Piloting Your Project

摘要：本文是将驾驶飞机和管理项目做类比，每一次飞行就好比做一个项目的管理，两者都有很多的风险和一系列的影响因素。作者从驾驶员的成功飞行中总结出16大要点，将其应用于项目管理中。

There are significant parallels between flying a plane and managing a project. Here, an experienced pilot and project manager shares 16 guiding principles from the cockpit that just might help you make the shift from passenger to pilot on your next project. Ready for takeoff?

Surveys have shown that fewer than half of all projects meet their goals, and only one-third is completed on time and on budget. If pilots flew aircraft like we run projects, no one would ever leave the earth! Instead, millions of people take to the sky every day to fly for work or pleasure. The most recent federal data shows that almost 80 percent of all flights arrive on schedule, and those that are late are delayed by weather 70 percent of the time. Airlines accomplish with an accident rate of only 0.124 per 100,000 hours flown. (If you flew every day of your life you’d have less than a 1 percent chance of being in an accident.) Can we learn something about managing projects from life in the cockpit?

Humans have been flying for just over 100 years. As pilots gathered to share their experiences in the early days, and later the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board began investigating accidents, the aviation community learned invaluable lessons. Project management has been around since the building of the Pyramids and The Great Wall, but as a defined practice it is only about 60 years old. Unfortunately, the project profession has never had a national board to examine its “disasters,” and important lessons are not being learned. As both a pilot and former project manager, I have found remarkable parallels between flying a plane and managing a project. Here are 16 guiding principles of aviation that can be applied to project management.

1. Before spending an hour or more planning a flight, smart pilots make a rough estimate of the trip’s distance, fuel required, the aircraft’s range, and passenger and baggage load to determine its feasibility. If pilots jump right into detail planning, they can become emotionally committed to a flight that might not be easily completed. Project Managers: Do a project feasibility study before you get into detail planning, or you might become emotionally committed to attempting the impossible.

2. Good pilots understand what their passengers want most: the shortest flight, the smoothest flight, or the most scenic flight. It is almost impossible to do all three in the same trip. Project Managers: You must know the stakeholders’ (plural) key expectation (singular).

3. Pilots know that operating an aircraft beyond its designed gross weight is not wise. You may be able to fill all the seats, tanks, and cargo area, but the plane might be too heavy to leave the ground. Trade-offs are usually needed. Options include leaving some fuel, cargo or passengers behind. Additional fuel stops, resulting in a longer flight, is another possible solution. Project Managers: Manage your constraints consistent with the No. 1 expectation. Only one — cost, schedule or performance (quality) — can be No. 1.

4. Pilots learn that there are many ways to get from A to B. The safest route may not be the most direct. They evaluate multiple routes for winds, turbulence, safety factors, aircraft capability and passenger interests before selecting the best one. Project Managers: Evaluate multiple activity networks, considering the stakeholders’ expectation and likelihood of success. The first activity network is not likely the best.

5. Detail flight planning might prove a flight is impossible. Pilots know the results of the flight feasibility might be wrong. They should prepare their passengers to hear, “The flight can’t be done safely and we are not leaving.” (The next time your airline cancels your flight remember — it’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground.) Project Managers: If you can’t get a project plan to make sense, it won’t work itself out later. Prepare your stakeholders to hear, “No, it can’t be done.”

6. Takeoff is one of the most critical phases of flight. Good pilots monitor all the gauges and the aircraft performance early and frequently during the takeoff roll. If the acceleration, or anything else, is not normal, the takeoff is aborted. The source of the problem is determined and fixed, or the flight is canceled. Project Managers: Frequently monitor the beginning phase of your project. Once a week is not too often. Check staffing levels, communication, cooperation, progress and productivity. If your project does not start off well, stop, fix the problem, and start over.

7. Throughout the flight pilots check their progress over the ground against the flight plan. Is their path over the ground correct? Did they arrive at their checkpoints on time? How long have they been flying and how much fuel has been used? They continuously evaluate the fuel and time required to complete the flight. Project Managers: Know your real accomplishment to-date. Use earned value management to know if the work completed is appropriate for the time and funds spent. Update your planned completion date and expenditure if needed.

8. Flight planning includes weather forecasts, which are educated assumptions from weather forecasters. Assumptions can be wrong. During a long flight, pilots radio for updates to the forecast and current weather conditions. If the current conditions are not as originally forecast, the other assumptions about weather often are also wrong. Project Managers: Continue to review the assumptions that were made during planning. If these assumptions prove to be wrong then update all the assumptions based upon the current project environment.

9. Regardless of the weather forecasts, the weather outside the cockpit window is fact, and it must be dealt with regardless of what was forecast. Project Managers: What you see is most likely what you get. Past assumptions and promises are history; deal with the present situation.

10. Pilots have had accidents when they became distracted during key phases of flight. In one case, the cockpit crew was so focused on a burnt-out lamp that the plane descended into the ground. Airlines have a “sterile cockpit” rule during critical phases of flight: no casual discussions among the crew. Flying the plane is always Job One. Project Managers: Running your project is always Job One. If, for example, annual workplace safety training is scheduled during a key project problem-solving meeting, the project meeting gets priority.

11. Planes with two pilots on board have had accidents when each thought the other was doing the flying. Pilots are taught to confirm who is doing the flying. Typically, Pilot 1 states, “You have the plane,” and Pilot 2 responds, “I have the plane.” Project Managers: When you delegate project responsibility and tasks, confirm it and then release control.

12. Cockpit Resource Management is a tool used by cockpit crews to make sure everyone is comfortable with the decisions and actions being taken. The pilot in command listens to alternative opinions and ideas before taking any critical action. Other crew members are charged to mention anything that concerns them. Project Managers: Charge everyone on your project team with keeping the whole project out of trouble. Respect and respond to all concerns.

13. Excellent pilots think 10 to 30 or more minutes ahead of the aircraft’s position. Today’s training teaches pilots to know (a) what should happen next, (b) how to know when it does, © what to do when it happens, and (d) what should happen after that. A pilot who is just keeping up with the aircraft’s position is acting more like a passenger than a pilot. Project Managers: Know what is supposed to happen next on your project, how you will know it did, what you should do when it does; and what should happen next.

14. Pilots constantly monitor the flight’s progress. If trends show that the flight might not be meeting its planned progress, or destination weather is questionable, pilots begin formulating a Plan B. The new plan may mean a fuel stop or change in destination. Project Managers: Start to re-plan the project before the re-plan is needed. Always be operating to a plan.

15. Pilots are required to follow the instructions issued to them by air traffic control. Yet the U.S. air regulations also state, “The pilot in command of an aircraft is ... the final authority as to the operation of the aircraft…[and] may deviate from any rule to the extent required to meet (any) emergency.” Project Managers: Assume all the authority you need to be successful. Contrary to what you may think, a majority of senior management becomes frustrated when project managers do not assume more authority. If necessary, do what you need to do and be prepared to explain later.

16. Modern aircraft can literally fly itself thanks to sophisticated autopilot systems. But there have been accidents when these systems did not perform as expected. Pilots typically become aware of any problems, but may find that they are scrambling if they have allowed the autopilot system to control the plane up to that point in time. Project Managers: To paraphrase a recent NASA recommendation to pilots, “The more [project management] automation there is … the more the [project manager] should work to remain an active and integral part of the [project].” Project management software cannot run a project.

So there you have 16 lessons from aircraft pilots — guiding principles that apply to piloting projects as well. Both pilots and project managers address risk, communications, uncertainty and a host of other common elements. If you run your project like pilots fly planes you might find they “land” as successfully as almost every airline flight.