Comments on: David Schmaltz Was a Hit! http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2004/01/22/298/ The magazine for the project age Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:40:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Amy Schwab http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2004/01/22/298/#comment-146 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2004/01/22/298/#comment-146 I agree that many may react strongly to the 'inconsistency' comment. A slight shift from inconsistency to customization might make all of the difference in getting the idea across. In this one-to-one marketing world, this isn't a foreign concept. And, by the way, there are consistent ways to go about the highly customized processes leading to consistent results. But you have to work at a meta level rather than the process level. I agree that many may react strongly to the ‘inconsistency’ comment. A slight shift from inconsistency to customization might make all of the difference in getting the idea across. In this one-to-one marketing world, this isn’t a foreign concept. And, by the way, there are consistent ways to go about the highly customized processes leading to consistent results. But you have to work at a meta level rather than the process level.

]]> by: Frank Winters http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2004/01/22/298/#comment-147 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2004/01/22/298/#comment-147 Amy, You hit the nail on the head! Process models need to be tailored for each project. But tailoring or customization doesn't really mean inconsistency. That term -- inconsistency -- is harmful and confusing to many, I believe. Amy, You hit the nail on the head! Process models need to be tailored for each project. But tailoring or customization doesn’t really mean inconsistency. That term — inconsistency — is harmful and confusing to many, I believe.

]]> by: David A. Schmaltz http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2004/01/22/298/#comment-148 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2004/01/22/298/#comment-148 Frank, I'd question whether embracing necessary inconsistency is more damaging than the pursuit of consistency. The power of the suggestion, which was made by someone who introduced himself as having 600 PMs working for his organization, is that it is provocative. It wakes up the slumbering questioner inside. He realized that his solution was the real problem. His dilemma was that he has hundreds of customers, each clamboring for consistency. I suggested that if he spoke with each, he might well find that each has a very different definition of consistency, to which he replied that they were probably more interested in consistent results than in consistent process. He recognized that the relationship between consistent process and consistent results is spurious across different contexts, and that, as Amy notes, consistency takes on a surprising, seemingly paradoxical meaning then. Frank, I’d question whether embracing necessary inconsistency is more damaging than the pursuit of consistency. The power of the suggestion, which was made by someone who introduced himself as having 600 PMs working for his organization, is that it is provocative. It wakes up the slumbering questioner inside. He realized that his solution was the real problem.

His dilemma was that he has hundreds of customers, each clamboring for consistency. I suggested that if he spoke with each, he might well find that each has a very different definition of consistency, to which he replied that they were probably more interested in consistent results than in consistent process. He recognized that the relationship between consistent process and consistent results is spurious across different contexts, and that, as Amy notes, consistency takes on a surprising, seemingly paradoxical meaning then.

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