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Mister Rogers and Project Management
October 1, 2009 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Musings
Mister Rogers and Project Management
By Dennis Brooke
Once in a great while a speaker tells you something that sticks with you, and really helps you improve your game. Several years ago at a Project Management Institute dinner I heard Carl Pritchard tell a story that has helped me many times.
Early in Carl’s career he had a job hosting a local radio show. He periodically interviewed writers hawking their books. Now, authors can be egotistical individuals with a need to be pampered. Before the interview Carl would go through a routine to make sure that they had their drink, a comfy seat, and whatever other “strokes” they needed to be happy.
One day he was interviewing none other than Fred Rogers—that’s Mister Rogers1 to most of us—who was on a book tour. Carl was prepared to be unimpressed. I mean, how uncool is it to be a radio show host in your twenties interviewing the host of a sappy kiddy show?
When Fred Rogers came into the studio to get set up for their 45 minute interview, Carl started going through the process of making sure he was taken care of: “Here’s your seat, Mister Rogers. Can I get you something to drink, Mister Rogers?”
At this point, his guest stopped him. “Carl,” said Mister Rogers, “I’m fine. My concern is what you need. My question is where would you like to be in forty five minutes?”
He had asked a question that cut to the core issue and showed his empathy: What is it that you need during the course of this interview?
Carl was taken aback by this question from Fred Rogers. For the next few minutes they discussed what the host would like out of the interview, rather than pampering the guest. The interview that Carl had been unexcited about, went very well. At the end of forty five minutes he was genuinely sad to see his new friend, Mister Rogers, leave. You can bet that Carl’s tone about Fred Roger’s book during the interview was much more positive than if he had gone in with his initial attitude.
Now imagine that we applied the Mister Rogers principle to these situations:
- A Project Planning Kickoff Meeting where the Project Manager asks various stakeholders: “Where would you like to be at the end of this project?”
- An early sales call where the Account Representative asks the prospect, “Where would you like to be at the end of this process?”
- A contentious call with a customer over a problem where the tech support representative asks, “Where would you like to be at the end of this call?”
You may not be able to take the customer exactly where they want to be, but if you hear it in their words you have a much better idea of their target and can work toward reaching it. Not to mention just asking the question lets the other party know that you do have their interests in mind. If you don’t ask, you’re guessing at what they truly want and they’re wondering if you care at all about their needs.
I’ve found this tool to be particularly useful in defusing conflict during a project. If I stop a contentious discussion, and ask “Where would you like to be….” I can get to the core of the matter and try to work out a solution that meets both the needs of the project and the needs of that individual. At the very least, I give them a chance to air their concern.
As Carl Pritchard illustrated in the story about his experience interviewing Fred Rogers, if you want to have a beautiful day in your own neighborhood, stop and ask the question, “Where do you want to be?”
1Mister Rogers is known for being the host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, a children’s television series broadcasted by WQED.
Dennis Brooke is a former Program Manager for ImageSource and Optika. He currently manages systems development for Naverus, a leading edge provider of performance based navigation services for the aviation industry (www.naverus.com). He will be speaking on Enterprise Web 2.0 and Project Management at Nexus 09 (www.nexusecm.com) Nov. 2-3 in Bellevue, Washington. Reach him at dennis.brooke@comcast.net. Originally published at http://projectmanagementforecm.wordpress.com.
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4 people have left comments
Great words of advise and i will use them immediatly in bot my business and personal life.
thank you
SR
Wonderful example and an inspiration to us all. Thanks for poetically articulating this valuable advice.
Great thoughts, Dennis. I once heard Dave Ramsey say, “Business is like Tennis - you only win if you serve well.” At the bottom of what you are saying here is the idea of service. Serve the customer what they need and they will be happy and come back over and over again. Much easier said than done, eh?
It’s interesting how people who have been in business for a long period of time actually still enjoy their business the same as when they started or even more. The fuss & muss that comes along with the “fun” parts of business tends to be the “fluff” that interferes with them actually being productive and making money. Mister Rogers seems to have cut through that “fluff” using a simple but effective principle based on empathic and a future oriented simple question.