Kevinjohn Gallagher

In times of strife within companies, I’m often asked to mediate between teams of adults who cant seem to agree a middle ground on project delivery. People in large organisations always seem surprised when I vary the answer depending on the stage of the project, rather than deliverable specifics.

I try and remind them of Star Trek…

The Star Trek management divide

Kirk:			Mr. Scott, How long until [some engineering problem] is fixed?
Scotty:			3 weeks captain.
Kirk:			I need it in 4 minutes
Scotty:			I just cannae do it captain
Kirk:			I need it Mr.Scott
Scott:			Oh you need it? let me just flick this switch

The Management Perspective

We have many generation of managers who have been brought up to believe that:

• Management is always right
• Authority is more important than Expertise
• Requirement delivery is always the most important KPI
• Any issue can be overcome; regardless of how large the issue or how small the timeframe.

Short Term: Listen to Scotty, ignore Kirk

Scotty knows where to look to solve problems

Scotty knows how to fix any issues

Scotty gets his hands dirty

In comparison…

Kirk panics

Kirk tries to micro-manage

OUTCOME

Sometimes managers need to restrained!

The Star Trek Engineering Divide

Kirk:			Mr. Scott, How long until [some engineering problem] is fixed?
Scotty:			3 weeks captain.
Kirk:			What's the hold up Mr. Scott?
Scotty:			[some complicated issue involving multiple dependancies]
Kirk:			Couldn't we just [simple process]?
Scott:			Well I suppose I could Captain…

The Engineering Perspective

We have many generation of engineers who have been brought up to believe that:

• Management is clueless
• Expertise is more important than Authority
• Requirement deliver is always the most important KPI
• It’s better to solve an issue in the right way, regardless of how much time it takes.

Long Term: Listen to Kirk, ignore Scotty

Kirk went on away missions

Kirk talked to all departments

Kirk talked to Starfleet Command

Kirk talked to people on the view screen

In comparison…

Scotty stayed in Engineering

Scotty talked to computers

Scotty said “I know this ship like the back of my hand”
which lead to hitting his head on changes made by others.

OUTCOME

Sometimes engineers need to be held back!

Oh, and keep a special eye out for these two…

The one that relies on logic

Spock can be a little anal

Spock should be kept away from Clients

The one that questions everything

McCoy sometimes tries to brute force the problem

McCoy is good at spotting issues before they arise

McCoy has a God complex, but it sometimes pays off

You need to ensure your team has the right balance of Kirk’s and Scotty’s! Too many engineers, and you’ll solve the problems they want to solve. Too many managers, and you’ll solve the exact problems your stakeholders perceived, regardless of where the real issues and requirements stemmed from.