The Twelve Towers - A Project Management Novel: Excerpt 3 – The Project Management Plan

Written by Bruce Fieggen - V.P. of Project Management, QPharma


Below is the third excerpt from the Project Management novel Bruce Fieggen, QPharma’s V.P. of Project Management, is writing in his ‘spare time’. The novel tells the story of a Gwilym, a Project Manager, charged with building twelve towers scattered throughout King Arthur’s Britain. Gwilym’s assistant, Fred, also appears in this excerpt. This excerpt takes place in chapter two of the book, a year after the previous excerpts and after the first tower is completed. 


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 third excerpt shows the beginning of the development of the third tool: The Project Management Plan.

The next morning, as they loaded their cart with their few possessions, the largest of which were the two scroll boxes, they were happy to see Fred ambling up the road, leading a laden pony. “Tha were serious last night, weren’t tha? Me ma said tha were just bein’ kind, and that I were a fool to believe tha.”


Gwilym clapped the man on his shoulder and told him to pack his goods in the wagon and tie the pony behind. “We’ll all be comfortable in the cart together.”


The three of them picked up the pallet, together with the sleeping babies inside and stowed it safely in the space left between the boxes. With a last look on the quiet village, they headed off on the eastern track to meet the Roman road.


The cart was not heavily laden so they made steady progress but the bumping threatened to wake the babies. Fred was getting more anxious and finally burst out, “Tha knows I’m t’better driver. Give me t’reins.” Taking these from Gwilym, he steered the cart around all the bumps in the road. They traveled away from the coast and through a country unspoiled by Saxon raids. While Bleddyn stared silently at all the new sights around him, Gwilym and Bleddyn discussed the new project.


“I’ll know more when I get on the site, but Sir Kay has given me a new charter that explains a lot. He likes these charters and gives them out to all the new builders.” Gwilym smiled at Fred who touched his nose significantly.


“That were a great idea of tha, gettin’ it all written down so none could argue. So what do this one say?” 


“Well, it’s curious. They want a watch-tower; I suppose it is one of a series of watchtowers leading from the north coast inland to warn of marauding Norsemen. But if it is just for passing on signals, why is it built to hold a garrison of men and to be defensible? There is a ferry there across the Ouse, so perhaps it needs to defend the ford? We’ll have to see when we arrive.”


“And how will we be makin’ this tower better than t’last one?”


Gwilym thought long and hard. “There were a lot of problems last time and they seem to all stem from not knowing exactly, what everyone wanted. The charter showed what the king wanted, and I did well following that exactly, but I think instead we need more of an overall understanding from the king, and allow the people who will be using the tower and the people who have to build it to have some say in what the real requirements are. And from there we can figure out exactly what we are doing and how to get it done.”


Fred was humming softly to himself and thinking hard about something. “What were you just doing?” asked Gwilym when Fred seemed to be finished.


Fred blushed deeply and mumbled, “Oh, just trying to remember what tha told me.”


“Please explain.”


“Well, tha knows I cannae write. I’m too stupid for that. Even your son can write and here I am, a grown man but too stupid. So I remember things by songs. I know, it be stupid but it’s me only way.”


“Fred. You’re not a stupid man. I’ve seen you grasp the concepts of building faster than any other man I’ve worked with. Ignorance of the skill of writing is not stupidity. Men were remembering things by song long before someone thought to write them down. These scrolls I carry are just the written words of long-ago songs. But sing me your song about tower building. I’d be privileged to be your first audience.”


Fred alternated blushing and smiling and stammered out that it wasn’t a song about building towers. “I figure that t’song would work for any kind of buildin’, any kind of project for that matter. It be a song about gettin’ a group together and doin’ sommat…when they be not thy men…when tha not be in charge of them tha see?”


Gwilym smiled in genuine respect and asked the man, “Sing me your song. I think I could learn a lot from it.”


“Tha be the one teachin’ me. I’m just rememberin’ it. T’song’s not ready yet but I can give tha a taste for it.”


“Please do.”

