Conservative vs. Liberal – What kind of PM am I?
Just recently Dr. Paul wrote an article on behavioral profiles of successful project managers. That got me thinking about PM ideologies. By borrowing the two most arguably conversed typologies in our global society, we can try to evaluate this concept of PM conservatism vs. PM liberalism to determine”What kind of PM are you?” It is expected that the PMStudent community will respectfully comment on this most contentious subject as we entertain and socialize our own ideologies related to this topic.
When considering these two dichotomies, it is virtually impossible to have a standing that is purely conservative or absolutely liberal. Life is not binary and the discipline of project management is far from being black or white in practice. However, as a philosophy or ideology people have propitious tendencies toward conservatism and liberalism. As project stakeholders, we are exposed to these ideologies. Like it or not, ideologies of our project managers, sponsors, and other project stakeholders impact our lives. To understand the ideologies of others, we must first determine and understand our own individual ideology.
So what are the principles of these two dichotomies? According to conservative resources.com conservative vs. liberal are contrasted as follows:
| Conservative | Liberal |
| 1. Natural law | 1. Positive law |
| 2. Established institutions | 2. Progress |
| 3. Liberty over equality | 3. Equality over liberty |
| 4. Suspicion of power | 4. Benevolent government |
| 5. Exceptionalism | 5. Human Perfectibility |
| 6. Individualism | 6. Community |
Reference:
O’Sullivan, Patrick Sean, Liberal vs. conservative, Conservative-resouces.com,
Retrieved 7/3/09, http://www.conservative-resources.com/liberal-vs-conservative.html
One could deduce that a conservative PM places ideas and principles above personal desire. For example, “What is best for the project?” vs. “What do I think is best for the project?” A conservative PM would then be of the philosophy that a project is comprised of autonomous individuals working toward a goal vs. an organization driving a communicable respect for project goals. It then would be the expectation that a conservative PM values institutional establishment of process and procedures that guide individuals as they progress the project to complete. A conservative PM would thrive in an organic firm that is decentralized, where executive management is only there to look out for the best welfare of the greater organization.
Self-awareness is a lifelong commitment. As our journey progresses it is our experiences that determine who we are as individuals and shape our expectations of what we wish to become. Therefore, I implore you to evaluate your own ideology and ask the question, “What kind of PM am I?”
Jul 6th, 2009 at 6:24 am
An interesting question Travis, but I don’t personally see any use for the conservative / liberal labels in project management. When I try to think of it that way, at least in the US there are too many facets of these terms that are politically charged and mean different things to different people.
Plus, I’m not very comfortable with the definition of these two ideologies coming from a source called conservative-resources.com
I think it would be more useful to speak in terms of management styles, for instance Theory X vs Theory Y, etc.
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Jul 6th, 2009 at 8:32 am
An old friend and mentor who died recently, always said that real understanding doesn’t start until we clear away labels and the conceptions of others and examine how we feel and think about a subject. Our roles as PM vary based on the context of the project we are leading and the profile of the team members. There are times when we will want complete autonomy and other times when we will want a close reporting relationship with the corporate leadership. There are times when we want consensus and other times when we will be more autocratic or pedagogic. To the question Travis asked, I have worn all of those labels and more.
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Jul 6th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Yes, I think these labels are of little or no relevance to project management. I do believe that as one becomes more involved with the business aspects, the more one tends to become more conservative than liberal (using Travis’ definitions) simply because of the burdens big government puts on running business, but even that is not a litmus test for everyone.
Good night from Jakarta
BR,
Dr. PDG
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Jul 6th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Perhaps a helpful exercise would be for you to identify specific areas within project management and try to assign them.
For instance, what does conservative/moderate/liberal mean for the following:
Risk Attitudes
Project Controls
Schedule Management
Estimation & Planning
etc….
Then people could rate themselves along a continuum on various aspects. You could even tabulate some kind of score. Not sure what it would mean or how it would be used. I would use better definitions of the terms though, not the political stereotypes.
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Travis Anderson Reply:
July 6th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Chet Frame hit when he said, “our role as a PM varies based on the context of the project.”
Let’s look at estimating for instance. When it comes time to apply contingency or management reserve, how do I think as a PM, conservative or liberal. Shall I apply 10% or 20% on top of my engineering estimate. Do I ask my self,”Are the engineering estimates pure or gross”. I believe Mr. Duncan did a great series that relates to his ideology related to estimating.
Risk, “What is the probability that a particular risk may occur?” Is my PID score high or low and why?”, “What is my mitigation plan?” It all depends on the individuals, the organization, and the ideologies of the stakeholders involved.
My point is that no matter the ideology label, conservative/liberal/moderate, we all have our own idea of what Project Management is in our own contexts and experiences. I hope that we can expand on those ideas so that we can learn from each other.
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Jul 7th, 2009 at 10:24 am
I really liked this article. I thought using different types of political standpoints to describe project managers was helpful.
If anyone wants to learn more about project management, I highly recommend UTD’s website – http://som.utdallas.edu/graduate/execed/projectMgmtProg/. It has some great information about different project management programs and groups.
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