Fundamentally

Project Management - into the 21st Century

Too often people hire an old friend or a so-called 'expert' to manage a project, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Here is an approach to get the right person into the project - whether to implement a change or to become a new member of the Board of Directors.

The science of Management is loaded with books and articles about resource management, costs and planning to mention just a few. Very rarely do we come across anything that characterises the exercise itself or how we might identify the right person to optimally manage it.

To begin to fill in some of the mysteries, we can examine projects under three strategic headings, and also practical managers as three distinct types - it's not difficult to put the two together to get the most effective and efficient outcome

Please click here for a discussion about the relationships between projects and their managers

Common-Sense Psychometrics

Only one in three appointments made using psychometric profiling are right for the job. Two people in three end up in the wrong post, probably miserable and almost certainly ineffective.

Psychometric profile has developed for the 'high A', the ambitious and the aggressive - only about 20% of the population so, unsurprisingly, it doesn't work

It is possible to identify the right manager by simplifying the whole exercise; please click here for the argument

The Four Of Us, or Perhaps Eight

There are many and varied means of assessing and categorising people; yet so many of them boil down to four basic types:

Living in the future

Living in the present

Living in the past

Watching it all happen

Once the fundamental type has been identified, additional elements can then be brought into play to better understand them - elements such as values and personal focus.

To read more about the types Download four_types_of_person.pdf 

Posted by Steve Mullins

Different People

In working with people I have noted five different types of individual:

The one who swims against the current because it's exciting and new; working hard, not seeming to make much progress [the visionary leader].

The one who stands in the current, looking for today's tasks [the manager].

The one who goes with the flow, using what's known and safe, not working too hard yet seeming to make good progress [the lawyer or auditor].

The one sitting on the bank chronicling what's happening [the writer, actor, musician].

Isn't it interesting that industry is run by the first and second type whilst government is run by the third and fourth type; draw your own conclusions.

Posted by Steve Mullins