If you want your project to be no harder
Go to the king to sign your charter
Make sure it says how small or large
And says quite clearly that you’re in charge
It should show how it meets the kingdom’s need
And keeps all the others from their greed

It went on like this for a while, describing the charter, the list of stakeholders and some awkward verses about scope and requirements. Fred stopped then and said he had to work out those last verses better when he knew more about them and had seen how they work.


“Fred! You’ve done a great thing here. Please keep building on your song. When it’s done you’ll have the guide for Project Management. I can write it down for you in a scroll and you’ll be famous as a teacher of future Project Managers.”


“Ach! Tha’s just havin’ fun wi’ me now. Leave off.”


“No Fred. I’m quite serious. You’ve created something important. Please do keep it going.”


If you are enjoying the excerpts and would like to read more of the story in order, go to http://twelvetowers.blogspot.com/ to read the first five excerpts. A new excerpt appears here every two weeks

The Twelve Towers - A Project Management Novel: Excerpt 2 – Identify Stakeholders

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.

The Twelve Towers - A Project Management Novel: Excerpt 1 - The Project Charter

Below is an 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 has three sons, the oldest of whom, Bleddyn, is also introduced in this excerpt.

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 first excerpt shows the development of the first tool: The Project Charter.

After laying down the foundation logs, the men started laying down the side logs, marveling how each fit neatly into place on top of the one below and to right angles with it. With each additional log, the structure pulled tighter together.

Once the men had the hang of the design, Gwilym left Fred in charge and rode his horse painfully and slowly to the quarry to see about some new stone to dress the tower’s outside. Some stones had been salvaged from the old tower, but much more needed to be added. The quarry was around the other side of the hill but it still took Gwilym two hours of careful riding to reach there given his painful leg. On arriving he asked to sit down and put his leg up.

The quarryman was a short, barrel-chested, old man with sinewy arms and a grizzled beard. “I thought it about time you came to me for stone. How much will ye be wanting?”

“I need 100 tons for now, cut square about 2 feet to a side. When can you deliver that much?”

“I can start delivering 2 tons at a time as soon as I get gold for first shipment.”

Gwilym looked confused and said, “But Father Drew said that the quarry belongs to the church and it is his to use.”

“Aye, church owns it but tower is being built for defense of city. So money must come from king.”

“But Father Drew appointed me the Project Manager. He is the one in charge of the tower. And he is of the church.”

“Father Drew is priest of village church. Quarry belongs to whole church. And for that, you either pay me gold or get permission from bishop.”

“Start cutting now, quarryman. I’ll get the permission in time to take shipment.” Gwilym limped off to his horse and rode painfully back to the village.

                           ___________________________

“How goes the tower, Gwilym?” were Merlin’s first words.

Gwilym was intimidated by this old man of whom he had heard many stories. He looked like the wise old Druid he was reputed to be and his bright eyes sparkled under his bushy eyebrows. His long, grey hair made him seem much older than he was. His hands were strong and showing no signs of age and his well muscled arms handled the reins expertly.

“It goes well sir. The wooden structure is almost finished and we now need to face it with stone.” Gwilym remembered yesterday’s confrontation at the quarry and his mind switched to this other problem in his life. “But now the quarryman wants to charge us for stone, even though the quarry belongs to the church.”

“And what will you do to solve this?”

“I’ll get an order from the bishop to make him give up the stone.”

“And will that be your answer to the next problem that arises?”

“What’s that sir?”

“What will you do the next time you run into a problem like this with your tower?”

Gwilym felt like a fool. What was he missing? “I can’t guess all the problems that will arise; I just have to deal with them as they come up.”

“What will you do if the men decide to stop working? Or if the priest says he wants the tower to be taller, or if some knight asks that it be made round?”

“I need a letter that says what the tower should be and who is to pay for it. And I need it signed by someone whom everyone respects. Like the king! Even the bishop has to listen to the king. Is that what I need, Merlin?”

Merlin’s eyes twinkled but he said nothing. Gwilym looked at him curiously and said, “You know a lot more about building towers than you let on and I’m onto you. Can I ask you other questions later on when I hit other snags?”

“Did I answer your first one?”

“Not with an answer; that’s true, but you asked the right questions that let me come up with the right answer.”

                                      ____________________________

When Sir Kay escorted Gwilym and his son, Bleddyn, into the great hall...