ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is the result of my cumulative experience as a project and program manager and technical experience writing software for commercial, energy, space, and defense systems. These experiences have informed my thought processes over thirty years—some wonderful experiences, some not so wonderful. In the end, there are a small number of people who have caused me to rethink my view of the project management view of the world. The first is John Caterham, who was the CIO at Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site in Golden, Colorado. Rocky Flats was a U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Agency production site from 1952 to 1992.
The cleanup of that site was what Edwin Land called manifestly important and nearly impossible. John led not only the IT department but also the removal of infrastructure and its replacement with other technologies needed to keep the site operating while the contamination was removed. John’s management approach was collegial. In most organizations, those are just words. John walked the walk. His staff were his colleagues in every sense. He provided everything needed for success and held everyone accountable for that success. He led from behind (an overused phrase) by listening first, sometimes never saying anything for a long time, until we had sorted out our ideas ourselves. He allowed us to “think out loud,” then act on those decisions with his support.
Two other managers have had that kind of influence on my growth as a program manager. Jack Pritchard was a vice president at Logicon where I managed a software development group. Jack always had sage advice for us young managers. He was the model of how to manage creative people while still getting the job done on-time, on-budget, and on-specification. Before Logicon, my first “manager” was Fred Leary, when I was a fresh graduate student writing radar signal processing code for the Air Force. I was locked away inside a literal vault, pouring over tens of thousands of lines of FORTRAN, so it was an encouragement when Fred came by to ask a simple question: “Is there anything I can do to improve what you are doing?” Usually, the answer was no, but when it was yes he went and did it and came back with the solution. He was an example of how to manage creative people—give them a clear, concise, definitive, and measurable task, provide all the needed resources, and let them do their job. He only intervened when he could actually add measurable value. No “supervision,” no “oversight.” Coaching, mentoring, and making small suggestions to keep everyone “inside the white lines” of the road we were on.
Over the course of writing this book, I have had a “day job.” This involves managing projects and pieces of projects, advising those managing projects, and contributing to the policy-making side of defense program management through professional organizations and consulting engagements with the policy makers themselves in the Office of Secretary of Defense. Along the way I met many good project and program managers and a few that struggled for success. Each has provided insight into the Five Immutable Principles, Five Immutable Practices, and the processes you’ll find in the book.
In the end, this book would not have happened without the support of my wife of twenty-five years, Linda Chartier. Linda understood that working two jobs, book and day job, meant sitting in the office long after everyone else was asleep, typing away. She not only tolerated it but also recognized the energy that comes from any difficult intellectual pursuit.
To all who have contributed to forming these ideas, I thank you. Some are credited directly and some may recognize your concepts. Newton’s quote “I stand on the shoulders of giants” is appropriate, although the actual quote was a veiled insult to Hooke.* But my statement is meant as it is used today—“I could not have arrived here, without the knowledge and support of others.”
* “Newton to Hooke,” 5 Feb. 1676, in The Correspondence of Isaac Newton, edited by H. W. Turnbull, J. F. Scott, and A. R. Hall. 7 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), I, 416, 1959.