The human side of project economy

1. Characteristics of successful Project
Leaders
ZOHO - Serious Software, Friendly Company
May 2020
Thomas Walenta
thwalenta@online.de

2. 1974
PMI
member
Panasonic
19881983 2002 2014
Retired IBM
start @ IBM
decide 4 PM career
first
project
PMP
freelance
Chapter 8yr
PgMPFellow
2014201219981992
Board BoardEthics 6 years
University Mathematics teach @ university
IPMA
member

3. As Project Managers
You are the leaders of teams and customers into a positive future
You will find some practical and some philosophical ideas in my pitch.
You may ask questions at the end or in the chat. You can get the deck.
It is up to you, if you want to deep dive or try out some ideas.
Or read a book. You may also contact me to discuss further.
In the global profession, in PMI, in the Chapter you find like-minded
people with similar problems – connect and help build the PM hive
Nobody knows what will be in a year (and never did) – but we all can
connect today in order to openly and fairly share ideas for the next steps
You are the reason I speak here today

4. Yusra Mardini from
Damascus, Syria
Swimming Champion,
17 years old
A motor dhingi designed for 6,
loaded with 19 - 2015
Project:
Go from Turkey to Lesbos, 25km
Ø motor stopped, boat took water
Ø Yusra jumped in sea, followed by 3 others
Ø pulling the boat, keeping it afloat
Ø after 3 hours motor started – all were saved
A good person, a leader, a successful project
Ø Vision
Ø Action
Ø Results

5. What does it mean to be good person? Assume being ethical.
• What can I be to make project success more probable?
§ How can I interact with others for this?
§ How can I support the team to be effective?
me
Behave
ethical
they
Build trust
& security
we
Lead
effectively
it
Succeed
with the
outcome

6. Ethical values describe triggers to our emotions
6
Responsibility, accountability
Respect, mindfulness, tolerance, diversity
Fairness, justice, equitable
Honesty, truth, integrity
Freedom, autonomy
Community, family, relatedness
Compassion, Care, Love
Humility, reverence for life
8 human values found in most human cultures (Rushworth Kidder)
Compassion, care, love, help
PMI Code of Ethics and
Professional Responsibility

7. Example:
How fairness and reciprocity developed during evolution

8. 8

9. Some characteristics of ethical values
My ethical values – voluntarily limit my options for my action
(tools can be used for ethical and unethical purposes)
Culture is represented by e.g.
common behaviors, rites, norms, signs, perspectives, beliefs and values
Values connect people, they are commonly accepted & felt by humans
Beliefs divide, they define communities, are based on transferred experience
If beliefs are challenged, e.g. by disruptions of communities, values become more visible
We all are part of many communities and their specific cultures:
Family, Spouse, School, Job-role, Company, Profession, Hobby,
Clubs, Nation, Ethnicity, Gender, Religion, Language
Our identity is created in the intersection of these cultures
me

10. Global cultural system – a model to understand others
(based on A World of Three Cultures: Honor, Achievement and Joy by Miguel E. Basáñez)
3 hyper cultures Achievement Joy Honor
Legal system, historic
context
Roman law, industrial Common/case law, post-
WWII
Islamic law, pre-industrial
Typical behaviors Punctuality / efficiency,
rationality, job > family
Family / friendship,
learning, sense of agency
Respect for tradition /
authority, patriarchy,
family > job
Key dominant values Hard work reward /
punishment (economic –
harmony vs mastery)
Trust / family (social –
autonomy vs
embeddedness)
Autonomy vs obedience
(political – hierarchy vs
egalitarism)
8 macro cultures Main religions Protestant, Judaism,
Confucianism
Catholicism, Buddhism Islam, Christian orthodoxy,
Hinduism
200 mezzo cultures Nationality Western Europe, US, China,
Japan, Sweden, Norway
Latin America, European
Catholics, Italy, Spain
Islamic countries, India,
Zimbabwe, Pakistan
800 micro cultures Language

11. Ethical decisions
Ethical decision-making types (Rushworth Kidder):
• Good-bad (easy – for most sane people)
• Good-good (dilemma), needs balance, experience, depends on situation
• shall I be honest and tell him he has a stain on his shirt or shall I respect him
as he is and not embarrass him? Honesty vs. respect.
• I am responsible to reduce headcount, how to be fair and respectful
• Moral courage (heroic), personal consequences
• whistleblower, not taking bribes, Standup against bullies
• reframe the dilemma from (value1 vs value2) towards (value1 and value2)
Value 1
Value 2 Value 1
Value 2
reframe

12. Emotional Intelligence – a base for leadership
self awareness:
confidence,
authenticity
self control:
mindfulness,
resilience
empathy:
learning,
understanding, listen
influence:
leadership, impact
compassion:
self-motivation,
flow
observe act
me
you

13. A PRANZO CON IL NIC
Neuroleadership – SCARF (by David Rock)
a tool to improve emotional intelligence
Understand (and mitigate) automatic emotional reactions engrained in our brain
to observe/manage yourself (self-control) and influence others
Flight (fear)
Attack
(aggression)
Minimize
danger
Maximize
Award
Fairness
Certainty
Autonomy
Relatedness
Status
ThinkLimbicSystemPrefrontal
cortex
SCARF: five emotional responses of the limbic
system to be damped, if you want to be rational
14
Trigger

