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Why I Value Frameworks Over Methodologies

Early in my career, the head of IT gathered us together to introduce us to a new concept—a methodology. He pitched it something like this: “We’re going to start using new processes to complete our projects in IT.”

We’ll follow this set of rules that will take us from the beginning of the project to the end.” We didn’t think that would be particularly beneficial and we were pretty vocal about how this would slow our work down. So, after a few minutes of our grumbling, he tried again: “Wouldn’t be great if we could get Harvey to leave us all alone and let us get our work done?!” That we liked because Harvey was our collective nemesis—our main client who pressured all the programmers whenever he liked with constantly changing ideas. These never-ending changes caused a chaotic environment. We found it hard to get work done on time resulting in many complaints about us throughout the organization. The new methodology was introduced, and it did indeed improve our chaotic environment.

It did not, though, help our standing in the company. It was too inflexible and the clients like Harvey hated it.

That was the first of many methodologies that were introduced to our industry over the years. Some were quite technical, and others less so. Each purported to get projects done more quickly with more client satisfaction. Each touted that it was the latest and greatest and would solve all of IT’s problems. Each advanced the idea that if it were followed, the whole organization would be eternally grateful. Each started with good intentions, but each got bogged down in its own bureaucracy.

 

Is Agile a methodology?

Before I became a Certified Scrum Master in 2010, I attended my first presentation on Agile. The speaker reviewed the Agile Manifesto and principles and I said to myself—here’s something that takes good, solid project principles and puts them together in a practical way. At that time and to my delight, Scrum was called a “set of practices” which made a great deal of sense to me. Of course face-to-face communication is preferred, if not always practical. Of course we don’t want to get bogged down in needless documentation just to follow some mandated process.

Gradually, though, the word “methodology” replaced the phrase “set of practices.” And to some teams, calling a set of best practices a methodology gets misinterpreted as an unalterable way projects are completed. I remember attending a presentation where the speaker proudly discussed how documentation had been banned in her organization. “ And in another presentation a panel discussed whether virtual communication was considered face-to-face and therefore “allowed.” Agile was in jeopardy of losing its practicality and becoming bureaucratic. But Agile still works today when used as intended. It works, though, more as a framework than a methodology.

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So what’s the difference?

I think there is and has always been confusion between the two. According to the Scrum Alliance website, “Agile methodologies are the conventions that a team chooses to follow in a way that follows Agile values and principles.”[i] The use of the word “conventions” implies some flexibility. So what’s a convention? It’s a norm, an agreement for how in this case a team behaves and does things. I understand behavioral conventions. It makes sense to me that each team will create its own communication and behavioral norms and guidelines. My concern is that these methodology-conventions run the risk of becoming rules for every project—rules that don’t allow for individual problem-solving.

Frameworks by their nature are flexible. They allow teams to decide which practices make sense for their projects and which do not. A best practice may work well on one type of project or in one industry or organization but not others. Another best practice may work well for one set of clients, but not for others or with one team’s skillset but not another. Frameworks allow for these differences and usually encourage teams to choose among the myriad best practices described in the framework.

Sure, frameworks usually describe more practices than can be absorbed for any given project. That’s why it’s important for teams to understand what’s contained in the framework and choose the practices that work for them. If the team views the framework as an inflexible methodology, each step of which must be done on all projects, they may become overwhelmed and abandon it entirely.

 

I value frameworks over methodologies. Not that there shouldn’t be methodologies. It’s just that in my experience, frameworks are more flexible. They allow for individuals and teams to understand the context of their specific environments and make better-informed decisions. Frameworks provide guidance without demanding that each step be followed. Methodologies tend to become rigid over time. They are often used as a crutch when teams are unable to understand context and synthesize information. Having frameworks is important. It seems to me, however, that having bureaucratic methodologies can be self-defeating.

[i] [i] https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/. They base this definition on Alistair Cockburn’s who suggested that “a methodology is the set of conventions that a team agrees to follow.”

Doing What You Can to Change the Unacceptable

Don’t underestimate your power to make positive change. Angela Davis, a passionate activist, is quoted as saying:

“I have given up on accepting the things I cannot change.

I aim to change the things I can’t accept.”

 

As project managers we are often faced with unacceptable realities that get in the way of project and career success.

