What if I told you that some of the best project management lessons I’ve learned didn’t come from certified project managers or project management software?
But it came from just being a kid who wanted to get the most candy in the shortest amount of time!
I forgot about this natural skill we had as kids. That was until I saw my 4yr old moving from car to car during the past few, consecutive, Trunk or Treats.
Each night, we went to a new Trunk or Treat – and each night him and his brother were quicker, more efficient, and direct in their approach to meeting their project endstate – MORE CANDY!
The True Nature of Project Management Lessons
How often do we forget about the true nature lessons learned throughout our projects.
It’s not about how fancy we can make the lesson sound – it’s about the direct applicability of the lesson for future projects.
The other day, my nephew asked me about where we were going trick or treating. He apparently needed expert advice on what our upcoming Halloween strategy.
The burning question? Whether to hit the cul-de-sac first or save it for last.
He remembered it was the house in the cul-de-sac that had the full-size candy bars last year. As we discussed this plan, we decided to go there first since we didn’t want to risk them running out early of the full-sized bars like they did last year.
Lessons learned were quickly in action.
Why Complicated Project Management Processes Fall Short
Let me share a story that perfectly illustrates why our current project management processes often fail us.
Last month, I sat through a four-hour project kickoff meeting where project team members spent three hours discussing how to track and report progress, and only one hour talking about what we actually needed to deliver.
It was painful, to say the least.
Meanwhile, my young boys had already:
- Assembled their project team
- Mapped out the route
- Identified all major risks
And they did all of this in about 15 minutes over some chocolate milk.
Here’s why traditional project management isn’t always effective:
Project documentation often overshadows project execution
Project managers focus more on processes than people
Project stakeholders get lost in the methodology
Project planning becomes more important than project success
Lessons Learned from Natural Project Managers (Those Pesky Kids)
What makes these young project managers so effective? They instinctively understand key project management principles that many experienced project managers often forget:
Clear Project Objectives Matter Most
When I asked my nephew about his Trick-or-Treat (project) objectives, his answer was crystal clear:
“Get twice as much candy as last year, especially chocolate, and be home before the zombies come out.”
Compare this to a recent corporate project objective I encountered:
“To leverage cross-functional synergies to optimize stakeholder value through innovative solution implementation and increase our ROR.”
What? I’m all for the nephews objective over the word salad, corporate objective.
Bigger words are not always the solution – simple and clear language that anyone can understand should always be our goal when developing our objectives!
Risk Management Lesson from Those Future Project Managers
The way children approach risk management during Halloween planning offers valuable insights for project managers everywhere.
Their natural approach to identifying risks and managing those risks is refreshingly straightforward.
Let me share how I watched the team discuss and handle their risk management process:
Risk: House with scary decorations.
Risk Response: Dad goes first (because he’s not scared of anything), and if he screams, we skip that house.
Risk Response Strategy Used: Transfer
Risk: Dark areas on the route.
Risk Response: Everyone brings two flashlights because batteries die.
Risk Response Strategy Used: Migitiate
Must be the Risk Manager in me — But I was proud to see them working together to work through the risk management steps.
- They identified the Risks
- Did an analysis on candy loss vs. candy gained
- Developed a response to each risk
- Still time to see if they can actually implement
- And although I highly doubt they will formally close these risks out — I’m positive they will remember them for next year!
Project Team Formation: The Halloween Method
The most fascinating project management lessons came from watching how these young project managers formed their teams.
No lengthy team-building exercises or project management software required – just pure instinct about resource allocation and team member strengths.
Here’s how their project team naturally came together:
Sarah (The Scout): “I’m the fastest runner, so I’ll check which houses have their lights on.”
Mike (The Negotiator): “I’m good at getting extra candy, so I’ll do the talking.”
Emma (The Navigator): “I know all the shortcuts, so I’ll make the map.”
RJ (The Leader): “I’ll make sure nobody gets left behind.”
These young, yet effective, project team members understood something many project managers forget – effective teams form around natural strengths, not assigned roles.
Practical Project Management Lessons for Your Future Projects
How can we apply these project management lessons to improve future projects?
Document Lessons Learned the Simple Way
Instead of creating complex documented lessons learned, we now ask three simple questions:
What worked well?
What didn’t work?
What will we do differently next time?
This simplified process of learning lessons has led to greater efficiency in our project execution.
Adopt the Halloween Method of Simplicity
Next time, your schedule is three months behind, and team members start becoming frustrated with endless project documentation requirements.
Adopt the “Halloween Method”:
Simplify project objectives
Trust team members’ natural strengths
Implement practical risk management
Reduce project management processes
You’ll end up with a great result with stakeholders engaged, team members increasing in productivity, and zombies under control!
Continuous Improvement Through Simple Project Planning
The key to successful project management lies not in complex project management software or rigid processes but in understanding and applying these fundamental project management lessons:
Keep project objectives crystal clear
Trust your project team members
Make risk management practical
Focus on project execution over documentation
Learn from every project’s successes and failures
A Final Lesson Learned
Remember Tommy’s sage project management advice: “It’s not that hard. You just need to know what you want, work with people you trust, and have a backup plan for when things get scary.”
As you hand out candy this Halloween, pay attention to these natural project managers at your door. They might just teach you something about improving future projects.
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