Enterprise Navigator

Why Enterprise Navigator? As we planned this initiative I mulled over how to title it, passing on a number of something-PMO-something ideas. While universally recognized, PMO is such a constraining tag, regardless of what you use for the P term. It has always seemed to fall well short of both what we will be discussing in this forum and what is really happening in many organizations.

It reminded me of the identity crisis that the Project Management Institute must be facing as it extends into Program Management. And, with its ranks swollen with technologists, I'm sure there are those in PMI that are also just dying to talk about ITSM but don't know how to reconcile broaching the topic. Meanwhile, ITIL becomes the new black. Lesson learned: avoid imposing unintended or artificial limitations or inferences on something by virtue of the name you give it.

Thus, while I will freely use the PMO acronym, just be aware that I do so as a pragmatic compromise to search engines everywhere and accepted business lexicon. I'm just not putting it in the name of this blog.

OK, but the question still remains -- why Enterprise Navigator? Those who know me probably know I have a naval background and that I still tend to gravitate towards the sea. But no, I was never a navigator, on a warship nor a starship, then or now. Experience at sea however did impress upon me the importance of the role.

And, those who know me also know that I find it almost impossible to speak without use of analogies. One of many favorites is the comparison of an organization to a ship at sea; always on the move to the next destination. Ah, now we are getting to the heart of the matter, and to what I hope will set the tone going forward. An organization of any respectable tonnage needs a dedicated navigator -- someone who can read the charts, track position and bearing, predict the winds and plot a safe, efficient course. The navigator doesn't set the destination, provision the hold or stoke the boilers. But, a good navigator is recognized as an essential role, respected and valued by both captain and crew.

As for the enterprise part of it, this reflects concepts put forth in our PMO 2.0 series. More and more, PMOs are being asked to extend their role beyond just managing the project portfolio for a particular department, group or program.

So, for me, Enterprise Navigator goes a long way towards describing the emerging role of the modern corporate PMO, or Management Integration Center (MIC), as I prefer to term it. It must help make sense of several complex variables, provide reliable information and recommendations, report progress and facilitate the journey on a strategic as well as tactical level -- for the product and service provider as well as other stakeholders.

If you find this direction relevant and compelling, I hope you will join us as we embark on our own journey of discovery.

Next Port of Call: Notes from the IQPC PMO Summit