 

Take for example the situation in which meeting a deadline relies on resources promised by a functional manager to be available at a specified date. The resources do not show up because they are assigned to another project and won’t be available for weeks. To make matters worse, the situation is often repeated, and functional managers are never held accountable. The organization holds the PM responsible for getting the project done on time, no matter what. But in reality, most projects are late, and no-one is ever fired for it. Everyone accepts the fact that schedules cannot be trusted. Clearly there is some dysfunction.

 

There are other examples of unacceptable situations, your boss or co-worker is abusive or incompetent, your sponsor or client chronically has irrational expectations and will not listen to reason, etc.

With a fixed mindset, you can believe that nothing can be done about it. You might be thinking “It’s always been like this and it always will be.” or “I can’t do anything about it, its above my pay grade.” If everyone is thinking that way the situation won’t change. If everyone misunderstands the advice to accept things as they are, things will not change.

Change is possible with a shift to a realistic understanding and a growth mindset that realizes that learning and change are possible. Accepting things as they are does not mean keeping them that way.  It simply means that since you can’t change the present moment or the past, the best you can do is to accept what is and what was. The future is subject to change if you apply the courage and skill to act effectively.

 

Passion and Equanimity

When we aim to change the things we can’t accept, we are faced with the paradox of equanimity and passion. They are both required.

Equanimity is mental calmness and balance regardless of external circumstances. It is accepting that passionate action and unphased acceptance coexist. With equanimity we have the presence of mind to accept what is, analyze what got it that way, plan to do something about it, act, and accept what happens. Whatever happens, we repeat the process – accept, plan, act, accept. Progress is an ongoing process.

In our example, let’s say the analysis uncovers that functional managers want to honor their commitments but are faced with demands from multiple projects and their sponsors that cause them to over commit. A rational plan to correct the situation would be to establish an effective portfolio management process which moderates the flow of projects, recognizing the interrelationships between functional resource availability across multiple projects. To project management professionals, it seems a no-brainer. But creating and sustaining a portfolio management process in an immature PM environment is not easy.

 

If formal portfolio management doesn’t happen there is still hope. There is always something to do, including doing nothing. Your options range from accepting the status quo to changing jobs. In between are options like grass roots cooperation among managers as resource demands change, multi-project monitoring at a PMO level, patiently and skillfully petitioning executives for portfolio management, and more.

This is where passion comes into play. Passion is a strong feeling of enthusiasm about something. If there is a passionate desire to correct the situation, then it is more likely to happen. And equanimity provides the best platform for making the change you want.

 

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Set and Setting

An often-overlooked aspect of making and managing change in our work environment is personal feelings. On a practical, analytical, unemotional level we can come up with the means to make change. If we do nothing or if what we do doesn’t improve the situation, there are feelings – anger, frustration, fear, despair, a loss of passion, etc.

On a personal level self-awareness and self-management, the two principal parts of emotional intelligence must be applied to enable you to change the things you cannot accept. On one extreme of the practical options is doing nothing, accepting the status quo.

If you do absolutely nothing, your feelings will not change. They will get stronger. Your anger might turn to depression. Your performance might suffer. So, you do something, you change your mindset. Environment (setting) and mindset (the way we think, our beliefs and mental models) determine the way we feel and our behavior.

 

We Can Change Our Mind

While we can change our environment – the organization culture, stakeholders, etc. – our ability to do so is limited. On the other hand, we have far more control of our mindset (though sometimes it doesn’t seem so). Changing the mindset begins with adopting an attitude of acceptance and letting go.

If we accept that we are in an unacceptable situation and we can’t change it, we can leave – ask for a transfer, find a new job, retire. If we choose to stay, for whatever reason, we have the difficult task of avoiding letting the situation lead to debilitating emotional reactions, like the anger and despair mentioned earlier. That is where a mindset that includes the belief that it is possible to be equanimous and optimally well in any situation is essential.

Apply mindfulness and emotional intelligence to remind yourself that you can change the way you think and feel, that everything changes, and that you can accept the status quo and do what you can to change your setting. This approach leads to a sense of personal control and hope for improvement. It is the theme of my latest book – The Peaceful Warrior’s Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-Aware Living and my first book, The Zen Approach to Project Management.

