The Positive Role Fear Can Play in Your Project
How much of a role does fear play in your project? Or in your organization? How much can it, and should it, influence your decisions?
All projects have their risks, and software projects even more so. In whatever stage of the process you find yourself in, everyone involved — the product owner, the project manager, the stakeholders, and even the developers — are managing some degree of fear. Or, more often than not, fear is managing them.
The latest episode of NPR’s TED Radio Hour, “What We Fear” brilliantly examines the impacts, both positive and negative, that fear has on our lives and, by extension, our projects. Here are a few lessons that I gleaned from this episode:
Fear is Essential
“I think it’s definitely a necessary part of human life. And it also keeps us from taking unnecessary or reckless risks. You know, you need to have that built-in fear of consequences.”
— From Karen Thompson Walker’s talk on “What’s the Difference Between Rational and Irrational Fears”
Afraid of going over budget? Scared of upsetting your stakeholders?
Fears within projects are nothing to be ashamed of; in fact, they signal a desire for success. Being open about your fears does not make you — or your project — vulnerable. More often than not, it allows for the kind of brutally honest communication that allows trust to really flourish.
Don’t Let the Unknown Drive Bad Decisions
“We’re built to be scared. But we because we’ve got these massive brains, we can generalize and abstract and so we can worry about things that aren’t even right in front of us.”
— From Stephen Cave’s talk, “Should We Be Afraid of Death?”
Considering consequences is not a negative habit. In fact, a lot of positive results can come from dwelling in unpleasant potentials. The challenge here is to articulate these notions — and to express them.
Don’t let abstract fear prey on you or your project. Ask yourself “Why?” enough times to get to the true root of your fear. Document it. Plan for it. And identify contingencies around it. You’re already feeling better, aren’t you?
If You Can Fear the Problem, You’re Capable of Imagining the Solution
“What if we thought of fear as an amazing act of the imagination? Something that can be as profound and insightful as storytelling itself.”
— From Karen Thompson Walker’s talk on “What’s the Difference Between Rational and Irrational Fears”
In her talk, Walker discusses fear as storytelling: there’s always a beginning (today), a middle, and an end. Of course, when we’re afraid, we’re focusing on the end — and a horrific one at that.
Imagining the slippery slope to a terrible end requires a great deal of imagination that can often be willfully diverted. How can you plot out “the middle” in order to change “the end”? Think of how powerful that energy could be if you spent it on finding a solution.
Homework:
Here’s a crazy idea for all of our product owners: on the first day of your project, sit your project manager down. Imagine yourselves six months into your project and outline all of the things that could have gone wrong in that time. Practice having the “difficult conversations” about being over budget or out of time: How did we get here? How could we have avoided this?
Lay all of your fears on the table as if they have come to life today, then backtrack to discover all of the ways they could have been eliminated or alleviated. You’ll have identified more opportunities for success and will have likely forged a better partnership with your project manager in the process.
At Praxent, we always try to abide by a simple rule regarding fear: if you feel it, say it. Nothing is gained by dwelling in fear, just as nothing is lost by admitting it.