Are US workers spending too much time on the job?

Far be it for me to recommend US workers emulate the French who work 30 hours a week and have annual 17 week vacations but perhaps we are working too hard. The following two graphs from a recent New York Times article put things into perspective for me.  

Why are we one of only eight countries that don't offer paid maternity leave? Being in the same club as Suriname and Liberia doesn't speak well for this country.

Recent NY Times article

And our work week hasn't dropped much along with the prosperity brought by the second half of the 20th century. Even the Japanese are working less than we are.

Chinese Army hacking US infrastructure

The Chinese are becoming more aggressive in their computer attacks on the US. With attacks on major newspapers uncovered and power grids being pinged by the Chinese military we are looking vulnerable.

From a recent NY Times article:

It makes me wonder why we allow computers to control the power grid to the extent that they do now. If we want to make our country less vulnerable, wouldn't it be smarter to dumb down these grids? After all, didn't we have power grids fifty years ago? Maybe they weren't as efficient as they are now with the networking. Still, how about a back-up system that takes the grids off-line and allows them to run, albeit slightly less efficiently when they perceive they are under cyber-attack?

Seems like a way to stay a little safer in a dangerous world.

One Page Status Reports

A friend of mine just asked me what I thought of the 'One Page Project Manager' status reports. Since I hadn't heard of this I did some research and I'm pretty impressed. I like efficient use of graphics. Here is an example I pulled from this blog:

There's a lot of info here so you might be better off going to the link of the blog itself so you can zoom in better. By efficient use of two dimensions, major deliverables can be identified, the owners determined, the due dates displayed and the status shown in color codes.

The owner of this system sells books and has a great website.

Are drones worthy of the US?

Being an immigrant to this country, I really bought into the metaphor of America being the 'Shining City on a Hill.' that the persistent strove to reach. America was the greatest country on earth. It was a hero to all struggling democracies. When I read Tolkien's stories where the eagles always came in at the last minute to save the world, I saw them as the American army rescuing Britain in World Wars I and II.

But look at us now. The eagles are crapping on the citizens of the plains. These drone strikes, while safer for US military personnel and more surgical than boots on the ground or aerial bombing attacks, make us look bad. We are flying above sovereign countries and zapping their citizens at will. The strikes are being made by members of the CIA with little oversight by other members of our government.

Is it just my bad memory or wasn't there a time when we used to say that the CIA didn't have the authority to assassinate people overseas?

Al Qaeda in Mali

I would find it amusing to hear of barely educated Madrassah boys from Al-Qaeda telling the Islamic scholars of Timbuktu that they knew better what Islam was all about if it weren't for the destruction these savages caused. Fortunately, tens of thousands of priceless scrolls and documents were spirited away to protection before they were destroyed.

Too bad the people of Timbuktu had to endure Shariah law at the hands of these interlopers. This NY Times article details some of the hardships the residents had to face until they were liberated by French soldiers. Beatings of women who showed their faces, amputation of thieves' hands, executions.

Ripples from the Arab Spring are still hitting Saharan Africa in ways that frighten me. Which country will next feel the crushing blow of Hezbollah-financed hordes? Morocco?

$35 computer

Anybody remember the movie "Computer wore tennis shoes?" In this movie the computer lent to the school for their computer training was a room-sized mainframe. By the time I went to high school, the computer we were lucky enough to have was about the size of a PC but so expensive we all had to share it.

Look at how far we have come. Raspberry Pi makes a credit-card sized computer that costs only $35. They have sold one million of these units to schools for teaching computer science students.

Read this NY Times article for more details. The power is turned on by plugging in the cable. The memory is supplied by a camera-style S card. And most people spring an extra ten bucks for the plastic protective case. But it does its job quite well and, most importantly, can teach kids how to use computers for very little money.

Real people or Screen people

I just recently read two excellent books that dealt with the trend of people spending time on the Internet or texting in preference to real conversations with people.

The first one, Feed, took a fictional approach to the topic with teenagers having the Internet literally fed into their brains at all times and how their lives differed from ours, especially when the feed malfunctioned and they were back to 'normal.'

Lots of great teen speak that the author picked up by eavesdropping on kids in the mall and extrapolating into the future.