 

Related articles:

Learn from the Past to Perfect Performance

Making the Impossible Possible

Practical Perfectionism and Continuous Improvement

Achieving Quality Performance and Results

Know When to Give Up

Securing the Road Ahead: The Transformative Impact of Cybersecurity and Software Updates on the Product Lifecycle in the Automotive Industry

Abstract

A final project end with the “start of production”? No more today.

In the automotive industry, Cybersecurity and Software Updates have become critical factors that impact the entire product lifecycle. Cybersecurity and Software Updates have become a serious concern in the automotive industry with the increasing use of technology and networks in modern vehicles, as they open up new attack paths for hackers to negatively influence a vehicle’s functionality. So, how do we protect vehicle occupants from such attacks? The UN Regulations UN ECE R155 and R156 request the automotive industry to establish a Cybersecurity and Software Update Management System to enable protection throughout the whole product lifecycle against attacks from outside and avoid potential weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the system.

This calls for thinking further into the product lifecycle, as securing the vehicle must address not only the development phase, but also the production and on-road phases.

In this article, I describe how this further thinking can be established in an automotive industry organization.

 

The vital importance of Cybersecurity and Software Updates

Cybersecurity and Software Updates are of the highest importance in the automotive industry due to the increasing integration of advanced technologies and connectivity in modern vehicles. As cars become more connected and autonomous, they are exposed to a wide range of cyber threats, making cybersecurity a critical aspect of the whole product lifecycle.

Connected vehicles rely on a complex network of electronic control units that communicate with each other to perform various functions. If hackers gain unauthorized access to these systems, they could potentially manipulate or disable them, leading to life-threatening situations for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.

 

To preserve safety, security, and trust throughout the whole lifetime of the vehicles, the UN ECE Regulations require that measures are implemented across four disciplines by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs):

  • Managing vehicle cyber risks.​
  • Securing vehicles by design to mitigate risks along the value chain.
  • Detecting and responding to security incidents across the vehicle fleet.
  • Providing safe and secure Software Updates and ensuring vehicle safety is not compromised, introducing a legal basis for so-called over-the-air updates to onboard vehicle software.​

The regulations apply to passenger cars, vans, trucks, and buses. They entered into force on 22nd January 2021.​ In the European Union, the new regulation on Cybersecurity and Software Updates will be mandatory for all new vehicle types from July 2022 and will become mandatory for all new vehicles produced from July 2024. ​I assume no one would drive a car if they would not trust its functionalities. To ensure Cybersecurity along the supply chain, various standards and norms are vital for the suppliers, too.

 

Securing the journey: How do Cybersecurity and Software Updates impact every product lifecycle stage?

Cybersecurity and Software Updates are an essential consideration during the entire product lifecycle, from conception to disposal:

Cybersecurity and Software Update management

Is the product Cybersecurity relevant? Every project must consider this as the initial question. Effective Cybersecurity project management requires a deep understanding of cybersecurity principles and practices. By effectively managing Cybersecurity projects, organizations can enhance their security posture and mitigate cybersecurity risks. Software Updates already require thinking beyond the production phase at the very beginning. How can I secure Software Updates in the field? And most important: keep your suppliers in the loop. One small leak at the very end of the supply chain may affect the whole product.

 

Concept phase

The key changes of the concept phase are to identify and assess potential Cybersecurity risks and threats related to the item. This involves analyzing the item’s assets. Clear and measurable Cybersecurity Goals must be defined to guide the implementation of Cybersecurity measures.

 

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Development phase

In the design phase, it is essential to incorporate Cybersecurity measures and Software Updates procedures into the product’s architecture, features, and functionality. Identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities throughout the development is necessary, too, to stay up to date regarding any threats to develop countermeasures to address them.

Developers must follow secure coding practices and regularly test the product for vulnerabilities. Regular screening for Cybersecurity Events that may be exploited as a weakness, vulnerability, or incident in the item is key for secure development. Those vulnerabilities are to be managed to reduce the risks of exploitation. Additionally, procedures for Software Updates campaigns and packages are already to be defined during the development, which then shall be rolled out in the field.

Before release, the product should undergo thorough testing to ensure that it meets security requirements and standards. This includes functional and security testing, including vulnerability and penetration testing. A validation shall determine if the Cybersecurity goals are achieved.

