A project manager at a high tech company sensed a big problem. There was no process in place to manage hundreds of technical issues that had been identified within a newly developed computer architecture and products were now being developed based upon this problem-laden architecture. | Case Study—Speaking Truth to Power The Speaking Truth to Power process is illustrated in this case study. Start at the top and move clockwise. © 2007 Randall L. Englund A project manager at a high tech company sensed a big problem. There was no process in place to manage hundreds of technical issues that had been identified within a newly developed computer architecture and products were now being developed based upon this problem-laden architecture. Toni knew the news was bad and getting worse, but she had no more authority than anyone else to do anything about those issues. The complexity of the situation was different than anything else this organization had experienced before. All variables were changing: markets, products, technology, people, organization, and size. No one person was directly in charge. No one was putting in the effort to correct what looked like a massive problem. However, there was something different about this person—she was willing to speak truth to power. Project leaders are closest to the action in most organizations. While that makes them knowledgeable about what is going on and what should be done to achieve project success, unfortunately, they often do not possess the resources, political clout, or approval to do those things. And the people in power are not always open to hearing the truth. This happens for any number of reasons, such as pressure from shareholders, a drive to CASE STUDY Speaking Truth to Power Page 1 of 5 meet an out-of-alignment measurement system, turf battles, or insufficient knowledge about the project management process. Even worse, the messenger may get proverbially “shot” for delivering the “truth” (bad news) to those in “power”—telling the truth can have negative consequences to the teller. Toni took the initiative to define the truth. The issues reflected big gaps, errors, or undefined paths in the new computer architecture, issues so significant that new product development was being .
