I love cooking shows. I especially love Emeril Lagasse because his joy of cooking is infectious and he is not afraid of checking progress along the way. He uses his standard recipe and then, “BAM” he adds a little something. He is in control of the recipe and knows when to add an ingredient to improve on it or keep it on track. I will never be as good of a cook as he is. I think partly because it is more of an art than science. Anyone can follow a recipe, but too many of us end up with different results.
Following project plans is very similar to following recipes. Your Project Manager knows what the desired results are, what goes into the mix and how fast to stir things up. Each project requires a certain amount of finesse and you can never really apply the same template to every situation. Keep to the plan, know your critical ingredients, but trust the cook. You may be surprised when all of a sudden “BAM,” something gets added to the sauce that you were not expecting. Just make sure you only have one cook adding ingredients, or the results will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.
