I am a believer in the power of project management.
As a professional project manager for nearly twenty years, I have witnessed project success drive business results. I have also proven that project management can change lives and help achieve personal transformation. Now I am sharing some practical tips and techniques that you can use to help achieve your own personal goals, live your best life and become a PM Believer.
Science vs. Art
Project management is both a science and an art. Beyond the formal tools and processes, there are other habits and techniques that project managers use to achieve success. Today’s post explores one of these aspects of the art of project management.
Do You Know Too Much?
Can knowing too much be a project manager’s biggest liability?
The role of a project manager is very broad. They need to have a little bit of knowledge about a wide variety of topics. From technology to contracts to team building, there are many tasks that project managers are called to do.
Project managers’ jobs are bigger than writing charters, building plans and running meetings.
With all of these responsibilities, is it any surprise that project managers build a lot of knowledge? But knowledge isn’t enough.
Great project managers are learners.
When we consider the best project managers (in the office or in personal projects), there is another common trait that makes them great. The best project managers are curious and ask good questions. They can quickly collect and process digest large amounts of information to make a quality, objective decision.
Have you ever known so much about a topic that your thinking gets lazy? This can happen with project managers.
Once a project manager has built tons of knowledge, it becomes more likely that they will disengage their curious mind. Instead, they will simply draw from their knowledge and past experiences, make assumptions and jump to conclusions. They believe that they have seen it all before and every project is simply rinse-and-repeat.
A project manager with too much knowledge misses details and their projects fail.
I am not advocating that you immediately stop learning nor do I think you should try to remove knowledge from your brain with a corkscrew. Instead, staying humble and building even more knowledge is the recipe for project success.
Stay curious and learn something new every day.
Approach each of your projects with a beginner’s mindset. Ask questions about every aspect of the project: the goals, the work that each team has to do, about the team members. Any time you can ask a question to learn more, do it.
Be objective and consider the facts of every issue and decision.
When issues pop up, and you know they will, don’t assume that you have seen it before. Ask questions about the facts and collect as many details as you can. Then consider those facts, not just your previous experiences, to arrive at a conclusion.
By taking some simple steps to continue to gain and manage the vast amounts of knowledge you gain as a project manager you can ensure that your knowledge continues to be an asset, not a liability.
Are you ready to be a PM Believer?
Project managers have to have a lot of knowledge about a variety of topics. But lots of knowledge can be a major liability. Through a few simple steps, project managers can stay successful even when they know too much.
How have you applied project management for your personal success? Tell me about it at OperationMelt.com and make sure to join my email list to have updates delivered to your inbox weekly.
Make sure to help your friends achieve their goals by sharing this post on your social network and by following me on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
Want to know more about how I changed my life with project management? Pick up your copy of my book Operation Melt: How I Used Life-Changing Project Management to Lose Over 100 Pounds In Under a Year.
About Operation Melt
Operation Melt started as a blog to share my personal transformation and weight loss story. After achieving success with that goal, Operation Melt has evolved into a platform to help inspire, motivate and equip people to achieve their own personal and professional goals so they can live their best lives. My vision is to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
