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Written by Bruce Fieggen - VP of Project Management & Training
Below is the second excerpt from the Project Management novel Bruce Fieggen, QPharma’s V.P. of Project Management, is writing in his ‘spare time’. The book follows the Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK) but uses the format of a novel, and promises to be much more readable. The novel tells the story of a Gwilym, a Project Manager, charged with building twelve towers scattered throughout King Arthur’s Britain. Gwilym’s oldest son, Bleddyn, also appears in this excerpt. There is some overlap between this excerpt and the one posted November 1 2010, so you can see where it fits in the novel.
Readers, think about the various projects you are tasked with and see how you can use the tools shown in these blog posts to assist you in ‘building your towers’.
This second excerpt shows the development of the second tool: The Stakeholder List.
King Arthur stood, gravely shook Bleddyn’s hand, then Gwilym’s and told them he would be keeping a close eye on this tower and on them. “And there is no need to worry about Tarrant. I didn’t trust those beady eyes when he came here. You, I trust.”
Gwilym and Bleddyn were asked to join in the feast in exchange for a tale to add to the merriment. He told a story of his travels as a young man. “I was in a bazaar in an Arab town near the Holy Land”. This caught all the knights’ attention. “The men there sold their wares to all comers and it was to their advantage to guess the language of their customers as they walked by and to speak to them in that language with what little they could pick up. I passed a seller of brass-works in a street full of brass. He looked at me, smiled and shouted, in highly accented English, ‘Just looking! Just looking!’ He must have heard these words so many times from other Englishmen he became sure this was a greeting of some kind.”
The knights roared in laughter and toasted Gwilym, begging for more stories. He obliged them once, then turned the conversation back to them and listened to their stories until he saw his son stifling his third yawn. “I must return early on the morrow, gentlemen. Thank you so much for your hospitality. My king; thank you for the royal charter. I shall not disappoint you.”
Bleddyn walked by his father’s side on their way to the tavern, looking up at him with a new respect. “Did you really have those adventures, Da? I never knew you had traveled so far. Was I with you?”
“No lad. That was during my misspent youth. I did many dangerous and fool-hardy things at that age that I don’t want you to try. Please forget the stories.”
“But Da, what did your father say about the things you did while you were traveling?”
“My Mother and Father were dead when I was quite young. I did no-one else’s bidding at that age.”
___________________________
At the second cock crow, they left Caerleon, arriving at the ferry dock in time to see the boat approaching from Brycgstow. While they waited, Bleddyn asked his father about the charter.
“It’s a document that describes the project to everyone who cares about it. That way there can be no arguments about what to do. It’s also a contract between all the people who work on the project and King Arthur. And that includes me. I have to make sure I build it for the amount of silver I promised and as quickly as I promised.”
“Who are all these people who care about the project?”
“The quarryman is one. He’s the one who started this whole thing and caused me to make up the charter. I’ll be looking forward to showing him King Arthur’s signature. But there will be others who argue in the future and I can show them the charter at that time.”
“Why not show them the charter first, Da, before they make any trouble?” Bleddyn questioned. “That might save some time.”
“That’s a grand idea, son! Let’s make a list of everyone we should show it to while we wait. There are all the builders on the site, Father Drew, the quarryman, the bishop, the forester, the masons, the carter, the village chief, the inn-keeper who brings food to the site. Who else?”
“What about Tarrant?”
“Now that’s an interesting point. I should also be thinking of people who want the project to fail. I’ll have to keep them in mind for this list of people who care. Though I may not go out of my way to find him, I’ll keep the charter safe so I can show him if he argues again. It clearly says who’s in charge.”
“What do you call this list of people, Da?”
“They are all people who have a stake in this project, one way or another. I’ll call it a list of ‘stakeholders’ then.”
The ferry arrived and they made their way back to Brycgstow and spent the rest of the day and night there. Gwilym hobbled from square to square, sitting down in each and allowing Bleddyn to explore each place. He was exhausted when they returned to the tavern and fell immediately to sleep. Bleddyn, his mind racing from all he’d seen, lay awake for another hour, and then fell into a contented sleep.
