Recently I was watching the film Apollo 13 which tells the story about a shuttle’s re-entry into Earth. It’s a dreadful film but it’s compulsive watching since it combines a lot of people’s natural phobias such as claustrophobia, fear of flying, fear of darkness, and one of my own, Tom Hankophobia. Apollo 13 is also a good metaphor for some projects (and how they often end up).
In one memorable scene, after they’ve supposedly lifted off from the Moon, the team are on their way back to earth when suddenly their spaceship runs out of power.
After some quick thinking, the team shut down the computer (and the Carbon Dioxide filter!) and save up just enough power to give the shuttle one last blast. They almost asphyxiate themselves in the process but manage to survive by breathing through some wet socks supplied by Tom Hanks.
However … they need to get back on track by blasting the engines in the right direction but without a computer to guide them! If they veer one degree too close to the Earth, they will enter too quickly, and burn up. If they veer one degree away from the Earth, they will miss Earth’s gravitational pull and will instead float off in the general direction of Andromeda.
Despite knowing the history of Apollo 13, I was still hoping for a quick ending for the film (either direction would’ve been fine) but somehow, by peering through the cabin window and hitting the blast button, they managed to get the angle just right. They landed in the pacific ocean, to much applause and clapping. Once they were safely aboard the aircraft carrier, the mission was officially described as a “Successful failure’.
Lifting off (and / or getting back on track)
Recently, I was reading about the importance of project lift-offs, in the aptly named book ‘Lift off’ by Diana Larsen and Ashley Nies.
In her own words, Larsen describes a project lift off as an event to set the mission, generate enough energy to defy gravity and sustain the momentum to keep going. Hence her use of the term ‘lift off’ (instead of the term ‘kicking off’ which is more appropriate for rugby games, pub brawls and heated arguments in parish council AGMs).
It seems most projects overlook how important a good lift off is.
Without a successful lift off, many projects face the same dilemma as Apollo 13. The project begins – i.e. people get going – but at some point the team finds themselves in a situation where they are in danger of:
- Losing energy
- Burning up (cash runs out)
- Getting utterly lost
- Or, something which I think happens more regularly than we care to admit: the project was completed but as a ‘successful failure’
I believe that a good lift off will help to mitigate these scenarios. In terms of investment, spending the extra days to do a sound lift off is probably the best ‘bang for your buck’. A conversion rate of something like: every hour invested at lift off could save you a month of wheel spinning later on.
Larsen and Nies outline the key elements required to start a successful agile project (and the beauty is that this applies to any type of project). There’s only three key elements: purpose, alignment and context – but within those elements there’s a lot! What’s amazing about the book is that it brings structure to an otherwise vague concept. It’s the difference between a project starting purely by default on a particular date versus a project properly lifting off with the mission, energy and momentum that Larsen and Nies describe. There are plenty of suggestions on how to run this workshop with your team to make sure these elements are clear and agreed.
As we saw with Apollo13, some projects can also drift awry even if they started well. Tom Hanks was able to get his vessel back on track, but – luckily for him – his goal was quite easy to aim for (it was a planet).
Many people find themselves on projects where the mission was never clear in the first place, or perhaps the circumstances changed. It’s never too late to do another lift off! Or, often new members come on board. In our team, we did another lift off when both our circumstances changed and when new people joined our team.
Starting a project properly is something I instinctively felt was necessary, but previously I didn’t have the skills or knowledge of what to do. A sound project lift off – and even a re-lift off – can help make the difference between a ‘successful failure’ and a successful project.
Recommended reading (again):
Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams by Diana Larsen and Ashley Nies