Table Of ContentProject Management C Project
r
o
s
“Barry and Kathryn, through their knowledge and experience, offer a very s
effective and practical way to understand and manage a culture of project •
management. As one of their former students and a senior executive with a B
r
wide range of experience in project management in the federal government, o
Leadership
h
I can confirm with certainty that numerous best practices presented in this
m
book will help organizations optimize organizational capabilities that will a
n
help projects meet strategic objectives.”
—Stephane Cousineau, Deputy Director and Chief Information Officer,
FINTRAC, Government of Canada
P
“This book offers a balance of logical and persuasive content with experience
R Creating Value with an Adaptive Project Organization
and observations of real-life examples of effective project leadership. … The
result is a book that is not only very insightful but also an interesting read.” O
—Jim McSheffrey, Vice President, Greater China Area and President,
J
3M China
E
C
“I highly recommend this book for all leaders involved in project strategy
T
and delivery. Throughout this book, Professor Cross and Professor Brohman
have offered exceptional insight into real-world project delivery complexities
L
that organizations often face. Effective project leadership is the key ingredient
E
behind successful project launches and the authors have provided an invaluable
framework that will enable leaders to be more effective.” A
—Farshad Kajouii, Director, Project Delivery,
D
Bell Canada
E
R
S
H
I
P
K22050
6000 Broken Sound Parkway, NW
Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487 ISBN: 978-1-4822-1630-1
711 Third Avenue 90000
an informa business New York, NY 10017 Barry L. Cross
2 Park Square, Milton Park
www.crcpress.com Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK
9 781482 216301
M. Kathryn Brohman
w w w. c r c p r e s s . c o m
K22050 cvr mech.indd 1 5/29/14 10:09 AM
Project
Leadership
Creating Value with an Adaptive Project Organization
Barry L. Cross
M. Kathryn Brohman
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2015 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Version Date: 20140508
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4822-1631-8 (eBook - PDF)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts
have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume
responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers
have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to
copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has
not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmit-
ted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.
com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood
Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and
registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC,
a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction ix
About the Authors xv
Chapter 1 The Project Environment 1
Cooking with Campbell’s: DuPont Goes
Downstream in the Le Menu Dinner 16
Chapter 2 Why Projects Fail 21
The England– France Channel Tunnel (Chunnel)
Project 25
Why Projects Fail 28
Chapter 3 The Case for Project Leadership 37
The Adaptive Project Leadership Model 39
Responsive Leadership 42
Responsible Leadership 42
Systematic Leadership 43
Adaptive Project Leadership 45
Why Project Leadership Is Important: Redux 46
Assessing the Need for Project Leadership 48
Symptom 1: Unclear Ownership for Project
Delivery 48
iii
iv • Contents
Symptom 2: A Lack of Project Leadership
Competence 48
Symptom 3: Incomplete Goal Definition 49
The 92nd Grey Cup (2004):
A Case in Project Leadership 51
Chapter 4 Project Oversight and Visibility 55
Leadership through the Intersection Points 58
Leadership through Effective Oversight and
Visibility 60
Steering Implementation with Oversight 61
Enabling Strategy with Visibility 66
Oversight and Visibility at Access Copyright 71
Chapter 5 The Paradox of Project Control 75
The Need for Control 79
The Project Leadership Gap and the Paradox of
Control 81
Establishing Effective Project Control 85
Institutionalization: Moving from Leadership to
Organizational Control 87
Four Systems of Organizational Control 90
Effective Decision Control 91
Managing the Paradox: IT Project Delivery in the
Canadian Government 93
Chapter 6 Risk and Crisis Management 99
The Steps in Risk Management 107
Step 1: Risk Identification 108
Step 2: Risk Assessment 109
Step 3: Risk Response 110
Crisis Management 113
Chapter 7 Project Timing and Acceleration 119
Barriers to Effective Project Estimates 123
Increasing Estimate Accuracy 127
Project Acceleration 129
Chapter 8 Strategy, Execution, and the Operating Plan 135
Project Visibility and Reinforcing Strategy: The
Operating Plan 143
Contents • v
Chapter 9 Building an Adaptive Project Organization 153
What Is an Adaptive Organization? 155
Moving from Order to Adaptive 158
The Anatomy of an Adaptive Project Organization 160
The Heart: Fostering Commitment 161
The Lungs: Building Momentum 163
The Brain: Establishing Resilience 167
Building an Adaptive Project Organization at
Bright Star 169
Appendix A: Project Leadership Organizational Self-Assessment 175
Project Leadership Assessment 177
Analyzing Your Results 177
Appendix B: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis 181
Endnotes 189
Acknowledgements
A number of colleagues have been instrumental in this book’s evo-
lution. First and foremost are the program directors at the Queen’s
School of Business who allowed us to go beyond the traditional proj-
ect management curriculum to develop and deliver the concepts
now recognized as project leadership. Specifically, Gloria Saccon,
Tom Anger, and Shannon Goodspeed supported our initiatives
and gave us creative latitude and support during the years it took to
develop and test the relevance of many of the concepts introduced
in this book.
Our work has also been supported by a remarkable set of col-
leagues, friends, and students. Stephane Cousineau at the govern-
ment of Canada was one of our first students in the executive MBA
program at the Queen’s School of Business and kindly agrees to
speak each year at our summer project leadership seminar and share
his current ideas and practices in leading major IT projects. Other
students from programs who regularly stay in touch and share their
ideas and challenges with regard to effective project delivery include
Perry Doody, Farshad Kajouii, Allan Nixon, and others. Their
enthusiasm, creativity, and energy were a constant source of insight
and inspiration.
vii
viii • Acknowledgements
Jeff Potter, Katrina Cross, Trevor Braun, and Jim McSheffry
read early versions of the manuscript and provided us with impor-
tant input and feedback. Thank you for the hours associated with
that work.
Our participants in the Queen’s Executive Development Program
have also been constant supporters and challengers of our ideas.
Without great students, the concepts and models introduced in this
book would certainly be less fruitful and interesting. Institutional
support has also been crucial in our work. Without the Queen’s
School of Business’s long- term support for both of us, this book
could not have been written.
Thank you to Jason Bonin, for always asking the questions that
needed asking.
Most of the illustrations in the book are the work of Chelsea
McKillop, our graphic artist. Thank you, Chelsea.
At Taylor & Francis, we were encouraged and supported by a
team of creative and competent professionals—our editor, Lara Zoble,
project coordinator, Laurie Schlags, and the whole Taylor & Francis
team were terrific.
Finally, we thank the most fundamental leaders behind this book,
our families. There are many who think an academic’s life is blessed
with freedom and flexibility; it is only the people who live with us
day- in and day- out that know the challenges. Sean McKillop’s profes-
sional insight, emotional support, love, and encouragement provided
Kathryn with the space and support to both write this book and
aspire to always find the deeper meaning behind her work. Charles
and Mary Brohman raised Kathryn with the confidence to challenge
ideas and taught her the true meaning of responsibility.
Barry’s family, Katrina, Regan, and Declan, have grown accus-
tomed to his long periods of banishment to his den as these books
take shape. Their support is unwavering, and who they are as indi-
viduals and a family continues to inspire (even as he talks about a
third book).
Thank you all.
