be equipped to exert controlling behavior for control to be possible.
2. People are the source of project success.
3. Be careful what you measure; you will certainly get it.We act in accord with our interests. Measurements allow us to choose among alternative actions. And still, each of us will take care of what matters most to us in the moment.
4. Measurements don't matter. We act automatically, indifferent to the measures in place. We lack a mindfulness to choose among actions that address what is best for us in the moment.
5. Customers are both the bane of our existence and the reason for our existence. We are the subject matter experts. They (customers) get to assess how that produces value for them.
6. There is no critical path. Of course I'm not saying that one can't calculate a critical path. Of course you can calculate it. I'm saying that it is not a thing, just a characterization.
7. There is no critical chain. Ditto. But I'll go one step further. The critical chain exists in a condition of unexamined policy and paradigm constraints.
8. Optimization is an illusion. What might be optimal in one moment is no longer optimal in the next moment. Better is the enemy of good enough.
9. Project portfolio management is an excuse not to manage each project. Each project team must be set-up for success.
10. Cost control is no control. Only in-the-moment informed decision-making leads to high value projects.
11. Planning, execution, and control are fabrications that no longer serve any usefulness. It's only when performers are engaged in the organizing of the project that there's a hope for project success.
12. Leadership is everything. Leaders don't matter.

As I re-read this posting before actually posting it, I wondered what ire I might provoke. It's time for me to say what I really think. The emperor has no clothes. Our process mentality towards project management comes up short. Certification that someone knows a body of knowledge has nothing to do with delivering successful projects. Of course, we can create value with the use of traditional PM tools. But why are we settling for less than one success after another? A few companies are producing success after succeess. And with no help from the tradition of project management. Sound off! Please leave a comment for me and the other readers.

One last thought…becoming better users of obsolete tools and approaches won't make for more successful projects. We get to see the failings of the current approach each day as five people die on construction projects. While IT projects have no loss of life, project participants report that over 3/4 of the projects fail. We must re-examine our world view. The Underlying Theory of Project Management is Obsolete. [See my notes]

We need your help. Listeners were so happy with the first conversation with David Schmaltz that Greg Howell and I have decided to book an additional six interviews through the end of the year. Please tell me about books and their authors that you'd like us to interview.

Our focus is on projects and leadership. As you can see from the current listing we're covering a wide selection. Please leave a comment at the end of this posting with your recommendation. If you have contact information, then please share that with me in an email. I'm making no promises, but I'll work hard to make it successful throughout the year.

I apologize to all my subscribers. Bloglet has been acting up again. On the big day of the Project Leader Studio™ Conversation with Authors teleconference series launch, Bloglet didn't deliver. Aargh! The first session with author David Schmaltz was a big hit. Read what participants said,

"It is amazing how this kind of discussion can so effectively transfer the message as compared to simply reading. A case for project meetings!"
  - Jeff N., Sr. Project Executive

"It was so cool to take an hour out of the day on Thursday and immerse in learning something new!!! This was super…to shut the door, clear the desk, focus on learning something new that was not easy to grasp and pushed the envelope. It was like a mental oasis, a drink of fresh water, a point of light in a fuzzy, fog-filled day. Well worth it."
  - Joe E., Director of Quality

"It was valuable to clarify one's understanding and interpretation of the ideas/concepts/principles presented in the text. The superb and professional manner in which the teleconference was conducted."
  - Tariq A., Professor

"Wow! Great call. Thanks for putting it together. I am excited to hear people talk in this way."
  - Doug B., Manager, Real Estate Investment Management firm

Do check out the previous posting to read the questions and answers from the interview with David Schmaltz and sign-up for the teleconference series if you haven't done so already. Just visit Conversations with Authors. Next up: Embracing Uncertainty: The Essence of Leadership, Feb. 19, 2004.

Also check out the Safety Thursday posting from last week. Kudos to OSHA. Read about it.

The Project Leader Studio™ Teleconference Series with Authors launched today. Was this ever a project! And I was on the learning team! I've never done a public event like this before, but I loved it! (I think I'm using too many exclamation points!)

I have to say that David Schmaltz was great. We prepared him with questions for the call, but he free-wheeled throughout the conversation. He's a great speaker and very thoughtful in his responses. On top of that, he decided to share his notes for the call — actually essays — with my readers. Have a look at the David Schmaltz Interview. This is a keeper. If you are interested in a continuing discussion of the topic, then join David's Yahoo! Group Mastering Project Work. It's real fun!

By the way, subscribers to the series also got a summary of his book. Readers are raving about it. Don't miss the next interview and book summary. Sign-up now.

We've got five more authors as provocative as David. Next up is Bob DeKoch, co-author of Embracing Uncertainty: The Essence of Leadership. This is sure to be as controversial as David's blind men. You don't want to miss it. If you are not on the announcement list, then sign-up today by visiting The Project Leader Studio™ Teleconference Series with Authors.

