Human Chess, Change Management & England Foootball

I have often referrred to what I do as playing human chess. Whether running line as a manager or running projects I have often found the human side of change far the most interesting, if the least predictable and changeable. I had, however, felt I was the only one to think of this chess analogy as no-one had picked it up.

The other day I was talking with a new contact about various things and used the phrase "human chess" and she immediately responded that a business mentor had once told her to think of business as a game of chess, of strategies and winning positions and that in doing so it had made so much clear (I think I picked up the essence of what she said).

This set me think on the analogy once again and parallels with my earlier post about good project management being an art rather than a mechanical thing. And then yesterday's England performance, if we can call it that, gave me more food for thought, so let me see if I can pull this all together.

To me the core of change and the project management I enjoy is people and the aspect I enjoy and believe I am good at is getting the right people in the right place to do the right things. Implicit in this is also equipping them mentally and physically to do the job that is required. This requires an understanding of your resources and their capabilities, either alone or in combination, looking ahead and dealing with complex interactions and uncertainty as well as dealing with the unexpected. One also tries to achieve the desired outcome in an efficient way. Of course, as in chess,  there are a number of common sets of openning moves, but before long the possible approaches and outcomes become too numerous to categorise.

Does this resonate with anyone? If so please feel free to comment.

There is another interesting parallel with change or project management and that is that until recently and despite considerable investment computers struggled to beat the best chess players. These were computers that processed millions, if not trillions, of calculations per second and that scenario planned 10's of moves ahead and calculated the finest of probabilities. They also had access to huge data banks of past games for comparison. Despite this the best humans, bested them until very recently.

How have humans achieved this? Well I am no expert and maybe I will research this further, but as I understand it many think it is that the human recollection and knowledge of hundreds if not thousands of games give it an edge. There  is also something about feel and understanding your opponent. In project world I would align this with experience (there is rarely a substitute) and understanding the environment you are working in (how often does the world feel like an opponent to your endeavours?) .

I think this is a good analogy to my views about the mechanical approach to project management. As in chess the mechanical can aid and indeed surpass those without skill, feel or experience, but will rarely best the better practitioners.

In terms of England's performance against Germany, well I guess we have to question if Capello managed to get the right people in the right place(s) at the right time to do the right job. As to equipping them well we know they have the physical skills, but mentally were they prepared. It didn't look as if they were.

If not then who was his opponent in that particular game of chess? The Germans? Or the football establishment? Or indeed his own players?

We can of course argue that we are not alone when we look at the achievements of France and Italy, but that is scant consolation. I did see a TV trailer the other day for a programme on teenage ballroom dancing and one parent said, "It is not all about winning, but coming second hurts." On a football pitch there are only two sides!

To recap I think that successful project and change management is about getting:-

• The right people to
• The right place at
• The right time to do
• The right job being
• Properly equipped to do so.

As the meerkat would say, "Simples!"