commissioned the search for a reliable timepiece to determine longitude at sea (implement a change) and many years before it happened (making it stick). If peo- ple feel that time-honored traditions are being violated, that act may take on more importance than the news that is given. The message may be too much work. Change is often hard work, and the change is not seen as worth the effort. If you tell upper management they have to become involved in order to help ensure project success, they may see it as an unwarranted demand. They want you to solve the problems, not use their time. These examples illustrate that although a program manager may be “right” and know the “truth” of the situation, especially when grounded with solid evi- dence from the project management body of knowledge, that does not ensure that others in the organization will listen to or heed those words of wisdom. Appar- ently, right does not make might—it takes more persuasive skills and actions to be effective. Defining the Truth To speak truth to power, first clearly articulate the message that you want to con- vey. What is your message? If you have a message that needs to get through, then obviously it has not gotten through before, so ask yourself why. Review the list of obstacles to determine what parts of the message are most uncomfortable, or which of the reasons for resistance you can expect to meet. Knowing the source of resistance is half the battle, for then it will not be a surprise. Collect facts and data about the situation. Use a systematic process that demonstrates thoroughness in the approach. Put everything together in a clear, compelling message that describes the current pain and paints a picture of an im- proved, desirable state. Other truths become evident to the competent program manager: the triple constraints of scope, schedule, and resources must balance or trade off with each other; the organization can not deal with too many projects under way at the same time; each project should be clearly linked with strategic objectives for the organi- zation; the planning process takes time; and the deadlines have to match up with data from the project planning process. A firm belief in these truths provides the energy, passion, and courage that it takes to negotiate with management about them. Delivering the Truth Once the message is clear and you know your resistance, decide how to deliver the message. You may have to become a revolutionary as part of delivering the message. Some effective delivery techniques include use of inside/outsiders or of 68 Creating the Project Office true outside consultants, trying out the ideas as though in jest, or presenting data from outside sources. If all else fails, you can take the revolutionary road and sim- ply try to implement the change yourself. Use an inside/outsider. An inside/outsider is a person who works inside the com- pany but is outside the particular part of the organization that needs to change, perhaps residing in the project office. These facilitators are skilled in processes for getting people to talk about problem areas. The inside/outsider is important for placing the problems in a company perspective. At HP, a member of the Project Management Initiative corporate project office often served that purpose. Hire a consultant. Another approach is to bring in a credible outsider who can take the first bullets. The consultant can talk about how certain problems are com- monplace in other organizations, thereby taking direct heat off the upper man- agers. The consultant can also give examples of how other organizations solved similar problems. Project office consultants may fulfill this role, especially if they stay connected with other professionals in the industry. Work like a court jester. One of the functions of court jesters was to tell bad news to the king but hide it as a part of a jest. One way to work like a court jester is to develop a list of common problems, a list so pathetic it causes laughter. Present the list to upper managers as examples of things that happen in other organiza- tions. Then encourage the group to discuss the list, a process that is likely to lead them to determine that these problems may indeed be happening in your orga- nization. Using this process you never really say that your organization has these problems, you allow people to discover them for themselves. Develop objective data from some other source. Let other people or sources identify the problems. Employee surveys often serve that purpose at HP. The Strategic Management Group offers PEAT (Project Environment Assessment Tool) based around work of the authors. The Human Systems Knowledge Network has an enterprise project management profile service that provides clients with a com- prehensive assessment of how their enterprise-wide project management prac- tices compare with those of other members of the network. Using such surveys allows people to see how their organization compares to others and recognize that it may be suffering from problems they had not noticed, whereupon you are there to help with a solution—without having been the one to point to the problem and thus become the bearer of bad news. Do it yourself—become a revolutionary. The basic problems with being a revolu- tionary are that you are usually alone, there is little organizational support for your ideas, few see the need for your revolution, and you are disturbing the status quo. If the revolution is not successful, you get shot. However, a revolution may be what the organization needs, whether it is a sweeping change toward project-based operations, setting up a project office for a big deal, or simply embarking on a Powerful Forces 69 significant program. Enlist the help of others both inside and outside your orga- nization through building a guiding coalition. Overcome fear with courage. Implementing the Speak Truth Process A project manager at HP sensed that the organization had serious trouble. There was no process in place to manage the hundreds of problem issues that had been identified. For