4. Perseverance: One of the roles I filled was that of a teacher, passing on to others what I had learned in my years of project experiences. In the Project Management training course that I taught, I always made the same remark in the section about planning. “I can’t see into the future, and do not know, with certainty, what will happen between now and the end of the project. However I am sure about one thing - what you are planning to do now is not what you will wind up doing”. If that sounds a bit sardonic, it isn’t meant to be. It’s a reflection of my experience with projects over a forty year time frame. In every project, unexpected obstacles were encountered, people thought of better ways to do things, or even the forces of nature conspired to make us alter our plans. …show more content…
Webster’s defines perseverance as “persistence in a course of action in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement”. Here again, you are expected to know the difference between a difficulty that requires a change in plan and a difficulty that requires simple persistence. Problems or obstacles seldom come with a label describing the right response, and once again, experience is invaluable. Certain types of problems occur over and over again in projects, and the newest one can often be addressed in a manner similar to one that worked before. On other occasions, this isn’t enough. Some problems are unique; they have not happened before. They will require creative thinking and problem solving. In either case, they require