Chapter 2: Framing and Aligning the Project and Team

Chapter 2:
Framing and Aligning the Project and
Team
Presented by: Thomas Moore, Elizabeth Zitzer, Ivan Romero, Alex
McCaleb, Zach Nissen, Zach Wells, Alan Lin
Topics Covered
● Adaptive Project Management v Traditional Project Management
● Explorative v Exploitative project types
● Examples of all four topics
● Our presentation’s design process as an example
Adaptive vs Traditional
Clarity of Goal
Low
Improve
shopping
cart
Make
affordable
3D printer
Google
mobile
climate lab
Clarity of Process
Low
Improve
shopping
cart
High
NASA
rover
challenge
NASA
rover
challenge
High
Google
mobile
climate lab
Make
affordable
3D printer
Adaptive Project Management
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Ideal for software or innovative projects
A working adaptive team learns and adjusts to uncertainties
Creative and accommodating with new requirements
Becoming more common as managers experiment
Not just trial and error, but a formal and deliberate process
Traditional Project Management
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Most common in engineering and construction industries
Single manager in control over team direction
Linear and straightforward
Ideal for routine projects
Most common, but surveyed to be needed in only 20% of projects
Adaptive Project Management
● Perfect for tasks whose components you understand, but whose finished
product can be created through various ways.
● Very similar to agile management.
How to Meet Objectives
Application
● You are given a photodetector and are expected
to detect an IR signal driven by a microcontroller
at a frequency of 2kHz with 50% duty cycle.
● Noise from the ceiling lights is 120Hz at .
03mW/cm2
● Sunlight has an intensity of .1mW/cm2
Design a sensor that picks up the signal at 8 feet.
Why Flexibility is Essential
● Was 85% complete when NASA cancelled the project
● Composite liquid hydrogen fuel tank failed during testing.
● NASA had put in $912 million already, was unwilling to put more into
venture.
Lockheed Martin X-33
Adaptive Designing
“My point is that if all you can do is blindly
follow someone else's recipe for managing a
project, you won't have a chance. But if you can
create a recipe adapted to the conditions of the
moment, you will have planted the seeds of
success.” - (Robert K. Wysocki, Adaptive Project Framework: Managing Complexity
in the Face of Uncertainty)
Traditional Project Management
Example: Waterfall Model
● Heavily driven by pre-determined specifications
● Need documentation to move to next phase
● Client only sees final product when completed
○ It may not be exactly what they need
● As soon as we need to change something…
http://jcsites.juniata.edu/faculty/thomas/Agile/waterfall_model.jpg
Waterfall Example: Half-Way
● 2 player party game in style of WarioWare and A.D.D.
● Currently features 25 compelling mazes
○ Each was initially represented by a separate class
■ The agreed approach given a deadline
● Problems:
○ Too large to port for free
○ Level Creation process
● Solution:
○ Write levels as XML files
○ Create a level editor
● Back down the waterfall we go!
Combining Adaptive and
Traditional
● No project is purely one or the other
● Going purely one way has fundamental weaknesses
○ Purely Adaptive:
unordered chaos
○ Purely Traditional: less opportunity for growth
● Necessary to take influences from each depending on project status
○ Looking to innovate in the field: lean toward adaptive
○ Members are unhappy with work: lean toward adaptive
○ Have a deadline looming:
lean toward traditional
○ Chaos is hurting progress:
lean toward traditional
Example of Combining:
Siegebreakers
● “A Hack-and-Slash Base Defense game focused on the good oldfashioned fun of couch co-op” - Siegebreakers kickstarter page
● Innovations:
○ 1. 4-player dynamic split screen camera
○ 2. Problem-solving AI
● Approaches to innovations:
○ 1 expert for item 1
○ Flexible team handling 2
● Project status determined
management style influences
Explorative vs Exploitative
Explorative: translation- innovative
ex:
IDEO Shopping cart
Explorative vs Exploitative
Exploitative: translation- traditional
ex:
McDonalds
Explorative vs Exploitative
“...to succeed in a complex environment requires balancing exploration and
exploitation.” (Carl Smith pg36)
Exploration
Exploitation
Form Lab 3D printer
● Highly explorative project
● Striving to make a cheaper more
accurate printer.
● Started on Kickstarter
● Bring 3d printing to any engineer
or design student
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un17RYcJF5E
Form Lab 3D printer
Exploration: FormLabs 3D printer
Exploration
Exploitation
Exploration: FormLabs 3D printer
Exploration
Exploitation
3Doodler
● Cheap
● Fun
● Useable by anyone who can pick up a pen
Exploration: 3Doodler
Exploration
Exploitation
Exploitative: Porsche Spyder 918
● Plug-in Hybrid Technology
● Fuel efficiency 3 liters per 100 km (0.8 gallons per 62
miles)
● 0 to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds with top speed of 211mph
Exploitative: Porsche Spyder 918
Exploitative: Porsche Spyder 918
● Hybrid Technology
● Fuel efficiency
● GT3-R Hybrid
Meet the original hybrid car: Lohner-Porsche’s Mixte Hybrid
Exploitative: Porsche Spyder 918
Exploration
Exploitation
Our Approach: Project Design
Design Challenges:
● First group to present
● Short chapter
● Our schedules
● Because of these challenges, we had more of an explorative than
exploitative project.
Our Approach: Project Design
Our Solutions:
● Identified our resources and problems
● Group discussion
● Divided chapter into four main concepts
● Because we split up the work and the decision making process, our
management style was more adaptive than traditional.
Questions?
References
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http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/569533033/siegebreakers
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affordable-professional-3d-printer
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1351910088/3doodler-the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen
http://www.the3doodler.com/
TPM: http://www.projectlifecycleservicesltd.co.uk/project-management-services/scrum-projectmanagement.php
TPM: Wysocki, Executive's Guide to Project Management
TPM: Schach, Stephen R. Object-Oriented and Classical Software Engineering
APM: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/amhome/Admin/index.htm
APM: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
APM: http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/adaptive-project-management.html
APM: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1554968
http://www.gizmag.com/porsche-918-spyder-plug-in-hybrid-drive-iaa-2013/29019/
http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2010/07/19/lohner-porsche-electric-car-vienna-museum/
http://www.hybrid-vehicle.org/hybrid-vehicle-history.html
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/3456/Lohner-Porsche-Mixte-Voiturette.html