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The Seven Deadly Project Sins: Part 4 - Project Lust

April 9, 2008 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Musings

The Seven Deadly Project Sins: Part 4 - Project Lust (#4 in the series The Seven Deadly Project Sins)
By Tim Bergmann

In this narrative, I will continue to focus on some of the “soft-elements” of the project, some temptations that the project manager needs to be on the lookout for in order to foster success on the project.

The Seven Deadly Project Sins as I have defined them are:

  • Elitism
  • Project Envy
  • Resource Gluttony
  • Project Lust
  • Personalization
  • Over-allocation of Resources
  • Best Practice Sloth

The fourth Deadly Project Sin – Project Lust can affect your ability to accomplish projects as a project manager. Lust can literally take your focus away from important project issues and events and cause you to focus your attentions and efforts in the wrong way.

On the Internet at www.wikipedia.com you can view this definition of lust:

“Lust is any intense desire or craving for self gratification.”

Simply stated, project lust involves focusing your attentions on some element of the project that is self-satisfying instead of focusing on the project as a whole; or, more simply put – focusing on the wrong things.

Have you ever awakened in the middle of the night with a craving for…food? You remember that leftover pizza or fried chicken or maybe the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream that is “calling out to you” from the refrigerator. You toss and turn and try to go back to sleep, but many times find yourself unable to sleep. You lie there semi-awake until your craving is so fully involved that you can even begin to “smell” the food that you are thinking about. If you have experienced this, you’re not sick, you’re not unusual, you are just experiencing an “intense desire or craving” for something that is self-satisfying. You are lusting for the object of your desire. And more importantly, you are focused on that object to the detriment of other normal life elements – in this example you are (more or less) willing to give up sleep in order to concentrate on the object that you desire.

Project Lust involves a divergence of attention or can sometimes involve a conflict of interest situation (self-satisfaction). The project has stated needs and requirements and you as the project manager are focused on other elements or outcomes.

In most cases, our cravings defy logic. Food cravings are sometimes attributed to a lack of nutrients that are recognized by the body, but only recognized by the brain subconsciously. If you wake up at 3:00am craving chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream – is this a logical event? The probable answer is “no”. Cravings are often associated with personal experiences such as food, sexual or physical contact, monetary gain, material possessions, recognition, power and control.

What are some examples of project lust?

  • Directing efforts to obtain a lucrative project contract for a friend or relative (conflict of interest – personal gain).
  • Directing your efforts towards achieving a milestone goal because there is a personal bonus associated with the milestone completion – instead of focusing on other critical project needs (another conflict of interest).
  • Focusing on only a portion of the project, because you understand this part of the project and you are comfortable with the work (personal comfort and satisfaction).
  • Choosing a specific project because it will enhance your reputation (personal recognition and gratification).
  • Working with some stakeholders and not others because of perceived power associations (personal power gratification).
  • Focusing so intensely on controlling the project that one forgets to consider project team members needs or personal feelings (Personal satisfaction from controlling the project).

Some people have speculated that intense desires, or cravings, are driven by a physiological need. Some people even call things they strongly desire “addictive.” Not only do we seem to desire the things that make us “feel good”, we also seem to desire things that are not good for us: the pizza, fried chicken and ice cream are items that could be part of an overall healthy diet, but if these items are taken to extreme or viewed as a single food source, these food items are not necessarily the healthiest choice.

Some of the project lust examples above might not be the healthiest choices either. The purpose of the project manager is to control the project. This control is intended to accomplish the goals of the project in order to facilitate success and provide value for the enterprise. No where in the description of what a project manager does do we see any references to direct personal satisfaction or personal gain. The project manager may indirectly receive satisfaction from the work and may indirectly receive personal gain by being recognized for their efforts, but that is a side benefit, not the primary purpose that we perform projects.

It might not be a bad thing to have your relative working as a sub-contractor on your project, but then again, it might be. Relatives tend to treat each other like, well, like family. And sometimes that is not a good thing. If I were performing a project, I would want to maintain a professional relationship and demeanor with any contractor I was working the project with. Even friends can sometimes cloud project issues by relying on “friendship” for favors, like more time to complete tasks and “a little slack” when inspecting their work product. Human nature usually dictates that you are going to be easier on your friends (and sometimes your relatives) than you would be with an independent contractor.

When the project manager experiences Project Lust, he or she is distracted by the desire to achieve personal gratification to the point of ignoring some or all of the professional functions that they were hired to perform. There are no winners when Project Lust occurs; only distracted losers.

This article was first published as a series of articles from August 2007 through February 2008 entitled “The Seven Deadly Sins of Project Management”. This series of articles were published as “Project Management Tips” on PM World Today and is reprinted here with permission from the author.

The author, Tim Bergmann, is Chief Learning Officer for True Solutions Inc. in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Bergmann is a highly qualified project manager with three decades of experience managing a wide variety of information technology projects. Mr. Bergmann’s experience includes project management, operations management, infrastructure planning and implementation, business continuity planning, customer service and business development.

In 2006 he co-authored the best selling “CISA Study Guide” marketed by Sybex. Mr. Bergmann’s credentials include Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional (PMP) and Disaster Recovery Institute’s Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP).

Mr. Bergmann has seen a progressive management career with several Dallas-based companies such as Compass Computer Service, Zale Corporation, Chief Auto Parts and B. R. Blackmarr/BrightStar Technology Group. His most recent engagement prior to joining TSI was as Director of Education for another D-FW based training company where he developed multiple course content and delivered project management and business continuity training.
As a consultant, he has worked with several Fortune 100 companies in a project management role. Mr. Bergmann has performed premier projects for the world’s largest auto manufacturer, a leading global insurance and investment provider, a regional power generation company, the world’s largest specialty jewelry retailer and a Dallas based transaction network and financial services provider.

He can be reached at tim.bergmann@truesolutions.com

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