Projects as Football

I've just had another meeting with a client that expects engineering drawings to be perfect, beyond misinterpretation and cover all possible questions that a constructor might ask. This is a seductive idea. As engineers we, of course, have no tolerance for error or ambiguity. As consumers, we expect what we buy to be without flaw. Put those two ideas together and the client is being perfectly reasonable. This is simply a reaffirmation of Murphy's Golden Rule after all. Package a reasonable client and Murphy's Golden Rule together and I am left without a lot I can say.

But how do you tell a client that is reasonable, as well as has the money that pays for our services, that they are wrong? Obviously by using diplomacy, charm and euphemisms, as well as picking up the tab for a long and langorous tasting at a trendy brew pub.

That being said, I think the issue is not about engineering, but about something else entirely. That something is the strategy of project execution. We simply establish scopes, budgets and schedules and go forth into the wide world expecting the success that is our due. But the strategy that we use to execute a project is critical to its success. Strategy is not an ivory tower concept, it is the calculated plan of action that takes into account the way the world works, the situation we are in and the result we wish to achieve.

Consider the way a football coach plans his defense. He has limited resources, eleven men on the field of action, limited by time and the skills those eleven men bring to the field. He needs to use those resources to prevent the opposing team from scoring points.

Coaches know that they win or lose the game on the line of scrimmage. But they also know that there is only so much they can do on that line of scrimmage and that they have limited resources. There are only 11 players and 60 minutes.

A project execution team can be compared to a football defense. Rather than preventing a touchdown, their job is to prevent the perversity (ha ha) of the universe from damaging the project they are executing. The way resources are deployed is the strategy for executing the project.

It often seems that the strategy we, as an industry, employ is simply a goal line stand. Everybody up on the line of scrimmage and try to beat the crap out of the guy on the other side. We go home to drink our beer at night bloody and bruised, but happy in the knowledge that we did the best we could. If a receiver or running back gets past the line, easy score. In the project world, that equates to perversity whapping us on the side of the head with a big stick.

In football, most teams employ a defense in depth concept. There is a defensive line that does the heavy lifting on every play. But behind them is a linebacker corp that adjusts to the situation and works closely with the line to stop whatever the other team throws at them. And behind the linebackers are the safeties and cornerbacks which take care of the mistakes.

Engineering services are the defensive line of a project execution team. They do the heavy lifting. Their job is to prevent perversity from scoring its points. They define what needs to be built and how it is to be put together. They are in charge of getting the material necessary to where it needs to be. If they do their job well and the universe isn't too perverse, projects go smoothly. In a football game, if the defensive line stops all the offensive plays on the line of scrimmage, the game is easy and scores are low.

But coaches know that people aren't perfect and that offensive teams (the perversity of the universe) are very crafty and have a lot of really good players. The defensive line does not stop every offensive play on the line of scrimmage. That is what the linebackers are there for. In this metaphor, project procurement plays the part of linebacker. Aggressive linebackers read the way the play is going and react accordingly. Strong procurement sees the way the project is going (expediting, shop visits and receiving) and facilitates adjustment with vendors, engineering and construction to deal with developing situations.

If the football makes it past the line and linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks pick it up and minimize the damage. That is the job of construction engineering in our metaphor. Construction engineering is charged with dealing with the problems that get through. They are the final line of defense. Aggressive backfield players watch the play developing and react accordingly, They can do this because they have the time and perspective to do so.

One of the key questions in the makeup of any strategy is marginal effectiveness. The quality or completeness of engineering services product, drawings and specifications, is a function of time. That time is measured both in manhours and as a time line. Increasing quality or completeness requires both, more manhours and more time. From the standpoint of an effective project execution team, where do we get the most bang for the buck by adding manpower?

As noted previously, most project execution strategies seem to be oriented toward the goal line stand. Occasionally there is a lone safety or single linebacker, Even more destructive, the line and the backfield almost always play on different teams.