Here's one last thought on the teleconference offered during the session by one of the participants. He was commenting on an organization's desire for consistency in project results.

We need to have inconsistency in our process to achieve consistency in project results.

Try to get that one by your PMO!

OSHA has a great primer on preventing fatalities, OSHA Construction eTool. OSHA selected just four areas for this site: electrical, falls, struck-by, and trenching. These four represent the vast majority of construction-related deaths. OSHA describes these tools this way:

eTools are "stand-alone," interactive, Web-based training tools that provide guidance information for the development of a comprehensive safety and health program. Therefore, they include elements that go beyond specific OSHA mandates, such as recommendations for good industry practice.

Each section follows the same outline:

• Am I In Danger?
• How Do I Avoid Hazards?
• Additional Information

The writing is clear, and actionable.

One of the more grabbing features of the site is the Safety Bulletins. In each section, OSHA presents a case where a worker is doing what they are expected to do, yet they die. The cases are written in a way to educate on what could be done to avoid danger.

The site also includes a comprehensive glossary of construction safety terms written in a way that educates along with links to all the relevant OSHA and ANSI standards. Great job!

This week is approaching a climax on Thursday at 1:00 PM EST when Greg Howell and I interview our new friend David Schmaltz, author of The Blind Men and the Elephant, Mastering Project Work. I thought I was really catching on after reading the book for the third time. Then I received the book summary David prepared. Seems I missed one thing after another.

I wrote previously about my favorite line in the book (p. 79), There can be no such thing as a project. We'll put David on the spot asking him to elaborate. We've queued up 10 more questions leaving room for an equal number from our audience. You're sure to hear more from me on our conversation with David and the up-coming sessions with other authors. Have a look at Compass, the True North pgs, Inc. newsletter. If you want to subscribe, then send David an email saying why you want to subscribe. That's right, he really wants to know!

I've just about caught up. I'm working out the last details on a coaching program for consultants to the AE community. I'm really looking forward to a weekend of skiing!

Projects invariably get to a point where there is not enough time in the day to do what it takes to stay on schedule. But that doesn't keep us from trying. The result? Projects get behind and people fall into overwhelm. So how did this come up?

I'm approaching the point of overwhelm. I am faced with more to do than I have time to do it — overload. While there is much that I have yet to promise, I want to do all of it. And so do the people who depend on me. I recognized my situation earlier today. It just wouldn't be healthy, nor would the results be up to my standards, if I continue in the current mode.

So, I'm in the process of renegotiating some commitments. That will make room for me to do more of what I have both a passion for doing and will use my talents. I expect the result will be good for all parties.

Try this on your project. Don't let yourself get as close as I was to overwhelm. Moods are contagious. One person in a bad mood will lead to another and another. Get into the habit of managing your promises. The mistake I made was not committing my time (capacity) to my promises. There always appears to be plenty of time to do what I promise to do when I just add the promise to my to do list. Don't make that mistake. Estimate the time required and make an appointment with yourself to get the work done. It's the only way I know to avoid overload and the danger of overwhelm.

PM Forum published the The first of Russell D. Archibald's a three part evaluation of the State of the Art of Project Management (2003). There's too much for me to digest on a first read. My impression is Archibald has done a good job covering the topics, exploring the issues, and calling attention to others' contributions.

One of the encouraging trends is the evolvement of the project management maturity models. Now some of you may be asking, "Has Hal done a 180° on this?" I have not been impressed with how companies are using SEI's CMMI approach. It reminds me of the ISO 9000 craze in manufacturing back in the early '90s. It had the effect of producing middling performance and bureaucracy. My view on projects is different. I think we need some common standards for assessing how well you are learning. I don't endorse assessing against company-prescribed methods and procedures. As Archibald so aptly states in the title project management is an art. Projects are about the creative acts of many. Let's focus our attention on making us much more effective at that.

At the very end of this first part Archibald seems to endorse assigning Chief Projects Officers (CPO) to manage the Project Management Office (PMO) and the portfolio(s) of projects. He may only be reporting the proposal by Bigelow; I can't tell. I somewhat skeptical about this even in large project organizations like defense contractors. We've seen companies create one CxO position after another over the last 20 years. (I know an executive with the title of Chief Inspiration Officer (CIO) Anyone else confused?)

I will read Archibald's assessment again and write again about it. In the meantime, have a look for yourself.

'til the first of our teleconferences. If you haven't already registered for the series, do so now. First up is David Schmaltz author of The Blind Men and the Elephant, Mastering Project Work. Remember, there's no charge for these teleconferences. Once you sign-up we will be sending you the details of the each conference and asking you to confirm just before each session.

