Tell me about a group project or situation where you exercised a leadership role.
It was in 1999, at the height of the Internet boom, and Digital Island was embarking on an ambitious project to introduce PeopleSoft Financials and HR modules throughout the organization. As a new member of Digital Island, I was assigned to lead the project.
My initial task was to narrow the project scope enough so we could be successful with the resources we had. We had purchased almost all of the modules we might conceivably need, and the initial plan was to implement most of them in Phase 1. It was clear we needed to make some choices. Working closely with my team leads, and the consultants we had brought in from PeopleSoft, we made a series of important decisions. We decided to handle VAT manually during Phase 1 to avoid the international issues. We decided to use a centralized receiving model for our purchasing system to avoid the significant training issues. To keep things manageable, we deferred implementing Advanced Benefits and all the e-modules until we had a stable base system. And most importantly, we agreed we should avoid program customizations, tailoring our business process around the built-in capabilities provided by PeopleSoft.
Despite the many early bugs in Version 8, and the lack of full-time dedicated employees assigned to the project, we were successful in bringing the applications up on schedule. My work in building consensus among senior executives to redefine the project scope created the conditions for success, as team members now believed we could succeed. I was able to overcome the initial inertia by creating a common vision of a stable endpoint that was indeed achievable, thereby encouraging our part-time team members to devote the required energy to the project despite their many other day-to-day responsibilities.