You act differently in the comfort of your living room than standing on the field in a stadium with a microphone in your hand. Conversations in an intimate space are different from those in a public space.
Image by Joe Shlabotnik.
When Facebook changed its default settings from private to public, those used to operating in a closed social space were suddenly faced with big questions:
“If I change my statuses from private to public, then do the expectancies of those around me change as well? What about the interactions between someone who is private and another person who is public?”
Although the basic mechanics didn’t change – friends “talking” to each other – a changing environment created a whole new dynamic.
Transparency Is Good! Ok?
Transparency is good for your project. It keeps people in the loop, involved and provides some protection against any misbehavior. So, deadly transparency, as offered by for example the Internet, would be a good thing? Sadly, no. When transparency makes sure people’s behavior will be noted around the globe, this doesn’t mean you can take the benefits from it in your project or business. Although with a good reputation a lot is to gain, having a bad rep puts a lot at stake. Most people will play things save. They will create low-risk behavior. Humans have a preference to fail conservatively, resulting in the end into mediocrity.
Practices perceived as best practices can become worst practices under changing environments. Assumptions on how things work under certain conditions can have an entire new meaning when other conditions are valid. We base our view of tomorrow on assumptions that may be utterly wrong.
Fish! Yes, Fish!
This is the lesson illustrated by a story about The Fish Pond, told to me two years ago by dr Ali Anani; how the size of the pond influences the entire eco-system.
“The pond depth influences the role of algae: the deeper the pond is, the less role algae have. Algae are just a single-cell plant that grows like crazy when properly nourished with sunlight, nitrogenous waste and water. Here is the dilemma: fish releases ammonia, which is converted to nitrate. Nitrate help algae grow, and fish feeds on algae. But the rapid growth of algae deprives the fish from oxygen. Here is the dilemma: fish produce byproducts that eventually lead to their killing!
In a pond the build up of the nitrate is problematic, but in a sea it is not. The shallower the pond, the more acute the problem is. Here the algae come to play the role of savers!! Algae consume the nitrate and rapidly populate the pond and might easily get out of control. They blossom and compete with the fish for oxygen!”
I know.
Nothing is changing.
Not for Project Management.
But some part of performing projects is.
Communication? Leadership?
Tell me.
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