:AACE CERTIFICATION 2009-2010:

As it seems the strong voice, aka kick-butt method with clear goals, targets and timelines starts showing effect – both at the AACE certification program as well as our office environment.

Coupled with the refreshing (and very much necessary) break last week I am now starting to reapply and reinforce the learning best practices of proper project management and leadership as addressed and discussed in the relevant literature as well as our Jakarta workshop in my day-to-day work.

Reflecting on this week’s learning I can identify that one of the major struggles in any kind of (project) management position (at least from my humble perspective) is to find the proper balance between a goal/target oriented team management, allowing each individual to develop, manage and live their own detailed plans and by that keeping them self-motivated and “agile”, and a far too laissez-faire management style not providing sufficient direction, leading to too many individual focal points in the organization/team.

Taking the analogy to my earlier blog entry, I see the challenge very much in keeping the free radicals active without reducing their momentum when trying to align them to work in the same direction; Still making sure that all those radicals have the same focal point.

Looking into and reflecting on the supplemental assignment of the week I see a major challenge not only in the right understanding of ethics in the different cultures across the Globe but also in the fact that nobody really likes to bite the hand that feeds you, especially in those larger cooperation where the customer is not always the clearly visible force behind the decisions or in other words where the superior, who is asking you (like in those examples given) to commit unethical acts, is deciding on your future in the cooperation – talking about “group think” in a different interpretation. Coupled with the current economic situation in the Global market this is becoming a very tricky subject.

Taking example #1 further in the analyses and considering the fact that, purely fictive assumption, for the sake of argument, and without knowing any further details on the case, those Senior Executives are asking for the distorted view due to an anticipated negative market/investor reaction putting at stake the future of the whole company and as such everybody’s employment in the company.

The larger a cooperation grows the more complex the social structure and interaction between individuals become. Also and especially in this kind of environment, you certainly need those strong voices at the top as well to make sure that ideas and ideals are properly followed and implemented.

BR/Klaus

Preparing for a week in flood and hurricane-shaken Manila

# posted by Klaus @ 10/24/2009 12:31:00 PM