In the beginning of the book, we discussed how we have relied on predictive, and evolved to iterative incremental and agile approaches to deal with simple to complicated projects and PMOs based on a mechanical mindset. The question posed was how to deal with the challenges of complexity on the other side of the continuum, with increasing DANCE in a turbulent environment. Figure 12.1, Balancing along the Complexity Continuum, answers the question with a list of alternative approaches on the other side of the continuum, summarizing some of the ideas discussed in the chapters of this book.

The challenge is knowing which approach to use when, and how to balance between them. The goal should be to develop an intuitive approach based on a combination of integrative, augmented, and emergent mindset and methods.

When I was working with a group of project managers at NASA on managing complexity and dealing with the DANCE, they shared a story about a group of 23 project managers who declared mutiny midway through an advanced project management course based on NASA standard procedures. They felt the procedures were not relevant and too restrictive and they needed more flexibility to deal with the nature of their projects. The good news is that NASA's leadership realized the need to balance. An MIT Sloan Management Review article also describes this scenario and how they spent four months conducting interviews outside NASA. Management accepted the group's recommendations to give project managers the freedom to tailor and balance the application of standard procedures to the unique needs of their projects.

Whether you are part of a government agency like NASA, or leading a PMO at a well‐established, incumbent company, or leading a project in a start‐up, you have to deal with the reality of paradoxes: freedom versus flexibility; collaboration versus control; individual versus collective; quantitative versus qualitative; tangible versus intangible; data versus intuition; short‐term versus long‐term; outputs versus outcomes; waterfall versus agile; sustain versus disrupt; and traditional versus next generation are just some of the paradoxes that project and program managers and PMO leaders have to deal with. We have discussed these paradoxes in the chapters of this book. The paradoxes can come across as mixed messages: “focus on process, not outcomes” at the same time as “be results driven and outcome focused” can create a variety of tensions.

What creates tension can also be a source of creativity. The first thing is, instead of being paralyzed or paranoid of paradox, we have to understand its power. Albert Rothenberg, a noted researcher on the creative process, has extensively studied the use of opposites in the creative process. He identified a process he terms “Janusian thinking,” a process named after Janus, a Roman God who has two faces, each looking in the opposite direction. In his research, he found that geniuses resorted to this mode of thinking quite often in the act of achieving original insights. Einstein, Mozart, Edison, Van Gogh, Pasteur, and Picasso all demonstrated this ability. Picasso's paintings reflect both calm and chaos; Einstein was able to imagine an object in motion and at rest at simultaneously.

Leaders who understand that we live in a paradoxical world and learn to manage the duality are better equipped to deal with the DANCE and disruption. They instinctively know that they don't have to focus on one or the other, but they have to balance both sides. They practice what Roger Martin calls integrative thinking. In his book The Opposable Mind, he defines it as:

The ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each.

Instead of either/or, they practice but/and thinking, which can lead to new opportunities, by tapping and accentuating the positives, while tempering the undesirable side‐effects.

Traditionally, project management has attracted more linear logician minds, who get perplexed when they are told, “Make sure the upcoming release is all planned and organized, and also make sure you are ready for any last‐minute changes,” or they cringe when they are told, “We want consistency, but be agile.”

To resolve this dichotomy, project management and PMOs have to learn to apply what Professor Francesco Gino of Harvard describes as activating a “paradoxical frame.” When you hear consistency and flexibility, and you view it through a paradoxical frame, you recognize the inherent incompatibility, but you also understand the potential for consistency and flexibility to positively reinforce one another. Otherwise, you might focus on only one dimension and miss out on the benefits of the other. Paradoxical frames can also increase capacity to tolerate different perspectives and to integrate these perspectives into new linkages and creative ideas.

When we looked at the rigidity versus responsiveness through a paradoxical frame, we came up with the analogue of a top‐down, controlling prison environment of a PMO versus a vibrant start‐up‐like studio environment where people are engaged and creative within boundaries. We liked the discipline and consistency of the controlled environment, but we didn't want the rigidity. We liked the freedom and flexibility of the sandbox, but we didn't want a free‐for‐all. Instead of forcing people to follow PMO standards, we created a flexible environment for voluntary compliance, where they adopted PMO processes because they got value and enjoyed the experience. Viewing through a paradoxical frame helped us to create the idea of “rigor without rigidity,” which was discussed in Chapter 2.

