A highly successful and exemplary project begins with a plan. A real plan. A good plan. A plan which has been planned thoroughly and extensively in collaboration with all affected parties. A plan which has seen the future and is prepared to make the journey there.

As the wise Kimberly “Sweet Brown” Wilkins once said, “ain’t nobody got time for that!” And while in context she’s right (ain’t nobody got time for bronchitis), it couldn’t be further from the truth in developing a project. Grab yourself a pop while I tell you more.

The money-hungry and the fame-grabbers are easy to spot. They are the ones who have an idea for a project, or have been invited to participate in a project, and are so eager to get started that they truly become reminiscent of a horse so eager to get somewhere that his jowls are raw from trying to chew his way out of a bit. (Like this side-eye horse.)

The bit-champers, whose eagerness is often mistaken for proficiency, er, “initiative”, are often the ones who are delegated the responsibility of developing a project plan. The assumption is that their eagerness shows that they know exactly what needs to happen and in what order and that should be exactly what we do there we are done with planning how easy was that we are ready to start and make millions ASAP! ::catches breath::

And then suddenly you have a mandate to digitize 250,000 unique sound recordings in 5 years without knowing if you have 250,000 unique sound recordings at all.

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My “long plan” for this series of posts tagged LibraryProjects is to collect my thoughts on the projects I’ve done, the projects in which I am immersed (wittingly or unwittingly), and my general thoughts on project planning in libraries. I will also probably share suggestions for improved project management based on my experiences and education in project management. I expect that this will be a no-holds-barred blog, so be prepared for ranting and venting from me, and unsolicited disagreement from you. The Greater Good and all of that.

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Disclaimer:
All words and images are my own. If they are not, they are cited as such to give proper attribution to the intellectual property owners.
No words or images reflect the opinions or viewpoints of my current, former, or future employers and educational institutions. They are from my own viewpoint.