Frontline Execution

An Exploration of the Application of Military Theory to IT Project

Management

BY: KELLY M. KERNS

Commodity Issues – everyone has them!

• Decision Making• Prioritization

• Communication• Process Improvement

A CASE STUDY• Organization fundamentals:

– Compliance and Regulation based– Required to Succeed – Failure not an option!

– Balance Tradition and Flexibility– 230 Years to Perfect Processes

Colin Powell• GEN (RET) U.S. Army, • Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, • Former U.S. Secretary of Sate

Stephen Covey• Management Consultant• Co-founder Franklin-Covey• Author – “7 Habits” series

Napoleon Bonaparte • Emperor of France• General of the French Revolution

Napoleon Hill• Author “Think and Grow Rich”

John McCain • U.S. Senator• Former Military Pilot and P.O.W.

Tom Peters• Management Consultant• Author – “In Search of Excellence”

FM 7-8:Army Infrantry Rifle Squad Tactics

Sam Walton • Founder and CEO of Wal-Mart

Sun Tzu• Philosopher• Author – “The Art of War”

• “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.”

• “Avoid moderation in all things.”

• “Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win - essential to success.”

• “Therefore, command them by benevolence, and unify them by discipline.”

• “Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely and who rely on you in rerun.”

• “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”

• “Competent and confident leadership results in effective action. The right leadership gives purpose, direction, and motivation. Leaders must know their profession, their resources, and their tools.”

• “High expectations are the key to everything.”

• “Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.”

• “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.”

• “Avoid moderation in all things.”

• “Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win - essential to success.”

• “Therefore, command them by benevolence, and unify them by discipline.”

• “Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely and who rely on you in rerun.”

• “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”

• “Competent and confident leadership results in effective action. The right leadership gives purpose, direction, and motivation. Leaders must know their profession, their resources, and their tools.”

• “High expectations are the key to everything.”

• “Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.”

Colin Powell• GEN (RET) U.S. Army, • Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, • Former U.S. Secretary of Sate

Stephen Covey• Management Consultant• Co-founder Franklin-Covey• Author – “7 Habits” series

Napoleon Bonaparte • Emperor of France• General of the French Revolution

Napoleon Hill• Author “Think and Grow Rich”

John McCain • U.S. Senator• Former Military Pilot and P.O.W.

Tom Peters• Management Consultant• Author – “In Search of Excellence”

FM 7-8:Army Infrantry Rifle Squad Tactics

Sam Walton • Founder and CEO of Wal-Mart

Sun Tzu• Philosopher• Author – “The Art of War”

NOT A NEW IDEA

• In Japan all college business majors are required to read Sun Tzu’s Art of War

• Fundamental Principle – Pursuit of Success– “The factors in warfare are: First, measurement, second, quantity, third,

calculation, fourth, comparison, and fifth, victory.” – Art of War 4:17

– “The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat .” – Art of War 4:1

AGENDA

• TLP – Troop Leading Procedures

• Orders

• Risk Assessment• 11 Minute Drill

• AAR – After Action Review

TLP

• Used for planning and executing ANY task.• A checklist, methodology or process.• Used at ANY level of the organization.

• We are ALL leaders within our sphere of influence.

TLP

• Receive Mission• Issue Warning Order• Make Tentative Plan

• Initiate Movement• Conduct Recon• Complete Plan

• Issue Order• Supervise

• Project / Task• Communication• Initial Planning

• Assign Resources• Gather Facts• Waterfall / Revise

• Let People Know• Supervise

TLP PM (PROJECT MANAGEMENT)

ORDERS

• Success requires communication and planning!

– “Disorder coming from order is a matter of organization.” - Art of War 5:14

– “Doing battle with a large army is like doing battle with a small army. It is a matter of communications.” - Art of War 5:2

ORDERS

• WARNO – Warning Order– “Head’s Up”– Let people know what you are thinking

• OPORD – Operations Order– A Detailed Plan– 5 Paragraph Format

• FRAGO – Fragmentary Order– Addendum to an OPORD– May generate a new WARNO

WARNO

• Gives everyone time to prepare for a mission.

• Allows time to start gathering resources or requirements.

WARNO

• Very fast– 3 to 5 minutes after receipt of the order– Preliminary information

– 50,000’ view

• Project concept

• “On the Radar”• First step beyond brainstorming

WARNO

• Situation• Mission• General Instructions

– Task Organization• Who is involved• Chain of Command• Responsibility

– Special Equipment• Do we need anything we

don’t have?– Tentative Time

Schedule

• Why?• What?• How?

– Who?– What?– When?

WARNO PM (PROJECT MANAGEMENT)

OPORD

• Communicates a plan– “An operation order (OPORD) is a directive issued by the leader to his

subordinate leaders in order to effect the coordinated execution of a specific operation. “ - FM 7-8

• Usually Verbal• Strict Format• Flexible Application• How?

