Astrologers, fortune-tellers, economists and meteorologists all try to predict what is to come. The problem with predicting the future is that we are at each moment, and with each effort, changing it forever.
There are times when seemingly small events join together to produce a large, unpredictable catastrophic effect. So how can we begin to predict and manage complex organizations and complex projects so that they don't "crash and burn"?
The answer may lie in learning how to manage chaos. Today and tomorrow, Promotional Consultant Today will offer a few tips for controlling the chaos.
Know Things Will Get Off Course And Make Course Corrections: When NASA sends a rocket into space it is only on target five percent of the time; the other 95 percent it gyros back and forth toward its target. When the rocket veers off course (which is most of the time), you can bet that is it not a surprise to NASA. They have feedback mechanisms that tell them where the rocket is at any given moment so they can make course corrections.
What kind of feedback or accountability system do you have for your projects or organizational initiatives? A monthly project scorecard offers regular feedback and allows you to take the pulse of the project/initiative, then you can make course corrections to assure that you hit your target(s).
Tap Into The Wisdom Of Your Team: There is a collective wisdom in a team. This wisdom is available to help you to know what is needed to succeed, to know how to solve the problems that you face, to help you continuously improve. The wisdom is there if you ask.
Many project managers or leaders don't ask because they feel they are supposed to have all of the answers and don't want to show weakness. The truth is that we see problems only from our own perspective. Problems usually have many facets that we simply don't see. Your team, focused on solving your problem, can offer breakthrough ideas that will make you the hero.
Tomorrow we'll look at working from the trenches, and knowing when you have too many leaders.
Sue Dyer is the creator of the Scorecard Program, a monthly measurement system that allows project leaders to assure that project risks and issues are identified before they become problems and disputes. Author of the award winning book, Partner Your Project, she is president of OrgMetrics, a consulting firm specializing in non-adversarial approaches to preventing and resolving disputes.