Zombie Culture

How do you refer to your company or team culture?  Do you refer to yourself and your immediate team as "we" or "us" and to your company or extended team as "they" or "them"?  If you do, do you think this is a problem?  I do. For arguments sake, let's refer to you as a non-zombie and we'll refer to your extended team or company as the potential zombies.

Though it was fun back in the 5th grade to play a game of tug of war with your classmates, it's not so cool when you're working in a corporate environment.  Projects can be challenging enough.  You shouldn't have to be distracted by other groups who don't have the same high level goals or values as yourself.  You should be working as a team in order to be successful.  But, does your team or company have clearly defined goals or values?  I'll ask it a different way.  Does your team or company have them written down; you know what they are; and you know what they mean?  If not, you and your group are at risk of being part of the zombie culture.

Zombie culture is a lot more common than you might think.  Zombies have no specific goals, other than to eat your brain.  They're not trying to make you a zombie.  Becoming a zombie is merely a byproduct to having been bitten by the undead.  They really don't care.

I've said before, don't do something unless it's applicable to meeting a goal.  But I bet you're asking yourself right about now, "Derek, if my coworker doesn't smell like rotting flesh or isn't squatting in a corner knawing on a foot, how do I know they are a zombie?"  I've compiled a list of a few indicators of zombie culture.

Zombie Culture Indicators

• Hosts meetings...long meetings... several of them...with no agenda... with several invitees.
• Stops by your desk a lot to ask what'cha doin'?
• Withholds information for personal gain
• Just shows up for work and thinks they are doing you a favor
• Farts (Actually, thinking of a farting zombie made me laugh so I thought I would add it)
• Uses the "cc" email feature by default, when the recipient has nothing to do with the conversation
• Uses the "reply-all" email feature to continue conversations that don't pertain to the group
• Is disrespectful
• Is untrustworthy (with throw you under a bus)
• Does not lead by example
• Tries to impress everyone by how smart they are. (that's a more advanced zombie type)

I can go on and on but I really don't like negative posts.  Let's turn this around.  What values can you and your team have that will have zombies avoiding you like the perfume department of the local Macy's department store?

Values to Repel Zombie Culture

• Deliver WOW Through Service
• Embrace and Drive Change
• Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
• Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
• Pursue Growth and Learning
• Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
• Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
• Do More With Less
• Be Passionate and Determined
• Expect to deliver the extraordinary
• Treat others with respect
• Promote collaboration and teamwork
• Encourage creativity and risk-taking
• Make and meet our commitments
• Trust and support one another
• Be Humble

I'm going to admit, I didn't think up those awesome zombie-repelling values.  I got them from Zappos and VersionOne. I'm going to go out on a limb and say I don't think either of those organizations have zombie cultures.  Can you say the same for yours?

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PMI Statistics

The October Project Management Institute (PMI) statistics are in.  The PMI now has over 403,220 active Project Management Professionals (PMPs) and 330,001 members. Source: PMI Today

When I look at the data from the last 4 years, the PMP® credential trend has remained relatively consistent.  Additionally, the PMI membership trend has also remained relatively consistent.  Unfortunately, based on the data, it appears people value the PMP credential more than they do being a PMI member.  Why is that?

Congratulations to all of those who reached their goal to obtain the credential.  (When I was at the PMI North American Congress back in October, they were quick to point out that the PMP is not a certification.  It's a credential.)  I don't know if anyone out there is really making a big deal about that.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

New PMPs (Net)

3,714

3,713

5,344

4,718

3,985

4,630

3,687

3,965

2,681

3,161

Total Active PMPs

367,619

371,014

375,959

381,111

385,096

389,726

393,413

397,378

400,059

403,220

Outdated Success Criteria

I know this is going to probably get me some "hate" comments.  It seems like if I write about anything but a zombie, that's what happens. But I do like to write about topics that make people stop and think. Think of this post a bridge between a historical project management and futuristic project management.  Let's think about success in both an objective and subjective way.

