Pmnetwork AUGUST 1993 p. 6
Rudolph G. Boznak is an executive advisor, strategic
operationalist, futurist and internationally recognized
authority on the new product development continuum and
BIOS 21, a Business Integrated Operating Stratagem for
the 21st Century. He is a pioneer and leading proponent
of strategic project management and the project-oriented
company.
Boznak has worked with Rolls-Royce, General Dynamics,
Abbott Labs, IBM, Apple Compute~; Hughes Aircraft, Litton,
Rockwell International, British Aerospace, General Motors,
Boeing, United Technologies, Devon Royal Dockyards, and
other Fortune 500 companies. A certified Project Manage-
ment Prof essional, Boznak has an M.S. from American Tech-
nological University and a B.S. from the University of
Nebraska. Rudy is the author of Competitive Product Devel-
opment, and is president of Robinstone Tower, Incorporated,
a research, education and consulting center in Boerne, Texas.
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Project Management in Action
MUSUBI: Unlocking the Power of Project Management
There is a simple, uncomplicated, yet powerful Eastern
concept that embodies the intent, if not the principles,
that must become an integral element of today's project
management mission. It is known as MUSUBI--the practice
of harmonious unification. The inherent principles of
MUSUBI are balance, harmonious unification, and oneness.
Greater awareness and understanding of these principles
can enable one to better develop the art of visualization . . . to
see that which is invisible to others . . . to visualize that which
others can only intellectualize. The significance of being able
to visualize your environment can be found in the following
examples:
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A knowledgeable sports fan "sees" the game through
the words of a radio commentator. He "visualizes" the
quarterback scrambling to elude a blitzing defense, the
game-winning double-play, or the slow-motion magic of
a three-point basket at the buzzer. Another listener, who
has a knowledge of the sport, is unable to relate to the
same broadcast. The difference is not in the game. The
difference is knowledge and understanding of what is
to be visualized.
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In another case, a trained pilot "sees" the approach of
a fog-enshrouded airport through the aircraft's instru-
ments. The pilot's understanding of navigation, aircraft
systems and air traffic control procedures permits im-
mediate detection and correction of out-of-balance con-
ditions and completion of a safe landing.
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THE ART OF VISUALIZATION
Visualization requires an ability to identify key indicators and
determine their patterns and tendencies upon the whole. The
greater your awareness and understanding of these indicators,
the more lucid will be your visualization capability. As a point
of illustration, take a moment to examine Figure 1.
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At first glance, most observers see "Pac-Man"-type icons.
Now stare at the bottom left grouping. Notice how a new
relational pattem (a white triangular image) emerges once
you have become attuned to visualize it?
As this simple example illustrates, the power of visualiza-
tion can enable you to see patterns and conceptual relation-
ships where others may not. As such, visualization is an
essential art if project managers (PMs) are to address the
needs of the various constituencies involved in successfully
implementing project management. While most project man-
agement software enables the inner workings of a project to
be readily apparent to most PMs, few executives or functional
managers (those that must support the project) enjoy the same
vantage. As a result, executives tend to overcommit their
organizations, functional managers neglect project tasks in
lieu of functional responsibilities, and the angst of project
managers continues to rise.
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The level of visualization suggested does not portend to
overwhelm executives with detailed project network
charts. On the contrary, PMs must simply convey the
relationship of project success to corporate: strategic ob-
jectives, revenue contribution or cost reduction targets,
effective resource utilization, and satisfaction of functional
perfommance measures. Admittedly, attaining this degree of
visualization is not a simple task. The concepts of organiza-
tional balance, harmonious unification and oneness are not
taught in business schools. As a result, most businesses are
ill-prepared to implement them. Therefore, let's review these
concepts within familiar experiences and scenarios.
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BALANCE
Balance is a wonderfully fragile mechanism. A child's toy
top, for example, achieves its balance when spun very quickly
in a circular motion. On a lighter side, many employees feel
their management attempts to maintain equilibrium in the
same way ... by running around in circles. In contract,
balance within the human structure is maintained by a com-
plex vestibular system. Here, minute changes in motion are
continually monitored, detected and interpreted. These im-
pulses trigger constant subconscious corrective activity to
maintain balance.
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Unfortunately, maintaining balance in a project-oriented
environment is neither as simple nor as spontaneous as in the
examples above. The reason is because much of a project
"exists" logically, rather than physically. This makes the task
of visualization more difficult. As a result, most "business
vestibular systems" are not attuned to receive, interpret or
initiate the necessary correction actions to "balance" their
product development project.
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For example, in the early phase of a new product develop-
ment project, the product is defined by requirements, speci-
fications, drawings, and other types of data. During this stage,
the product is typically "unseen" by management and is,
therefore, beyond their conscious ability to perceive or inter-
pret. Data is inherently more difficult to assimilate and com-
prehend than a physical product.
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As development continues, these data are transfommed into
physical components, subassemblies, and finally a finished
product. It is much easier to see and touch the problems
encountered in a completed printed wiring assembly or a
component than it is to identify problems in the data required
to produce them. Similarly, most product cost is also incurred
before it becomes visible.
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The combination of these criteria will typically cause man-
agement to look in the wrong direction for cost reduction
solutions. They can see excess and obsolete inventory, manu-
facturing cost overruns and scheduling delays. However,
without the ability to visualize a product's development, they
won't be able to "see" the source of these problems.
As a result, data development is the most difficult area in
which to control costs. Regrettably, it is usually the primary
source of product and process changes, expediting, rework,
and overtime ... issues that directly contribute to unplanned
project expenses. Effective visualization can do much to
achieve a balanced project-oriented company environment.
