This Focused Performance Weblog is a "business management blog" containing links and commentary related primarily to organizational effectiveness with a "Theory of Constraints" perspective. TOC is noted for its applications in Project Management and Multi-Project Management (Critical Chain) and Operations Management (Drum-Buffer-Rope), as well as in Marketing, Strategic Planning and Change Management (TOC Thinking Processes). If you are on an archive page, current postings are found here.
Monday, April 26, 2004
Change... is in the air this spring.
Among the small circle of friends of this weblog, David Anderson is moving out on his own, Jack Vinson is moving back in after a bit of time on his own, and Joe Ely is moving from one position to another. Clarke Ching might, unfortunately, be moved out from where he has been. And, as for myself, after seven and a half years on my own with Focused Performance, today is my first official day back in the world of the regular paycheck and company-paid health insurance.
I've joined DigitalGrit, a small and growing internet marketing and technology firm as Director of Project and Process Management. The decision and process that got me here have been interesting.
The Decision After about a nine month gestation/selling process, a non-trivial prospect for my Focused Performance practice was finally ready to move down the road to critical chain-based multi-project management when this opportunity arose. And at the same time, a fellow TOC consultant who for a frustrating six months, had been threatening to bring me in to support a large engagement, was making louder noises about it being "right around the corner." (Although that's where it had been since first talking about it). And then another collaborative opportunity was offered the day after I agreed to the DigitalGrit position. When it rains (especially after a drought), it pours. I had a client ready to move, and two fall-backs, not to mention a few other new suspects rustling in the bushes. So why make the move back into a regular gig?
As an independent consultant, I've had exciting opportunities to influence a number of organizations, help them move from one mode of operation and level of performance to a different mode and higher level, and at the same time, learn a lot for myself from being exposed to a range of industries. But I have to admit missing the long-term follow-up and refinement of continuous improvement that I was able to get in my previous in-house positions. Also, as a single-person practice, I found myself spending far too much time struggling with the stalking of suspects and the selling to prospects rather then getting the satisfying rush of actually doing the work I love.
And then there's the gig itself.
DigitalGrit is about four years old, and I'm told they've tripled their staff in the last year or so, and foresee it just about doubling again in the next. The founders recognize that they are at that critical inflection point of moving from the small, nimble, entrepreneurial mode of a start-up to a size that requires a mode of operation involving a bit more attention to things like capacity planning, consistent processes, and a bit more formal multi-project management, while retaining the nimbleness and responsiveness that got them to this point. The idea of influencing the direction for these efforts, and seeing them through over time as the firm grows -- especially in the internet and system development space that I've come to appreciate from the outside so far -- sounds like fun to me.
The Transition That last comment -- the bit about my being an outsider in this "space" -- reflects something that made my transition into DigitalGrit interesting. The interview process brought out two concerns on the part of the firm. First, could I handle and be happy in a regular Monday-Friday situation after the "freedom" of the consulting life. And second, since, due to the size of the firm, I wasn't only going to be managing the PM process, but actually managing key projects as well, there was a issue that I hadn't so far myself managed an internet or software development project. The way we dealt with these concerns was to bring me in as a consulting gig so that I could feel out the situation, and they could see me in action for a few weeks in their environment. On Friday, after three weeks of what was to be as much as a 1-month "audition," the formal offer was made and accepted.
I'll admit to sharing the first concern a bit -- I think what I'm going to miss most is the teaching aspect of my consulting work, watching the aha's of workshop attendees when doing the multi-tasking exercises in project management session, and especially as they solve problems in classes in the TOC Thinking Processes. From a work-life standpoint, the almost 2 hours a day, 70-mile round trip commute will be a bit more wearing than the previous commute that involved stumbling down the stairs to my basement home office -- when not commuting via an airport during engagements. And the daily routine will impact the flexibility I've had to address home life, especially given my wife's weekend-heavy retail job.
But after three weeks, I'm adjusting nicely, although you blog readers may have noticed the recent (temporary) shift from my usual big pieces to the shorter link-and-comment postings. I'm getting used to the routine, and expect to use my new experiences as fodder for the blog and website. It'll be interesting to see how "Frank Patrick's Focused Performance Weblog" evolves from here without the consultancy marketing agenda it's supported until today. (After brief consideration otherwise, I have decided to keep it on topic, keeping my social, cultural, and political commentary largely contained over on my Unfocused blog -- Friday Fun postings aside. The Focused Performance blog will continue to be about project and process management in the support of business success.)
That second concern, though -- the one about not having worked in a particular industry before -- was a bit frustrating, as it was the bane of many of my selling efforts throughout the existence of Focused Performance as a consulting practice -- "What you say makes sense, but where in our industry have you applied it?"
As an old Industrial Engineer, which of all the engineering disciplines, is most conducive to "generalist", transferable "system thinking" and problem solving, I find the old "not invented here (or at least in our industry)" attitude is a common obstacle to respect and confidence from others. In the similar issue of the perennial question surrounding the need of a project manager to have intensive experience in the domain of the projects' industry, I tend to fall on the side that says that a PM with no domain experience can do as good, if not a better job, than someone with industry experience but no PM experience. Project management is more about facilitating the arrows between the boxes than the technical content of the boxes themselves. Sure, there's a bit of a learning curve at the start, but in the three weeks I've had to get my feet (and ankles) wet at DigitalGrit, my previously extracurricular web and internet awareness has been more than sufficient to allow me to ask hopefully smart "dumb questions" and stay away from the really dumb ones. I'm finding that moving into a new technology or industry is not as much an issue as moving into a new organization and learning it's policies and practices.
Anyway, Enough rambling. I'm fitting in and having fun. A new experience begins. Read about it here.
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