… or why developing your organisational structure around personalities is a killer ... Yes, in an ideal world, the management team gets along very well, complements and supports each other and aligns the efforts to achieve the strategic goals of the company in a effective manner. However, different personalities and leadership styles can easily lead to frictions between the members of an executive team. What can the CEO do when he realises tensions between individual members of his top team? Rearranging responsibilities and changing the organisational structure looks like a solution - but does this really make sense?  

… or how to treat your strategic top priority projects ... Many organisations find themselves in a situation where they have THE most important project. A project of high strategic importance and value which has the potential to be THE game changer, a huge milestone towards a new strategic direction. Often these large strategic projects deal with challenges like „developing and establishing an integrated IT system (ERP) across a global organisation“, „develop a new, revolutionary brand“ or „change the core business of an international organisation“. Among project managers, these projects are often called „500 pound“ or „silverback Gorilla“, not as a hint to the weight of the project manager, but as an indication that this project is expected to be treated seriously. If you are in a room with a 500 Pound Gorilla, you should probably listen carefully. 

Why does this plan make no sense???  Project management by templates, a root cause for confusion.  All members of the project team provide their input using the same template, a masterpiece carefully designed and crafted by the project manager. However, the output of the plan doesn’t make sense. Maybe the project manager has taken too many shortcuts to success.