 

Production phase

The production of the item must be configured securely. This includes implementing secure access controls, applying security patches, and configuring firewalls and other security measures during production.

 

Operation and maintenance phase

Throughout the product’s lifecycle, monitoring and maintaining its security posture is essential. This includes regularly updating and patching the product, monitoring for Cybersecurity incidents and vulnerabilities, and responding to incidents promptly.

 

Decommissioning phase

Finally, when the product is no longer in use, it should be decommissioned of securely. Wiping data and securely destroying hardware to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information is key.

 

By incorporating Cybersecurity and Software Update mechanisms into each stage of the product lifecycle, organizations and their suppliers can mitigate the risk of Cybersecurity incidents and protect their customers’ sensitive information through secure Software Updates.

 

Who supports the setup of a Cybersecurity Management System and Software Update Management System?

Besides the UNECE Regulations for the OEMs, there are several norms, standards, and frameworks that support the setup of a Cybersecurity and Software Update Management System at the supplier’s site. As we know: we need to ensure Cybersecurity and Software Updates along the whole supply chain, these norms provide guidelines and best practices to help organizations establish effective cybersecurity measures. The two most prominent ones for Cybersecurity and Software Updates are the

  • ISO/SAE 21434 „Road vehicles – Cybersecurity engineering“.
  • ISO 24089 “Road vehicles — Software update engineering”.

Both norms describe the Cybersecurity and Software Update engineering processes in the automotive industry to secure the systematic development of safe vehicles – only a secure vehicle can be safe. Therefore, the norms also require security throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle. Without Cybersecurity and the associated requirements for Software Updates, there will be no sufficient Functional Safety – there is no Safety without over-the-air updates.

Securing the foundation: Transform your organization to establish a sustainable Cybersecurity Management System and Software Update Management System

Why are Cybersecurity and Software Updates so important? The answer to this question must be anchored in the mind of every colleague. Implementing a Cybersecurity and Software Update Management System requires not only the organization to define standards, rules, and processes that shall be used during the projects. It also requires the awareness of the whole staff. When you perform an organizational transformation there must always be a clear reason for the change. Get your team together, get the commitment, capture, and communicate the reasons for the change and create common sense.

Establish visionary leadership to transmit awareness to all employees and create a willingness to contribute. Create the desire and opportunities for contribution to engage the employees. Enable the staff to fulfill their roles. And anchor the new way of working and enforce the growth mindset – thrive on challenges, cultivate your qualities, and grow through application and experience.

From Waterfall Walls to Agile Architecture: The New Era of Construction

This is a collaborative article cowritten by Lucas Marshall and Jason Braun.

 

Productivity is hard to measure. It differs depending on industry, for one. What’s more, the construction sector is what the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago considers “strange and awful,” representative of raw BEA data suggesting “that the value added per worker in the construction sector was about 40 percent lower in 2020 than in 1970.” For instance, the construction of the One World Trade Center in New York faced numerous delays and budget overruns, highlighting the challenges the industry faces. Labor shortages—whose “impacts on labor wages, cost overruns, and scheduling concerns in construction projects”—could be the driving factor here as companies struggle to fill positions while unemployment remains low. In other words, “few construction workers [are] seeking jobs, and therefore the pool to fill demand is shallow,” while onsite workers face the unique challenge of executing projects with limited resources—adding to these impacts and slowing growth.

 

At first glance, the worlds of software development and construction may seem poles apart. However, both industries grapple with the complexities of managing large-scale projects, ensuring timely delivery, and adapting to unforeseen challenges. For example, the development of the Windows 95 operating system was a monumental task for Microsoft, much like constructing a skyscraper is for a construction firm. Just as software developers transitioned from the rigid Waterfall methodology to the more adaptive Agile approach to address these challenges, the construction industry stands at a similar crossroads.

 

While it may seem alien to the construction sector, the software industry has subbed one framework (i.e., waterfall) for another (agile), resulting in success ratios two times greater, 37% faster delivery, and greater impact on improving product quality, a 2023 scholarly study found. Popular apps like Spotify and Airbnb have notably benefited from Agile methodologies, iterating rapidly based on user feedback.