– Learn Format not Application• Increases confidence in the decision making processes • Ensures that all aspects are considered

– Plug in ANY set of facts

OPORD

• Situation• Mission• Execution

• Service & Support• Command & Control

• Why?• What?• How?

• Resources / Who?• Who / Responsibility?

OPORD PM (PROJECT MANAGEMENT)

SITUATION

• It is important to understand the environment in which the mission is to take place.

• All missions (projects) have a context!• Sub Paragraphs

– Enemy Forces• Distracters

• Challenges

– Friendly Forces• Morale / Motivation / Trust• Resources

MISSION

• Concise statement of what

• Equivalent to the SCOPE of a project

• Example:– On or before Jan 1, 2007 the IT department

will complete an enhancement to the data repository architecture in order to support the Products department.

WHEN WHO

WHAT WHY

EXECUTION

• Concise Instructions• Sub Paragraphs

– Commander’s Intent• The Mission Statement of the Next Higher Command• Gives Purpose to the Mission

– Concept of the Operation• How are we going to achieve success

– Delegated Tasks• Who is doing what

– Coordinating Instructions• How will they stay on the same page

SERVICE & SUPPORT

• Sub Paragraphs– General

• SOPS

• Intel, Facts

– Material– Services

• Administrative Support

COMMAND & SIGNAL

• Who is in charge– Authority– Responsibility

– Accountability

• How will we communicate?

FRAGO

• Modified OPORD format

• Only Specify Areas of Change

• Addendum to original OPORD

SO WHAT?

• Formalized process builds confidence– Reassures that important aspects of project

have been considered– Guarantees communication

– Guarantees JIT information– (SDLC) Spiral or Agile - FRAGO

RISK ASSESSMENT

• Success (Victory) requires calculated risk!

– “To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.” - Art of War 4:8

– “Generally, in battle, use the common to engage the enemy and the uncommon to gain victory.” - Art of War 5:5

– “While heading the profit of counsel, avail yourself also of circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.” - Art of War 1:16

RISK ASSESSMENT

• The Risk Assessment Worksheet– Break mission/task into component threats– Determine Probability and Severity

• What is the likeliness that the event will occur?• What is the impact if it did?

– Consider countermeasures• Is there a process or practice that can be employed to

reduce the probability of the event occurring?• Can anything be done to mitigate the impact?• Can we influence BOTH?

RISK ASSESSMENT

• The Risk Assessment Worksheet (Cont.)– List references for countermeasures

• Is there a document that defines how to address the threat?• Ex: SOPs, GLPs, Part 11, Best Practice, Industry Std.

– Assign responsibility• Who will ensure that the countermeasures are applied?

– Reconsider Probability and Severity• Has the risk been reduced?

• If not can other or additional countermeasures be employed?

RISK ASSESSMENT

• The Risk Assessment Worksheet (Cont.)– What is the highest residual risk?

• This is the mission/task composite risk

– Make a decision• High risk is may rule out a course of action but is not an

excuse for not completing a mission.• The Risk Assessment Worksheet provides a way of

documenting that a threat has been considered.

11 MINUTE DRILL

• Success requires movement!

– “Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.” - Art of War 2:5

11 MINUTE DRILL

• Failure is not an option!

• Time constraints are real!

• We will NEVER know all the facts!• Hasty does not mean impulsive!

11 MINUTE DRILL

• Should take 2-4 hours to complete a fully exercised OPORD

• Do it in 11 minutes!• Why?

– Focus on the imperative– Apply reasonable filters– Use 2/3 rule – Internalize your tools

• Situation• Mission• Higher Command’s Intent• Risk Assessment

– Don’t Skip –Process Fast!

SO WHAT?

• Now remove the constraint• Take 11 minute plan and give it 2-4 hours• Ask

– What changed?– What didn’t?– Were the filters reasonable?– If I had stuck to the first plan would I have succeeded?

• Where do I need to pay more attention?• Where was my intuition on target?

AFTER ACTION REVIEW

• Success requires reflection!

– “One who hearkens not to counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat” - Art of War 1:15

– “Thus do many reflections lead to victory, and few reflections to defeat: how much more no reflection at all!” - Art of War 1:26

AFTER ACTION REVIEW

• What was supposed to happen?

• What did happen?

• What went right?• What went wrong?

• What can be improved and How?

THE TOOLBOX

• TLP• Orders• Risk Assessment

• 11 Minute Drill• AAR

• Project Management• Communication / Planning• Analysis / Decision Making

• Analysis / Traction / Filtering• Lessons Learned

CONCLUSION

• Be open to new tools

• Learn from other’s experience

• Be respectful of tradition– Commit to processes not applications– This builds trust

• Be vigilant to change– Flexibility = Success!

CONCLUSION

• Put yourself beyond the possibility of failure

• Plan

• Communicate• Take calculated risks

• Execute with a purpose

• Reflect