Marseille is the site of the EMEA PMI Global Congress for 2012. The city is the second largest in France, and it has a rich history. Best of all, Marseille is perched on the sunny, southern tip of France dipping her toes in the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The scenery along the coast of Marseille is remarkable and the climate is ideal.
I was feeling very content with the site selection – very happy, indeed. Our Advisory Group was holding our annual face-to-face meeting just prior to the EMEA Global Congress. Our purpose is to represent the interests of the REPs – Registered Education Providers of PMI. We have representatives on the team from Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, India, Switzerland, Costa Rica, and USA.
Our meetings had just begun Saturday morning, and my mind had wandered down to the coastline of Marseille…I was daydreaming of a boat excursion to view the Calanques (see http://www.terragalleria.com/europe/france/marseille/).
Suddenly, I was snapped back to reality when a fellow team member shared a troubling concern.
Challenging the status quo. With courage and humility, this team member expressed his concern that he was not contributing enough to the ongoing support of the REP Program. He offered to resign.
My lizard brain immediately began calculating results and possible outcomes to this challenging statement. If he offers to resign, I should offer to resign. But I don’t want to resign…I like Marseille. My lizard brain requested that I shout: “Quiet or you may ruin it for us all!” I ignored the lizard.
The tense moment passed quickly, as other members rallied around our friend and expressed a similar concern. We all reflected on the question: are we making a difference? The result was a more focused and more productive 2-day meeting wherein our team kept asking the question: how can our Advisory Group add value? (Very Agile)
The actions of one, bold member to step out of his comfort zone and make a statement to challenge the status quo made a demonstrable difference. His words set the tone. We turned topics into deliverables; we broke deliverables down and made assignments; we will track progress in our monthly calls. Hmmm… Sounds like project management.
Application: go ahead and make things awkward. Challenge the status quo. Your actions may lead to positive results.