The second one, 'Alone Together' was a non-fiction book written by an MIT Artificial Intelligence professor and it showed the types of experiments being performed that showed the trend towards people preferring robot company and moving away from face to face or even phone conversations in preference of texting and other 'controlled' conversations.

In this one the author answered the question I've always struggled with: Why do teenagers prefer to text than call? It always seemed a step backward in technology to the time of the telegraph before the telephone was invented. Her explanation is that teenagers are intimidated by the immediacy and lack of control found in a phone call and prefer to be able to massage their words before sending them.

The books got me thinking, what should we do, if anything, about these trends? Should we try to head them off? I'm all in favor of the increased efficiency brought to us by mobile technology and the Internet. Being able to complete a business deal while driving to another customer. Finding the restaurant where you want to eat and read reviews by other diners while someone else is driving to town. Then clicking on directions and the menu. These are all great advantages.

I know there are all kinds of rules about Internet safety and not texting while driving. This post won't deal with those issues. I'm just going to concentrate on social interactions with the presence of screens. What is polite and what is not. I'm thinking about rules we've imposed at home and what rules we should perhaps add to this list.

The rules are not designed to impose my old-fashioned set of norms on my children. Instead, I am keenly interested in raising my children to fit into future society. If they don’t learn how to have a phone or face-to-face conversation as children, what are they going to do when they go for an interview, try to sell their product to a customer, meet their future in-laws?

Multitasking is a skill that can work in certain situations like when you are using different parts of your brain to accomplish different tasks. All of us can walk while having a conversation, eat while listening to music, even play simple video games like Brickbreaker while listening to a book on tape. But young people think they can multitask with the same area of the brain. This has been tested repeatedly and found to be a fallacy. You cannot effectively text someone while having a conversation with another person. You can’t do your homework efficiently and correctly while maintaining seven different chat sessions and listening to loud music. If you think you are one of these rare exceptions who can do that, submit yourself to testing and you’ll be surprised.

What follows is my first draft of a set of rules. Please comment with your impressions of these rules and any additions you would make.

Screen rules

1.  Live people are more important than people communicating to you via screens.
2. No screens at the dinner table unless your family allowed TV there 20 years ago.
3. If  something comes up in a conversation where the answer can be found by checking a screen, ask permission first.
4. When spending time one-on-one with someone and your phone interrupts, answering demotes the real person in importance to the one on the screen. (That’s OK if it’s your mother or your boss, not OK if it’s just another friend.)
5. If you’re in a group and the conversation can go on without you while you check the screen, that may be OK but be subtle.
6. No screens while attending religious services, a concert, a show or a movie.  You can always tell people ‘gtg’ for a couple of hours and get back to them when you leave the area.
7. No screens while attending a lecture unless the lecturer asks you to look something up as part of the class.
8. Enjoy your time when in a special event. No need to look at it through your camera.

This last one is a personal pet peeve. Remember the opening ceremony of the Olympics? All these athletes were at the pinnacle of their career. They march into the stadium in front of billions of people and what are they mostly doing? Rather than enjoying themselves, they are recording the crowd and fellow athletes on their cell-phone cameras! People! Have your buddy at home record the show and post it on your Facebook page. Enjoy the moment! You deserve it!

What are your thoughts? I'd love to see some additions to this and we can come up with the '10 communication commandments.'

China's Bullet Train Project

The Chinese aren't messing around with their infrastructure projects. They are spending $640 Billion on a bullet train network that will link the country with trains moving at speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour! (190 mph for Americans)

Compare this to the US vision, none of which is a reality and the few existing trains barely reaching 160 kph, (100 mph)

I guess it helps when you are China and have a budget surplus rather than a deficit and you can throw this kind of money at infrastructure projects to keep your people working during a downturn in the global economy. $640 billion is some serious money, that's over 40 big digs to put it in perspective.

Let's just hope the Chinese solve the quality issues they've had with early tests on the system that have cost time, money and 40 lives so far. I'll also be interested to see how much the project costs when it is over.