 

In this article, we propose applying similar agile and lean construction methodologies illustrative of industrialized construction. Like software—which replaces a rigid, monolithic release cycle with a more agile framework—we explain that industrialized construction looks to replace the old-school, one-off “project” mindset with a fast and dependable productization framework. Consider the construction of modular homes, which are built offsite in controlled environments and then assembled on-site, mirroring the iterative development and deployment in software.

 

Software Project Management: From Waterfall to Agile

Companies in the software industry generally use one of two frameworks when building software products:

 

Waterfall

Waterfall is a more traditional approach to software development where production takes place in a linear, sequential manner (i.e., every task needs to be finished before the next one begins). This means new software solutions begin by defining requirements, then shifting into the software design phase, then shifting to the software developers building what has been proposed, then verifying the release is stable, and finally shifting into maintenance (i.e., finding and squashing bugs). For instance, the early development of Microsoft Office followed a Waterfall approach, with distinct phases and milestones.

 

Key point: Like construction projects that oftentimes involve a considerable deal of back-and-forth with approvals before breaking ground, then contend with unpredictable access to onsite labor and materials as well as rapidly changing weather conditions, we’ll argue later that construction is due for breaking from the waterfall-like processes through industrialization.

 

Agile

Agile is an iterative, team-based approach to software development where rapid delivery of functional products over a short period of time (known as sprints) is used (similar to lean manufacturing methods applied to construction). Continuous improvement is adopted, and subsequent batches are planned in cyclical schedules. Tech giants like Google and Facebook have adopted Agile methodologies for many of their projects, allowing for rapid iteration and improvement based on user feedback.

 

Agile methodology is more collaborative and customer-focused. Oftentimes, customers have the opportunity to offer their feedback through the software development process (e.g., beta releases). Through this approach, developers can improve the overall functionality of the software for the target end user and establish a 1-1 relationship based in trust and mutual respect. It also offers a fixed, predictable schedule and delivery, improved quality for customers through their hands-on participation, as well as adaptability through change.

 

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From One-Off Projects to Finished Goods through Industrialized Construction

Industrialized construction (IC) refers to “the process through which construction aims to improve productivity through increased mechanization and automation,” similar to how Ford’s early assembly line offered the mechanized approach necessary to meet the demands of customers for the Model-T while ensuring product consistency and quality through mechanized orchestration.

 

The mention of Ford’s Model-T isn’t merely a nostalgic nod to the past but a pivotal example of industrial transformation. In the early 20th century, the automobile industry faced challenges similar to today’s construction sector: Inefficiencies, inconsistencies, and a demand that outpaced supply. Ford’s introduction of the assembly line for the Model-T revolutionized production, offering a standardized, efficient, and scalable solution.

 

At a high-level, industrialized construction as a concept moves beyond approaching each build as one-off projects. Instead, practitioners apply a foundational framework where building deliverables are treated as building products and the same attention to build quality, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement seen from manufacturers of marketable finished goods (e.g., automobiles, electronic devices, perishable goods, etc.) is applied to construction. A real-world example can be seen in the rise of prefabricated homes, which are built in factories and then assembled onsite, ensuring consistent quality and faster construction times.

 

The traditional approach to construction, as we highlighted earlier, comes with its set of challenges. For instance, 45% of all construction projects face disruptions due to inclement weather. A staggering 93% of construction firms grapple with material shortages. Furthermore, the limited access to skilled workers, a point we touched upon earlier, restricts the efficiency of an onsite workforce, especially under tight deadlines. This can jeopardize schedules, budgets, and even the quality of work.

 

For instance, the construction of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport faced numerous delays due to planning and execution challenges, showcasing the need for a more streamlined approach.

 

The transition towards Industrialized Construction isn’t just a theoretical proposition; it has tangible, real-world implications that can redefine the construction landscape. For starters, IC can lead to significant cost savings. By shifting much of the construction process to controlled environments, we can mitigate the risks and uncertainties of on-site construction, from weather disruptions to labor shortages. This not only ensures projects stay on budget but also can lead to faster completion times. For example, the Broad Sustainable Building company in China constructed a 57-story skyscraper in just 19 days using prefabricated modules, showcasing the potential of IC.

