Undocumented Features

Learn to Manage From the Family…

May 5, 2008 – 8:42 am

I ran across a great article a while back from the Guardian newspaper called “How to do business like the Mafia“.  The article outlines business lessons that can be learned from the reign of Sicilian Mafia boss Bernado Provenzano.  The points break down thusly, along with my thoughts on what a project manager or leader can take away from it:

Rule 1:  Submersion

When a company or project is failing, take it below the radar.  What does this mean to a business or project?  Quite simply, if you’re making headlines, you’re going to be wasting time answering questions about those headlines rather than fixing the trouble that you’re in.  Troubled times require notice, but you have to mitigate and control this as much as possible if you want to be able to devote enough time and effort to righting the ship.

Rule 2:  Mediation

Negotiate whenever possible.  Encourage people with problems to work it out among themselves.  The solutions that will be arrived at by two or more parties in contention will often be better for both parties, and the negotiation process itself will force them to work together enough that sometimes future problems can be avoided.

Rule 3:  Consensus

If you want your company or project to succeed, you must show its value to constituents.  Not just the project or business itself, but the people who represent it.  You must put up a positive, helpful front.  Your team and its attitude and behavior is a reflection of your product.  People who show themselves to be good and of value will be trusted to do good and to provide good services and products.

Rule 4:  Keep God on your side

This goes hand in hand with rule 3.  Good people are trusted to provide good things.  I liken this to the Google business mantra:  “Do no evil.”

Rule 5:  Be Politically Flexible

Stand up for what’s truly important to your company, but understand the needs of others and support their needs as well.  Lend your influence to ideas you believe in, serve your project and company, and be politically flexible where needed to ensure the survival of your business venture.

Rule 6:  Reinvention

In the face of failure, reinvent.  Distance yourself, your project, and your company from past failures.  Learn from your mistakes and make that learning public.  Mistakes and failures lose trust.  Trust is the currency of business just as much, if not more so, than cash in today’s world.

Rule 7:  Modesty

Be humble.  If you build the greatest company in the world or complete a project that completely transforms your company, you still have only done your job.  Nothing more.  That is your job, isn’t it?  Did anyone ever get promoted to run a so-so company or to manage a project ‘adequately’?  Someone has to be the best.  If that happened to be you, that means two things:  1) you did a great job!  2) no one else happened to do a better job- that doesn’t mean that they can’t, or that they won’t next week.  Humbleness is not only good for you to keep sight of things, but it makes you more approachable and followable by others.  It will make you a better leader.

I’m intrigued enough by the article (which I suggest reading) that I’m going to try the book (Boss of Bosses: How Bernardo Provenzano Saved the Mafia).  Expect to hear more review in coming months.  Anyone out there read it yet?

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