An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
— Sir Winston Churchill
How do you get assigned to the high-profile projects in your company? Be a leader who can make it happen. That's what Winston Churchill did, he established credibility. Then the people of England commanded that the man of many talents become Prime Minster, and project manager over the WWII project. Mark Kozak-Holland writes of Churchill the Project Manger, and how changes in technology shaped battlefield tactics.
Many organizations today toil to bring forward people for the "top" project jobs. Ask the PMs in the organization who they would support and natural leaders will be pushed forward, those with the credibility and weight to make a real difference with
projects.
Top managers understand how to transform technology into a business advantage. Mark points out in his Churchill article that the same technology was available to England and Germany. Germany, however, made far better use of technology in the early years of the war. After Churchill seized the helm of England's war machine, England started to use agile management techniques.
Today, project managers have the same choice. They can join the fight or be gunned down by brighter, faster project managers who are using agile methods and technology — blogs, wikis, prototypes...
In some ways, a project manager can now act as a CIO who will make a difference for his project. Weave the right technologies into your project so that every time your project changes, the technology moves with it.
The change crocodile is snapping at our heels. And this animal is a constant and consistent algorithm. Yet, some senior managers cut off their corporate limbs, one by one, and feed the ravenous reptile, trying to appease it. Holding fast to the ways that were, these managers can only hope the crocodile of change will eat them last.