Earned Value Case Study

Using the Earned Value method of monitoring and controlling budget as described in the previous post, I have had almost entirely positive experiences with my clients. One experience didn't start out so positive. Our project was to validate a computer system. We proposed the project carefully, using past information but making some assumptions based on information given us by our client. One of these assumptions was that the requirements document was in good enough shape for us to write a functional specification. As always, we made these assumptions visible as part of the proposal. (I'll have to write a separate post about the importance of doing this but you'll see how it helped in this case study.)

When we started the project, we found that the specification couldn't be started because the requirements document was in no shape to use as a starting point. We would have to rewrite this and then move to the specification. This meant more time spent on the project and more money.

So, when I showed up at the first status meeting with the earned value numbers, I shocked the client by predicting that the project would end two weeks late and cost an extra $10,000. They were livid!

"You're one week into the project and already you're two weeks behind schedule and $10,000 over budget!" was their response.

They were used to vendors keeping quiet about the overages and schedule delays until the project was almost over and then asking for the extra time and money. My boss was angry at me also because, frankly, that was the way he was used to doing business and he had warned me that being open with the customers was a bad idea. He was afraid we'd be fired from the project.

I met with the customer and explained the situation. I told them it was a good thing to find this problem early because they had the power to do something about it now. By explaining the cause of the overage and delay, I gave them three choices on how to proceed:

1. Continue as we were going. We would rewrite the requirements, then the specification and continue the project. The project would cost an extra $10,000 and take an extra two weeks.
2. They could rewrite the requirements document while we stepped away from the project, then return to restart. This would take at least 2 weeks (the client was super busy) but would cost no extra money.
3. We would rewrite the requirements but the client would take over some of the later tasks (when their workload had diminished) to recoup the $10,000. This would cost them no money or schedule but would take some of their people's time later.

My client was amazed. They were given options on what mattered most to them: time, money or internal resources. They chose option 3 and the project finished on time and on budget. They confided with me later that they were so appreciative of the transparency of our methodology and their ability to influence the course of the project; something they had never experienced with any other vendor. The customer is loyal to us to this day.

Practical Method for Determining Project % Complete

How many times do you ask this question of one of your vendors and receive an answer that you don’t believe? What percentage of the project is complete? This is a simple question that allows you to compare this figure against the percent budget spent to see how likely it is that this project will finish on budget. Your vendors will make up all sorts of reasons for you to believe their statistics that show how complete the project is. Wouldn’t you like an objective calculation that gives you this number exactly?

I have been using a simple technique that allows me to plan projects, forecast their costs and communicate their weekly status with complete accuracy. My clients are always happy with the information they receive. This is not to say my projects always come in under budget. My projects are plagued with the same uncertainties any other projects face, some causing budget overruns. The difference is that I communicate these overruns weekly, honestly, can pinpoint the causes and allow my clients to make business decisions based on them. I don’t wait until the project is 75% complete and all the money is spent to ask for more money.

There is no magic behind the technique. The federal government mandates that projects run for them use a technique known as Earned Value Project Management to report time against task.  But not many laymen understand it without some intensive training in the technique. Everyone understands what it means when a project is 2 weeks behind schedule, but most would be confused if told it is $10,000 behind schedule.

It is possible, however, to salvage some of the official earned value calculations to generate two numbers that are meaningful to customers: Percentage of the project that is complete and percentage of the budget that has been spent.

Below is an excerpt from a status report that shows these two numbers in the budget portion:

So how do I generate and then justify these numbers?

 

The Planning Phase

I plan each project in front of the clients, with their active participation. This makes it possible to obtain their buy-in for the tasks for which they take responsibility. From this planning activity, I can generate a Gantt chart in MS Project detailing Duration, Start and Finish, Percentage Complete, Responsibility and Percentage Time spent on each task. By filling out the hourly rates for the assigned personnel on the Resource sheet I obtain a Project Budget (in the Cost column).

Once agreement is reached between the PM and the clients on the cost for each task and the overall project cost and schedule, a few columns can be added to the project plan. Baseline Start and Finish and Actual Start and Finish.

The same is done with the cost columns adding Baseline and Actual costs and renaming Cost to Current Working View (CWV) cost. The Gantt chart now looks like this:

The Implementation Phase

At each status meeting with the project team, I ask for percentage complete on each task and the number of hours spent on each task. The percentage complete is entered on the Gantt Chart, then the hours spent are multiplied by the hourly rate and this is entered into the Actual Cost column. The Actual Start and Finish dates are entered in their respective columns.

