VIEWPOINTS

A root cause of airplane crashes might be the culprit in many project failures

By Ammar Mango
Amman, Jordan

Who would have thought that something as subtle as mitigated speech would be a major cause for airplane crashes? However it is clearly so, according to a study referenced in Gladwell’s recently published book titled “Outliers.” Mitigated speech is when a subordinate plays down his or her concerns when communicating with, in the case of airplanes, the captain. What does this have to do with project management? Much more than meets the eye.

When discussing lessons learned form a project failure, one often hears statements like this: “I knew this will be a problem from the beginning, but no one would listen to me.” Those working in the project management field must have heard this story a thousand times over, about how someone “saw it coming” but the boss would not listen, when discussing a project issue.

In crashes as well project failures, the problem is often avoidable and seems so simple. What makes it worse is that the problem is often caught by one of the crew members in time for someone to do something about it. Alas, in many of these failures, someone does not.

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About the Author Ammar Mango Author Ammar W. Mango, PMP, CSSBB, is principal consultant for Method Corporation, a project management consulting, product and services company based in Amman, Jordan. He is also an International Correspondent for PMForum and PM World Today in Jordan. With over seventeen years of global experience in Project Management & Leadership consulting and training, he is considered an international expert on the subjects and enjoys a superb reputation as an inspirational trainer and consultant. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Jordan University and a Master's Degree in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. He has been certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute (PMI) since 1991, and as a Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society for Quality. He served as Vice President, Education, PMI Great Lakes Chapter in 1993, and is the founder and currently an active member of the PMI Jordanian Chapter. Additional information can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/index.htm#5. Ammar can be contacted at amango@methodcorp.com.