I'm seeing more and more topics about the measurement of success.  Geoff Mattie just wrote a post over at the PMI Voices site, titled Can Agile Conquer the Physics of the Triple Constraint?

Geoff refers to Triple Constraint and states

The "iron triangle" as some refer to it, defines three pillars: cost, scope and time. It asserts that you have to prioritize the three with an understanding that trying to have all of them at the same time compromises quality.

I applaud Geoff in his zealousness and hope this works for him and hit customers.  Being his blog post is on the PMI website, I want to point out the the iron triangle is not in the PMBOK.  Rather, on page 6, it states

Managing a project typically includes... balancing the competing project constraints including, but not limited to Scope, Quality, Schedule, Budget, Resources, and Risk.

I remember a few years back, when taking the PMP exam, I had a question about typical project constraints.  The answer was not limited to 3 or even 4 "pillars".  So, where am I going with this?

I'm curious why people continue to measure the success of a project, merely on the basis of an iron triangle.  I think this concept is outdated and perhaps created by a project manager to help an executive understand project management at a 100,000 foot view.  I am also curious why many continue to use the Chaos report, (which leverages triple constraint) as the de facto report of industry success or failure.  I am not debating that it has historical significance.  But, I am questioning if it should be the way of measuring project success.

Jeff Sutherland has a blog post about the happiness metric.In his post, he mentions Tony Hsieh of Zappos.  I recently read the book Delivering Happiness by the Zappos CEO.  Again, what's my point?  Perhaps the Chaos report should introduce happiness or customer satisfaction at part of its success criteria.

Too subjective you think?  I think not!

I recently saw a presentation by Sanjiv Augustine as part of the VersionOne AgileLive Webinar Series

One of the concepts presented in Sanjiv's presentation was a NPS (Net Promoter Score) metric.  Think of it as a customer satisfaction or "happiness" metric.

NPS is based on the fundamental perspective that every company's customers can be divided into three categories: Detractors, Passives, and Promoters. By asking one simple question — How likely are you to recommend [Company X] to a colleague or friend? — you can track these groups and get a clear measure of company performance through its customers' eyes.

So, what is the Zappos NPS?  In a YouTube video of Tony Hsieh at the NPS Conference  (1-26-09), Tony said Zappos offered random email surveys that resulted in an 83% NPS and phone surveys resulted in a 90% NPS.  Though they lose money on some of their customers, they are an overwhelming success.

Do you believe the Standish Group Chaos Report should include NPS to define success? Are the original classifications outdated?

No, I’m Saying…

I was in a contract negotiations meeting for several hours yesterday.  The most notable quote came after the customer was asking for the basis of estimates for the scope of work being proposed. I think both the vendor and customer could have done a lot better if they had just valued customer collaboration over contract negotiation.

I felt like I was watching a first-time buyer at a used car dealership.  When the sticker price is in the Millions of dollars, it becomes a very interesting game of poker.  As usual, my job was not to negotiate.  It was merely to observe and advise.

Vendor: You're saying the LOE is too high.

Customer: No, I'm saying I want you to justify your LOE.

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And the Winner is...

Elizabeth Harrin!

Congratulations, Elizabeth and her blog  A girl’s guide to Project Management, for taking home the prize at the ComputerWeekly IT Blog Awards 2010, in the category of Project Management.

This is the 3rd year in a row Elizabeth has won in this category.  Take that as a hint people.

Go read her blog!

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(Zombie) Customer Service

I'm currently enjoying Delivering Happiness, the book by Tony Hsieh of Zappos.  In the book, his approach to customer service reminds me a lot of what Seth Godin wrote about in his book, Linchpin.  For those looking to map this to an activity in the PMBOK, I see this falling under Manage Stakeholder Expectations (Executing and Communications).

In any case, I can relate to my intent to communicate directly to people as people, not as mere customers, vendors, or colleagues.  Every day, I see people act as though they have no free will to make a decision.  They ignore what is right or wrong.  They act like they need permission to be honest and humble. They act like...wait for it...zombies!  Yes, zombies!

