Goodbye PMO Email

Today was my last day with the PMO.  I couldn't help but send an email to everyone before the SysAdmin locked all of my accounts. I've already gone to security and turned in my badges.  I've already talked to everyone I could find.  It is Friday, ya know.  You can't expect everyone to be in the office.

As I went from office to office, people were telling me how much they liked what I wrote.  So, rather than having is die on a Government email server, I figured I would just publish it here.

Today is the day.

I'm all packed up and ready to go. Today I will be drinking your coffee, eating your free time, and rambling on about something unrelated to the original conservation. Ya, sounds like a usual Friday.

Thank you everyone for the lunch yesterday. You all need to do that more often!

Over time, I've realized that project management is a lot less about trying to control things like schedule, budget, and scope and more about building relationships and helping others reach their goals.  After I leave, if there is anything you think I can help you with, please let me know.

All my best,

Derek

Drawing by Pictofigo

FAR from accurate

This post is not specifically about FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations).  It's about using relative grading or estimates (evaluations), before absolute grading or estimates (evaluations).  As an advisor to a source selection committee, I'm not allowed to write or talk about what is happening behind closed doors.  I can, however, write about the FAR .  Don't click away just yet!What exactly does the FAR say?

Subpart 15.303  Source Selection Responsibilities

Paragraph (b4) The source selection authority shall ensure that proposals are evaluated based solely on the factors and subfactors contained in the solicitation (10 U.S.C. 2305(b)(1) and 41 U.S.C. 253b(d)(3)).

That means is if you have 10 proposals, you are not allowed to compare them.  Based on content contained within them, you can not say one proposal is better or worse than another.  You may only grade the proposal against the solicitation, as if it was the sole submission.  So, this is where I see the problem with the FAR.  After reading Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely, I know humans don't think like this.  We compare things and then react (usually irrationally).  We're also pretty bad at estimating if we don't have something to use an a baseline or anchor.

The only proposal submission that will truly comply with the FAR is the first one read.  The rest of the proposals will be compared to all those read before it.  This isn't intentional.  It will happen subconsciously.  Though the FAR is attempting to be fair, I don't think that it's realistic.  If this was a scientific experiment, you would re-baseline after each test.  But the human memory is a tricky thing. You can't just reboot and clear the cache.

I've seen the same thing happen with providing task estimates.  You can spend a lot of time and money trying to get an absolute estimate.  For some projects, they require that up front. But, where there is a lot of uncertainty, relative estimating is commonly going to get you closer to where you want to be.  You many not be able to accurately predict how long it will take to complete a task but you can say if the task being estimated will be easier or harder than a similar task recently completed.  Use that as the anchor.

What I am proposing with the FAR and with estimating is provide a relative evaluation (bigger/smaller, better/worse, sm/med/lg...) based on all available information.  As more information becomes available, refine your evaluation or estimate to absolute terms (SLA1=4, Task1=Nhr(s), Task2=NDay(s)...).

If I were to change the FAR, I would require all of the proposals be reviewed once (establishing an overall baseline) and then focus my attention on the best proposals.  But, since I'll only be advising the source selection committee for two more days, I'll leave it up to the FAR.

Which do you prefer, relative or absolute estimates?

Yes, the book link is an affiliate link.

True Measure of Character

I started my day slightly frustrated.  Upon offering my verbal resignation (last week) to my immediate superior, the company that I contact for gave no (written) response.  I was pretty certain my superior would inform them.  Because I wanted to be professional and also ensure they knew, I then offered a written letter or resignation to both my superior and the corporate office.  Again, I received no response.  As each day has passed, my customer (the PMO) has grown increasingly agitated knowing that I made a company a lot of money and they aren't even recognizing that I'm leaving. Because I felt obligated that the entire PMO knew I was leaving, I sent out a group email.  I've received multiple emails (from members of the PMO) wishing me well and thanking me for my service.  I even received an email from the vendor, who I wasn't always kind to.

I think the true measure of character is when things don't go as planned.  I tweeted that and Dennis Stevens responded "It isn't character until its tested".  So, I'll revise my statement.

I think the true measure of character happens when things don't go as planned and it is tested.

I'm still refining the statement but I'm glad I wrote it.  It made me feel a little better.  Through all of this, I don't plan to say who I contracted for.  There is no value in people knowing their name.  The checks were in my bank account on time and for that I am grateful.  They allowed me to take care of my customer and in turn I made them a lot of money.

Many were surprised that I am leaving.  The PMO probably would have kept me until it was either dissolved or the contract ran out.  I understand how a Government PMO works but my heart is still with Agile education, transformation and adoption.

I did finally get an email, today, though it wasn't what I expected.  I expected something short like "Best of luck in your future endeavorers."  Instead it read "Don't forget to turn in your badge by 11am on Friday".

Dennis, I think they failed the test.

Drawing by Pictofigo

PMO Analogy

As my tenure with the PMO comes to an end, I've had an opportunity to reflect on the last two and a half years.  What I realized was how much the PMO was like the U.S. Congress.  If I imagine the organizational structure of the PMO I've been supporting, I can imagine the CIO as the President and the PMO Program Director as the Speaker of the House or the Senate Majority Leader.  Beneath the Program Director are the Division Directors (Committee Chairs) and then members of the PMO (Congress in general).  What I've found interesting is many (not all) have their own agendas and motives.  Gridlock, not collaboration, is the norm.  Now, am I talking about the PMO or Congress?  I'm not trying to paint the PMO or Congress in an unfavorable light.  To the contrary, these people are all SMEs in their respective areas.  But they've seemed to have forgotten the common goal.  They've forgotten who the customer is.  In both cases, it's the American people. From my perspective, when you're trying to deliver value, you need to consider all of the options, regardless of your convictions.  I was the sole Agile evangelist in the PMO.  Think of me as a lobbyist representing the American people.  I did what I could to help the Government understand and to be receptive to new ideas.  But what the PMO failed to grasp was Agile is much more than a way to deliver software products.

