From Nelson Mandela to Will Rogers to Eleanor Roosevelt, inspiring words abound for project managers. Sure, most of these quotations weren’t about project management but nevertheless they provide good inspiration.
Writing at the American Management Association Playbook blog, Todd Williams quotes Nelson Mandela, the South African Apartheid fighter who rose to lead his country. He cites Mandela’s belief in “truth and reconciliation” at three powerful words.
“In the six months since his passing, I continue to reflect on one sage piece of advice—the search for ‘truth and reconciliation.’ There is huge significance in these three words. Too many of our corporate cultures have devolved into ‘blame and punishment.’ The minute something goes wrong on a project or in the company, we look for the person at fault and remove or demote them,” Williams says.
The Sources of Insight blog offers inspiring words from our first lady during World War II. Eleanor Roosevelt makes this observation. “Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.” It sounds so simple, yet how many projects are derailed by negative thoughts? Or, worst yet, corporate bureaucracy?
The same blog also offers up inspiring words from Will Rogers, the 1930s comedian famous for his witty observations. This one isn’t so much witty as prescient. Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” In other words, don’t just stand there. Do something.
Luke Johnson, a respected English entrepreneur, makes this observation that shows small can be beautiful when it comes to project management. “I have witnessed boards that continued to waste money on doomed projects because no one was prepared to admit they were failures, take the blame and switch course. Smaller outfits are more willing to admit mistakes and dump bad ideas.”
The quote was shared by Matt Osbun writing at his “Musings of a Software Architect” blog. He adds, in a quotation some might find familiar and inspirational, “It’s frustrating when software projects are crippled by executive-level politicking. Executive-level leadership is foundational to a project’s success. And like a building with a flawed foundation, poor executive leadership will destroy a project in unexpected ways.”
Writing at , Duncan Haughy shares a quotation from the author Louis Fried, “If it is not documented, it doesn’t exist. As long as information is retained in someone’s head, it is vulnerable to loss.” In simpler terms, write it down. It’s as one boss used to say, “What would happen if you got hit by a bus?”
In another blog post on the same site, John Harvey-Jones makes what some would consider a startling observation: “Business is often about killing your favorite children to allow others to succeed.” Harvey-Jones was famous for his BBC show that advised businesses in trouble. How many pet projects are allowed to proceed when they shouldn’t?
OK, so maybe those last two were specific to project management and not pulled from life in general. Lets take a look back at Sources of Insight for a couple more examples of inspiration from famous people. Sun Tzu, the Chinese author who penned “The Art of War” in the sixth century said, “Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.” In effect, just because you could put a round peg in a round hole, doesn’t mean you can get the same results in a square hole.
Finally, many would agree that Alice in Wonderland even though a political satire could be a children’s book about project management. That’s why this quote from the Lewis Carroll classic seems a good place to wrap up. “‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end; then stop.’” If only more project managers knew where to start and where to end.