At this point, the Gantt chart is yielding some very important data for the client. Baseline End Date and CWV End Date show any schedule delay. Baseline Cost and CWV Cost show over or under budget predictions. It also shows some very poor data: percentage project complete. Experimentation with MS Project has shown that this is not correct, especially if some resources are shown as costing dollars and others are not (e.g., when a consultant shows their tasks on the same Project Schedule as the client tasks).

 

For each task, the Baseline Cost is the Value earned when it is complete. The Percentage Complete times the Baseline Cost is the Earned Value that is earned for a partially completed task.

Simply adding up all these partial earned values, and dividing them by the Baseline Project Cost can generate the Percentage Complete for the project. And by dividing the Actual Project Cost (summed by MS Project) by the Baseline Project Cost, I can determine the Percentage Budget Spent. These numbers make sense and are meaningful to a client. I use a simple Excel spreadsheet to make this calculation easier.

The two key values can be copied onto a status report: Percentage Complete and Percentage Budget Spent. The client can examine any discrepancies in these figures for the reasons behind the cost changes. The Gantt chart shows which task is coming in way above or below budget and the project manager can usually explain why this occurred.

The importance of Earned Value is that when a project using it is 15% complete, one can predict within 90% accuracy how much above or under budget it will be at completion. Any discrepancy found at 15% project completion holds through until the end of the project within 90% accuracy. This calculation has been proven by auditing thousands of government projects, small to large, using earned value calculations for decades.

It is possible to finesse these numbers to make the project look more complete than it really is. Only on partially completed tasks though. If a task is really only 10% complete and one claims it as 90% complete, an unscrupulous vendor can exaggerate project % Complete. But this will only work a couple of times and the vendor will be found out long before the project is complete. This is not a good way to run a business and these vendors will be weeded out quickly.

I encourage you to ask your vendors to use these calculations to give you meaningful weekly project status. You need to know early on how much over budget your projects are likely to be so you can budget accordingly or get rid of the inefficient vendors.

Anybody else have ideas that work well in this realm?

Home-based batteries for wind power

A wind farm near Ellensburg, Wash. Utilities have asked homeowners to help store excess energy to protect the grid.

As the trend continues to generate electricity closer to the point of use and people are setting up wind and solar electricity generators in their homes and businesses, the need to have storage of excess energy increases. Oversupply of electricity can cause blackouts to the grid so utilities need to find some kind of battery system. But how to do this?

In the Pacific Northwest, the Bonneville Power Administration has set up a program to store this excess electricity in people's appliances. This is an interesting take on the way they control limited power here on the East Coast.

Last summer, for instance, I was wondering why my house was getting so hot on a particular summer day. I checked the thermostat, then went outside to look at the unit. While I watched, I saw it turn on. Then, after a few minutes, it turned off again, even though the house was still not down to the temperature I had set. What was going on? I called the utility and they laughed at me. They reminded me that I had signed up for a program that reduced my power bills by 10% and gave the utility the power to turn off my AC "for a few minutes at a time" to save energy. Well, the utility got through the day without needing any rolling blackouts but I and many thousands of other suckers had a hot, uncomfortable day in their homes.

So what does this have to do with storing electricity? The BPA is setting up some customers with ceramic bricks in electric space heaters that can be warmed up several hundreds of degrees by remote control. Water heaters can be heated up by up to 60 degrees. Then this energy can be returned later when the excess is gone. Apparently the utility can still control the tap-water temperature in the homes so that customers don't get scalded.

To dig or not to dig

We have an interesting situation going on here in New Jersey. The Federal Government had promised $3 Billion to assist in building a rail tunnel to connect New Jersey to Manhattan, relieving pressure on the existing tunnel that New Jersey Transit shares with Amtrak. That sounded fine when the total tunnel cost was projected to cost $8 Billion but when new estimates came in at $11 Billion and growing, our Governor did a remarkable thing. He cancelled the project. People were up in arms about the $300 Million already spent, land purchased, jobs promised, etc. but Governor Christie held his ground. He wasn't about to saddle New Jersey taxpayers with some home-grown 'Big Dig' boondoggle if he could avoid it. His mandate is to lower taxes and reduce government spending and he saw here a great chance to save some money.

