The thing that has been mulling around in my mind is the economy, and how we jump start it again. The entire world is dealing with the economy and "experimenting" with things. In the U.S., the Congress is reviewing a stimulus package submitted by newly elected President Barack Obama. The European Union recently passed a stimulus package worth nearly US$250 billion, with individual member nations contributing significant stimulus packages.

These stimulus packages generally include infrastructure investment, tax relief for individuals, tax relief for corporations, and debt relief to improve investments. Pretty sophisticated economics with art, science, and some magic all combined. 

The most important issue that I ponder, obviously, is just how focused these stimulus plans are on results. Is anyone thinking of these plans as a change portfolio, that must be managed correctly? Is anyone considering that the U.S. investment alone has the potential to dramatically increase the capacity of the federal government to "do stuff" by as much as 30%?

The US$850 billion package will create an immense amount of work just to distribute funds, make the adjustments in tax revenues and incentive distributions, changes in lending policies, etc. The closest thing we have heard about managing this is the creation of a new position called Chief Performance Officer. It was to be filled by Nancy Killefer, the person who reengineered the Internal Revenue Service in the U.S. Bad news: she withdrew her name because of a problem with unpaid taxes. GREAT! Another delay!

The position is supposed to be used to "eliminate waste in the federal government," but I am not sure what that means. Waste in money, time, human resources... will it be operated like a portfolio office...or will it be an office dedicated to reading thousands of reports?  I wish I knew.

Lots of good things have happened with respect to the project management discipline in the U.S. federal government, the government of the European Union, the government of the GCC countries in the Arabian Gulf, and in China as well. In all of these governments, the respect for and investment in developing competency in project management has grown dramatically. PMI staff working in India, China, Europe and the U.S. have, in the last five years, gone from getting no answer to phone calls, to getting calls to help them deal with competency development.  

In the U.S., the Department of State, Department of Energy, Office of Management and Budget, General Accounting office, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Department of Defense, to name a few, have developed extensive programs in project, program and portfolio management, and ramped up their work in recent years. The list of PM "heroes" in the U.S. federal government is growing, and getting better results every day. We could triple our staff, and we wouldn't have enough people to respond well.

However, in spite of this fact, we still don't hear about this as a key element in the success of these stimulus packages. Whether it is the politics, the spin, or what, it just doesn't get talked about. Let me give you an anecdote from the Near East that can emphasize what I mean. In Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah, the ruling sovereign, has launched a massive educational initiative, which involves all levels of education. One of the gems in this plan is the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). It is the most sophisticated and leading- edge university being built in the region in decades.

The King was very committed to making sure that the project was delivered as planned. He wanted "insurance." So he turned to Aramco, the largest oil explorer and producer in the world, for the talent necessary to manage a project of this scale and magnitude.

Yes, he went to Aramco. Why? Well, he knew that Aramco delivered results and was globally recognized for its project management expertise. The person they chose was Ali Al-Ajmi, former Aramco VP of Project Management and Engineering, and former PM for one of the two major Aramco projects that received PMI's Project of the Year Award. And, to add to the challenge, the King asked that the University be opened one year earlier than planned. That plays out to asking a very experienced portfolio manager to manage a sophisticated project, in 25% less time than planned, outside his area of expertise. I would call that belief in the discipline.

That is what should happen with the stimulus plans. First, get the people who know how to manage complex change initiatives -- these are not career politicians but are experienced project professionals -- who can manage change portfolios... that can get results.

Second, emphasize the competency of project management, like they have begun to do in many of the governments around the world. But they should not allow "pockets" of excellence to prevail.  On the contrary, the governments should leverage the pockets of excellence to develop an enterprise discipline in project execution.

Finally, we need to advocate for accelerating the project. This should be a Phoenix Project, like the rebuilding of the US Pentagon building in 2002. Procurement and deployment must be done on a fast track mode. There couldn't be a greater sense of urgency right now. The global economy is dependent on success.

More later.