Another dilemma that project teams and PMOs have to deal with is the duality dilemma between the creatives and the logicians. According to Amy Webb in her book, The Signals Are Talking, she describes how you have probably experienced this clash in a meeting where the creative people felt as though their contributions were being discounted, while the logical thinkers—whose natural talents are in managing processes, projecting budgets, or mitigating risk—felt undervalued because they weren't coming up with bold new ideas. She recommends a technique taught at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (also known as “the d.school”) that addresses the duality dilemma and illuminates how an organization can harness both strengths in equal measure, alternately broadening (“flaring”) and narrowing (“focusing”) its thinking. She explains:

When a team is flaring, it is sourcing inspiration, making lists of ideas, mapping out new possibilities, getting feedback, and thinking big. When it is focusing, those ideas must be investigated, vetted, and decided upon. Flaring asks questions such as “What if?”; “Who could it be?”; “Why might this matter?”; and “What might be the implications of our actions?” Focusing asks “Which option is best?”; “What is our next action?”; and “How do we move forward?”

Finding the sweet spot between the paradoxes is a delicate balancing act. You have to learn to tip and tweak just the right amount. Start‐ups that eschew rules altogether can get tangled in complexity, and the heavy structure and rules of incumbents makes them slow and stodgy. It is important to balance and counterbalance. If you are an established company weighing more on the traditional side, you might want to swing more to the next generation. Once you have reaped the benefits of flexibility, you can tilt to the other side as you strive to find your edge. Good leaders can sense which side to tilt and how much; they know how to distinguish between the complicated and complex and which approach to use, as they balance and counterbalance along the complexity continuum. They learn how to juxtapose the opposing forces of the need for rigor and flexibility and use it to create a dynamic loop for strategy execution.

LEARNING TO DANCE

Projects, organizations, and life are complex adaptive systems, and as we have discussed in this book, they are characteristic of the DANCE—the Dynamic and changing, Ambiguous and uncertain, Nonlinear, Complex, and Emergent and unpredictable in nature. To deal with the DANCE, you have to balance between SPEC and SRAA.

The traditional methods are based on scope, plan, execute, and control (SPEC). SPEC is good for linear, well‐defined stable situations, and SPEC can help to manage the normal variance that is part of any project or program. But in some situations, no matter how hard you work to meticulously manage projects or PMOs, the more you try to control, the more it fluctuates and the harder it gets. You experience the instability caused by the DANCE, which swings the project beyond the thresholds of normal variance. This happens due to a combination of factors like the ambiguity of scope, the sheer number of linkages and dependencies, or the multiplicity of stakeholders involved. Scope, requirements, and solutions are emergent in nature and are hard to pin down and plan for in a continually shifting landscape. When you are dealing with one or more of these characteristics, you have to recognize that it is a different game. You need to learn to balance and manage the DANCE.

To manage the unexpected, an organic approach is required. You must cultivate skills to sense, respond, adapt, and adjust (SRAA). Sensing skills help to sense and see things that are hard to see and create unique insights; to develop acute awareness and vigilance to anticipate unexpected changes. Response prepares you to view the unique situation and respond accordingly at that moment. Adaptation helps you to quickly adapt to the new reality, and adjust the plan to accommodate the changing reality.

For example, you can plan, but don't get comfortable with it. Continue to ask penetrating questions and challenge the assumptions throughout the project lifecycle. Plans should be fluid and enable, not rigid and confine. Rigid plans in a DANCE environment can create blind spots that prevent you from seeing the unfolding project reality. Fluid plans enable you to sense and be open to emerging stakeholder needs and respond to unexpected changes.

SRAA cannot replace traditional scope, plan, execute, and control processes, in addition to good risk and change management practices. But when used in conjunction with those techniques, SRAA is instrumental in helping you manage the DANCE. When you are in the middle of your project, frustrated with unexpected fluctuations, you have to sometimes step back from the dance floor to see the big picture, recognize the DANCE, and manage its impact in your project environment. SRAA is recursive, and the order of sense, respond, adapt and adjust is going to be dynamic and not necessarily in that order. Think of SRAA as an operating system for agile. Without cultivating SRAA, it is hard to practice true agile, or go beyond agile to adaptive, emergent, and intuitive approaches.

AGILE BEING AGILE

The ideas in this book aimed to prepare your operating system (OS) for agile, so you can “be” agile before you “do” agile, as you apply the DNA of strategy execution.

While traditionalists and agilists debate on either end of the spectrum, cultivating a hybrid mindset seeks to achieve the balance between the two extremes.