They arose early again and rode as fast as Gwilym was able to the quarry near Huish, and found the quarryman hard at work in the pit.
Below is the second excerpt from the Project Management novel Bruce Fieggen, QPharma’s V.P. of Project Management, is writing in his ‘spare time’. The book follows the Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK) but uses the format of a novel, and promises to be much more readable. The novel tells the story of a Gwilym, a Project Manager, charged with building twelve towers scattered throughout King Arthur’s Britain. Gwilym’s oldest son, Bleddyn, also appears in this excerpt. There is some overlap between this excerpt and the one posted November 1 2010, so you can see where it fits in the novel.
Readers, think about the various projects you are tasked with and see how you can use the tools shown in these blog posts to assist you in ‘building your towers’.
This second excerpt shows the development of the second tool: The Stakeholder List.
Gwilym and Bleddyn were asked to join in the feast in exchange for a tale to add to the merriment. He told a story of his travels as a young man. “I was in a bazaar in an Arab town near the Holy Land”. This caught all the knights’ attention. “The men there sold their wares to all comers and it was to their advantage to guess the language of their customers as they walked by and to speak to them in that language with what little they could pick up. I passed a seller of brass-works in a street full of brass. He looked at me, smiled and shouted, in highly accented English, ‘Just looking! Just looking!’ He must have heard these words so many times from other Englishmen he became sure this was a greeting of some kind.”
The knights roared in laughter and toasted Gwilym, begging for more stories. He obliged them once, then turned the conversation back to them and listened to their stories until he saw his son stifling his third yawn. “I must return early on the morrow, gentlemen. Thank you so much for your hospitality. My king; thank you for the royal charter. I shall not disappoint you.”
Bleddyn walked by his father’s side on their way to the tavern, looking up at him with a new respect. “Did you really have those adventures, Da? I never knew you had traveled so far. Was I with you?”
“No lad. That was during my misspent youth. I did many dangerous and fool-hardy things at that age that I don’t want you to try. Please forget the stories.”
“But Da, what did your father say about the things you did while you were traveling?”
“My Mother and Father were dead when I was quite young. I did no-one else’s bidding at that age.”
___________________________
At the second cock crow, they left Caerleon, arriving at the ferry dock in time to see the boat approaching from Brycgstow. While they waited, Bleddyn asked his father about the charter.
“It’s a document that describes the project to everyone who cares about it. That way there can be no arguments about what to do. It’s also a contract between all the people who work on the project and King Arthur. And that includes me. I have to make sure I build it for the amount of silver I promised and as quickly as I promised.”
“Who are all these people who care about the project?”
“The quarryman is one. He’s the one who started this whole thing and caused me to make up the charter. I’ll be looking forward to showing him King Arthur’s signature. But there will be others who argue in the future and I can show them the charter at that time.”
“Why not show them the charter first, Da, before they make any trouble?” Bleddyn questioned. “That might save some time.”
“That’s a grand idea, son! Let’s make a list of everyone we should show it to while we wait. There are all the builders on the site, Father Drew, the quarryman, the bishop, the forester, the masons, the carter, the village chief, the inn-keeper who brings food to the site. Who else?”
“What about Tarrant?”
“Now that’s an interesting point. I should also be thinking of people who want the project to fail. I’ll have to keep them in mind for this list of people who care. Though I may not go out of my way to find him, I’ll keep the charter safe so I can show him if he argues again. It clearly says who’s in charge.”
“What do you call this list of people, Da?”
“They are all people who have a stake in this project, one way or another. I’ll call it a list of ‘stakeholders’ then.”
The ferry arrived and they made their way back to Brycgstow and spent the rest of the day and night there. Gwilym hobbled from square to square, sitting down in each and allowing Bleddyn to explore each place. He was exhausted when they returned to the tavern and fell immediately to sleep. Bleddyn, his mind racing from all he’d seen, lay awake for another hour, and then fell into a contented sleep.
They arose early again and rode as fast as Gwilym was able to the quarry near Huish, and found the quarryman hard at work in the pit.
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