example, there were big gaps in the new computer architecture, problems so significant that new product development was being delayed. If the problems were not resolved rationally, immediate decisions would have to be made that might compromise or severely limit future options for the product line. Archi- tects argued for the purity and integrity of the architecture. Implementers wanted pragmatic solutions that leveraged the work completed to date. She was one among dozens of project managers depending on the new architecture. She had no more authority than anyone else. But she did have one difference—she was willing to speak truth to power. Fortunately, she had already completed a number of projects quite success- fully. She was technically competent and could understand the difficult nature of the problems being encountered. She knew action was necessary. She identified the functional managers whose business was suffering because of the problems and asked them to get together for a discussion. She put together a presentation that clearly stated the nature of the problems and their impact on the businesses. She proposed that each business ante up key engineers to meet in study groups that would research the options and propose solutions. People in all project areas needed to review the proposals and agree to adopt them. This work would have to take place concurrently with development efforts under way. The upper managers were clearly frustrated by the problems and concerned about get- ting their projects completed on time. They had no spare resources to resolve problems that they believed other people should be working on. Her ability to articulate the current reality clearly and her passion in de- scribing a future state that was quite different made the difference. She pointed out the pain that could be felt by each person, she had the ability to design a process that could lead to changes, and she linked the pain and change efforts to needs of the business. She created a compelling picture of what needed to be done, how to do it, and what the results would be. This council of upper man- agers, now on board as a guiding coalition, asked her to lead the new program. Believing in the program, she agreed to get it going. She became the leader, the source of the guiding vision, and the workhorse. She also planned to go out of busi- ness as a revolutionary as soon as she could. She went to the program management department and requested a project manager. One of the authors (Englund) came 70 Creating the Project Office on board and gradually took over as chairman of the Architecture Control Group. After we successfully completed the tumultuous first phase, albeit behind sched- ule and over budget, she guided us through the retrospective analysis, saw that we were on the right path, went back to managing her project full time, and got pro- moted. We became quite competent on the new process and alleviated much man- agement anxiety. The computer architecture is at the heart of the huge success being enjoyed by HP in the computer business. The woman who initiated the process continues taking on new development efforts within the company. Another situation sprang from the results of an open line employee survey. A group doing projects for the field organization scored low on empowerment. Em- ployees reported that they had little power to make decisions. They were con- cerned about overmanagement, conflict, mistrust, low levels of openness, and excessive control. One of the project managers seized the initiative. Lacking both authority and the answers, she nevertheless looked around for help. She contacted the project of- fice—the corporate Project Management Initiative. Armed with data from the sur- vey, a solid proposal developed with help from the initiative, a proposed forum that provided the opportunity for open sharing, and her willingness to make a difference, she got upper management to commit to funding an offsite meeting for managers and key contributors. She persuaded her peers and upper managers to participate. Englund arranged to bring in Graham as an outside expert. Graham de- scribed the Ten Sins of Empowerment (actually he listed only nine . . . and left one to the groups’ own imaginations, as in Figure 3.3). Drawing on humorous ex- amples, he succeeded in getting managers to laugh at their foibles. He played a dual role—the consultant and the court jester. A manager at the meeting was heard to say, “Certainly we cannot be as bad as the examples portrayed, or are we? At least we exhibit only some, not all, of the problems.” An exercise followed the presentation: break into smaller groups, pick one of the sins to study, conduct a force field analysis, and present your findings to the large group. The force field analysis consists of the following steps: 1. Describe the current situation. 2. Describe the ideal scenario. 3. Describe a worse scenario. 4. Identify factors that inhibit reaching the ideal. 5. Identify factors that prevent succumbing to the worse. The first intriguing factor about the break-out discussions was what sins they would pick. Would they pick the same ones or all different ones? Well, there was a small mixture. Among the five groups, several different topics were picked. A Powerful Forces 71 later discussion about action items resulted in pinpointing two areas for attention: get to know customers better and develop a shared vision. The general manager was pleased with the session. The truth he received was how deeply everyone felt about the issues and the uniformity of concerns that were shared. All involved encountered a safe environment for discussion, the meet- ing was facilitated by someone outside the immediate business but still from within the company, and ideas from external experts were presented as healthy models for consideration. The focus on getting to a small list of action items plus the in- tensity of the shared discussions furnished motivation for change. The offsite meet- ing provided the opportunity for managers and engineers alike to discover the issues