Join Greg Howell and me in our discussions.

Toolbox Safety Training, also known as "tailgate" training, has been a mainstay of construction safety programs. The programs involve people in the setting of the hazards. A whole mini-publishing industry has grown to support these sessions. You can find no-charge online resources, books, pamphlets, laminated materials, and videos. Many of the industry and trade associations have their own targeted versions.

Sessions are known as toolbox talks. Here's a representative sample from the Associated Builders and Contractors. These talks last about 15 minutes. They tend not to be very interactive. They are usually delivered by a foreman or superintendent who often is uncomfortable delivering the speech. On larger construction sites the GC may have a safety coordinator deliver the talk.

There seems to be some question of how to deliver these toolbox sessions effectively. In December 2001, NIOSH proposed a project to evaluate effectiveness.

[Federal Register: December 5, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 234)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63244-63245]

Proposed Project: Evaluating Toolbox Training Safety Program for Construction and Mining–NEW—National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposes to evaluate the effectiveness of various educational approaches utilizing "toolbox" safety training materials targeted to construction and mining industries.

The same project was proposed again in January 2003 [see here]. I haven't traced what has happened with this. If anyone knows please leave a comment at the end of this posting.

While I've witnessed numerous toolbox talks conducted by different contractors and trades I can't say that I understand what good practices are for those meetings. While we can always learn from what we find in the books, I'd like to hear from people who have attended and who conduct the sessions. Let's see if we can have a discussion on this that leads to some minimum conditions for effectiveness.

Have you visited the Safety Everyday page? I'm using the page to collect construction safety stories in the news and for projects that we take up together over this year. Have a visit and leave a comment hear or send me an email.

Laurent Bossavit answers that question in his posting The Trouble with Projects.

Laurent starts with the question, "Why organize your initiative as a project?" It's a great question. What other ways might we organize? People trained as project managers see their work as projects. Projects are what they do. That there might be an alternative has slid into the background. It get's worse. The training puts a focus on the artifacts of projects rather than the nature.

"Project managers who have trained as such may be familiar with the definitions given in the literature on project management, but these focus on a limited set of operational characteristics (projects are aimed at one-time outcomes, involve a defined start date and expected duration, multiple people from several disciplines, etc.). This is a bit like describing laughter as "rhythmic, vocalized, expiratory and involuntary actions" – somewhat accurate but entirely unenlightening."

Our failure to act based on the nature of a project — the human-ness and the uncertainty of the future — gets us into trouble. Laurent says it better,

"This is what projects are: the power of human invention harnessed to circumvent our tragically limited ability to predict the future."

Projects are the perfect setting for producing human invention. Invention and innovation are social phenomena. Two people are smarter than one, and three are smarter than two. Yet we don't see collaborative behavior calling on the talents and expertise of those available. Instead, we see people acting in narrowly defined roles all by themselves as if they are the only ones on the project.

"What is surprising, then, is not that so many projects fail; what is surprising is that some projects succeed, in the face of so much uncertainty about the future."

We don't have to be surprised at success. It can be our everyday project experience. But first we must embrace the uncertainty of our situations and engage deeply with the people on our projects.

Add Incipient Thoughts to your reading list. Laurent Bossavit was the source for Project e-Tip 19: Creating the Envronment for "Jumpling In". He is an IT guy who reads books by (building) architects. There's gotta be wisdom in that!

I am advising some university students on their senior project. They've decided to create some project tools for managing projects. I'll tell you more as their project develops. I was asked today to offer some initial comments. So here it is:

Start telling the story of the project.

I've found most project managers don't know where to begin. I've offered pointers for this before. Here it is again [Story-Telling Reforms the Project],

What is there to tell? Tell the stories of ambition, achievement, satisfaction, worthwhileness, and determination. Tell the stories of cooperation, collaboration, learning, and resilience. Tell the stories that unite, bond, and build trust. Tell the stories that dispel, focus, invite, and encourage. Tell the up-coming story of accomplishment. Just tell stories. It is the one avenue available everyday for reshaping the collection of individual realities into a collective reality.

But the real issue is not including all the 'right' elements. The issue is giving yourself the permission to tell the story without knowing how it will come out. That's right. Start telling before you know how it will all work. Stories are made up. They are not true. They'll never be true, especially the stories we tell before the fact. The power in telling the story is in setting a context for others to carry out their roles, learn, improvise, and innovate. Further power comes from inviting others to contribute to the story and its unfolding.

I'll leave you with this, [Declare the 'Game' of the Project]

The project leader's role is to keep the game of the project from sliding into the background by restating the promise to the customer, reminding people of the role they are playing, and re-telling the story of the project.

So, get in the habit of telling and re-telling your story. The success of your project depends on it.

