A few years back I was watching a Sunday football match between teenage boys. The teams looked unevenly matched. One team was clearly taller and bigger (you know how teenage boys grow at different rates). I remember turning to the guy next to me and saying “it’s fairly obvious how this is going to go”…
…words I very soon found myself eating!
The smaller team, let’s call them Team A, were clearly determined to win, keen to prove themselves against the bigger team. You could see it in their eyes and they worked well together, playing to each other’s strengths.
The other team (Team B) were cruising, more focused on looking good and proving they were the best player. They hogged the ball too long, clearly wanting the glory of scoring. Throughout the game they argued with each other and got annoyed if one of them made a mistake or didn’t pass the ball quickly enough. Soon Team A were two goals up and loving it. Team B then disintegrated into a shambles, blaming each other and making even more mistakes. Eventually a fight broke out between two of them and they were sent off…now Team B was two people down. The game ended at a 8-1 win for Team A. Sometimes lessons show up in random places. How many times have you seen a similar dynamic play out at work? I know I have, many times.
It’s also obvious, fairly quickly whether a project or programme is going to more like Team A or Team B and therefore what the outcome is likely to be.
You can literally feel it.
The real question though is can you create that or does it just exist by accident?
Of course there may be a different start point but as any card player will tell you, it’s not the hand you’re dealt but the way you play it.
I’m by no means a football expert but I do remember a few years ago when Leicester City Football club won the premier league. They came from nowhere and achieved the unthinkable without the big money players the other teams had. Sure a few things went their way but they did a lot right too.
Are you focusing in the wrong place?
Most project managers and company executives focus attention in the wrong places. This is the reason why we’re seeing so many digital transformations failing catastrophically. It’s also why high profile projects such as HS2 hit the rocks so dramatically, despite having very smart people and lots of resources.
With big ERP failures, people typically point the finger at the software: SAP, Microsoft etc.
“We picked the wrong package!”
“It didn’t fit the business!”.
Those same software solutions are being used very successfully elsewhere and most likely in a very similar business to yours. So what’s the difference?
The underlying reason has always been there, hiding in plain sight.
Failing to understand and apply the principles that drive human behaviour.
In other words, why we actually behave the way we do, sometimes even when we know it’s not good for us.
That same dynamic we saw above and that separated Team A and Team B.
Whether it’s HS2, your digital transformation or something else, I’ll ask you this:
If everyone who could affect the outcome was equally committed to it would they be more likely to find solutions to even the most gnarly challenges?
Would they be more likely to compromise other things to make it happen?
Would they be more likely to put aside their differences in pursuit of the bigger cause?
During 2020, the human race came together in an extraordinary way to protect ourselves and each other. One example being a vaccine that would normally take twelve years being done and rolled out in less than one.
Those principles were highly evident then, if you knew where to look.
The good news is that this isn’t just some woohoo, it’s actual science and practice. The same science and practice that has us buying things we don’t need and addicted to our phones.
Science and practice that’s rarely used enough in projects – your opportunity to get ahead?
Studies consistently show then when you align with human nature your project or programme is at least 6x more likely to be successful.
If you’re interested in learning how you can apply this to your project or programme (and especially if you’re facing obvious resistance) get in touch by adding a comment below or clicking the link above to get in touch.
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