themselves and then propose action. This approach has much more stay- ing power than having a new process imposed by management. Lessons Learned A business case can be made that changes are often necessary within organiza- tions that set out to conquer new territory through projects and project teams, guided by a project office. The role of upper managers may need to change to 72 Creating the Project Office FIGURE 3.3. SINS OF EMPOWERMENT. Questions to ask: • Want control or results? • Focus on technique or goal? • Measure input or output? • Must team do what you say? (no) • Are mistakes punished or supported? Not acting on the preferred answers leads to committing these sins: 1. No focus on strategy 2. Setting arbitrary deadlines 3. Not allowing time for planning 4. Pulling people off the core team 5. Changing specifications due to anxiety 6. Adding people late in the project 7. Low focus on customer and end user requirements 8. Team set in reactive mode 9. Not a learning organization 10. . . . support these new efforts. However, it takes concerted effort, often on the part of project managers who are closest to the work, to speak the truth to upper man- agers who have the authority and power to do something about what needs to happen (see the summary chart in Figure 3.4). The change may be revolutionary and require specific skills and process steps to be effective. In the examples given in this chapter, change agents sought the truth beneath their frustrations and suc- cessfully navigated the political minefields by exercising these techniques: • Act from personal strengths, such as expert, visionary, or process owner. • Develop a clear, convincing, and compelling message and make it visible to others. • Use passion that comes from your deep values and beliefs about the work (if these are not present, then find a different program to work on). • Be accountable for success of the organization and ask others to do the same. • Get explicit commitments from people to support the goals of the program— then they are more likely to follow through. • Take action, first to articulate the needs, then to help others understand the change, and finally to get the job done. • Tap the energy that comes from the courage of your convictions . . . and from the preparation steps outlined above. Recruiting and Managing a Guiding Coalition: Operating Across Organizations The new leadership challenge is to sense and actualize emerging opportunities. Real power comes from recognizing patterns of change. One is the role of interdepen- dence among complex interactions and highly distributed organizations. By sens- ing and recognizing emerging patterns in the chaos (see discussion in Chapter Six), managers become part of a large generative force that can reshape the organization. Think of operating across organizations as a behavioral process, with action steps leading to greater cooperation among diverse partners. A political plan would not be complete without a process to influence without authority across functional areas, businesses, and geography. Inevitably, implementing a new order of things goes against the status quo and engenders political resistance unless peo- ple are involved in its development. Establish a guiding coalition by systematically applying persuasion and influence tactics. Sensing behavioral patterns and re- sponding to them are essential skills for a program manager. This process evolved from a number of project office implementations. As HP gained momentum in the computer business, it needed a phase review process that linked senior management concerns with product development progress. A Powerful Forces 73 FIGURE 3.4. SUMMARY OF THE SPEAK TRUTH PROCESS. Get it done Articulate need for change Develop reputation as trustworthy and competent Diagnose from others’ perspective Create intent and motivation Values and beliefs in common Contribute to organization Know the business Develop small wins Work through others Bring in stabilizer Ask what’s bad about the news? Different People lose power Want it another way Violates tradition Too much effort Deliver Use insider/outsider Use consultant Work like court jester Get objective data from other sources Act from strengths Use your passion Be accountable Get explicit commitments Take action! Define Get facts and data Follow sustainable process Clear, compelling message Know sources of resistance Speaking Truth to Power manager was chartered to develop a process that would function across the entire computer business. He researched what other companies did, formulated a plan, and then went on a campaign to solicit inputs from affected department man- agers. The thoroughness of the approach resulted in getting widespread support to implement the review process. It eventually helped resolve issues that led to HP’s sustainable success in the minicomputer market. A similar scenario occurred in the Sales Center. HP wanted to bid on a cus- tom large-scale automation project, something drastically different from the di- rect sales off-the-shelf marketing approach. The Sales Center program manager conducted interviews with key managers who would typically oppose nonstan- dard business practices. His approach led to a successful order that opened up a new professional services business model. A similar approach was adopted for sub- sequent big deals and evolved into HP Consulting, now a significant revenue and profit generator for the company. Englund observed these activities and applied them repeatedly within program management offices—developing cross-organization support for a hardware sys- tem product life cycle, establishing study teams to resolve computer architectural issues, and setting up a cross-functional SWAT team to identify ownership for hard- ware and software defect issues reported during personal computer product de- velopment. Later, at the corporate Project Management Initiative, the results were codified into a seventeen-step process that was then presented across the company. Since the following process steps come from experiences in the