Traditionalists believe in top‐down heavy methodologies and processes and dismiss the value of agile practices. Agilists swear by the agile movement that advocates a responsive and iterative approach. There is even a budding community of post‐agilists who have come full‐circle after adapting agile practices. It must be emphasized that it is not that one is better than the other; it would be like comparing which is better, a car or a boat—each has its purpose.

As agile has become mainstream in recent years, beyond software development, there is a lot of discussion about the pros and cons, success stories, and implementation challenges.

A healthcare organization we worked with struggled to implement agile over the past year; in retrospect, they discovered that they were too caught up in figuring out which agile methodology to use as well as the associated tools and mechanics. Management and teams were confused as they were not prepared and did not understand the true spirit of agile. We come across many similar examples in agile environments where the project managers and teams feel good about using agile methods, but management and customers do not necessarily see the results. A classic case of focusing on the apps, without cultivating the right operating system.

In today's DANCE‐world, the choice is not either/or, but a need to use the right mix and achieve a balance between the extremes. One way to strike a balance is to play to the strengths of each approach. A hybrid mindset goes beyond the mechanics of the approach toward facilitating and enabling results, outcomes, and changing customer needs and expectations.

As a project manager, you might be already adept at using agile practices in your organization. Others from traditional organizations might question how to apply agile, especially if that organization does not support it. Either way, cultivating a hybrid mindset can help you focus on the right things and become more successful.

Remember, there is no one best approach. It is up to you to find the “sweet spot” for yourself and your organization as you try to achieve balance between traditional and agile. As I have argued in this book, which approach to use depends on which game you are playing, pool or pinball, building a table, or planting a garden. Although both can benefit from agile, you just can't win at pinball with the traditional approach. In today's DANCE‐world, chances are more and more you are doing the latter, which needs more of an agile mindset. This debate is gradually fading; in the age of agile, you have to be agile and know how to apply the right mix of methods, processes, and tools that are appropriate for your business, organization, culture, and nature of projects. The aim should be to move from process agility in execution to strategic agility and agility in each of the other areas of the DNA—governance, connection, measurement, change, and learning.

THRIVING AT THE EDGE OF CHAOS

The edge of chaos is an energizing and vibrant place between complexity and chaos where opportunity lurks. It is a state of dynamic balance between order and disorder. If you can get comfortable with the energizing discomfort at the edge, you can spot opportunities for creativity and innovation. You can see things that other might miss and prepares you to take smart risks. You can't relax for too long at the edge of chaos, but it makes you stronger.

Typically, project managers' and PMOs' job is to avoid risks or prevent failures, but this can also make the organization weak, as it is not prepared to withstand the turbulence caused by the DANCE. Best‐selling author and professor Nassim Taleb, in his book Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder, writes:

Systems that are antifragile: they don't just survive failures and external shocks, they get stronger as a result. Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.

The project team and PMO have to challenge itself and question whether they are creating a static and inert environment that cannot withstand the DANCE, or they are fostering flexibility and strength that can grow stronger with turbulence. Traditional project and PMO leaders seek order, control, and equilibrium, which can provide a false sense of security in a DANCE‐world. They don't realize that their methods and approaches are making their environment and projects weaker. Instead, they should add stressors and variability so that the teams can learn and grow stronger from it.

On the other hand, inexperienced next‐generation leaders can also run their organizations into burnout and chaos. They have to learn to craft and practice the barbell strategy, as explained by Nassim Taleb in Antifragile:

The barbell (a bar with weights on both ends that weight lifters use) is meant to illustrate the idea of a combination of extremes kept separate, with avoidance of the middle. In our context it is not necessarily symmetric: it is just composed of two extremes, with nothing in the center. One can also call it, more technically, a bimodal strategy, as it has two distinct modes rather than a single, central one.

I initially used the image of the barbell to describe a dual attitude of playing it safe in some areas (robust to negative Black Swans) and taking a lot of small risks in others (open to positive Black Swans), hence achieving antifragility. That is extreme risk aversion on one side and extreme risk loving on the other, rather than just the “medium” or the beastly “moderate” risk attitude that in fact is a sucker game (because medium risks can be subjected to huge measurement errors). But the barbell also results, because of its construction, in the reduction of downside risk—the elimination of the risk of ruin.

The balancing act is an art to thrive at the edge of chaos, where instead of drowning in the DANCE, you are comfortable surfing on the edge, sensing, responding, adjusting, and adapting. It's not easy to learn to DANCE—it takes a lot of patience and experience. With practice, though, you can realize that the norm for leaders in these situations is to get comfortable being uncomfortable with the DANCE!

