Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
GROWING
BEYOND
THE
CULTURE
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Your Presenter:
Phil Williams, PMP, PMI-ACP
Managing Member of
Banyan Group Consulting, LLCProject Management training & consulting
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Hero Culture defined
The Challenges
Root Causes
Steps to Growing Beyond
Agenda
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
The Hero Culture Defined
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
The Hero Culture Defined
• A company culture that
relies heavily on a
limited number of
highly skilled, very
knowledgeable
resources to deliver
projects.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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The business contacts heroes
directly to resolve issues or
concerns
The Hero Culture Defined
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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Heroes react
quickly and
overcome
seemingly
insurmountable
obstacles to solve
problems or fulfill
requests.
The Hero Culture Defined
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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Businesses
recognize heroes
and reward them
with recognition and
promotions.
The Hero Culture Defined
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
Types of Authority
• Reward
• Expert
• Formal (Legitimate)
• Referent
• Penalty (Coercive)
Expert Authority: The authority
that comes from having the most
experience or knowledge.
Heroes have Influence
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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The Challenges of the
Hero Culture
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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• Supporting a client
on an ad hoc
basis is the
standard
• Support is reactive
vs proactive
And now for the Cons
Ad hoc, reactive support
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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The Cons
Visibility into incidents
and problems is often
lost as the business
contacts project heroes
directly to resolve
issues or concerns.
This suppresses process improvement
and innovation.
Loss of Visibility
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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Senior, more experienced
resources (hero managers) get
involved in project activities,
which lowers productivity and
duplicates effort.
It’s estimated that in hero
cultures, utilization and
productivity suffer and can add
as much as 20% to total costs.
The Cons (cont.)
It’s Not Efficient.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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When an organization
experiences growth, domain
expertise does not scale at
the same rate.
The Cons (cont.)
!
The Hero culture is not scalable!
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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The Cons (cont.)
In some cases it can lead
to ‘hero burnout’
Human Torch – the Fantastic Four
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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In his book Knowledge Management in
Theory and Practice, Kimiz Dalkir states
‘individuals are most commonly
rewarded for what they know,
not what they share’
The Cons (cont.)
Critical knowledge is not
shared.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
So we have a hero culture .
What now?
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
How about we look for the
underlying root cause.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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Root Cause?
No!
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
The 1st common characteristic of Hero Cultures:
The Hero Culture – Root Cause
Project process is
weak or not enforced
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
When you talk process and
process maturity, think CMMI.
Capabilities
Maturity
Model
Integration
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Started in 1987, CMMI provides
guidance for developing or improving
processes and may also be used to
appraise the process maturity of the
organization.
Today over 5,000 businesses from
over 70 different countries use CMMI.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Level 1
INITIAL
Level 2
MANAGED
Level 3
DEFINED
Level 4
QUANTITATIVELY
MANAGED
Level 5
OPTIMIZING
Level 1 - Initial
Processes are
unpredictable, poorly
controlled and
reactive.
Heroes needed here!
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Level 1
INITIAL
Level 2
MANAGED
Level 3
DEFINED
Level 4
QUANTITATIVELY
MANAGED
Level 5
OPTIMIZING
Level 2 – Managed
Processes
characterized for
projects.