I recently sat in a meeting and heard how the vendor screwed up.  I'm talking completely-their-fault nobody-else-to-blame screwed up.  When confronted by the customer, their reaction was "I'm sorry you feel that way about [this].  I respect how you feel."

My reaction?  [expletive] YOU, man! I don't care if you respect how I feel or not.  And don't try to feed me that Dr. Phil line about me owning my own feelings!  What I want to hear you say is "I'm sorry we screwed up.  I will do whatever I can to make this right."

Another scenario that comes to mind was my wife contacting a credit card company about something.  The customer service rep was painfully unprepared to talk to a human being.  They could not deviate from a script one word without needed to talk to a supervisor.

Thank you for calling.  We appreciate your business.  Can we interest you in buying our credit protection plan? [my wife complaining] Oh, I'm sorry, can I put you on hold while I discuss this with my supervisor? [5 minutes later....click]

People, you want to provide great customer service?  Empower your customer service representatives.  Vendors, you want to provide great customer service? Empower your teams to admit when they screwed up and offer to fix it, not just cover it up.

I've always seen the best performance from my teams, when they knew what we needed to do but were not being told how they needed to do it.  I believed they would make the right choices for us all to reach our goals.  Those of you in the Agile community get this already.  Empower the team and communicate with everyone as much as possible.  Don't just communicate.  Talk to them.

So, as I step down off my rant soapbox, I want you to take a look at the Zappos core values (listed below). They actually remind me of the 4 values, 12 principles of the Agile Manifesto or Agile community as a whole.

Zappos core values

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

If you had 10 core values for your project or team, how would you refine this list?

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Identify Stakeholders (& Zombies)

The Program Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) would have you Identify Stakeholders at the crossroads of the Initiating process group and the Communications knowledge area.  Basically, what the Project Management Institute (PMI) is trying to say is you should be identifying all of the people who are somehow related to the project.  Who holds a stake in the success or failure of your project?  You should complete this activiy at the beginning of your project lifecycle. This isn't bad advise.  It doesn't matter if you're a Project Management Professional (PMP) or an Agile practitioner.  The idea here is to lower the risk of having someone, who may be for or against your project, from disrupting things.  You have to accept that everyone has different and unique motivations.  Know your sponsor, product owner, stakeholders...zombies.  Zombies!?  Of course.  Once you identify everyone even remotely associated with your project, try to understand their motivations so you will be able to build relationships.  But look out for the zombies.  They won't listen to you and just do what they want.  Don't pass judgement on them.  Zombies are zombies.  They're going to do whatever they want and you and everyone else is just going to have to deal with it.

Today I was in a meeting with a zombie.  Everyone in the meeting appeared to have the same opinion of the topic at hand. Everyone, that is, but the zombie.  The topic itself really isn't important.  But it was basically a room of people against one zombie.  You may start to ask yourself what the zombie must be thinking.  Seriously, it's an exercise in futility.  Just make sure you know who they are early on and make some contingency plans.

So, remember kids, identify stakeholders (and zombies) early in your project.  Start building relationships with the people.  Find out what motivates them.  Know who are the zombies!  Take appropriate action, either by buying large quantities of plywood to board up doors and windows to the office or get some brain flavored mints.  If you can't keep the zombie away, the least you can do is freshen their breath.

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Chasing the Carrot

carrot

I'm certain we all have our price, based on our hierarchy of needs. I do what I do (during the day) to satisfy my need for a steady paycheck (security).  Until a situation presents itself, where I can satisfy that and other needs, I will continue working this engagement and occasionally rant about the injustices of advising.  I will admit, I have it pretty good, being somewhere between Social and Ego on Maslow's hierarchy.  But, what if there is more? That brings me to today's post.  This week I was interviewed by Ty Kiisel and Raechel Logan for an upcoming podcast.  They got my perspective on project management, project leadership, Agile, certifications, and more.  I had a really great time!  So, now I feel like chasing a carrot.  I'm really going to buckle down on getting that PM Network article completed.  I'm really going to get busy on the book.  Look out world, Zombie Project Management is on its way.

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