The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - How to Balance Book (Blue Pill) Guidelines with Real World (Red Pill) Application - Take the Purple Pill | PPP #45

Episode Date: August 6, 2020

PMs should take the "purple pill". Balance the book blue pill with the real-world red pill when leading project teams.

Welcome to the People Process Progress Podcast, where we understand that people are our most important asset. We emphasize and share examples of the importance of shared process so that we can move ourselves, our teams, and our organizations toward progress. I'm the host of the show, Kevin Pinnell. To learn more about me and the show, go to peopleprocessprogress.com. But for now, let's get on with another great episode of the People, Process, Progress podcast in 3, 2, 1. This is episode 45, Take the Purple Pill. And this is from or based off an article I wrote a bit ago, actually last year, almost a year ago, called Take the Purple Pill. I posted it on LinkedIn. If you haven't had a chance to connect with me there, do so. But what it relates to, and I've had discussions

recently, both with emergency managers, with budding project managers, IT professionals, and I've mentioned it here on the podcast before about the difference between the project management professional exam and being a project manager in real life, right? They're not one in the same. So for me, this came about because I'm part of a professional project managers group on Facebook. And about a year ago, someone had posted that they passed their PMP exam. So great for them, right? It shows I put in time toward a professional credential. I studied, I learned the formulas. I sat in the super stressful, you know, testing room with all eyes on you. And now a year later, they're doing online PMP exams, which is interesting. So

someone's watching you on a camera. It's a whole thing. So it means a lot, right? So getting that credential is huge. But I thought, you know, to me, that's not the same as the real world, right? So the contrast of the project management body of knowledge concepts and their application in the real world are a little different. And by that, I mean, so I'm a PMP. And for me, my first thought was of the matrix between these two differences in realities or reality and this conceptual. And some of those concepts, for sure, are used in the real world. But the conceptual project management body of knowledge or PMBOK or PMI standards in the real world, but the conceptual project management body of knowledge or PMBOK or PMI standards in the real world. So the scene where in the matrix where Morpheus is giving Neo the choice, you can choose this blue pill and you'll return to life, normal life with pre-established

standards, that kind of stuff, kind of like the project management body of knowledge in the exam, or you can take this red pill and we'll open your eyes to what's happening in the real world, which I think if you're new to project management and your avenue or your gateway is the PMP exam, that's kind of what you're going to get. You're going to take this real world project management job pill and be like, wait a minute, we're not using all these ITTOs and we're not doing all these formulas all the time and the sponsor didn't come to me with the charter. What the heck? That's stuff that you're going to run into, which is fine. That's part of adjusting and being things. So again, that blue pill is the project management

body of knowledge, the PMP exam questions, very structured, little wiggle room. You got to really get those right, get the scenarios perfect to get the answers right and understand the right statements and expectations. Whereas the red pill is what we find in our organizations, you know, what do or don't apply how they do or don't work. So I think you can't have too much of either, right, that the blue pills is going to leave you to unwavering and too structured, kind of like when COVID started hitting, and maybe people tried to hold on to their standards too much and say, No,

we have to do this when you're in a time that's so fluid and so dynamic, or the red pills with no structure is too dangerous and counterproductive if you're just winging it. So combine the red and the blue pills, make your own purple pill that's a blend of the concepts, the tools and techniques from the project management body of knowledge, but also practical and dynamic project management that fits your given environment. So a very short episode here, I just want folks to consider how do I blend these two things, and I'll do a more expansive episode in the future. This is just a quick thought nearing the end of the week here, that when you break into project management, or if you're in emergency

management, which is some of the discussions we've had lately on LinkedIn and other places, use the knowledge you get from the books to help build your practical application and then use what works in your environment. Plus, not everybody in your environment is going to be really into project management, right? So that's another one of your jobs, whether you're an emergency manager, an incident manager, or a project manager, is to help integrate people into the process, into what project management is. And if you're trying to build that up from scratch, you can't hammer them with, well, the book says this, and we have to do this. You've got to be able to balance

it. Just like when I was a planning section chief, if I tried to walk people through everything, single step, every single form, every single action of the planning P process and the all hazards planning process on a dynamic incident on the scene, you're going to fail. People are step, every single form, every single action of the planning P process and the all hazards planning process on a dynamic incident on the scene, you're going to fail. People are going to look at you like you're crazy and you're not going to be helpful. So take that purple pill, blend the book stuff, blend the real world stuff, do your best, stay safe, wash those hands. Godspeed.