I think Michele Sliger put it very well:

Being agile means that teams are working in ways that allow for change in order to better work together and provide a more useful and meaningful product to the customer.

My final days with the PMO will be like a long retrospective.  What went well during this engagement? What could be improved in the next engagement?

HT: Michele Sliger

New Chapter

Just yesterday I was complaining about my first day as a technical advisor for a contract source selection committee.  What can I say?  The PMO asked me to do it and it's important that it gets done correctly.  But being asked to sit in a room for the next 6 weeks, with no access to Internet or phone was going to be very painful.  I understand that I can't be connected 100% of the time.  I understand there needs to be balance and I can't tweet what is going on in my life 24x7.  But using modern forms of communications makes me feel informed and connected.  If I have a question about something, I feel I can reach out to half a dozen people in a moments notice to get an answer.

So, as I began my second day with the committee, I just sat there for about 10 minutes and stared at the binder sitting on the table in front of me.  How the hell was I going to survive this?

Well, I have an answer.  I got an offer to go work with someone else.  Long story short, I was offered a position with LitheSpeed and I accepted.  LitheSpeed offers premium Agile software development training, team coaching & management consulting services. They blend Agile methods like Scrum and XP with Lean process expertise to speed value delivery and drive enterprise evolution.

I'm very excited about my future with them.

I've been working with a federal PMO managing a multi-year, multi-phased, multi-million dollar program for a few years now.  I don't think anyone in the PMO knew what Agile was before I arrived.  Rest assured, I'm not turning my back on my project management roots.  I'm still very much a supporter of PMI and the PMP.  But even PMI couldn't ignore Agile forever.  It's time for me to help others to speed value delivery and drive enterprise evolution.  It's time for me to turn the page and start a new chapter.

Drawing by Pictofigo

HT: LitheSpeed

Cruel and Unusual

Today was my first day of being sequestered.  For those who don't know, I've been named as a technical advisor for a contract source selection committee.  As part of the process, 12 people are to sit in a room and review submitted proposals/quotes. Today was our first day.  What I will say is the time I spent in that room was very painful.  Though I sat on a jury back in 2010, that was nothing compared to this. I've been told that I will be sitting in this room, with no access to the Internet, for 8 hours a day for the next 5 weeks.  I'm not allowed to have my phone turned on.  I'm not allowed to do anything but to read and read and read.  This is not supposed to be punishment.  We were selected because each of us is considered Subject Matter Expert (SME).

Being asked to read hundreds and hundreds of pages of text a day, with no real break, is like cruel and unusual punishment to me.  I'm a guy with ADD and I'll be in a room with people and not allowed to talk to them.  This should get interesting.

So, I am going to apologize if I'm a little quiet on Twitter.  I will continue to post on my blog at night.  During the day, I plan to drink pots of coffee so I can have as many breaks as the smokers.  That will give me a chance to log in via my phone and see what is happening in the world.

Drawing by Pictofigo

Filthy Fishbowl

I read a really great post over at Mike Cottmeyer's Leading Agile blog.  To paraphrase, he wrote about his son having a fishbowl that was in desperate need of cleaning. He described the situation as

this poor little goldfish was swimming literally in it’s own filth. The water was yellowish brown and just gross.

Mike went on to use the fishbowl as an analogy, to write about an Agile adoption and transformation client. He wrote that it’s easy from an outsiders point of view to see what’s going on, but the folks inside a company have a difficult time seeing how they can transform their environment. The challenge is that sometimes there is so much that has to change to get healthy, it’s difficult to figure out where to start.  If you are that little fish, swimming around in that filthy bowl, how do you even begin to see what can be done about it?  Have you just gotten used to the filth?

If you are in the bowl, how do you imagine getting out of the bowl, emptying the water, cleaning the glass, refilling the bowl, and getting back into a healthy environment?

I would say, if you are that goldfish, either you learn to clean your own bowl, hire someone to do it for you, or you find yourself a new bowl.  There will certainly be some who will choose to swim in their own filth, until it chokes every bit of life out of them.  I see too many analogous goldfish swimming in filth, because they lack the skills necessary to maintain their own bowl, because they believe that someone will someday come and change the water, or they think they can just live with it.

If your fishbowl becomes filthy, what would you do?

HT: Leading Agile

Net PMI Numbers Are Up

I cracked open my May edition of PMI Today to review the monthly statistics.  Remember, the statistics are always a month behind.  I was impressed to see PMI added 11,681 new members in March, up from 9,750 new members in February.  Upon adding the numbers to my spreadsheets, March numbers looked better than the February, in respect to net PMI membership.  Though PMI added 11,681 new members, they also lost 6,857 (down from 8,076 lost members in February). I realized the net gain was 4,824 (up from 1,674 PMI members the previous month.  So, did the PMI do anything to increase their retention rates?  Time will tell. March 2011 Totals: Active PMPs: 423,515 PMI Members: 346,730 CAPM: 13,969 PMI-RMP: 741 PgMP: 553 PMI-SP: 440

Source: PMI Today