BUCEC Introduces Project Management Competency Model; Failure To Consider "Art" Called Major Factor In Project Failure

A major reason projects fail is that organizations typically think of project management as a science, not as an art, according to research from the Boston University Corporate Education Center (BUCEC).

BUCEC's model divides project management skills into three major categories - technical, personal, and business and leadership. The nine technical skills were previously identified by the Project Management Institute and are incorporated into the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK®). They include the ability to manage project integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk and procurement.

The other two thirds of the model - personal, and business and leadership - focus on the art. Personal characteristics identified by the model include achievement and action, helping and human services, impact and influence, managerial, cognitive and personal effectiveness. Business and leadership skills include a "big picture" focus, business acumen, organizational savvy and a productive work environment.

This is an important step. Boston University is a leading provider of PMP certification preparation training. That training typically focuses on the 9 technical areas of the PMBoK®. For BU to call this one third of what is needed to be successful will redirect the way companies are investing in their project management skill development. Let's hear it for BU!

Back on January 7th, I promised to look into getting that Fortune article to you that I referenced in my posting Struggle to Get Lean at ArvinMeritor. Well, it was a little more complicated than I thought (of course). While Fortune allows me to email you the article from their website, I can't be taking your requests and sending them one at a time. So I investigated using an autoresponder. Not wanting to spend money, I checked out the no-pay versions. The first one didn't send attachments. The second one got hung up on PDF files. Finally, with some help from the tech support folks at sendfree.com I was able to tack on the delivery of a file to the paid version of the autoresponder we're using for the Project Authors Teleconference Series.

This is what you do. Send an email to leanstruggle@leanproject.sendfree.com. Leave the body of the email blank. You should get a PDF of the article in less than 20 minutes. If that doesn't work for you, then send me an email. Enjoy!

If you are reading this from a Bloglet email, then jump over to the weblog to see the changes I've made including the new Safety Everyday page.

Over a year ago I published a series of postings on the critical path method that produced all kinds of comments and emails from readers. I collected those postings into a two-page article that I published on this site as CPM: Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice. Shortly thereafter, Greg Howell caught some article in ENR on CPM. It was the usual stuff about project managers just need to learn how to use the CPM tools. In an unpublished letter to the editor (with a copy to me) he replied this way:

"CPM is the tool for you if you believe what you know is more important than what you can learn, and if you prefer being "In Charge" to getting the project done, and if out-of-date plans are more useful than a team prepared for action."

Without promising the project is full of delay. That is waste. And it leads to more waste.

While I see what he is saying, and I think the phrasing is clever, many people might not get why he says it. Greg is indirectly pointing to the stasis of the use of the CPM tools. People don't have the habits or the inclination to keep the CPM schedules up-to-date. Little variations and missing task status can throw a CPM schedule out of whack. Soon people lose confidence and ignore the schedule.

Another key issue has to do with the authorization of work. The PMBoK® says something like, "Work is authorized by the schedule." Authorization is not the issue. Coordination among the team is the issue. Team members depend on the completion of work (prerequisites) so they can begin their work. But beginning work is the easy part. Other team members want to know when you will finish your work. They, just like you, want a promise. Without promising the project is full of delay. That is waste. And it leads to more waste.

Team members can make promises on the work they will perform informed by a CPM schedule. That would be wonderful. But we don't see that behavior. In fact, we see, as Greg so aptly puts it,

"The usual project meeting is a commitment-free zone." The CPM schedule is just one of the excuses for not doing what needs to be done."

What do you prefer? I don't know anyone who would identify with Greg's characterization. And teams need some guidance of overall sequence of work. Bob Huber, Scheduling Manager, The Boldt Company, suggests The Marriage of CPM and Lean Construction in his paper co-authored with Paul Reiser presented at last year's International Group for Lean Construction's 11th Conference. He urges people to use CPM at a high level rather than a detailed task level. Further detail is left to the people performing the work. The result is a CPM schedule that is easy to keep up-to-date and doesn't have swings in it from week to week. People will use that schedule.

Hello folks, I've been tinkering with the design to offer more, yet have it be more readable. People complained they couldn't adjust text size. I've made changes so View|Text Size now works. I've added a right-hand column and uncluttered some of the rest of the page. I removed Waypath It! The results were way too bizarrre.

I've also added a Safety Everyday page with navigation at the top along with the others. On that page you'll find a sideblog in the right-hand column of current Construction Safety stories in the news. Most are culled from Google News Alerts, but some have come from readers. Send me your links.

Hope you like it!

Lean Construction Institute will present the seminar, "Introduction to
Lean Construction", in Atlanta on February 12-13, 2004. For more information, see http://www.conted.vt.edu/introlean/.

The seminar will be followed by the LCI Academic Forum on the February 14, 2004. For more information, see
http://www.conted.vt.edu/introlean/forum.html. This session is open to all educators.