The PMI Code of Ethics: Fundamental Values(1)

Responsibility:

We have the responsibility to take ownership of the decisions we make or fail to make, the actions we take or fail to take, and the consequences.

Respect:

We have the responsibility to show high regard for ourselves, others, and the resources entrusted to us. This engenders trust, confidence, and performance excellence by fostering cooperation.

Fairness:

We have the responsibility to make decisions and act impartially and objectively. Our conduct must be free of competing self-interest, prejudice, and favoritism.

Honesty:

We have the responsibility to understand the truth and act in our truthful manner both in our communications and in our conduct.

The PMI Code of Ethics requires you to tell sponsors what they need to know.

You can soften it:

“I would love to tell you what you want to hear, and I promise you, I will when I can, But I also promise you that I will ALWAYS tell you what you need to know.”

Suppose you are evaluating your technology infrastructure and you see that a key system is beyond its useful life, you can't get new spare parts, and you don't have a reliable source for refurbished spare parts. Do you:

1.    Say nothing, wait for the system to fail, act surprised, and scramble to fix or replace the system,

or

2.    Tell the stakeholders we need to plan to replace the system now, when it's working.

And if you tell the stakeholders and they say, “Wait,” do you plan to replace the system when it fails so you don't have to scramble? Because you know it's a matter of when, not if.

The PMI Code says: “We are obligated to take ownership of decisions we make or fail to make, actions we take or fail to take, and the consequences.” Clearly, you need to tell the sponsor “We need to plan to replace the system and should do it now, while it's working, before it fails.”

You then need to add the system's probable failure to the risk registry. You should be able to qualify the probability of failure as low, medium, high, or very high. You may not be able to quantify the probability of failure, however, you should be able to quantify the costs of failure.

The Risks of Failure may not be quantifiable; the Costs of Failure are.

Several years ago, I managed information technology infrastructure, projects, and operations for a law firm. I told the Managing Partner that the premises-based phone system and voice mail system were old and obsolete and it would be difficult if not impossible to find new or reliable refurbished parts. I suggested a project to replace it.

His response was to ask, “When is it going to fail?”

This is not like asking your mechanic when to change the oil; it's like asking your mechanic when you will get a flat tire.  I couldn't predict when the system would fail.

He ended the meeting saying, “Come back when it fails.”

Eight (8) months later heavy rains, high heat, and high humidity overloaded the air conditioning system. When the air conditioning system failed the phone system crashed, bringing down the voice mail system. The phone system came back online; the voice mail system didn't.  I executed the disaster recovery plan and brought a replacement system on-line within three (3) days. However, the firm paid a premium for the components, it was without voice mail for that 3-day period, and any messages that had not been retrieved were lost.

Five years later, amid malpractice suits from clients and breach of contract suits from former partners, the firm sold itself to a competitor and closed its doors for the last time.

When you work for someone who demands Yes-Men: find another job.

This is more than simply ethics. It's a matter of job security and financial security. Because whether you're a sycophant or ethical PM, if you work for a dictator who demands to be told what he wants to hear, sooner or later the business will fail.

Projects v Operations

As a Project Manager you may be focused on Projects not on Operations, however, the PMI Code of Ethics requires respect for resources, so you need to factor in long term operations costs as well as short term project implementation costs.

Agile and Waterfall v Dictatorial Management

Project Managers in Projectized organizations managing waterfall projects plan the projects and direct the work to deliver on spec on time and on budget. The methodology is described as Plan – Do – Check – Act. Waterfall is top down, the Project Managers and Team Leaders tell their subordinates what to do and, having defined the schedule, when to do it.

Agile evolved out of Waterfall. Agile is flat, non-hierarchical. The Scrum Masters tell their colleagues what needs to be done and facilitate the work. They make sure team members have the tools that they need to accomplish their goals. The best are considered “Servant Leaders.” They lead quietly, planning and eliminating problems. Waterfall requires cooperation between the Project Manager and the Team. The Project Manager and the Team Leader agree on the deliverables, schedule, risks, budgets, and Work Baseline Structure, etc. to complete the project, delivering the scope on time and on budget.

In addition to Agile and Waterfall, we have top-down management on steroids: Dictatorial Management, which is not recognized by PMI. Dictators don't leverage cooperation amongst the team or independent thinking; they require obedience. Yet they take no responsibility for their actions, blaming others for their mistakes.  They have no conception of fairness or honesty. Dictators show no respect for anyone. Rather than leverage cooperation they require obedience. But “Tell me what I want to hear,” means that the dictator cannot make decisions based on the facts and therefore is unlikely to make good decisions. This is the opposite of agile; and the opposite of agile is clumsy.

The PMI Code of Ethics doesn't guarantee project management success; this requires hard work, leadership, communications, and planning. But trying to manage projects while telling sponsors and stakeholders what they want to hear is a recipe for failure.

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Larry Furman, MBA, PMP, is exploring project management and project mis-management in “Adventures in Project Management,” a book he plans to publish in 2023.

(1)  PMI.org, PMI Code of Ethics, https://www.pmi.org/about/ethics/code

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