WHAT IS THE NEXT GENERATION?

A question I get asked is, “You have been talking about the next generation for over a decade; when is it coming?” My response is that the next generation is never coming. One of the attendees from Nike corrected me and said that at Nike, “we believe it is always coming!” The point is that the next generation is not a destination, it is a journey without a finish line. Once you get from A to B, you need to move to C, and when you arrive at C, you should start thinking about D because if you don't, your competition is probably already there. It is a process in which you are never done; you execute, learn, balance, and tweak as the situation evolves and new information emerges. The next generation is a question: perpetual state of questioning and reinvention.

A good mantra for the next‐generation project, program, and PMO managers is ABCD: Be Constructively Dissatisfied. Always questioning, inquiring, challenging … is there a better way … how can we do better?

The next‐generation PMO is better prepared to deal with the DANCE and disruption because it pushes strategy execution to the edge, by constantly questioning and creating a culture of ABCD

The next‐generation project manager and PMO have to be the bridge between the old and new. The traditional must be sustained to ensure stability while preparing the organization for change and agility. It is akin to rocking the boat while keeping it steady. The key is to constantly challenge yourself—how can we better adapt to changing needs, how can we better serve our customers and organization, and how can we add greater value and create long‐term sustainable impact?

In this book, I have used the language of genes and DNA to decode strategy‐execution, and PMOs. In complex adaptive systems, feedback loops are critical elements based on which genes survive and mutate. Another way to think about the next generation is with the lens of memes, which self‐replicate based on communication and feedback loops. Successful, healthy, vibrant next‐generation projects and PMOs self‐replicate and mutate like memes based on positive experience. If you want to take your project and PMO to the next level, think about how you can constantly balance and strive for a positive experience, value, and greater impact.

TEN SKILLS FOR NEXT‐GENERATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PMOS

Following is a summary of the 10 skills necessary for next generation project management and PMOs based on the themes of this book. These are also the next generation of emergent and intuitive skills which might give us an edge over computers, at least for a short while. It is going to be rare for any one individual or team to excel in all of these skills. Use the list to assess your strengths and weaknesses, and see which skills you want to explore and develop. Who knows, you might even become a pinball wizard. More importantly these skills will help you to dance and thrive on the edge of chaos:

• DANCE‐ing. Recognize and understand the DANCE. Learn to dance and thrive on the edge of chaotic volatility, ambiguity, and unpredictability. Seek persistent disequilibrium and be comfortable being uncomfortable.
• SRAA. Sense‐respond‐adapt‐adjust mindset; sensing, and seeing and perceiving what others don't see. The presence and acute awareness to respond, adapt, and adjust to the changing reality with unique perspective and insight.
• Strategic‐Execution. Ability to link execution with strategy and connect performance with purpose. Execution of deliverables and outputs with results, outcomes, and winning mindset; a sense of purpose and making the right choices; ownership and commitment with a skin‐in‐the‐game attitude and entrepreneurial spirit (Chapters 4 and 5).
• Connecting. Identify the key connections and their interplay. Bridge and connect stakeholders, silos, business, and interfaces and interdependencies. Social skills to work through the hierarchy and expand their network. Identify leverage points and reinforce connections, and ensure the quality of communications that flow through these connections (Chapter 7).
• Changemaking. Change intelligence to transform and make change happen. A changemaker isn't someone who simply manages change and wishes for change; he or she makes change happen. Changemakers have the ability to transform; they are not just game players or influencers, they are game changers. They influence the outcomes through responsibility, ownership, and determination (Chapter 9).
• Learning and Seeking. Insatiable curiosity and learning agility; always questioning, inquiring, challenging … is there a better way? how can we do better? Learning from experimentation, trial and error, and experience. Developing applied curiosity and accelerated learning skills (Chapter 10).
• Adaptive. Constantly seek and adapt to new information and changing circumstances. Rigor without rigidity, and openness to change and adaptation; finding the sweet spot between the extremes (Chapter 2).
• Deep Generalist. Focus on getting broad expertise, becoming deep generalists, a term used by futurist Jamais Cascio, who explained in an interview:

  Learning a lot about a lot of things, and—just as important—getting a real understanding of how they are connected … what nature shows us is that the species that adapt best to radically changing environments are the generalists. But most generalists are shallow, living on the peripheries of more specialized ecosystems.

