The atrium between the office areas was filled with food. There were chafing dishes along one wall, surrounded by trays overflowing with pastries. Another table had urns of coffee and tea, and multi-colored pitchers of juice. People were gathered in clusters in the room, picking at the feast, and talking in low voices. The walls were covered in banners with the name of a program printed on them in big colored block letters.
"What's the party for?" I asked an acquaintance as I passed through the area, headed to my office. "It's for the Big Failing Project Team", he whispered, as though we were discussing a personal problem of someone nearby. I stopped, trying to connect a failing project and free food. "Why is the Big Failing Project Team getting free breakfast?" My acquaintance looked at me like I had suddenly sprouted a pimple between my eyes. "This is team building. Leadership is worried that they've been working too hard, and want to reward them so they will know they are valued." The gears turned in my head. "If they worked hard, why is their project failing?" Silence. "So if I want our project team to be recognized, I should encourage them to fail?" I've always loved asking the tough questions. I didn't wait for his response, I turned and left the atrium, adding yet another dysfunction to the list of organizational dysfunctions I'd never commit when I made it to the top.
A couple of minutes later, my boss came by my office. I related the story of the free breakfast for the Big Failing Project Team to him. He recommended I just go ahead and get some of the free food. I explained that I wasn't bothered by the free food, I was bothered that the Big Successful Project Team, the one I was on, was ahead of schedule and under budget. If a free breakfast was being offered, it should be for the successful team, not the failing team. We were rewarding the wrong behavior. It was his turn to be silent. I wondered if there actually was a pimple between my eyes.
At the time, I was finishing up a graduate certificate in project management at Stevens Institute of Technology, while enrolled in my first semester of a masters of science in management at Thomas Edison State College. If you've ever been in a masters program, you'll probably remember how your mind begins to view your job like a case study. Often times, the case study you are living has a strong resemblance to Scott Adam's comic strip Dilbert. This is why Dilbert is so popular, it hits close to home. I once tried to watch The Office, and had to stop. It made me feel very uncomfortable. The characters almost seeming to portray people I know, maybe in some ways who I am. Truth is stranger than fiction.
I reflected on why a team would be rewarded for failing, and never came up with a reason why this is good. The projects I was managing at the time, were the most difficult. Few of my team members were on site with me. I managed all of the off-site programs. My team on a project consisted of content developers in Illinois, editors in Massachusetts, and developers in India. Another project I managed had content developers in Illinois, video production in Massachusetts, a producer in Mexico, and video locations spread around the Spanish speaking world. No breakfast enchiladas for us, we used that time for communicating.
How did we avoid the free food? We talked and e-mailed each other constantly. We thanked each other for meeting deadlines, acknowledged extra effort, and when appropriate, we complained about the obstacles, but overcame them. Our success was dependent on each other, and we knew that the miles that separated us couldn't stand in the way of our getting the project completed successfully. Departmental politics were left out of our work. In that organization, success meant obscurity. Failure meant rewards. I'm proud to know our team didn't deserve a free breakfast. But I did sneak over and get some of it from the buffet table. I brought it back to my office so no one would think I was part of the failure. It didn't taste as good as it looked. Does it ever?
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| The bitter taste of breakfast |
A couple of minutes later, my boss came by my office. I related the story of the free breakfast for the Big Failing Project Team to him. He recommended I just go ahead and get some of the free food. I explained that I wasn't bothered by the free food, I was bothered that the Big Successful Project Team, the one I was on, was ahead of schedule and under budget. If a free breakfast was being offered, it should be for the successful team, not the failing team. We were rewarding the wrong behavior. It was his turn to be silent. I wondered if there actually was a pimple between my eyes.
At the time, I was finishing up a graduate certificate in project management at Stevens Institute of Technology, while enrolled in my first semester of a masters of science in management at Thomas Edison State College. If you've ever been in a masters program, you'll probably remember how your mind begins to view your job like a case study. Often times, the case study you are living has a strong resemblance to Scott Adam's comic strip Dilbert. This is why Dilbert is so popular, it hits close to home. I once tried to watch The Office, and had to stop. It made me feel very uncomfortable. The characters almost seeming to portray people I know, maybe in some ways who I am. Truth is stranger than fiction.
I reflected on why a team would be rewarded for failing, and never came up with a reason why this is good. The projects I was managing at the time, were the most difficult. Few of my team members were on site with me. I managed all of the off-site programs. My team on a project consisted of content developers in Illinois, editors in Massachusetts, and developers in India. Another project I managed had content developers in Illinois, video production in Massachusetts, a producer in Mexico, and video locations spread around the Spanish speaking world. No breakfast enchiladas for us, we used that time for communicating.
How did we avoid the free food? We talked and e-mailed each other constantly. We thanked each other for meeting deadlines, acknowledged extra effort, and when appropriate, we complained about the obstacles, but overcame them. Our success was dependent on each other, and we knew that the miles that separated us couldn't stand in the way of our getting the project completed successfully. Departmental politics were left out of our work. In that organization, success meant obscurity. Failure meant rewards. I'm proud to know our team didn't deserve a free breakfast. But I did sneak over and get some of it from the buffet table. I brought it back to my office so no one would think I was part of the failure. It didn't taste as good as it looked. Does it ever?
If you enjoyed this blog, please share it with your social network using the buttons below.
_______________
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