I remember fondly the first day of the first Project Management Class I coordinated; each of the 25 participants was asked to name a Project. For each project named, a resounding clap from the class followed. Projects like the 2010 World Cup, Big Brother Africa, 2011 Elections and The Experience drew cheers from the class until someone mentioned My Marriage. There was dead silence that took forever until a lady pointed out an assumed mistake; “you mean Your Wedding”. The participant was adamant and repeated the statement; “No, I mean My Marriage – My Wedding was the ceremony I did while My Marriage is what I am currently undergoing”.
You can imagine the argument and counter-argument that followed. It was beyond the human emotion that someone can initiate and plan the termination of a marriage that he was currently undergoing but according to the definition of a project (a temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end which produces a unique result), he was able to logically win his case. This made me ponder deeper; if marriage is a project then life is indeed a project. According to the bible, God’s creation of the first man was not project-centered but after the fall of first man, God is using series of projects to restore man to his original form from Jesus to Paul to present day Christian Ministries.
It is also important to note how God uses the Project Management Processes to create anything on earth. It is always done in the spiritual (Planning) before it manifested (Execution). In the Project Management Processes, planning takes almost 60% of the other processes because it is iterative and every other process is benchmarked to it. According to the bible, man was made spiritually on the sixth day; it is important to note that when the planning is done very well, every other thing becomes very easy. This is why God called every other work he did after the sixth day – rest. Man was formed from the dust and was breathed into – this was an execution (or putting flesh) to a well laid-out plan.
Another important aspect that Professional Project Management eliminates is the issue of going through life and not being sure of the future. We mostly pad our ways through life – because we do not have enough information, we add extra time and cost to our estimations. With tools like the WBS, WBS Dictionary, Activity List, Network Diagram, Budget, Quality Control, Risk Register, Team Building, Communication Method and Procurement, we do not need to work in a hazy condition of life. The right mix of these ingredients produces your future asset. Remember Personal Finance 101, an asset is anything that adds to your portfolio and with enough asset, you are sure of economic freedom.
Dipo Tepede is a Professional Blogger and a Project Management Consultant. He maintains a blog at www.dipotepede.org and coordinates Project Management Classes at the JOBMAG: 254 Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Kindly click HERE to know more….