• Project Planning
• Requirements
Management
• Project Monitoring &
Controlling
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Level 1
INITIAL
Level 2
MANAGED
Level 3
DEFINED
Level 4
QUANTITATIVELY
MANAGED
Level 5
OPTIMIZING
Level 3 – Defined
More Project Focus
• Integrated Project
Management
• Risk Management
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Level 1
INITIAL
Level 2
MANAGED
Level 3
DEFINED
Level 4
QUANTITATIVELY
MANAGED
Level 5
OPTIMIZINGLevels 4 & 5
Focus more
exclusively on
Process
improvement
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
The 2nd common characteristic of Hero Cultures:
The Hero Culture – Root Cause
There’s not a clear distinction
between project activity and
operational activity.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Organizational Resources
Vision
Mission
Strategy
Operational
Planning
Project
Planning
Operations
Management
Project
Management
Project Management Institute, The Standard for Portfolio Management)–
Third Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2013, Figure 1-1
An organization’s
ability to do projects
effectively can impact
it’s ability to survive in
the marketplace and
remain competitive.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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The move to
Project Management
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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The Evolution of Project Management
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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Project Management has been around for a while…
- Pyramids of Giza (2560 BC)
- Great Wall of China (206 BC)
- Taj Mahal (completed in 1653)
- Panama Canal (1881-1914)
- First commercial airplane (1914)
- Moon landing with humans (1969)
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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PMI Founded
1969
1984
PMP Launched
1st PMBOK Published
1996
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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Project Management Body
of Knowledge (1st Edition)
Created in 1996
176 Pages
9 Knowledge Areas
37 Processes
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
PMBOK® Guide 2nd Edition – 5th Edition
PMBOK® Guide – 2nd Edition
Created in 2000
211 Pages
9 Knowledge Areas
39 Processes
PMBOK® Guide – 3rd
Edition
Created in 2004
390 Pages
9 Knowledge Areas
44 Processes
592 ITTOs
PMBOK® Guide – 4th
Edition
Created in 2009
467 Pages
9 Knowledge Areas
42 Processes
517 ITTOs
PMBOK Guide® – 5th
Edition
Created in 2013
589 Pages
10 Knowledge Areas
47 Processes
619 ITTOs
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Extreme
Programming
1996
PMI Founded
1969
1984
PMP Launched
PMBOK®
1st Edition
1996
Predictive Project Management Timeline
PMBOK®
2nd Edition
2000
PMBOK®
3rd Edition
2004
PMBOK®
4th Edition
2009
PMBOK®
5th Edition
2013
PMBOK®
6th Edition
2017
2017
Agile Practice
Guide
Crystal
1988
Scrum
1995Agile
Manifesto
Published
2001
Adaptive Project Management Timeline
1995
Dynamic
Systems
Development
Method (DSDM)
1997
Feature Driven
Development
(FDD)
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition
Created in 2017
756 Pages
10 Knowledge Areas
49 Processes
PMI also released the
Agile Practice Guide that
same year.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Defining the Role of the
Project Manager
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
MY move to
Project Management
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
I found out very soon…
Some super powers are often not transferable!
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
No more ‘The Lasso of Truth’:
The uncanny ‘know who to
ask’ ability to locate and obtain
vital information to resolve
issues.
Wonder Woman
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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No more Green Lantern
Ring:
The ability to conjure up from
thin air anything necessary
(using the ring) to deliver what
the customer wants despite
having seemingly very little to
work with.
Green Lantern
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
No more Electro-magnetic
Disrupter Beam :
The ability to disable electrical
detection systems - and (bypass)
existing process and procedures
using inside knowledge and
connections.
Mysterio
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
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My introduction to formal Project Management
& the story of the 3 aliens…
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Project Management
Painting-by-the-numbers or Skilled Artistry?
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Used to describe the progression of training or learning. It is a
Japanese martial art concept used to describe the stages of
learning to mastery.
Shu Ha Ri
• Shu: Beginner, rule-bound.
• Ha: Branching out, willing to experiment
with alternative approaches.
• Ri: Expert. Operate more on intuition.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Effective Project Management Helps
Deliver Value
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
What is Value
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Price is what you pay.
Value is what you get.
Warren Buffet
(net worth: $83 billion)
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Effective Project Management Processes&
Experienced Project Management Professionals
help organizations deliver Value.
(get what you pay for!)
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Growing Beyond the
Hero Culture
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Step 1:
Analyze your
organization and
it’s unique
needs around
project delivery.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Tailoring
Determining the appropriate combination of
processes, inputs, tools, techniques, outputs
and life cycle phases to manage a project
Your
Company’s
Project
Methodology
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Step 2:
Implement project management processes (a
methodology) consistent with your maturity
level (CMMI) goal.
CMMI Level 2: • Project planning
• Requirements Management
• Project Monitoring & Controlling
CMMI Level 3:• Integrated Project Management
• Risk Management
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Step 3:
Identify the person,
group or department
who will be responsible
to enforce and
maintain the project
management
processes.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Step 4:
Develop an
Organizational
Project
Management
(OPM) framework
to maintain
strategic focus.
Strategy
Results
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Step 5:
Manage customer
expectations by
communicating the
benefits and
necessity of project
management
processes.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
Step 6:
Recognize and
reward process
improvements
and innovation.
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
To Summarize:
In Hero Cultures, heroes are NOT the problem,
• Suppress process improvement & innovation
• Are inefficient
• Are not scalable!
Hero Cultures:
Project Management Process:
• Enables knowledge sharing
• Supports continuous improvement
• Improves competitiveness and leverages growth
Growing Beyond the Hero Culture
www.banyanPM.com© 2019 Banyan Group Consulting LLC
This concludes the presentation
Thank you!
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