14. A PRANZO CON IL NIC
Fairness
In order to lead and influence, we have to understand motivations that
drive our reactions and try to smooth the triggers that might result in
emotions
Certainty
Autonomy
Relatedness
Status
As Project Managers ….
You are the leaders of teams and customers into a positive future
You will find some practical and some philosophical ideas in my pitch.
You may ask questions at the end or in the chat. You can get the deck.
It is up to you, if you want to deep dive or try out some ideas.
Or read a book. You may also contact me to discuss further.
In the global profession, in PMI, in the Chapter you find like-minded
people with similar problems – connect and help build the PM hive
Nobody knows what will be in a year (and never did) – but we all can
connect today in order to openly and fairly share ideas for the next steps
SCARF
(David Rock)
davidrock.net/
15

15. Values support positive emotions to enable ethical decision making
Responsibility,
accountability
Respect, mindfulness,
tolerance, diversity
Fairness, justice, equitable
Honesty, truth, integrity
Freedom
Community, family
Compassion, Care, Love
Humility, reverence for life
Status
Certainty
Autonomy
Relatedness
Fairness
8 human values
(Rushworth Kidder)
5 automatically triggered
emotions (David Rock)
Compassion, Care, Love
fear
lonely
forced
inferior
unjust
courage
hope
protected
empowered
valued
equal
How humans feel if emotions are
triggered positively/negatively

16. Personality style tools
Help with self-awareness and empathy
§ Help to understand your own strengths, weaknesses, habits, rites etc
§ Help to close the gap between self-image and the perception of others
§ Makes you more self confident
§ Help to better understand others: active listening, interpreting, empathy
§ Help to understand the fit to a team, and to assign roles
§ Help with interviews
4D team assessment (NASA)
DISC (4 styles)
MBTI (16 styles, Myers-Briggs)
True Colours / Hartmann
360 degree assessments
blue Need to look good technically,
be right, and be respected. They
are strong leaders and love
challenges
red Need to have integrity and be
appreciated. They are focused
on quality and creating strong
relationships.
white Need to be accepted and treated
with kindness. They are logical,
objective, and tolerant of others.
yellow Need to be noticed and have
fun. They love life, social
connections, and being positive
and spontaneous.
Herrmann Brain Dominance
Instrument HBDI (GE)
Strength Deployment Inventory SDI
SDI: Blue-red-green
16PF questionaire (Cattell)
MBTI True Colors

17. Humm-Wadsworth model with 7 temperaments (1934, based on research)
1. Mover/Socializer – communicates, positive, talks quickly and often, smiles, comes late more often and apologizes, casual,
light colors, no tie, sneakers, funny accessories
emotion: communication
2. Politician – winning, power savvy, status, competition, comes late and does not apologize, overdressed, dark colors, well
dressed, strong handshake, direct eye contact
emotion: winning
3. Hustler/GoGetter – earn money quickly, show what you have, expensive watch, rings, gold, brand savvy, colors red &
gold , short term oriented
emotion: success
4. Artist – individuality, creative, colors black or fitting, amulets, casual but individual dress, beards
emotion: create
5. Double-Checker – safety, family, problems, sickness, lethargic, natural colors, big handbags
emotion: safety/security
6. Engineer – perfection, planning, structure, practical, technical accessories, drive completion
emotion: finish
7. Normal/Regulator – driven by reason, orderly, not be exposed, follows rules
emotion: order
Most people exhibit 2-3 temperaments
Can be used to explore yourself, quickly understand others and teams
http://www.emotionalintelligencecourse.com/eq-components/

18. What HUMM personality type are you? Judge all of them on a scale 1-10 (1 no, 10 yes)
Most people have 2-3 dominant temperaments.
HUMM can be used to understand yourself better, try to get a quick first view of others, adapt your approach to communicate,
analyse a team’s composition.
7 temper-
aments
Mover Politician Hustler Artist Double
Checker
Engineer Normal
Typical
observations
Communicates,
positive, talks
quickly and
often, smiles,
comes late &
apologizes,
casual, light
colors, no tie,
sneakers, funny
accessories,
Big network –
less friends,
joking,
entertains,
energetic,
laughs
winning, power
savvy, status, in
competition,
comes late and
does not
apologize,
overdressed,
well dressed,
perceived as
expert, often
say ‘I’, need
recognition,
arrogant,
stubborn, does
not give up, not
sensible, dark
colors
earn money
quickly, show
what you have,
flexible, sees
opportunity,
empathic,
materialistic,
risk taker, aware
of image,
dominant,
expensive
watch, rings,
gold, brand
aware, colors
red & gold
individuality,
creative, colors
black or fitting,
amulets, casual
but individual
dress, beards,
sensible,
idealistic, shy
away from
confrontation
Imagination
Visionary, be
different,
introvert
safety, family,
problems,
sickness,
lethargic,
natural colors,
big handbags,
little messy,
introvert, not
shy, friendly,
take critics
personally, slow
decision maker,
risk avoider
Task oriented,
perfection,
optimizing, love
details, focus,
planning,
structure,
practical,
technical
accessories,
outdated
clothing,
“German”
reason, not be
exposed,
follows and
appreciates
rules, orderly,
analytic, no
emotions, not
patient with
others, formal,
duty
1…10
(10 – full)
Goto menti.com and enter 10 32 64

20. Leadership competencies / treats
Core Leadership Competencies (Bradbury/Greaves)
Strategy
Vision
Acumen
Planning
Courage to lead
Action
Decisiveness
Communication
Mobilizing others
Results
Risk taking
Results focus
Agility
ØVision
ØAction
ØResults

21. Leadership can be seen when you observe a shift ..
From To
Uncertainty Certainty
Chaos Structure
Fear Hope
Vision Results
Activism Plan
Waste Discipline
Hesitation Decision
Narrow view Reframing
Confrontation Conversation

22. 23
Everyone
is a
Leader