TABLE OF CONTENTS Collecting data, understanding and analyzing data, and analyzing processes are important. They are important as preparatory steps for taking action. These steps alone do not guarantee quality. Eventually, a project manager must do something. Much anecdotal guidance exists regarding action. The following may be familiar to many.
"Do something. Even if it's wrong, do something." (A bias for action.)
"It's better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission." (Do not wait for approval from others; act now.)
"If you understand 80 percent of a problem, you have enough information to act." (Do not procrastinate. You will never have complete information.)
Taking action is necessary and good. Not taking the right action can lead to the classic excuse "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Four quality tools help a project manager determine the right action. Taken together, these tools constitute a progressive set that supports understanding of the organizational environment and supports generating, organizing, and prioritizing actions.
Kurt Lewin (pronounced la- veen) was a social psychologist who was active and highly influential in the United States during the 1940s. He developed T-groups (the foundation for contemporary team building) and the "unfreeze-movement-refreeze" model of organizational change. He also developed force field analysis, a disciplined way of identifying forces and factors that help or hinder problem solving.
In Lewin's view, powerful forces that influence change are at play within any organization. These forces are of two types:...
