Let this mouse run the project!

When I was a little kid I used to read “Don Miki”, a thin booklet containing graphic comics of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other characters like Goofy, Gyro Gearloose or the orange colored dog Pluto. It came out every two weeks and my grandmother visited the kiosk regularly to buy the latest issue, so I could enjoy reading it during my visits. Looking back, I realized that my passion for reading started perhaps with Walt Disney’s comics.

Fast forward to today, I found myself flipping through the pages of an ancient Don Miki together with my daughter; although she is still too young to grasp the content and moral of the stories, she enjoys glazing at the colorful pages. As I read the booklet, I put on the project manager lenses to realize that the fictitious characters with beaks and feathers could well be blueprints of their flesh and bone counterparts!

I start with Donald Duck, an ill-tempered character with an upbeat attitude to life. He is a total procrastinator who chooses to take long naps over doing something useful. When he runs out of cash, which is almost every day, he doesn’t hesitate to ask his wealthy uncle Scrooge. Budget management surely would not be amongst his top three skills. He doesn’t get or do anything right and blames everyone else but himself for his disgrace. Despite these numerous flaws, Donald has a heart of gold. He would never leave his three nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie behind although sometimes he has a peculiar way of showing affection. With all due respect, I’d not choose this gracious duck to be in any of my teams.

But I would not vacillate to hire his beloved nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie - if they would have the minimum working age, naturally! They are crafty, inventive, responsible and always willing to give a helping hand in finding creative solutions to all sorts of problems. Their willingness to learn and experiment makes up for their shortcomings in areas that they are not too acquainted with. With such a wide array of skills, who could resist welcoming them onboard?

Another one that I would enlist without hesitation is Gyro Gearloose, the genius inventor with an outrageous productivity rate, although sometimes his inventions do not work out the way he planned to. Can you picture Gyro in a scrum meeting? He would flourish in this setting, coming up with new features and ideas, and probably driving the rest of the development team crazy. Gyro is a superb mix of a generator and a conceptualizer who thrives on solving problems and exploring new opportunities. Assign him a predictable project and he’ll soon become demotivated and bored; enroll him in a highly adventurous initiative and he’ll quickly become the team cornerstone.

Last but not least, Mickey Mouse. He is a sweet, easy-going and carefree character, always eager to share his positivity with others and keep their spirits high during low times. Moreover, he is a composed professional even when inconveniences get in the way. On top of that, he is a true altruist who risks his own life for the safety of others without expecting any reward in return. I don’t know if you’d agree, but I believe that Mickey Mouse would make a striking project manager!