I’m going to be very cynical here (my trademark).

I think that most of these management planning systems and acronyms are an attempt by the ‘management’ to emulate the abilities of an experienced ‘differently wired’ (to use the current IET term) engineer. I am aspi/auti and use the benefits of this to be able to visualise a complete system or project. I used SMART when explaining to my younger daughter how to set up her first real project at school but don’t really use it at work.

The only system I have really found useful is the Kepner-Tregoe ‘Problem Solving and Decision Making’ but I then realised it is basically a system for managing your manager. One of my Ops managers said to me that halfway through the KT decision making process he started to feel manipulated, possibly because he was being faced by his reality.

At the end of the day something has to done, a ‘goal’. How you reach that can be incredibly flexible. If you can see the whole thing in your mind just do it. One of my previous technical managers reckoned he could just wing it up to about ½ million. It seemed that he could.

I have done the same with a ¼ million machinery relocation project. My employer at the time had a factory in Spain that they were thinking of selling. There was one production line they wanted to bring back to England and I was asked to look into this. I arranged a site visit with a firm of machinery movers and they gave me a budget quote. A few weeks later, 7^th November, I got a phone call ‘can you get the line out by the end of the month?’. After a quick phone call to the machinery movers I said yes but the PO has to be with them tomorrow, no negotiating no faffing about. Purchasing were not happy releasing ¼ million but the pressure came from above. It worked, we got the line out on time without going near Microsoft Project and it was back in production in the UK by Christmas. This line was packed in four artics and one special heavy truck so not a small project. The special truck and associated large cranes were the critical path but I didn’t need anything to tell me that.

I’m going to be very cynical here (my trademark).

I think that most of these management planning systems and acronyms are an attempt by the ‘management’ to emulate the abilities of an experienced ‘differently wired’ (to use the current IET term) engineer. I am aspi/auti and use the benefits of this to be able to visualise a complete system or project. I used SMART when explaining to my younger daughter how to set up her first real project at school but don’t really use it at work.

The only system I have really found useful is the Kepner-Tregoe ‘Problem Solving and Decision Making’ but I then realised it is basically a system for managing your manager. One of my Ops managers said to me that halfway through the KT decision making process he started to feel manipulated, possibly because he was being faced by his reality.

At the end of the day something has to done, a ‘goal’. How you reach that can be incredibly flexible. If you can see the whole thing in your mind just do it. One of my previous technical managers reckoned he could just wing it up to about ½ million. It seemed that he could.

I have done the same with a ¼ million machinery relocation project. My employer at the time had a factory in Spain that they were thinking of selling. There was one production line they wanted to bring back to England and I was asked to look into this. I arranged a site visit with a firm of machinery movers and they gave me a budget quote. A few weeks later, 7^th November, I got a phone call ‘can you get the line out by the end of the month?’. After a quick phone call to the machinery movers I said yes but the PO has to be with them tomorrow, no negotiating no faffing about. Purchasing were not happy releasing ¼ million but the pressure came from above. It worked, we got the line out on time without going near Microsoft Project and it was back in production in the UK by Christmas. This line was packed in four artics and one special heavy truck so not a small project. The special truck and associated large cranes were the critical path but I didn’t need anything to tell me that.