People

One of the best advice I ever got was: “Delivery is made by people, not by a tool or a vendor” or something like that.

My organization at this point of time had already chosen a tool and we were choosing a vendor. All looked great on slides, and their hierarchy were behind their proposal. But how to choose?

That is where this advice made sense. People… People deliver, not the vendor or their past successes. Focus on the people who will make it happen. So instead of listening to the vendor’s speech I asked to meet the people who will deliver the project for me and choose them carefully. Not only based on their skills for the position but also on the potential relationship that my team and I could build with them. Because at the end of the day, delivery will always be messy, something ought to go wrong one way or another, you or your vendor can do mistake, slip on timeframe, attrition of key resources to name a few. But real relationships can?fix most of them.

Yes of course, you put stand up, daily meetings, weekly, steering committees or any other formal project management best practices. But how many nagging small things that could have hampered a business commitment my team and I were able to solve just by talking, arguing (in the first sense of it of exchanging arguments to reach a common understanding), navigating each other's organization to ensure when and to whom to make the right noise; and not over emails, wasted online meetings or ignoring each other points of view. And not to mention that the never officially named resolution office: the chai wallah on the street. His source of income seems linked to the number of small issues or informal talks people wanted to have with me or my team. Well I never complained as the chai was always freshly brewed for me.

And at one point it struck me: Looking back, I realized that since I started the delivery line of work the only way I made progress and solve real issues in long term was not by doing it myself but by engaging others with me. In 2007 while looking at an issue in my first engagement I found a way to solve their issue but by showing them why and how to, they themselves solved more such issues without the need of me going back there. In 2008, when I really started my delivery journey I was a lone wolf, but impact was really felt when I accepted to talk to other individual equally skilled on their own and exchanging ideas and challenges and hopes. When I got ?the chance of engaging with more people over different continents and different languages/cultures I was able to make?differences because I was listening more than talking (I think) and tried to understand their point of view. I still remember going over cranes of containers wooden boxes held for few weeks in custom zone in Kinshasa because the local team trusted me (or I like to think that) that it will make a difference. I am quite sure that few favors were called in to make it happen, but it did work. And so many others fond memories (one should try the jolly beef in Leki island – Lagos Nigeria or a road side hot Indian aloo paratha after a night in front of a screen trying to solve a production issue for breakfast).

So, what was the point of all this:

Do not trust slides, big names, ear say, people whose only objectives are to quick start a delivery and go. Build the relationship with the people who will deliver business values with you, who will be there in bad weather, not only in good weather. Tools, algorithms, equations, organizations are as good as the people who will make it happen, no more and certainly less important that the human factor. This is my sole opinion.

To those individuals that I had the chance to meet, to talk, to exchange, to engage, to deliver across the years I would like to say: I tried to be more social, to engage more, to listen more, to exchange more but many thanks for the trust you granted me to teach me your skills and point of view, to be part of your delivery, your adventure. I know I still have more than 100 WhatsApp, LinkedIn wishes that I have not replied some since 2010, very sorry Vipin and all others. And I will miss many more. I am unable to meet you as much as I want to. I hope that you know that if you need me I am just a call/message away and I will reply, do my best to try to help.

To those I have not yet met: I am looking forward to our encounter, to hear about your success and challenges so we can exchange ideas and may be deliver together.