Last night, I enjoyed an evening of laughter.  Carol Burnett was in town, and she held her signature Q&A at the Des Moines Civic Center.  She included many clips from her television show, and she reminisced about her costars on the show.

One such memory she shared was about Harvey Korman and Tim Conway.  The show was always performed live in front of a studio audience, and taped for rebroadcast.  Ms. Burnett described Korman as a highly talented and professional actor with an amazing range for comedy acting.  Tim Conway – also talented – loved to exploit Korman by trying to make him crack up during the audience taping.  It was his goal to “trip up” Harvey Korman.

I can appreciate that goal, at least when it comes to comedy.  A simple one-liner can do wonders for the digestion of milk and other beverages (subsequent cleaning bills notwithstanding).  However, when it comes to projects, purposeful trip-ups can be far more serious.  A side job of mine is an office politics advisor, so I’ve seen a few trip-ups firsthand and through consultation.  Here are some of the top trip-ups I’ve seen employed in the realm of project management:

1. Misinformation – word choice is powerful.  Making people believe something is one thing when it’s actually something else can lead to poor requirements, missed issues, and unnecessary work.
2. Shunning – I once worked with a business analyst who could put the Amish to shame on avoidance strategies.  Leaving people out of the loop causes distrust and wastes everybody’s time in the end.
3. Ignorance – “I dunno” is never an excuse.  If the question at hand is part of your accountability, then “I don’t know” had better be followed up quickly with “but I’ll find out.”
4. Optimism – Risks are inherent to every project, so take off the blinders.  Arrogance and naivety can cause a project manager to miss potential project-saving activities.
5. Channel Wars – in communication, it is critical to select the right channel when sharing a message.  ”Reply All” and “BCC” are the bane of existence for many professionals.

So what are the things that trip you up on projects?

Oh, and Ms. Burnett, if you’re reading this, my one question (which I didn’t get selected to ask) is this:  One of the early milestones of your career was the song, “I made a fool of myself over John Foster Dulles.”  If you had to create a satirical love song for one of today’s political figures (especially after the recent contentious campaign), who would it be?  (Tug, tug.)

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