Some will understand…
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“How To Turn a Great Project into A Nightmare, or:
What Happens When the Three Rings in the Circus Are Actually Swimming Pools?”
Picture this. The whistle blows, the little band blows a rousing fanfare, and the ringmaster steps into the spotlight and says, “Ladies and Gentlemen. Children of all ages….”
The whistle blows again…the curtains part…and out stroll three huge elephants with pretty girls on their backs. From the far left side of the tent comes a pack of dogs in little costumes being led by a woman with a big stick and two people with flaming hoops. From the far right end of the tent comes a woman in a tutu and a man in a flowing orange cape, heading for the rope ladders that reach to the top of the tent.
The circus is now underway.
Then there is a series of huge splashes as the three elephants stumble into the shallow end of the center ring and trumpet their surprise and look at the pretty girls sloshing along beside them with their pretty hair and mascara flowing in every direction, while the dogs plunge into ring number two and chase the hoops that are floating around an no longer flaming, while the tutu and man-in-cape slip on the wet ladder and fall headlong into the deep end of ring #3.
That’s what happens when you replace the rings of the circus with swimming pools.
You see, the folks involved in the circus know about the circus. They plan their activities and their work based on what they know. One of those things they know is that circus rings are made of wooden pieces that surround a large space usually covered in sawdust, or perhaps straw. This is how the circus has operated for years, and it has worked pretty well. It works well because everyone involved knows what to expect, and what their role is in seeing that things are done correctly.
There are people who have the job of setting up those wooden pieces that go around the rings. There are people who have the job of spreading sawdust. There are people who have the job of hanging ladders, of setting up elephant platforms, and setting up those little hoop-things that you set on fire so everyone can watch the little dog jump through it. It works.
It works until someone decides to replace the three rings with swimming pools.
Speaking of project management…
