“You don’t manage people, you manage things. You lead people.” (Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper)
That quote is at the bottom of every page of my website.
Somewhere along the line, we got this mixed up. It was probably literally on the line – the assembly line – where the confusion started. On an assembly line, people pretty much are managed as things, keeping the line running, getting the cars, appliances, and widgets put together as efficiently as possible.
Fast forward to today’s work, and we’re still managing projects as if they were assembly-line endeavors. Put together the right components – the timeline, the budget, the task list, and oh, yes, the people – and poof, out comes a completed project.
But projects aren’t widgets. You can’t put a project together as if it were an inanimate object. A project is a living, breathing thing, full of unexpected twists and turns, and impossible to separate from the people doing the work.
We keep trying, though. And then we wonder why our projects end up missing deadlines, over budget, and staffed by underwhelmed, disengaged, annoyed people.
There are two sets of skills, as Admiral Hopper pointed out.
There’s the skillset of managing things – that timeline, budget, and task list.
And there’s the skillset of leading the people, understanding what resistance is really about, guiding them through the necessary identity shifts, knowing how environmental factors impact the ability to change.
Both are necessary. Neither are sufficient on their own for success.
Resistance. Identity. Environment. Neuroscience. Want to learn more? Drop me a note through my contact form and we’ll set a time to have a conversation – not a sales pitch!