stealing project management lessons from artificial intelligence

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager

STEALING PM LESSONS FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Digital Project Management Summit Aus>n, October 2014


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Ar>ficial Intelligence

Project Management

MY RESEARCH


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TRADITIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFTEN SEEMS OF THE OPINION THAT

THE PROCESS IS SOUND AND ADHERENCE IS THE PROBLEM


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ROBOTS/AGENTS HAVE NO PROBLEMS BEING PATIENT, LOGICAL OR RATIONAL, AND CAN WORK 24/7/365… … BUT IT STILL DIDN’T WORK


1) AUTONOMY (AGENTS) 2) MASTERY (MACHINE LEARNING) 3) RE-‐CREATION (MACHINE INTELLIGENCE)


FIRST LET’S LOOK AT AUTONOMY AND AGENTS


ENABLING AGENTS TO MAKE DECISIONS AND ACT INDEPENDENTLY BUT ALWAYS TOWARDS A COMMON

GOAL LEADS TO COMPLEX, SUCCESSFUL ACTION


FOCUS ON THE WHY (THE GOAL) AND ENABLE THE WHAT AND THE HOW TO BE DEFINED BY THOSE DOING THE WORK, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE


THIS IS WHY I LOVE USER STORIES

As a <type of user>, I want to <do something>, So that <some value is created>. (should fit on a post-‐it)

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Skills/Knowledge

Direction

Know what to do, don’t have all the skills to do it

Know what to do and equipped to

do it

Got skills, need direction

Huh? Where are we? What are we

doing?

CLUE / SKILLS MATRIX


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HUMAN SKILL DEVELOPMENT UnconsciousIncompetent

ConsciousIncompetent

ConsciousCompetent

UnconsciousCompetent


HOW DO MACHINES LEARN?

MASTERY & MACHINE INTELLIGENCE


MACHINE LEARNING IS FASCINATING

•  Supervised (teacher-‐student model)

•  Unsupervised (learn-‐from-‐data model)

•  Reinforcement (learn-‐by-‐doing model)

•  Developmental (learn-‐enough-‐to-‐set-‐ up-‐more-‐learning-‐for-‐yourself model)


WE’RE GOOD AT WHAT WE PRACTISE, PROVIDING WE CAN LEARN FROM IT


DELIBERATE PRACTICE •  You must be mo[vated to aEend to the task and exert effort to improve

your performance.

•  The design of the task should take into account your pre-‐exis[ng knowledge so that the task can be correctly understood a`er a brief period of instruc>on.

•  You should receive immediate informa[ve feedback and knowledge of results of your performance.

•  You should repeatedly perform the same or similar tasks.


MODELS OF DELIBERATE PRACTICE •  Sports Model – analogous to condi>oning

•  Chess Model – what did the grand master do?

•  Music Model – chunking & mental rehearsal


IS THE WORK DESIGNED IN A WAY THAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE DELIBERATE PRACTICE?


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AS AN ASIDE…

DO RETROSPECTIVES DURING PROJECTS RATHER THAN POST MORTEMS AFTER

FOR A POST MORTEM,

FIRST SOMETHING HAS TO DIE


3) RE-‐CREATION (MACHINE INTELLIGENCE)


Across industries, across countries, the

best performing teams answer certain

ques>ons posi>vely


Predictors of High Performance 1.  Do I know what is expected of me at work? 2.  Do I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right? 3.  At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? 4.  In the last 7 days, have I received recogni>on or praise for good work? 5.  Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? 6.  Is there someone at work who cares about my development? 7.  At work, do my opinions seem to count? 8.  Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important? 9.  Are my co-‐workers commiEed to doing quality work? 10.  Do I have a best friend at work? 11.  In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone about my development? 12.  At work, have I had opportuni>es to learn and grow?


UNDERSTAND MOTIVATION •  Purpose •  Autonomy • Mastery


MOTIVATION = + PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?) + AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?) + MASTERY (Am I proud of HOW?) -‐ ANY NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT DETRACT


Predictors of High Performance (remix) PURPOSE •  Does the mission/purpose of

my company make me feel like my work is important?

AUTONOMY •  Do I know what is expected of

me at work? •  At work, do my opinions

seem to count?

MASTERY •  Do I have the materials & equipment I need to do my

work right? •  At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do

best every day? •  Is there someone at work who cares about my

development? •  Are my co-‐workers commiEed to doing quality work? •  In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone

about my development? •  At work, have I had opportuni>es to learn and grow?


And What Else? OTHER FACTORS: •  In the last 7 days, have I received recogni>on or praise for good work? •  Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? •  Do I have a best friend at work?

ESSENTIALLY, AM I RESPECTED & REWARDED HERE? CAN I BE MYSELF AND SUCCEED HERE? I CALL THIS INCLUSION.


The Most Important Ques>on Best predictor of recruitment AND reten>on? Someone’s ability to agree with:

“Someone like me can be successful here”


CREATE SPACE FOR YOUR TEAM TO BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE

Your job as a project manager…


As a PM, Ask Yourself •  Do my team know WHY we are doing this? •  Do my team get a say in the WHAT? In

doing the right thing? •  Do my team get opportuni>es to do the

thing right? And to get beEer at the HOW? •  Do we do a good job of making all our

different people feel included & like they BELONG HERE?

(PURPOSE) (AUTONOMY) (MASTERY) (INCLUSION)


SPACE TO BE AWESOME = + PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?) + AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?) + MASTERY (Am I proud of HOW?) + INCLUSION (Do I BELONG HERE?) -‐ ANY NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT DETRACT


TO RECAP: KEY LESSONS WE CAN STEAL FROM AI AND USE IN PM


KEY LESSONS 1.  Autonomy maEers (because change happens) 2.  Communicate purpose & goals (why & what) 3.  Let individuals define the how (bonus: mo>va>on!) 4.  Help design work as deliberate prac>ce 5.  Help teams assess & improve as they go (retros > post

mortems) 6.  Awesome = purpose + autonomy + mastery +

inclusion


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YOU CAN’T HOLD BACK THE OCEAN, BUT YOU CAN LEARN TO SURF


EVERY ROLE IS

CAPABLE OF VIRTUOSITY

stealing project management lessons from artificial intelligence

Business

datamodel reinforcementlearn

itgot skills

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