Daily Business Zen:Billy Martin’s Technique for Managing
Some of you may have read this before, some of you may not have, but I find it an interesting parable. There are shorter versions out there but I feel this one by Reginald Braithwaite is more interesting and true to life, his summation of the lesson is great:
A software manager is brought into a doomed project. It is hopelessly behind, the requirements have changed so often they are now kept on a white board instead of in a document, and the office is wallpapered with Dilbert cartoons. She’s replacing the previous manager, who has resigned.
When she gets to her new office, her predecessor is clearing out her desk. “I’ll only be a minute. By the way, I left you something” says the old manager before leaving. After the predecessor leaves, the new manager has a look around, and discovers two envelopes in the top drawer of the desk. The first envelope is labeled “Open when in trouble.” The second is labeled “Open when in even more trouble.”
Well, she researches anti-patterns in software project management, has a look around, talks to everyone, identifies the key players, and goes to management with a clear explanation of what the problems are, what’s realistic to achieve, and what needs to be done. To her surprise, management seems to go along with things and tells her to make whatever changes she needs. She institutes daily builds, stand up meetings, rapid iterations, and starts tracking velocity. Two months later, at the quarterly review, she presents her progress. The team is producing at 200% of the previous rate, morale is up, and they’re going to get 80% of the previous functionality done with less than 90 days of slip off the impossible schedule.
There is silence, then management tells her that this is unacceptable. Sure, they agreed she could institute change. That’s her job. However they did not approve any compromise in scope or delivery date. This is a competitive business, and there are thousands of qualified managers looking for a job who can come in and get things done. Does she want to admit she can’t do her job?
She goes back to her office in a quandary, then remembers the first envelope. Wordlessly, she opens it, and inside there is a three by five card inscribed: Blame Me.
She goes back to management a day later with a powerpoint emphasizing how the project was way off track, how the architecture was fubar, how morale was poor, and how requirements were incorrectly documented. She doesn’t blame the previous manager directly, but she does identify various management techniques and “best practices” that were not enforced prior to her joining the project. She says she will work the team to hit the date, but she demonstrates how commitments made by the previous manager were done without actually checking to see whether the team could deliver or making any changes to actually hit the new dates. After some huffing and puffing, management buys off on delivering 80% of the promised functionality with a 45 day slip in the delivery date. Whew!
Well, things go along quite well until two weeks before the original due date. Management calls her in and asks her to sit on the release planning board, with major customer release scheduled in two weeks. She reminds them of the 45 day slip they negotiated.
“No,” they tell her baldly, “We agreed on delivering 80% of the functionality on the original date and the remaining 20% of the functionality 45 days later in release 1.1. Furthermore, we are entering into a strategic agreement with IBM and have assigned a product manager to discuss IBM WebSphere Portal integration with your technical lead. And the VP of Marketing needs to talk to you. We have made a commitment to all-singing, all-dancing web services and he needs a forty-minute presentation explaining how your project will be implemented with web services throughout. You look pale. Is there a problem?” She leaves the meeting aghast.
Well, it’s back to her office and she opens the second envelope with shaking hands. The advice on the card is of little comfort: [Prepare two Envelopes].
This story is often told about baseball manager Billy Martin. He managed the Yankees five different times, because he was prepared to be fired when things didn’t work out. The moral of the story: Do they very best you can. Do so because YOU want to do so, regardless of whether you will succeed or not. Regardless of how dysfunctional your organization is, hold your head up and stay true to your values. Give them at least two chances to change. Do what you can to help them change. But if they do not change, move on with dignity.
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Tags: Daily Business Zen, IT, Management, Project Management, teamRelated posts
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