Read the full article from the New York Times here: TYtimes article from 2010/10/08

Five weeks later, the Bloomberg Administration came up with a good second option: Extending the #7 subway train under the Hudson to connect with the Secaucus, NJ train station. Cost of this option $5 Billion.

Take the No. 7 to Secaucus? That’s a Plan

By CHARLES V. BAGLI and NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

Published: November 16, 2010

Unlike the old project, the new plan does not require costly condemnation proceedings or extensive tunneling in Manhattan, because the city is already building a No. 7 station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue, roughly one block from the waterfront. In July, a massive 110-ton tunnel boring machine completed drilling for the city’s $2.1 billion extension of the No. 7 line from Times Square to the new station.

Read the full article from the New York Times here: NYTimes article from 2010/11/17

It takes guts to cancel big projects but this must always be considered. Even when a project has been approved, if the cost, scope or schedule has gone beyond the parameters set by management, the project needs to be re-evaluated. And if it looks like the costs no longer make sense, throwing good money after bad is not an option. By cancelling this project, better options can be considered. As a New Jersey taxpayer currently paying over $13,000 in property taxes, I'm hoping my Governor is always looking for more efficient ways to spend my money.

Flash Mobs fuel Arab protests

When I first read about flash mobs back in 2003 I was amused. But hidden in the article was a question of whether this technology could be used for protests. Seattle's anti-globalization protests were one of the first to use it. I'm sure lots of repressive governments saw the potential at the same time and started preparing. NY Times 2003 flash mob article

But the biggest show of using social networks to protest a dictatorship is still going on in Egypt.

Wael Ghonim, a Google marketing man, just got out of an Egyptian jail after 10 days of blindfolded imprisonment. He admitted to being one of the people who set up the Facebook page protesting the death of Khaled Said, who was beaten to death by Egptian police while in custody. No wonder Egypt has shut down Facebook and Twitter.

There is a new type of leader emerging. Reluctant, perhaps, but still powerful. Let's see how this works out.

Video of Wael Ghonim discussing the protests:

Watch him here addressing the crowds. Not much of a rabble-rouser but he brought the crowd together. To what end?

Here's an article about Wael Ghonim setting up the facebook page: NY Times article about facebook page

And here are some of my favorite flash mobs. Enjoy!

Hallelujah Chorus:

Grand Central Freeze:

Lee Iacocca on Leadership

I've been a big fan of Lee Iacocca since I watched him pull Chrysler out of bankruptcy in the late 1970s. I teach about him in my Project Management class and I've referred to him in this blog as an example of a great leader. Some may not know him that well. For those who want all the details, here is the link to his Wikipedia entry: Lee Iacocca's Wikipedia entry

For those who want the short version: He gained renown as the Project Manager for the Mustang, rose to prominence and leadership and eventually was named president of Ford. He argued with Henry Ford about the minivan and was demoted to Warehouse Manager. The next day he was hired at Chrysler. He turned this company around using some excellent leadership and sales skills: influencing banks, members of congress and the President of the U.S. to make his turnaround project a success.

He has written a few books full of excellent advice on leadership, some shown below:

A couple of years back he gained new prominence with a speech about leadership that went along with his latest book. Here is a short excerpt that shows his 'Nine C's of leadership.' It's worth a look.

Leadership within the Arab turmoil

It has been a busy January. Coptic Christians start off rioting to protest a shooting that spreads throughout Egypt. Tunisia's government collapses, protesters take to the streets in Lebanon and Yemen, and even the West Bank and Jordan are boiling. Where will this all lead?

I watched the Iranian revolution, while traveling in Europe in 1979, and was dismayed to see how the pro-democracy leaders were roughly pushed aside by the Revolutionary Guards who fought to install a theocracy of Ayatollas.