 

Industrialized construction, meanwhile, looks to improve quality by affecting factors within a business’s control:

  • Third-party prefabrication and offsite construction partners or building out your own infrastructure to support offsite preassembly can improve schedule certainty by 90%, while cutting down on construction costs by 10% and improving quality by mechanizing the preassembly process in a temperature-controlled factory setting where stringent quality measures can be enforced.
  • Robotics and additive manufacturing technology to increase output, capabilities, and design freedom of human installers; smart tools and IoT solutions in the hands of these installers, meanwhile, can further assist in performing installations more safely with reporting/quality verifiability. For instance, the use of drones in construction sites for surveying and monitoring has become increasingly common, providing real-time data and insights.
  • Building information modeling (BIM) can help construction professionals and stakeholders (e.g., customers, inspectors) collaborate virtually, envisioning finished products in their natural environment while improving the 1-1 relationship and trust through construction projects similar to how earlier discussed software teams run beta tests. The construction of the Shanghai Tower, for example, heavily relied on BIM for its design and execution.
  • A wealth of data via digital twins (e.g., real-time inventory data, predictive analytics, data synchronization to remove information silos, etc.) can help professionals manage projects with more certainty and deliver data-driven insights to drive proactive decision-making and quality.

 

In the broader discourse on project management methodologies, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez’s article, “It’s Time to End the Battle Between Waterfall and Agile,” offers a compelling perspective. Nieto-Rodriguez critiques the rigid dichotomy many project leaders maintain between Waterfall and Agile, suggesting that such binary thinking has fostered tribalism within the project community, stifling innovation and potential. This tribal mindset has even led entire organizations to “go agile,” often at the expense of sidelining the foundational principles of traditional methodologies that certain projects might still benefit from. The real-world implications of this divisive approach can result in tangible losses for organizations. Nieto-Rodriguez advocates for a more nuanced approach: hybrid project management methodologies. By merging the meticulous planning of Waterfall with the adaptability of Agile, these hybrid methods can address the shortcomings of a one-size-fits-all strategy. Such an approach not only bridges the divide between the two methodologies but also paves the way for more effective and innovative project outcomes.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 

Bottom Line

The construction industry and its fragmented ecosystem is in desperate need of industry-governing interoperability where critical project data is shared in real-time, enabling collaboration and a nimble building process adaptive to change.

 

As project managers in our industry look to the software industry for ways to improve quality, one conclusion they may come to is breaking away from the monolithic, waterfall delivery methods. Instead, they may implement an agile framework and industrialization of processes that facilitate the same increased output and uncompromised product quality that allowed the iconic Model-T to roll off the production line and meet customer demands.

 


About Authors

Jason Braun is the author of Designing Context-Rich Learning by Extending Reality and an educator with over a decade of producing, delivering, and promoting critically acclaimed multimedia learning experiences. Recognized for collaborating effectively with programmers to create educational software featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education and with subject matter experts like New York Times best-selling authors and FBI cybersecurity agents.

Learn from the Past to Perfect Performance

To optimize performance, learn from experience. Set aside time for reflection, learning, and making the intention to perfect the way you live and work.

Hopefully, we are always reflecting and paying attention to intentions, performance, and goals. Though it is skillful to give full attention regularly and intentionally to deep introspection, both as an individual and team.

It might be during a retreat, retrospectives, or lessons learned activities, and performance reviews. It might be for an hour, a day, or longer.

As individuals, we can use meditation and contemplation techniques to cultivate self-awareness, reflect on past errors and successes, and to identify values and commit to positive action going forward. As teams, we can come together to review performance and find ways to improve – candidly and meaningfully.

Acknowledge errors, celebrate successes, and commit to skillful behavior going forward into the next cycle, phase, or project. Keep in mind that imperfections and uncertainty are facts of life. How we handle them makes all the difference.

 

Simple But Not Easy

So simple and logical. Reflect and learn. But we find that it is not that easy. Egos get in the way.

Egos get in the way when there is a criticism-averse mindset. Fear of being fired or disrespected and the need to be perfect lead to avoiding candid feedback from others and even from oneself. Without open self-awareness and intention to continuously improve, to optimize performance, there is a common tendency to avoid criticism, particularly negative feedback.

In a 2016 article on project performance review[1] and in my new book, The Warrior’s Path[2], I refer to warriorship and the need to confront resistance to looking at yourself and your team candidly and compassionately.

