The
November Metrolinx Board Meeting Agenda is now on line.
As usual, all the important discussion will happen in camera. The public reports contain plenty of glossy pictures depicting all the neat work going on (this is not sarcasm, there is indeed a plethora of transit infrastructure construction happening around the GTA) - but absolutely no mention of timetables, completion progress, cost performance, or assurance of progress to the overall goal (ML is notorious for doing work incrementally but leaving bits undone that delay the end completion date)
My Project Management 101 textbooks and mentors drilled into me the concept that accountability consists of - "say what you are going to do, then do it, then show that you did it". And that demonstration of accountability must include all of: what is to be done (scope), by when (timetable), and with what resources (cost).
By that measure, Metrolinx is an abject failure as a public-facing organization. I question what role their Board serves when they are unwilling to face the public with this information. A mature public will understand that there are variables and timetables and cost projections are sometimes not achievable. But the public discussion is absolutely critical to creating a management culture where problems and obstacles are identified, tabled, analysed, and course-corrected effectively.
An organization that works in secret inevitably develops an ineffective management culture. Voila.
- Paul
www.blogto.com