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HARMONIOUS UNIFICATION
Harmonious unification is the result of a successful and
simultaneous integration of individual activities or processes
to achieve a desired result. Now what does that statement
really mean? I was struggling with how to illustrate the
subtleties of this principle as my flight entered its final
approach to Houston's Hobby Airport. During our taxi to the
gate, I noticed a helicopter hovering near a taxiway intersec-
tion. Immediately, I knew I had serendipitously found the
perfect example of harmonious unification: the act of hover-
ing a helicopter.
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Integrating Versus Intellectualizing
In ground school, a student pilot studies the academics of
flight: the aircraft's powerplant, flight controls, navigation
and communication systems, aerodynamics and the environ-
ment in which it flies. While most student pilots can "intel-
lectualize" these ground school subjects, it is the visceral
demands of flight that provide the greatest challenges. If it
were not for instructor pilots as role models, most student
pilots would be convinced that a helicopter is an impossible
machine to fly.
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The cause of their difficulty and doubt is that successful
helicopter flight requires that the pilot achieve MUSUBI--to
"balance" multiple inputs and outputs "simultaneously." As
anyone who has ever attempted to fly quickly realizes, leam-
ing the purpose of each flight control is relatively easy. The
challenge is to correctly "integrate" them, or more appropri-
ately, to experience harmonious unification. The same is true
of project management.
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"Intellectually," it is all quite straightforward. However, as
most project managers realize, "operationalizing" knowledge
is quite another story. For example, if you wish to maintain
hovering flight:
- You must balance gravity and lift which requires constant
adjustment of collective pitch and engine power. A need for
more lift decreases engine and rotor RPM, causing altitude
to be lost. Increasing engine and rotor RPM generates more
torque. More torque requires more anti-torque pedal input
to maintain directional control.
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- More anti-torque pedal input requires more power, decreas-
ing engine and rotor RPM. Decreased engine and rotor
RPM causes lift to be decreased and altitude is lost. Lost
altitude requires more throttle and collective pitch.
- Whoops, a little too much collective pitch! Now you're
hovering too high, so the whole process must be reversed.
Meanwhile, you must constantly maintain attitude and po-
sition with the cyclic control stick, maintain safety clear-
ance around the aircraft, and respond to air traffic control
instructions.
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Only when the pilot has successfully mastered the integra-
tion of intellectual knowledge and proper action can harmo-
nious unification occur.
Likewise, only when those charged with authorizing, plan-
ning and executing projects have successfully mastered the
integration of intellectual knowledge and proper action can
harmonious unification occur.
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Piloting Your Project
Now if a company 's management attempts to fly a helicop-
ter like they have been trained to approach business problem-
solving, they have already crashed! This is because we have
been taught to address problems or issues one at a time. Like
would-be jugglers, we are taught in business school and
experience throughout our careers how to juggle the red ball,
then the blue, then the green one.
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While it may be true that we can juggle red, blue and green
balls, it is probably not safe to say that we can juggle them
simultaneously. Therefore, is there any question why corpo-
rate executives have a budget meeting to discuss expenses . . .
followed by a manufacturing meeting to review shipments
... followed by a marketing meeting to analyze sales projec-
tions. Rather than becoming polished integrators, they have
become very good at juggling one "business ball" at a time.
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In contrast, a successful pilot envisions self and aircraft
holistically, continuously "cross-checking" the engine opera-
tion, flight plan, altitude, heading and airspeed. All the while,
the pilot scans the horizon or monitors air traffic control for
any oncoming hazards. Subconsciously, the pilot and the
machine become one entity. The same need holds true for
today's project managers in a project-oriented environment.
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Business stability requires an effective project management
methodology to enable all constituencies to "visualize" and
"integrate" the resources and activities needed to successfully
consummate each project. As such, the principle of harmonious
unification recognizes that each project is an entity. It is not a
collage of functional disciplines and activities that can be inde-
pendently modified, rearranged or changed at will.
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Like a skilled instructor pilot, project managers must lead the
movement beyond mere corporate intellectual understanding of
a project management environment. PMs need to create an
integrated vision of their project activities, processes and more
importantly, their benefits. This will add the power of action
to the power of visualization ... the ability to interpret,
integrate and operationalize the information portrayed by
project-oriented"business instruments."
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ONENESS
The principle of oneness, or holism, is both an illusion and
a competitive necessity. Intrinsically, oneness poses a dichot-
omy of values for most of us. For example, companies aspire
to successful teamwork from behind the walls they have built
to protect "their parochial turfs." It is a real "stretch" for most
to even think, let alone act, as a holistic corporate entity. They
think and act holistically by function, discipline or depart-
ment, not by project.
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Despite actions to the contrary, the need for oneness encom-
passes every project team. It links one to another. Oneness is an
intemalization of the corporate mission . . . it communicates "a
larger than me" sense of purpose. Only when we see how we
fit within the "corporate oneness" can fiefdom walls be scaled
and an environment of mutual need and trust be created. We
can no longer sub-optimize our industry, our company, our
department, our project, or ourselves, and survive.
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Today's competitive scenario clearly shows the need for
dramatic change in the way companies manage critical pro-
jects. Future success demands breaking the chain of tradi-
tional management "think" and practice. If project managers
are to play a key role toward regaining a competitive advan-
tage, they must challenge the divisive ways of the past and
the present. The principles of MUSUBI offer a new philo-
sophical approach to achieve this end. They offer an alterna-
tive ... of balance or overcommitment ... of harmonious
unification or one-at-a-time solutions . . . of oneness or paro-
chialism. The choice is yours to make.
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Editor's Note: This article is drawn from the author's
book, Competitive Product Development (Business One
Irwin/Quality Press, 1993). pM~