The Doormat Post. An Introduction To Shrinkonia.

Sometimes I think that my postings appear to be … well … weird.

The way the sentences are build up. The topics. Strange words. Sometimes I have the feeling that when you read this, you think “WTF”? – We do have a glossary, BTW. OMG.

So. Why not have a proper introduction? You know. Some kind of doormat that says “WELCOME TO SHRINKONIA“. Shrinkonia is of course the empire you are currently visiting. Population one. Me.

Let me first reassure you. We are talking about projects. Yes. For real.

But instead of taking the “TO-DO-PROPER-PROJECT-MANAGEMENT-YOU-MUST-OBEY-THESE-RULES” approach, we do things a little different here. When I say “we”, most of the time I mean “me”. You know.

We – mostly me – have this idiot notion that projects are things where people work in. Remember. The ones from flesh and blood?

Whatever your take is on projects, at the end of the day it is just a bunch of people working together to achieve a certain goal. During this endeavor to laugh, cry, pull pranks, play dirty tricks and have all other kind of behavior towards each other. If you are lucky they even work to reach the final goal. If you take everything away, and put people in the center of what a “project” is, you will see a group of stakeholders interacting with each other, just like any other group of people would do.

And projects are not in isolation either. They are part of a larger organization. And the organization interacts with the project. So in the end, everybody is influencing everybody. Sort of.

Cool.

Now would be a good time to read “Why Projects Are Nothing More Than Social Interactions“, that explains this in a little more detail. We’ll wait for you. That’s me.

Oh my. Communication.

If you look at project like this, communication becomes essential. People interacting with each other.

To explain the Shrinkonian view of communication, I have to use a soda can.
Think of a soda can as the actual message you are trying to tell someone. Now place this can in an empty shipping container. The container makes up the cues people are looking for to interpret the message. On this blog I am mainly concerned with the container than with the actual soda can.

Humans need some context around a message. We use this context to fill in the gaps, the unknowns, in the information we receive. Humans have the need for stereotyping. We need a place holder for unknown information. Even if we know this information is not correct. We need to put a value onto everything unknown. Otherwise we are becoming restless. We use stereotyping and labeling for filling an unknown mental void.

Of course there is a lot more to it. That’s why I wrote “Communication Explained. Almost. With A Soda Can.”

Go.

Culture. Identity. And Flags.

To make up context around the message we use social cues. Dr. in front of his name? He must be smart. Driving a red convertible? Definitely midlife crisis. Because “social cues” sounds boring, I call them flags. A flag for me represents a visible element of a culture that identifies that culture and the people part of the culture. Culture is encoded by a system of shared symbolic constructs. When I talk about “flags”, I am talking about these things.

Here is where things get a little funky for most. Not for you of course.

So. We pick up all kinds of flags from people. How they talk, what they wear, what they do, how their online profile is written. Based upon those cues we build up our perception. We associate people with groups. We are creating our version of their “identity”.

We all have an idea about how a 6 year old talks. If we hear a kid of that age talking about cars and ice cream, we are at ease. If he talks about the importance of emotional intelligence, we freak out. We create expectations based upon the cues we experience. If these expectations are met, we feel more comfortable.

The way you perceive yourself in a certain context, determines which social cues you put forward. This manifestation of identity works as a filter: people who like this particular “identity” get “attracted”, those who are not in tune with it, are not.

In this way, the perception you hold of yourself creates boundaries: some stay at one end, others cross.

This scales up.

If you put people into a group, if you have interactions between all the individual identities, a group “identity” emerges. A sense of “how we do things around here.” A culture. This group identity creates an attractor for “the right people”. It sets boundaries.

I think you might need some additional background on this, right?

The Essential Role Of Project Culture.
No More Dharmas. Or. How Our Identities Shape Projects.
Flags.
Identity Is Like Socks.

What About Me?

I hear you think “but where is my Gantt chart!?” and “what about Agile or Lean stuff?”

In my world – still talking about Shrinkonia – the charts are freak flags for Professionals. And the choice in approach, in the agreement about how we are supposed to interact and operate within the project, is an element of culture.

I am not saying that you should or shouldn’t use one or the other. There are so many people screaming already what THE BEST WAY is. I am saying that your choice is affecting the interactions and dynamics of the social context.

Now I know for sure you need some additional reading material on this.

‪The Private Life of Project Managers‬.
Mapping Projectistan: United Agilists. PMBoktoe. And Shrinkonia.

“But what do I do?”

Ah. The identity collapse question.

Normally if we want to influence the course of a project, the path the team will take, we start with setting up a structure. Procedures, roles, authorities, plans and communication patterns. We define a system for the team and stakeholders.

The place of the manager (influencer) is considered outside the system he or she is defining. He is “the gardner” and he takes care of “the garden” so “his flowers” can blossom.

Cough.

Crap like that.

“Influencing” in a Shrinkonian sense is a little different and described in “How To Influence A Temporary Tribe.”

Other posts on this topic:

The Elements Of Project Leadership.
Border Control. How Culture, Conversations And Structure Can Protect You And Your Project.