 

Warriors

“Warriorship here does not refer to making war on others. Aggression is the source of our problems, not the solution. Here the word “warrior” … literally means, “one who is brave.”[3]

A warrior is dedicated to a cause, a struggle. The peaceful warrior is dedicated to the cultivation of clarity and compassion, with the goal of personal wellness, group wellness, effective performance, and being of service.

It takes courage and skill to confront one’s own and one’s team process and behavior, particularly the imperfections. It takes more than a formal performance review procedure.

 

In one case a software development organization “lost” the video recording of a project performance review that became too “negative” with some members of the team “attacking” members of a functional group who “defended” themselves.

This is not the kind of struggle the Peaceful warrior engages in. Seeking optimal performance is not about attacking and defending. It is about bringing issues to light and discovering causes by confronting the issues collaboratively.

Doing that requires disengaging from one’s identification with one’s role to take on the role of an objective assessor.

 

Not Easy

Taking on the role of objective assessor of your own performance is not so easy. Aversion to negative criticism is deeply embedded in culture and psychology.

To first acknowledge and then do something about the resistance to confrontation begins with oneself as an individual.  If you can’t face your own shortfalls, how can you expect others to face theirs? When you identify with your team and its performance you transfer your resistance to criticism to the team. Criticism of the team becomes personal. If you are on the attack or are defensive, you are not being objective.

But not all aversion to criticism is based on mental habits. Much of it comes from organizational cultures that seek to blame rather than understand and improve. It comes from leadership that is conflict averse, often because they don’t know how to handle conflict or have their own personal issues with criticism.

 

Emotional intelligence

Can you simply be present with the uncomfortable emotions you feel when confronted with your shortfalls? Being present with emotions means feeling them fully without reacting to them by trying to throw them off through ignoring, making excuses, blaming others, or disparaging yourself and your own competencies. This is emotional intelligence in action.

You and the team get nowhere without objectively addressing issues and their causes. Unmanaged emotions get in the way.

 

Facilitating Organizational Awareness

Facilitating the quest for optimal performance starts with self-aware individuals who can manage their emotions and who value criticism of any kind to avoid repeating unskillful behavior while promoting effective performance and healthy relationships.

Not everyone is self-aware and motivated. Embedding performance improvement in the organization or the team is enhanced by training individuals to recognize their aversion to criticism and value the opportunity to improve. At the same time, regular anonymous micro-assessments provide objective data to cut through subjective opinions.

Effective facilitation is another vital factor. The facilitator promotes objectivity and awareness of participants’ ability to give and take feedback in a positive, non-attacking and non-defensive way.

 

The facilitator prepares the team by promoting the understanding that:

  • Negative criticism is valuable to the end of improvement
  • It is normal to be averse to it
  • Whether averse to it or not, it is necessary to invite, accept and thrive on criticism
  • In most cases, the process and not the individual performer is at the root of errors and omissions. Take performance seriously but not personally.
  • Blaming and defensiveness are emotional reactions that get in the way of cause analysis and improvement.

 

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Next Steps

Assess where you, your team, and your organization are when it comes to using critical analysis in performance review to improve performance.

At what level of the organization does aversion to criticism exist? Is there lip service but no follow-through? Are training and facilitation needed?

How can you best promote candid useful reviews of team and individual performance so you and your team can learn from experience?

 

Related articles:

https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/the-key-to-performance-improvement-candid-perfromance-assessment/

https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/project-performance-review-the-power-of-recognizing-what-s-going-on/

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/lessons-learned-process-thinking-review-3169

https://www.projecttimes.com/author/george-pitagorsky/page/7/#:~:text=Performance%2C%20Attention%20and%20Focus

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/managing-virtual-teams-high-performance-7310

 

 

[1] Pitagorsky, George, Project Performance Review: The Power of Recognizing What’s Going On https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/project-performance-review-the-power-of-recognizing-what-s-going-on/
[2] Pitagorsky, George, The Peaceful Warrior’s Path: Optimal Wellness through Self-Aware Living, to be available in late October 2023
[3] Trungpa, Chogyam, True Perception: The Path of Dharma Art, Shambhala, November 11, 2008, ISBN 1-59030-588-4 [3]