  Deep generalists have their feet on the ground and their head in the clouds, they can zoom‐in and out and thrive in many contexts.
• Ownership. Think like an owner; extreme ownership of results and outcomes; bottom‐up emergent leadership to direct and influence outcomes without title or authority to do so.
• Artistry. Complement technical management skills with artistry; improvise based on experience, insight, intuition, and judgment and make appropriate adjustments. Think like a designer—seek to provide form, function, and structure to ensure the feasibility and viability to enable the vision. View constraints as creative opportunities for innovation Strive to be an artistic‐mechanic (Chapter 5).

Whether it is the DANCE, SRAA, connecting, learning and seeking, or deep generalist skills, there is an underlying theme of developing capabilities for sensing and perceiving what others don't see. Project and program managers are typically good at the details and looking at things with a microscope. To develop next‐generation skills, you have to not only be good at looking under the microscope but also know which lens to use and remind yourself to try different lenses that challenge existing mental models and provide a different perspective. Besides relying on microscopic views, next‐generation leaders also use binoculars to zoom‐out and see what is on the horizon. They also have telescopes in their toolkit to develop a long‐term gaze and foresee future challenges and opportunities. You also need to embed periscopes as an extension of your eyes and ears for the things you cannot see from your level. Additionally, you also need to equip and augment yourself for an increasingly digital world with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) tools and apps, to interact with the world in new ways and gain new perspectives. Next‐generation project management and PMO leaders use and balance among all of these tools as they sharpen and practice the above skills.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS

One of my favorite parts of my talks and seminars is AMA: Ask Me Anything. Here are a few that you might be thinking about asking:

But wait, what's the big deal about the DANCE, couldn't we use risk management, a foundational knowledge area of project management to manage the DANCE?

Risk management is important and essential and should be practiced diligently with risk identification, assessment, and mitigation plans. But we also have to understand the limitations of traditional risk management. Risk management is effective to deal with known and known/unknown risks which are identifiable. It is ill‐equipped to handle wicked risks – the unknown/unknowables, besides the unknown/unknowns. The first step of risk management is risk identification, if you can't even identify the risk, how can you manage it? Often in DANCE type of situations, traditional risk management can be dangerous, as it gives a false sense of security. Especially if you are unaware of the DANCE, and have confidence in your comprehensive risk register. Have you noticed that often the things that come back and bite us, are typically not on our risk list? It is not your fault, as a next‐generation PM you should be aware that the ‘E’ in DANCE stands for emergent and unpredictable, and it was perhaps unknowable, and not possible to identify or predict. Instead of the classic risk identification, assessment, response, and control approach, you need a different approach to not only build resilience, and figure out how to make failure survivable, but go beyond and redesign for anti‐fragility.

What is the validity of the DNA of strategy execution as a model?

The DNA framework emerged and has been fine‐tuned over the past 15 years from working with a few thousand project and program managers, PMO leaders in the next‐generation PMO and portfolio management, managing the DANCE, and leadership seminars. Ideas based on the DNA of strategy execution have been applied in many organizations in different industries around the world.

Working with PMOs, there continues to be confusion and disconnects regarding the purpose, role, and functions of a PMO. Also, the disconnect between strategy and execution, as well as the other areas of DNA, are a pervasive pain point that perpetuates siloes. We found the DNA to be a common‐sense and holistic approach to address these questions and also outline the purpose of a successful PMO.

You have probably heard the quote, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” It's not perfect and can be tweaked more. Nor is it a magical tool that will solve all your problems. Viewed through a different lens, it might not make sense, and you might want to adjust the appropriate language that makes sense to you. Many organizations around the world in different sectors are using it as a framework to define and communicate their organizational project management and PMO capabilities, as well as assess their missing elements and strengths and weaknesses.

The DNA covers a lot of different areas; are project management and the PMO trying to take over the organization?

By design, the DNA is holistic and covers a lot of different areas. No, the idea is not that project management, or PMO is going to take over. In fact, you might want to be careful to share the DNA framework, without intimidating people, unless they understand the intent. The idea is to connect the different elements and optimize the whole. Also, the DNA is designed to instill a sense of ownership and connection at every level. What needs to be explained and understood is that even if one of the elements is missing or weak, it is not complete and does not function optimally. You may not be responsible or accountable for all the areas, as long as all the areas are being addressed. The role of the project and PMO leaders is to link the different areas and reduce disconnects. The DNA could be your secret sauce to make sure you are taking a holistic approach and not missing any elements.

I have no authority or power in my organization, how is it possible to apply these ideas?

