Who really starts out their career wanting to be a Project Manager?

According to Patricia Ensworth, author of The Accidental Project Manager: Surviving the Transition from Techie to Manager, people don’t typically have a burning desire to become project managers at the outset.

Most Project Managers (PMs) start out in a field related to the type of projects they eventually manage.  But is this ‘eventually’ their conscious decision or somebody else’s who reckons they will make a good PM based on technical ability.  Or was it a position that needed to be filled and the new, willing PM was in the right place at the right time or, for the reluctant PM, the wrong place and time.

PMs need to deal with ‘difficult’ people with different agendas and personalities, and balance quality, cost and time, and effort.  Oftentimes if a project is not a success, or is late, or over-budget etc the PM will be the ‘designated person to blame’.  A PM’s career will be dictated by consequences of their ability and behaviour but is their attitude that of a missionary, a mercenary or a misfit?  And will it change??

Missionary – Preaching their Word

The missionary is the wannabe PM and is desperate for every opportunity.  The missionary is characterized by enthusiasm and vivaciousness and are motivated by a personal commitment.  They will promote project management at every opportunity and preach to the converted and aficionados alike as well as the cynics and non-believers.

The missionary loves being a PM as it puts them in a position where they can spread the message.  They attempt to make every project they are involved with a success from a PM perspective; they are not concerned with their own personnel gain.

However, as the PM becomes more experienced, suffers failures as a result of others, and realises that projects are linked to profit margins and popularity they may well change their perspective.  The ‘missionaries’ then convert to ‘mercenaries’ as their enthusiasm wanes and they become disillusioned upon realising it’s all about economics, profit and money rather than the ‘art’, “idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows’.

Mercenary – Pragmatic Self-interest

The mercenary is not a selfless Project Manager.  The Project they are tasked with managing is in their own self-interest.  Indeed, as a mercenary, they are motivated solely by this self-interest and not by any higher calling to preach project management and covert non-believers.

Mercenaries choose their projects or negotiate conditions that make their position as PM tenable.  They will work to deliver a project and may be prepared to take one for their team, but when it becomes an unacceptable commitment they will then consider the cost-benefit ratio.  Even mercenaries can only take so much and if their personal sacrifice becomes an issue, the mercenary may well move on to greener pastures.

And when a mercenary cannot command his or her own terms but has remained a PM for too long why happens?  If they become project management advocates they may well become missionaries and ‘give back’ what they learnt.  If they still need to work but cannot ‘give back’ as a missionary they may well become a misfit.

Misfits – Misaligned Escapism

The ‘misfits’…they see project management with rose-tinted spectacles based on a nostalgic view of previous projects, an expectation of project perfection, a selective memory of ‘Last Job Syndrome’.

Misfits tend to wax lyrically of times gone by when things were different and advocate their unfounded aspirations.  They will derogate techniques or methods that do not align with their own (potentially delusional) views of project management practice as they escape reality.

Worryingly, experienced PMs who become misfits may be allowed to ignore accepted practice.  The application of their own view of management methods could well prove to be detrimental to the outcome of a project.  ‘Blind trust’ of the experienced misfit should be considered a real risk.

Conclusion

As a Project Manager’s career progresses from a willing idealist to a seasoned veteran the attitudes of PMs may well change.  They may remain idealists if started as a missionary with ‘the art at heart’ but may well become mercenaries as the harsh reality of business is realised.  With time, and if disillusionment is experienced and accepted the PM could become a misfit.

For the unwillingly PM life can be more complex.  Starting off as a misfit could bring their career to a sudden halt but they may take the course of mercenary.  Reluctant and accidental PMs who ‘convert’ to project management can become extremists and quickly become misfits.

Many technical professionals find themselves working as project managers without ever having applied for the position or considered as career as a project manager.  However, it’s their choice as to whether they adopt a role of preaching missionary, pragmatic mercenary or misaligned misfit.

Bio:

UK Chartered Engineer & Chartered Geologist with over thirty-five years’ international experience in multicultural environments on large multidisciplinary infrastructure projects including rail, metro, hydro, airports, tunnels, roads and bridges. Skills include project management, contract administration & procurement, and design & construction management skills as Client, Consultant, and Contractor.

Provision of incisive, focused and effective technical and managerial solutions for all project phases; identifying and dealing with troubled projects, and leadin