Celebrate The Cracks
"Celebrate the cracks because that's how the light comes in" - Groucho Marx
When I was starting out in my career one of my first jobs was as a project manager. Each week I had to submit a one page status commentary report for my projects and colour code the project status using a red, amber or green spot and send it to my PMO manager. I'm sure many of us will have done similar.
One week something terrible happened that was going to impact a project I was running. When I say terrible, I remember it 'felt' terrible at the time, but honestly can't have been all that bad as I can't remember what the project was or what the terrible thing that occurred was. But nevertheless a crack had unexpectedly appeared in my project. I was horrified.
I talked to a couple of colleagues on my project team seeking their advice on what I should put as the project status that week. One person was very blasé saying I should mark us as red, shrugging before walking off. Another was aghast that I was even thinking of marking us as red and said we should say green and keep our issue hidden behind the curtain.
I was a bit perplexed and anxious as I wanted to stay green but the terrible thing was holding me back rating us that way.
So I spoke to the PMO manager who chatted to me over a coffee about why I was concerned about the terribleness of the issue and probed what our plan was to repair the crack. They said it was my call and subtly reminded me what a red, amber and green rating meant. And most importantly not to fear reds.
In the end I flagged it as red. The world didn’t end. The project team were given some support from the business and we resolved the issue. We were back to green across the board the following week.
The coaching I got that day has always stayed with me. Whenever I review a programme plan that is green everywhere my spider senses tingle. Cracks in projects and programmes happen. It's a fact of life. And in transformation, actively and regularly 'kicking the tyres' looking for cracks is critical to keep things moving and bulletproof against known and unknown dangers that can impede progress and avoid papering over the cracks.
I think the key thing to get right is making people feel safe that they can call possible terrible things out without comeback (and we all know the term for this). Reds should be encouraged; they make things stronger and help remove cracks occurring.
Cracks are good. They let the light in. And they ensure the business avoids a 'we've always done it this way' mindset.
Talking of cracks, I baked a real classic of Italian cuisine - a batch of cracked, super crispy, soft and chewy Amaretti Cookies. ⚡️🔆🍪
(Recipe from the 'Two Magpies Bakery' cookbook, which is super).
