True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
Winston Churchill – British Prime Minister

Do you agree with these assertions? In VUCA time, all work is risk work. By extension, all management is now risk management. And, all project management is risk management.

Story: If projects were simple, straightforward and had no risk of cost, schedule, scope, and quality variances, then a project manager wouldn’t be necessary. In other words, the project manager is necessary when Murphies erupt, calamities ensue, and risk goes sky high. I like the model of orchestra conductor as project manager and risk manager.

Henry Mintzberg, the famous writer and academic, captured the essence of project risk management when things go wrong:

“The great myth is the manager as orchestra conductor. It’s this idea of standing on a pedestal and you wave your baton and accounting comes in, and you wave it somewhere else and marketing chimes in with accounting, and they all sound very glorious. But management is more like orchestra conducting during rehearsals, when everything is going wrong.”(1)

The orchestra conductor is a VUCAN project leader and risk coach rather than an authoritarian manager. The conductor leads a group of professionals who are proficient with their instruments and know their individual capabilities.

The modern conductor interprets the musical score and shapes the orchestra’s sound so it pleases the audience. The conductor then leads by interpretation, example, and strength of personality rather than by barking orders.

What about the control freak project manager of a death march project? This VUCAN is a Theory X authoritarian ‘my way or the highway boss’. They’re very good in getting projects done on budget and on schedule unfortunately the project can be strewn with bodies. Work Lesson Earned: A VUCAN project manager has a tough job. If a PM can’t bring in projects on time and within budget, then this person is replaced. It can be a game of project musical chairs. Few do it well. Many VUCAN PM’s are fear-driven, reacting to changing stakeholder requirements, demanding schedules, cost pressures, and signing off on project objectives the PM’s know can’t be achieved.

If you develop strong project management and risk management skills, you can use these throughout your life. How do you manage your work and projects?

(1) ‘Six Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Managing People’, Medium, May 25, 2019.