Chapter Eight:

Visionate: Capturing the Sponsor’s Vision

Learning Objectives

• Understand how the Flexible Project Model operationalizes the 4 Business Questions.

• Understand the role of the eXtreme project manager during the Visionate cycle.

• Understand what it takes to get an eXtreme project off to a solid start.

• Understand your own concerns, if any, for your role in interacting with the project sponsor.

• Be able to draft specific work products that comprise the Visionate cycle.

1. Figure 8.1 presents the Flexible Project Model, which is Critical Success Factor 3. The model contains five components: Visionate, Speculate, Innovate, Reevaluate, and Disseminate. How do the 4 Business Questions covered earlier in the book relate to the Flexible Project Model? That is, how does the model operationalize the 4 Business Questions?

2. Visionate is the first cycle in the five-element Flexible Project Model. What is the role of the project sponsor in this cycle? What does DeCarlo suggest the project manager do if a sponsor cannot be identified or if the designated sponsor has insufficient clout?

Which of the 10 Shared Values come into prominence in the dialogue between sponsor and project manager?

3. In the example of the parallel universe project, Noah got off to a good start with Gabriel, the project sponsor. What qualities contributed to the success of this initial meeting?

Exercise 1

What concerns, if any, might you have in the role of project manager in terms of interacting with the sponsor in the way DeCarlo described ? What might you do to overcome these concerns?

Exercise 2

Think of a project (business or personal) that you are working on. (If you are not currently working on a project, think of one in the recent past or one you expect to be working on in the near future.) For the project you have in mind, do a rough draft of the following work products for the Visionate cycle:

• The three-sentence project skinny

• The Ins and Outs

• The project imperatives

• The program breakdown structure

• The product vision

• The deliverable's useful life

• The 7 Win Conditions

What revelations about your project did this exercise produce?