Episode 4 Week 1 – Friday
THE STORY SO FAR:
Alice has just told everybody that it’s impossible to deliver the X Project in six months. B-Bob has asked, ‘Alice, can we have a word?’
NOW READ ON:
‘What’s this?’ asked B-Bob, holding up her status report.
B-Bob was not a happy camper. Alice could see that he was seething.
‘It’s this week’s status report,’ said Alice.
‘It says we don’t have a plan.’
‘We don’t have a plan.’
‘Of course we have a plan. We plan to deliver the project in six months.’
‘That’s an aspiration,’ said Alice. ‘An aspiration isn’t a plan.’
This only seems to make B-Bob even more angry.
‘Don’t give me that. And anyway, who’s fault is that if we don’t have a plan? Isn’t that your job?’
‘I’ve spent this week trying to establish what exactly it is we’re making. We can’t make any plan until we know that. Now that you’ve all agreed – ‘
‘I’m starting to think you’re not suited to the culture of this organisation.’
Ah, there it is, thinks Alice. Straight out of the The Boss’ and Stakeholders’ Impossible Missions Playbook.
The Boss’ and Stakeholders’ Impossible Missions Playbook is a page in Alice’s Notebook. Here, she keeps a record of things bosses and stakeholders say when they don’t like the message they’re being given by the Project Manager[1].
Alice once had a boss call her into his office; he didn’t ask her to sit down; he wasn’t smiling. He wagged his finger at her, he said, ‘You know, you’re not committed to me or to this project. And if you don’t do this project, not only will our division close but the whole operation could close.’
If it were somehow possible for Alice to rewind that particular scene, she should have said to her boss, ‘Yes, I’m not committed. See you later. I’m outta here.’
Sadly, and to her eternal regret, she committed to an impossible project and a few months later, just as she had predicted, the whole thing went belly up. (And some time after that, the division did close. And some time after that the whole operation did close.)
Since that time, Alice has kept The Boss’ and Stakeholders’ Impossible Missions Playbook, adding to it whenever she came across a new phrase. Phrases like these signal the start of a negotiation she will eventually have to have with B-Bob.
Alice knew that there were plenty of ways she could lose this negotiation.
If the basis of the negotiation was the fact that he was senior and she was junior, she would lose it. If the basis of the negotiation was the fact that he was a long time in the company and she was new, she would lose it. If the basis of the negotiation was the fact that he was aggressive / assertive / maybe even a bit of a bully, she would lose it. Had it been a sales situation where he (a potential customer) had money which she (the saleswoman) wanted, she would lose it.
But Alice knew that if the basis of the negotiation were the facts in the plan she was about to make, this was the one place where she couldn’t lose it. This was the one place where she would have huge authority. And she intended to use that authority.
‘Give me the first half of next week to build a plan,’ said Alice. ‘Then we’ll all know what we’re dealing with.’
B-Bob hesitated. Alice continued.
‘Oh, and before you go home, if you could send an email to everybody saying that that’s what we’re doing and they’ll need to devote some time to it in the first half of next week, I’d greatly appreciate it.’
‘Ok,’ said B-Bob, so softly that she could hardly hear him.
Alice walked out to start the weekend.
[1] For more about Impossible Missions and how to deal with them, see any of: