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Munchausen by Project

One of my colleagues called me up today and invited me to lunch.  He's one of these interesting Straightjacketfrpeople to know... there's no middle ground with the perceptions of him.  People with whom he's worked have very strong feelings that go to one extreme or the other, but none of our mutual acquaintances have ambivalent feelings about this guy... that's part of what makes his project branding so effective, though.  Love him or hate him, he gets things done fast and done well, and he's a great example of carpe factum.

We never have boring lunch conversations when we get together, and today it turned to a discussion about psychological disorders.  (Yeah, imagine that:  two project managers playing armchair shrink.)  Anyway, someone on his project team has a history of sabotaging projects, deliverables, milestones, etc. just so s/he can sweep in and perform heroic rescues when all seems lost.  Fortunately, this peer of mine, in pure uber-PM fashion, put a halt to that behavior and informed the individual that s/he can either be successful by helping the project be successful ... OR ... the project can be successful while this individual would be allowed to fail.  It sounds like he's managing this individual quite effectively.  I joked with him that it sounded like this person was suffering the project version of Munchausen by Proxy (the disorder where parents harm their kids just so they can experience the "high" of reviving them and get to play worried parent).  Sigh.  It takes all kinds to be on a project.

Hal Macomber of Reforming Project Management talks about some of the ill-fated actions of some recent newsmakers and the consequences of their actions.  One has to wonder if the people who sabotage our projects on purpose (for whatever reason) would treat their own resources (time, money, energy, passion, property) the same way.  Would the executive who pipes up in a meeting and deliberately miscommunicates a target date also call his wife every night and - with the same deliberation - blatantly lie about what time he'll be home?  Does the SME who spitefully withholds harmful information critical to the team's success/failure also not tell her children about the dangers of guns, poison, and strangers?  Does the manager who cruelly dangles reward after reward and promotion after promotion only to pull them away before delivered play that same trick repeatedly on his dog?  Probably not.  They've most likely compartmentalized their value system to the point where they can no longer distinguish the situational nature of their actions.

My colleague and I (and countless others) will continue to point out the inconsistency of their actions and do our best to mitigate around them.  And we'll hope that no permanent harm comes to our projects in the meantime.

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Comments

Lucia

I think the comment "two project managers playing armchair shrink" is perfectly appropriate.

What I would like to know is the approach you take when you notice the sabotagers inconsistency!!!

I have a few approaches, the woman in me that is the "lets gets to the bottom of the issues in their life and why their insecurities enable them to act out on this manner", and the "I don't care why you behave this way... just stop doing it" - to be honest I think my approach has to do with my mood, patience and time constraints during that particular situation.

I understand the psychosis around this due to so many people in my life that feel the need to be a star... and the personal pressures they place on themselves and how they manipulate situations to ensure that happens.

Really... as a business owner I couldn't accommodate this phychosis, however; as a PM I think with proper channeling this person can be helped to understand, it just takes a lot of time and effort and you need to assess if they are worth it (everyone is personally if you look at it in a heal the world perspective) however, business is business.

Timothy

If I catch somebody in "wrongdoing" I will almost always try to give them an "out" (was this a misunderstanding? a simple mistake? a miscommunication?). But I watch. The serial sabateur, because it is in his/her nature, will generally strike again (sometimes at me directly for having pointed them out in the first place). Then the gloves come off. It will be documented as an issue and communicated for others on the project team to be aware of. I will also have the "we won't have this discussion again" conversation. I have fired a few project resources; to others I've played counter politics; still others I've allowed to hang themselves very publicly. It is situational. The trick is to deal with it early and with deliberation.

K

I just started a new job, and soon as I entered I was told to watch my back, and that jealousy is a normal part of the work environment. I soon discovered that someone else in the company had interviewed for the same position, and that was the person I was supposed to watch my back. Interestingly, management is aware of this, and yet is allowing this person to train me instead of a peer. The project hasn't even started and the due date in 4 days away. A couple weeks ago, I did state my concern to management, yet they still want this person to continue train me. I am afraid of losing my job and I haven't even been there 2 months.

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