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When a Project Changes Everything
June 19, 2010 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Portfolio Management
When a Project Changes Everything
By Demian Entrekin
Sometimes a project comes along that changes everything. Maybe it started out simple. Under the radar, as the saying goes. Automate this process. Expose that service to the outside world. Update those interfaces.
It wasn’t a part of some grand design. It didn’t emerge as part of the master plan or the vision statement or the strategy document. Or at least not directly.
And now you all come to work one day and you realize how that simple little project has turned your world view inside out. Or upside down. The old self definition doesn’t apply any more. You find yourself saying strange things like, “We need to rethink what we used to think we thought.”
When a project like this comes along, we reconsider what portfolio management means. Does the master plan make sense anymore? Do we embrace this new idea or do we see it as disruptive to our perfectly conceived plan? Do we keep all the other projects running as they are or do we reassess each and every one? Do we let this “new thing” play out for a while before we reshuffle the deck? Give it a little runway and wait and see what happens?
But perhaps an even bigger question looms out there somewhere, buried somewhere in our dark matter. Perhaps we wonder if we need to press the restart button. If the change is big enough, how do we make the transition? How do we know when and how to make a decision like this?
Obviously the answers will vary depending on many different factors. But I will say this. The “restart” option carries a ton of risk and requires tremendous commitment from just about everyone. In all likelihood, you can’t get that level of commitment. In most cases, I doubt the reward even outweighs the risk. It is probably wiser to figure out a way to make the change one step at a time.
We can think new ideas one new thought at a time.
Demian is the CTO of Innotas. As founder and CEO, Entrekin oversaw marketing, product development, sales and services for the company. Today, he focuses on strategic product direction. Prior to Innotas, Entrekin co-founded Convoy Corporation and was Chief Architect of its initial products. In that role, Entrekin helped the company lead the middleware market with an annual growth rate of 670 percent and played an instrumental role in Convoy’s subsequent acquisition by New Era Networks in 1999. A recognized thought leader in Project Portfolio Management, Entrekin has published numerous papers on PPM and his blog (PPM Today) explores current issues related to successful PPM implementation. During his 18 year career, Demian has assumed leadership roles as a consultant and as an entrepreneur, delivering commercial and corporate database applications. Demian holds a B.A. in English from UCLA and an M.A. in English from San Francisco State University.
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