What will happen in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Jordan? I'm afraid that one of two things are most likely. One will be the crushing of the opposition like last year's crushing of the polical opposition in Iran. Or, worse yet for the US and Israel, the installation of Muslim theocracies. These groups are ready opponents, with strong Iranian backing and are just waiting to rush in and fill the power vacuum left by their despotic predecessors. The Muslim Brotherhood's backing of  Mohamed ElBaradei smacks of polical expediency, designed to lend credibility to their cause. I've no doubt that, with Mr. ElBaradei at their head, they will win an election, then toss him aside to set up another Iranian-backed religious dictatorship.

Mr. ElBaradei is one of the few Egyptian leaders who seems to be keen about setting up a real democracy. I hope he lives up to his committment to not seek the leadership until an effective democratic process has time to take hold. He is smart enough to know that, due to Mubarek's repressions, the only opposition existent is the Muslim Brotherhood.

I doubt the ability of any Arab country to go against millenia of clan rivalries to set up a democratic country. We watched in the 1990's as the Philippines and Eastern Europe threw off their dictators and embraced democracy (except maybe Russia).  But it seems to be impossible for Arabs, Persians or Afghans to do anything similar. I am especially fearful that the Coptic Christians, who started this all, will be the first victims of a Muslim dictatorship that takes Mubarak's place. All eyes are on Mr. ElBaradei.

Any leaders running this government?

Watching last night's 'State of the Nation' speech and the Republican response I had one question. Where are the leaders in this government? First we had Obama spewing boring platitudes, then making crazy predictions like doubling exports by 2014 and giving 80% of Americans access to high speed rail. Then we had some baby-faced Republican rebut his comments. I read the speech again just now and got what I heard the first time, 'Blah, blah, blah, we're going down the same road as Greece, Ireland, the United Kingdom.'

Here's the speech, see if you can find anything useful there:

Paul Ryan's rebuttal

As I looked around at the people in the Capitol, I didn't see anyone I'd like to see represent this nation. Even McCain has disappointed me. The kind of people I'd like to see run this country don't seem to want the job. One man who is my idea of a great leader just died this week. You might have read of Richard Winters in the book or watched him portrayed in the excellent series, "Band of Brothers."

Here is a link to his obituary:

Times Obituary Richard Winters

For more information, check out his Wikipedia entry:

Wikipedia entry: Richard Winters

Here's a man whose leadership was recognized by his men to the point that they rebelled against the leadership of their lousy commanding officer and risked their careers to have him replaced. Although Winters agreed with their assessment of Sobel's poor leadership, he had to grace to tell the world that: "he felt that at least part of Easy Company's success had been due to the training that Sobel had put them through and the way he had built the team."

His leadership in battle was so excellent that his techniques are still taught at West Point. With 35 men he routed a German force of 300. But he stood out mostly for his humility and quiet leadership that inspired men to follow him to their deaths if needed but victory as it turned out.

Why don't men like Dick Winters enter our government? They're probably as sick of it as I am.

Governmental Leaedership on Road Deaths

Today I'd like to discuss governmental leadership. There is a group of governmental organizations that have shown excellent leadership over the last 40 years. Their mission has been to save lives on the roads of Australia. When I lived there, the total number of road deaths was featured at the top of the first page of the daily newspaper. In a perfect example of 'That which is measured is improved' this number was looked at by millions of people every day.

Seat belts were made mandatory in 1970 and that number dropped significantly. The acceptable blood alcohol level for driving was set at 0.05% and serious fines and jail time was instituted. And, in a move that would cause ACLU members to blanch, road blocks were set up randomly to pull over people to test their levels.

A Traffic Black Spot system was put into play where dangerous intersections, defined as having at least one serious accident a year for the last three years, were given money to be redesigned for safety. See the below link for an example of this.

South Australian Black Spot

Spending money on Black Spots is a great use of the Pareto principle where 20% of the intersections are causing 80% of the deaths. A few million spent here is saving billions elsewhere in addition to saving lives.

One of the more visible facets is the graphic advertising campaign that a government owned organization called TAC places on TV to scare people into driving safely. Below is a compilation video which aired during the Christmas driving season, a time similar to the Memorial day or Independence day weekends in the US for high road deaths. The video is graphic so be prepared to cringe at some of the images.

If you liked the compilation, follow the links to the individual videos.

