Project Management is a life skill

In one of the blog entries earlier, we had discussed the need for mindset change for project management. If we truly understand the principles of project management, we can appreciate how relevant this skillset is in managing one’s own life. This discipline is perhaps the only pervasive profession that has tight coupling as a life skill.

For instance, let us evaluate how the ten core knowledge areas espoused by the Project Management Institute are integrated with the circle of life using an example of planning a vacation. These areas involve managing time, cost, scope, integration, procurement, human resources, communication, risk, quality, and stakeholder. When we are planning to go on a vacation with our family, we plan how many days we can go on a vacation based on the number of days available from our work. Depending upon whether spouse and children are joining, we engage with additional stakeholders at School and integrate our activities around time. Every activity that we plan during the vacation is scoped out by the amount we can spend on the vacation and the risk tolerance to adventures we can engage in. 

We also engage with multiple types of vendors to book our travel and hotel arrangements. We continue to engage several people in evaluating the vacation spots and activities that we can do to ensure that the value of the time and money spent is of acceptable quality. Finally, we manage several other activities such as taking care of bill payments, watering the plants, taking care of pets, preparing transition plans at work by communicating with the involved stakeholders. Now, is everyone traveling on vacation a project manager? However, as you can clearly see, these skills are still essential outside of the project management profession. Is there any reason why we shouldn't call these project management skills critical life skills? 

The significance of project management principles outside of the project management profession is not new. On May 4, 2013, the Chicago Tamil Sangam staged a historical play, “Ponniyin Selvan” in the regional Tamil language. Centered on a course of events that took place around the 11^th century Chola Dynasty in ancient India, staging the play presented several unique challenges that were overcome by applying some basic project management principles. Each of the following activities were considered interdependent projects that was coordinated as a large program with several milestones, conference calls, demos, rehearsals, and marketing demystifying how these life skills were executed by many non-project professionals. 

As a result, the principles of agility can apply much beyond software development (Rajagopalan, 2013). In fact, the Agile Manifesto shouldn't have even said "Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation" limiting agility to software development. It shows the lack of diversity in the Agile Manifesto contributors from the application of agility beyond their background domain knowledge. For instance, imagine if we had said "Working Products over Comprehensive Documentation". The product can be replaced by any benefit that could be translated into value!

1.    Preparing rich costumes, jewelry, and artifacts to differentiate the Emperor, the Kings, Queens, Ministers, and workers that required coordinated efforts to identify the needs among the actors, procure items necessary from India, and get them shipped from India.

2.    Identifying the needs of the auditorium based on the play requirements, distance, transportability and audience needs including law and order maintenance.

3.    Designing several high-end artifacts that were transportable with easy assembly, such as preparing backdrops suitable for the play, two boats that moved on the state, a ship with effects to display shipwreck, a palanquin as an entry point for the character, and pillars establishing the authenticity of the 11^th century.

4.    Rehearsing the play spread over five volumes perfecting dialogue delivery, enunciation of words, clarity of voice projection, light cues for various spots on the stage differentiating progress of characters and events through various backgrounds, preparation and coordination of musical clues, singing and dance choreograph appropriate to the characters, body language clues collaboration such as when to pass the message card or the crown, how various characters should see during critical scenes, 3 full length exams including a daylong marathon practice sessions.

5.    Advertisement and marketing efforts on social media, press, and soliciting appreciation from prominent external representatives, such as the President of India, increasing the reach.

6.    Subsequent preparation for the main event date with food and supply for the crew, makeup needs, and transportation of goods, stage preparation, and coordination of light clues with the auditorium crew that didn’t speak the regional language, backstage line up of cast during the play informing what scene is in progress.

7.    Addressing challenges for audience lineup, food distribution, parking lot and law & order challenges on the day of the event.

As an extension to the change in mindset on what the misconceptions around project management, let us arise to learn the tools and techniques recommended by this discipline so that we can enhance our own quality of life as well as the voluntary community efforts several of us support. In the next session, we will discuss further on a unique framework from my post-doctoral pursuit of how we can focus on what we need to learn. 

What are your thoughts? Please share and spread the knowledge.

References: 

Rajagopalan, S. (2013). Agility outside of software development: A case study from a theatrical play. https://agilesriram.blogspot.com/2013/05/agility-outside-of-software-development.html