Of course, having formal authority helps but does not guarantee success. There are a lot of examples of project managers and PMOs with a lot of authority, but they are operational execution oriented with limited influence and impact. On the other hand, with the right combination of competence, drive, attitude, and social competence, you can accomplish a lot more and earn a seat at the strategy table and drive strategic‐execution. As the famous Gandhi quote says, “You have to be the change you want to see in the world.” Start, by thinking like an owner and identifying the opportunities to influence and make an impact.

How do I start to apply the DNA of strategy execution?

The first thing is not to get overwhelmed by all the elements. Like a good doctor, start by diagnosing the pain and challenges. Pick one area and focus on it, and see what needs to be done to address it. As you focus on the one element, whether it is execution or governance or measurement, or any of the other DNA areas, the key is also to think holistically and connect to the rest of the six elements and what needs to be done to optimize the whole. You can also assess and review the strengths and weaknesses and see where you can add value as you chart your road map. As you are implementing, remember the importance of measurement, feedback, change, and communication along the way.

You don't understand my organization and culture—these next‐generation ideas are never going to work in my company.

You are right; I am not sure if these ideas will work for your organization or not. It depends on your business, culture, politics, leadership, and many other factors. But that does not mean you cannot try and experiment in your own way, in your domain. The proof is in the pudding; if it works, people will notice the results and impact. The key is to keep questioning, collaborating, and experimenting as you test and observe your hypothesis of what works. Also, it pays to practice intelligent disobedience from time to time, to take risks and try next‐generation approaches and surprise stakeholders with positive experience and impact.

“I would rather have questions that can't be answered, than answers which can't be questioned.”

Attributed to Richard Feynman, source unconfirmed

FEEDBACK LOOPS: PROJECT MANAGEMENT/PMO DELIGHT INDEX (PDI)

To thrive in a DANCE‐world, you have to adapt and evolve. Successful adaptation has three characteristics drawn from evolutionary biology according to Ronald Heifetz et al. in their book, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: (1) it preserves the DNA essential for the species' continued survival; (2) it discards (reregulates or rearranges) the DNA that no longer serves the species' current needs; and (3) it creates DNA arrangements that give the species' the ability to flourish in new ways and in more challenging environments. For successful adaptation, you have to rely on feedback loops to learn and evolve.

Feedback loops are crucial to learn what needs adjustment. Projects, programs, and PMOs have to design feedback loops to ensure they are getting the right information from diverse channels to evolve and adapt. Part of the marcom design has to include a combination of surveys, informal feedback from key stakeholders, measures based on different project sensors, metrics, and a variety of social media channels.

Imagine how you could design your project and PMO experience to learn how to surprise and delight your customers and stakeholders by turning their pain points into delight points. As you simplify and make structure and processes easier from your endusers' and customers' perspective. You will surprise your stakeholders with the positive experience of dealing with the PMO. They will be compelled to share this experience with others and make the PMO viral and self‐replicating for various aspects across the organization.

It is important to measure and seek frequent feedback. Project managers and PMOs can gather valuable feedback from its customers and stakeholders by using a simple PM/PMO delight index (PDI) that covers the range of business management evolution, from efficiency and effectiveness to experience and impact. Adjust the language in the project/program and PMO delight index examples in Figures 12.1 and 12.3 to suit your purpose.

BEN OR BOB?

Remember Ben and BoB from Chapter 8? While Ben is focused on delivery and outputs, BoB is looking at the big picture aiming for benefits and outcomes. Ben is satisfied with the near‐term, what's in view, within reach, easily measurable benefit, which is often limited. Ben is worried about the form, BoB is after the essence. While Ben may be happy looking and analyzing the finger pointing to the moon, BoB is seeking the experience and glory of the moon.

The question is, who do you want be, Ben or BoB?

A quick response might be, “more like BoB,” but as you reflect on the nuance, you realize you can't get to BoB without Ben, who is execution oriented, while BoB is strategy focused. Neither is better than the other; we need both. If you are more Ben oriented, you need to start to zoom‐out and challenge yourself to see the world with BoB's eyes. If you are BoB, you have to understand you cannot realize your strategy without Ben, and develop some Ben capabilities, or make sure you have some Bens on your team. The ideal is BobbyBen, who is bimodal, constantly bobbing and balancing between the complicated and the complex, toward the sweet spot at the edge of chaos. With the DNA of strategy execution, he/she can leverage all aspects of the DNA to achieve desired results and make an impact with strategic‐execution. The choice is yours; you want to deliver forgettable projects and programs, or leave a legacy of memorable projects and programs whose experience and impact is felt long after they are over.

“The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing.”

Socrates