More drunk with power

I have the good fortune of having a mentor, of sorts, at work. The woman (L)is a dynamo, who gets things done while remaining totally friendly and likable. L has been dubbed IT's PMO (Project Management Officer). Until very recently my organization (not just IT) has not been very good about accountability or project management. My main project is one of four which is being thrust into that world.

Today, L came to have one of our mentoring/status sessions before the weekly Friday afternoon project team meeting. Before we got down to the actual business of my project, she told me that she came to deliver kudoos from the head of IT.

... Imagine me with mouth agape ... Excuse me?

Apparently, he and she were discussing the future of project management within IT, and he pointed to my project and my management/organization of my project as the example of how he wanted all future projects to be handled.

Knock me over with a feather.

OK. I am hugely proud and flattered. This really is the person that I want to be professionally.

While part of me says that a thimble of water looks fantastic to a thirty man in a desert, I also know that I really have instilled order onto chaos. L has been very supportive of my efforts as well. She wants me, along with several other like-minded individuals, to go to project management training and to serve as roll models for others (including our team leads who have never had to deal with project management before and are unsure how to navigate the new landscape).

Oh, my team lead is actually a member of my team on this project. And she is oh so good at making excuses at why she isn't producing her deliverables. IT is on the verge of a major reorganization. The new top management is very project management oriented. Where do highly skilled, but unorganized, team leads fit into a reorganization? (Senior technical leads without management or project oversight perhaps?) Where do anal-retentive deliverables-driven experienced staff fit into the future?

The future could be interesting.