corporate en- vironment and from extensive sharing of practices in workshops and engagements with proven success, it is reasonable to assume the process can work for others and make a big difference for everyone. Greater success comes, not from applying one piece or another, but from applying effort to all steps in the process (see Figure 3.5). Prepare for Relationship Building The dynamics of any program are aggravated by the separation of organizational boundaries or geography. Proactive leaders recognize that people make things happen, and that getting to know their needs is vital to changing their behavior. Success in this environment requires extra effort to develop relationships, first to get the support of key people and second to get commitment to the program from each team member. Starting with a premise that people have discretionary choice over what they work on next, continually ask, “How do I get people to work with me on this program?” There are many answers, and the answers vary by individual. Take the initiative to pursue answers to this question with vigor, for it provides the competitive ad- vantage that achieves higher cooperation for your programs. Powerful Forces 75 The initial step in preparation is to understand why the program is cross-or- ganizational and why specific partners need to be involved. Ask questions of spon- sors and do research. This understanding helps explain the program to others when seeking their support, thereby increasing credibility. Clarify the program mission (what problem are we solving?) and develop a personal vision for a future state that is different from present reality. The theme for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was “light the fire within.” This is a good start, but for an enterprise project office to be successful, you also have to light the fire within other people. Tap the pain of current problems and paint a picture of something better. This vision becomes an energy source. It releases pas- sion that turns into contagious energy. Make the vision visible and you will inspire other people to wish to participate because they clearly understand and come to believe in a similar vision. Practice your elevator speech—your ability to describe the program to any stakeholder during a short elevator ride in terms so concise, clear, convincing, and compelling that the person responds with “Wow, that’s great! How can I help?” Identify all people who will be stakeholders in your program. In each orga- nization, recognize the influential people, ones who have position power or control resources, those who are sensitive, articulate, competent, and socially adept. Net- work with these stakeholders and influential people in accordance with the law of 76 Creating the Project Office FIGURE 3.5. A BEHAVIORAL PROCESS FOR OPERATING ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS. 3. Maintain 1. Prepare 4. Adapt 2. Establish • reciprocity • respond and enforce • attitude • review • celebrate • what is—reasons • what can be—vision • people • resources and culture • trust • open environment • personal touch • integrity • commitment • shared vision • decision making • goals jump reciprocity: people expect a return (now or in the future) for what they give. Get sup- port from others to extend your contacts. Reap the synergy and productivity that comes from direct contact with peo- ple when traveling. Estimate the additional costs to operate across organizations, including travel and time. Develop a plan for implementing a cross-organizational program based on actual commitments received. This is also a good time to de- termine if costs exceed benefits. In that case, seek to contain the program. Understand cultural differences (organizational, international, or functional) because people’s actions, priorities, perceptions of reality, and style are highly de- pendent on cultural values. Diversity is both the greatest asset and the greatest li- ability of remote teamwork. Establish Relationships Establish relationship with cross-organization partners as soon as the need is rec- ognized. Find or develop a program sponsor. Turn stakeholders and influential people into supporters by contacting all of them directly, describing opportuni- ties, and sharing knowledge of the program (see Figure 3.6). Solicit their hopes Powerful Forces 77 FIGURE 3.6. GAINING COMMITMENT. A division general manager once requested development of an updated prod- uct life cycle linked to the corporate phase review process. The Systems Technol- ogy Group consisted of five R&D managers in one division with marketing, support, and manufacturing in separate divisions. The manager was well aware that the R&D managers “did not typically agree on anything,” resulting in lengthy debates to implement something new. A task force of experienced product developers put together a draft of a new life cycle. The leader conducted one-on-one interviews with each manager, soliciting concerns and objections. He took those inputs back to the task force and incorporated them into a new design. At an R&D Council meeting, he pre- sented each of the concerns, verified the intent, and presented the solutions. At the end of the meeting, he asked for and received support for using the new process on all programs. The next step was to go back to the general manager’s staff meeting to in- troduce and schedule rollout for the new process. The manager was amazed that agreement had been reached, so he went around the room polling each manager for their support. Each manager nodded agreement. They further com- mitted to training sessions for each of their departments. Many years later both the life cycle and the process used to gain support for its implementation are still effective. . One of the project managers seized the initiative. Lacking both authority and the answers, she nevertheless looked around for help. She contacted the project. territory through projects and project teams, guided by a project office. The role of upper managers may need to change to 72 Creating the Project Office FIGURE