25 March 2021
Scope Creep Context
“Scope creep” is something that regularly threatens projects, but today I discovered my boss added extra to a defined piece of work.
The day went well except for a minor inconvenience, scope creep. Over the last couple of days, you will have read about my desire to reduce the email queue at work. Part of that involves emails generated by creating new tasks in an application designed to track the status of to-do activities in a centrally team accessible location.
Just an Unforeseen Job
For our newly established team, this application is also a new concept. My previous role was exclusively project management of the IT physical infrastructure establishment kind. These areas tend not to use a collaborative app as much to track work activities as much as, say, the software development teams. Exposure for me has therefore been limited.
Today, I felt robbed when the joy of completing a task with only one item in it had another job added to it. And by my boss too. Sacrebleu! What is this new item doing in the same task?! Not something minor either! Which brings me to an old bugbear. (What? Did you think this site would be all butterflies, puppies, cats, meditation, love, kindness and peace to all things? I’m not enlightened yet! It’s what embracing my soul is all about: the journey.
Just wait until I start publishing some of my old travel diaries, then you’ll begin to judge me. 🧘🏻. That’s a little way off since getting to anything more than the daily posts can be a struggle).
Using the Word Just
Bugbear. Right! When people say could you “just”. I had a wonderful supervisor who wanted to make what she was asking and seem more friendly and less demanding. The supervisor did this with the unassuming word “just”. I’m trying to recall when her request for a “could you just do blah blah” was something to be done immediately. There was one on the edge of memory; fortunately, it was rare.
“Just” is something small, minor and something that has a quick turnaround and a slight inconvenience. Like, while you’re in the kitchen, Honey, could you switch off/ on the light? See. Easy, quick with minimal inconvenience. HOWEVER, and yes, it’s a big, however, when someone uses the word “just” to disguise a lot of effort and inconvenience.
Seriously, it’s like while you’re in the kitchen, “I’m in the mood for choc chip cookies, could you just get me some?”. There are no choc chip cookies in the house, so you either need to go to the store to get some, or you need to make some. The word “just” no longer applies. You get my drift.
Good Scope Creep
This simple growth activity felt like when the boss dropped the additional item into a to-do item. My spidey senses were tingling, and my project manager systems signal went to high alert! In project circles, it’s known as “scope creep”. Quite often in my head, I’ve personified scope creep, and it morphed into Mr Scope Creep.
Mr Creep is not someone, or something project managers welcome onto their projects. A project plan changes the second it begins. It requires ongoing management (babysitting) to keep it focused on its aim. After all, that’s what a project manager is there to do, manage issues and deliver on the required outcome.
Scope creep is not necessarily a bad thing; sometimes, there is a value add; defined as a minor change to the project without too much inconvenience to the cost or time. The wrong kind of “scope creep” impacts both. A positive example is an electrician hired to put in power for computers discovers staff needed to choose between kettle, toaster or microwave because there weren’t enough outlets. It was inexpensive and quick to increase the number of outlets from one to another four.
Staff were happy with the extra power and being able to use multiple devices at the same time. Site wins – customer wins – project wins. This change was not part of my project, but it made sense to do it. The electrician was already there; the time to fix was 15 minutes done while the customer and I went to lunch. The impact was minor.
Bad Scope Creep
“Scope creep” is when you’re at a site and using an electrician as an example. The manager of the location wants another six outlets installed in the office. None of which were computer-related, and there were no available circuits. Installing a new electrical circuit takes longer than 15 minutes.
Also, the electrician might not have all the materials on hand, thus requiring a revisit. The purpose of the revisit would be solely for the circuits which are not project related. That’s scope creep. Some scope creep, on the other hand, takes the focus away from delivering the objective. It’s like the choc chip scenario above.
When my boss changed the to-do item, “scope creep” entered my activity and altered the outcome. Something simple turned into something more complex.
I know in the end, it shouldn’t matter whether the addition to the to-do item was in a separate task or not. It’s like queue jumping the activity. Not cool. Not having the additional job also hides the amount of work that needs to be done or managed. It’s all about managing workload, time management and visibility.
The rest of the day went well.
Let’s see what the cards had to say!
Today's Cards
The Cards - Analysis
Carryover Cards
Only one card carried over from yesterday; Exhaustion moved from Now to Recent Past.
Cross
In the Now position is Change. Change is about the “swings and roundabouts” of life. For readers who do not know the saying: swings go up and down, traffic at a roundabout goes around it, allowing traffic to move in a never-ending loop continually. The Change card identifies a shift in momentum. It’s the moment between when the swing is up and when it comes down. That moment in the cards is Change; it’s the “now”. Based on my day, Change is the additional job in the to-do item. Yeah. It’s swings and roundabouts.
Influencing Change is We are the World. The community spirit and the helping hands come together with mutual respect and love for a common purpose. Lucky me. My boss was probably trying to make me feel better about not having so many tasks.
The Goal is Totality. Totality is the card that asks for surrender from one moment to the next trusting the transition will be smooth. It requires belief in yourself and depends on others to work – it’s all about getting work done.
Sorrow occupied the Distant Past and happened when I bemoaned (like everyone) the amount of work on my plate.
Exhaustion in the Recent Past position today seems to indicate that it moved on from yesterday’s Now position. Energy levels were much better today.
The Future Energy card has Comparison. I suspect I will compare the outcome of what I produce to the effort of other fantastic team members. Therefore, encouraging myself to feel small by comparison. Forewarned is forearmed, right? 😃
Base
Schizophrenia shows a split in my Feelings. The trick is to let go of the frustration and raise it with the boss and move on. Good advice.
Others’ Views is that of Consciousness. From the external perspective, a lack of attention on my part of the situation doesn’t change anything. Not really.
Internally, my Hopes & Fears card is Compromise. I hope the to-do item has precedence and, therefore, something I can use to get the job done more quickly; this is a Compromise. (Compromise lets me meet the goal quicker but perhaps not as suitable as creating one afresh). Fear that this surprising activity will recur.
Finally, the Outcome card is Past Lives. Past Lives is a repatterning of something repeating itself many times and not getting resolved. It’s that old phrase I’ve sometimes heard used, “to do the same action over and over and expect a different result is a madness”.
Remember, there is only this life. Past Lives refers to activities in our past that seem alien from our current life experience. My patterning looks like me simply accepting the task without comment. 💤
References
Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
