Part 1 of 5 - Metaphysical Project Management

When my Croatian team and I delivered Eastern Europe’s largest GSM Telecommunications Portal in 45 days, it was not just a matter of controlling, directing and monitoring time, cost and schedules. We were forced to factor, develop and manage client uncertainty on a daily basis. We used ingenuity management to retrieve lost deliverables which gave us the advantage over IBM, Siemens and Motorola. We engendered trust with our colleagues in the UK and as far away as India. We achieved delivery of an impossible project – whose success rescued other projects within the company portfolio. This was not entirely text-book project management – it was also metaphysical.

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Maybe the delivery success of a project does boil down to budget, customer and time - common ingredients of all projects. Or maybe not! We have all seen and heard about failing projects; the time taken being too long that it begins running out of budget and the customer starts receiving huge amounts of compensation from the supplier on a daily basis :-) … mmm nice. Not! - It is my belief, based on many years experience working as an International Project Manager, that there are different levels of project success - the highest of which is achieved metaphysically.

When troubleshooting the failing projects I have rescued, normally a lot of time is spent very carefully ploughing back through the project start up phase – focussing in particular on the project scope. Usually I discover lots of wastage. In that wastage I find solutions that either no-one wants to touch or it may have gone unwittingly ignored. Almost in all cases the rescue package for a failing project normally lays dormant in the roots of its beginnings – but remains inaccessible. Understanding and using metaphysical skills can bring out the hidden treasures in projects and unlock closed doors.

What only a very few project managers can do – which makes the difference between successful project delivery and successful project - is to harness ingenuity in project management and manage uncertainty (the prime metaphysical skills of project management). Too often most of us become consumed by, “by the book” guidelines or by PMBOK. We become wrapped up in certification - which is a great thing to acquire – but not the, “be all end all”. On the metaphysical plane, a project manager interacts on levels that are not written about in text books – they form a bond with the project.

Successful projects are not just about being on time, and within budget. The most junior of project managers can manage all that and more. In fact the rudiments of project management are all too easy to control and direct. Yes, it is true that planning, scheduling, monitoring, and managing change does require considerable skill – but they alone do not make for a successful project. The dynamics of the project such as relationships, synergy, and trust are profound key players – and all belong in the metaphysical realm. Trust, for example gaining and managing trust is a metaphysical skill that is both innate and learnt. Without it there will be aspects of a project which will remain undeliverable.

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