First of all, if you have not watched The Princess Bride, stop reading this right away and redress the situation. I mean it. Do it. Now!
Ok, if you are still here, this is what we will do: we will review three very well-known themes or moments from The Princess Bride and analyze how they relate to Project Management. Ready? Let’s go!
“As you wish” doesn’t mean “I love you,” it means you are in trouble
Buttercup was raised on a small farm in the country of Florin. Her favorite pastimes were riding her horse and tormenting the farm boy that worked there. His name was Westley, but he never called him that. Nothing gave Buttercup as much pleasure as ordering the boy around. “As you wish” was all he ever said.
That day she was amazed to discover that when he was saying “As you wish,” what he meant was “I love you.” And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.
Ok, so imagine you are Westley, and your stakeholders are Buttercup. Sounds familiar, yes? As a project/product manager, you are going to be asked to do many, many things: Can you add this “little” feature to the sprint, or to the backlog? Can you launch sooner? Can you spend less money? Can you reschedule the meeting? Can you fix this bug? The list goes on, and on, and on.
While some requests will legitimately (but occasionally, in my experience) grant a big As you wish, you need to escape the people-pleaser temptation of being a farm boy who wants to get the girl. It is not your job to make people fall in love with you. It is your job to make people trust you. How do they trust you? When you do the things you said you would do. If you As you wish too much, two things can happen:
A. The requests are doable, but there are so many that you get to them late (or worse, never), and eventually, you burn out. You just lost your stakeholder’s trust.
B. The requests may have negative consequences for the project or product, and you realize you promised something you couldn’t deliver. You lost your stakeholder’s trust. Again.
Let’s find some alternatives:
A. Yes, I can totally do this. I am working now on a, b & c. Does it work for you if I have it by Tuesday of next week? (make sure you can actually do it by then)
B. Yes, we can do this. It will delay a, and increase the risk that b runs over budget. How do you want to address it?
“Inconceivable” means you suck
Ok, whatever you do in your life, don’t be Vizzini. Vizzini is the guy in the movie who yells inconceivable every time something goes wrong, which is pretty frequent. As he is a bad guy, it is actually fun. At some point, Íñigo says:
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Exactly! Inconceivable means that you totally, completely suck!
Don’t suck. Don’t be Vizzini.
Apart from the fact that Vizzini is a terrible, horrible leader who micromanages and doesn’t motivate or value his employees, he is a lousy planner. Every time something is inconceivable to him, it means he has failed to identify a risk, and then, of course, he has not mitigated, avoided, or transferred it.
Anticipate and manage risks! Do you know how Vizzini could have identified and anticipated the risks? In that context, and if he was not a major a-hole, a simple conversation based on trust with Fezzik and Íñigo could have gone a long way. In my experience, your partnership with the team will be key to identifying risks. Please don’t be Vizzini.
Íñigo Montoya is the ultimate communicator
You may have heard about this one. It is also my favorite, and you’d be surprised how useful it is.
Hello, my name is Íñigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
This is the phrase that Íñigo keeps saying to, obviously, the guy who killed his father. Remember, kids: if you are reaching out to someone via mail or Slack, always use the Íñigo Montoya approach:
- Hello. Always be polite! Also, don’t stop here waiting for another hello from the other side. Just go on. You are not at risk of being impolite if you follow the Íñigo Montyoa rule. Let’s continue.
- My name is Íñigo Montoya. Introduce yourself. Remember that your interlocutor may not be a clairvoyant! You probably should add more context here, like the team/project you are working on or whatever makes sense, but don’t write too much! You need to get to #3 fast!
- You killed my father. Then you need to give some context. Maybe you are reaching out because the other person is an SME on something; tell them! If you do this via Slack, assume that folks are jumping from conversation to conversation. Context is key!
- Prepare to die. Set expectations. Maybe actually ask exactly what you need. If you need more than one thing, make a numbered list. Make it easy for the other person to provide you with what you seek. Also, don’t kill anyone.
Bonus track: true love
Please try not to fall in love with folks you work with (most companies are not like Grey’s Anatomy), but also, please love and respect your profession and love and respect your co-workers. The time you spend working amounts to at least ⅓ of your day, don’t waste it being hateful, resentful, and unhappy!
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