How effective have these tactics been? Look at the graph below. It shows the amount of road deaths per 100,000 people over time. Notice the big drop in 1970 when seat belts were made mandatory. See the way road deaths have dropped far more than American road deaths over the same period. (Light Blue dots)

Click on the graph for an enlarged view, then press the back key to return.

Citizens pay taxes to governments in exchange for safety and conveniences. The government builds roads for us, institutes laws to govern safe behaviors on these roads and hires officers of the law to enforce these laws. Is the slight loss of rights, (random road stops testing drivers for a blood alcohol levels of greater than 0.05%) too high a price to pay for the increase in safety on our roads? With my oldest son turning 17 soon, I don't think so. Especially after watching that video.

Obama's Speech on Tucson shooting

Lee Iacocca, in his speech about the nine C's of leadership, says that the most important aspect of a leader is his ability to shine through a crisis. The first question Lee wants to ask any leader is: "Where has he or she been tested and did they pass the test?"

During some future post I'll show you Lee's great speech. Today I want to focus on President Obama and how he dealt with his most recent test. The politics of today's America have become extremely polarized with both Democrats and Republicans pulling further towards the left and right. Whether this was partially to blame for a mentally ill man shooting a congresswoman and many bystanders in Tucson last week is debatable. But the shooting was one more polarizing event in this trend. Fingers were being pointed on both sides.

Then President Obama gave a speech at the Memorial Service. He used the platform to bring forth two major themes:

1. We Americans should use this moment to heal and move closer together rather than allow it to drive us further apart.
2. Christine Green had high hopes for the democracy of this country. We should live up to her expectations.

If you get time, look at the speech in its entirety. You can find it anywhere on YouTube.

I provide below a short excerpt of the speech that illustrates the two themes and shows the skill with which the President captures and expresses our emotions. Bill Clinton may have said that 'I feel your pain' but Obama shows that pain to us. When he pauses for 51 seconds I don't believe it was just to acknowledge the applause. I felt that he was thinking of his 9 year-old daughter, just as I was thinking of my 10 year-old sons. And I believe the crowd felt it too and sustained the applause to support him.

Leaders have shown throughout history, the power that a great speech can have to inspire their followers. President Obama is the latest in a long line of great orators. There is much to learn from his speaking skills.

Obama's speech excerpt

So, did President Obama pass the test this crisis put him through?

No leadership dooms Biggest Loser competition

It amazes me to see how a simple project can be doomed by the lack of a clear leader. Last night's 'Biggest Loser' featured a simple project. The team had to construct a pontoon bridge out of a stack of large, heavy, inflatable rafts that could be attached to each other to reach an island in the middle of a river. On the island was another stack of rafts with which they had to construct another bridge to reach the other side of the river.

Their rival team had already completed this task and had set the time to beat of 39 minutes.

The team were given a few minutes to strategize and it became clear immediately that they were going to fail. Many people asserted their right to be the leader but no-one allowed themselves to be led by any others. I saw several reasons why no leaders emerged:

1) The game is set up to have the contestants compete against each other in the long run so there was a lack of trust in the short run

2) There was no one vocal leader who asserted their leadership at the beginning

3) Many different people put forward different strategies but no one grasped anyone else's strategy

When the time for planning had ended and the horn sounded to start the competetion, all the contestants knew and even said out loud that they had no strategy. Yet they all started running around with their own plans to complete the project. A couple of minutes of focused planning would have solved this but they all ran straight to their jobs, using competing strategies and getting in each other's way. At times some were standing around waiting for others to do things, some were floating rafts, others were dragging them.

There was no communication before or during the project. People were shouting competing commands but no one was listening to anyone else.

What lessons can we get from this?

A) If no clear leader is assigned or emerges during the planning session, you must take the reins yourself or advance the leadership of the person you think is most suited for the job. This leader must be respected enough by the group to allow them to follow him/her for the duration of the project.

B) Even if you are competing with your peers in the long run for that promotion, that key project, that bonus, don't let this get in the way of short-term goals like project success. If the project fails, another PM may get blamed giving you a short-term gain but you also might all be out of a job.

C) Spend enough time to plan the project so that you have no-one working at cross-purposes, even if that time is taking away some of the execution time of the project. You will finish the project earlier in the long run.

Communication means listening to others, not just talking. The old adage of two ears and one mouth applies to project management.