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, July 24, 2006
Heroes and Villains -- Derry Simmel writes about the problems with heroes. One of the many points he makes...
"Heroes are dangerous: Just ask every Security officer on the Enterprise (red shirts). Standing too close to a hero can be a problem; our hero may be impervious to nuclear weapons, but those of us nearby are slightly less durable. When a hero comes in to save your project, if they succeed, they’re the hero (again). If they fail you will be watching them ride off into the sunset while you clean up the mess and count the cost."
But he's not really against heroes, but rather the dependence on them - the "hero culture." The "money quote"...
"Problem is - projects are not contests, they are projects, and that is where the hero culture fails."
Heroic performance is laudable when needed, but it should only be needed rarely - it can't be expected or depended upon on a regular basis. Otherwise, the resulting stress and burnout will eventually make it impossible.
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