Management by Just Showing Up

     “Eighty percent of success is just showing up.”
     That was Woody Allen, demonstrating in just a few words how deeply meaningful a comedic quickie can be.

     “I don’t know anything about music. In my line, you don’t have to.”

     That was Elvis Presley, displaying wisdom we might not have expected from a guy who swiveled his hips like that.

     "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."
     And Peter Drucker had a way of blowing up our comfortable suppositions in ways we can't disagree with.

     If all of us project managers were to follow those dictates, we’d be much better prepared to do our jobs well.

When Projects Derail

     Do 30 percent of projects really fall short of requirements? Or is it 40 percent, 50? 60? Are the projects running over budget . . . ‘way over? Missing deliverable dates . . . by a lot?
     The reports often are more anecdotal than scientific, for good reason: How can you accurately measure what never was reliably established to start with?
     This is not necessarily about requirements and estimates, which often are precise and properly done. They are the source of comparisons between what was intended and what actually was accomplished, but they may well not be the cause of the overruns and shortfalls.
     A frequent reality of project execution is that the ground under those requirements and estimates is shifty and unreliable.
     Life in such a world can be frustrating for the project manager.