When I joined the army I thought it was going to be like it is on TV and in movies. You know, lots of exciting action sequences, cool special effects, and a kick-ass soundtrack. Instead, what I got as an army officer was lots and lots of…planning.
We planned everything. We had planning meetings about planning meetings. Nothing happened down to the most basic daily tasks without having a plan that was briefed to a boss and approved.
And everything was tracked.
Lots and lots of tracking.
We tracked completion times, resources on hand, personnel moves, you name it.
And what wasn’t planned or tracked was evaluated. We constantly evaluated our readiness level, our fitness levels, and our performance levels.
The Army is very good at planning things, tracking things that were planned, and then evaluating what was accomplished and the process starts over.
As a project manager at Nexus 6, I sometimes feel like I am right back in uniform (although the dress code and grooming standards here are much more relaxed).
We pride ourselves on our “No Bullshit Guarantee.” That means we are not going to do something and charge money for it unless we know it can effect change. We do that by making a solid, strategic plan. Then we track the execution of the plan from concept to completion, making sure everything happens every step of the way. Then we evaluate the results and feed that information back into the planning process.
We create lots of top-quality content. And things do not always go as smoothly as planned. But what I learned in the army gave me lots of practice planning and executing tasks and the team here always rises to the challenge of making sure everything is done on time to a very high standard. I know a few sergeants that would be proud.
