Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Being a grandfather has taught me a few things about managing work. How can a baby teach an adult so much in so little time?

I am a grandfather; I have been one for 6 1/2 wonderful months. I see my grandson on average every three to seven days (funny how I can be so engineering-analytical about something like this). This frequency gives me a good perspective on his growth and changes. If I saw him every day, I might not notice the changes. If I saw him once a month, well that just wouldn’t be good. Time gives me a good perspective, and so does my experience as I had three sons of my own.

I think that I use my perspective and experience well. I give my son and his wife (the most wonderful daughter-in-law in the world) all the advice they request – and no more.

I also manage projects and systems from time to time. I see the work of people on a project team on average every two to five days. This frequency gives me a good perspective on the growth in the work being accomplished. If I examined the work of team members every day, I might not notice the changes in their work. If I saw their progress once a month, well that just wouldn’t be good. Time gives me a good perspective, and so does my experience working on many projects through the years.

I think that I use my perspective and experience well. I, er, I give the team advice. How often? Well, if you are a manager, try these questions:

What do you do?

How often do you examine the work of the people on your team?

Do you give all the advice you have?

Do you only give the advice requested?

Do you give all the advice requested?

Do you hold back some knowledge so the team learns to work it out on their own?

Do you give all the advice you decide they need?

Are the some other variations on giving advice?

Is this a stupid comparison?

I have managed some important projects that involved hundreds of millions of dollars and the lives and livelihoods of dozens of people. I have never managed a project that was as important to me as my grandson.

Perhaps I am doing this thing right.

Perhaps I didn’t do so well on all those project managing jobs.

Several things that I do realize on this grandparent endeavor. My son is very important to me. My daughter-in-law is very important to me. My grandson is very important to me. I care a lot about how well on do on this one.

I am approaching other projects in a different manner now than I did in the past.