Elections and the future of London Project Management
May 7, 2008 @ How to manage a camel - project management and recruitment from DanS
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In spite of failures in policy, it’s not always particularly hard for politicians to find avenues of support in the national media (even if by a forceful nature, as Robert Mugabe and Vladimir Putin would personify.) Among the more civil politicians in the democratic world, the funny mannerisms and calendar-friendly quotables of George W. Bush create several parodies that are hard to separate from the real thing.
But at the end of the day with politicians in popular culture, we’re more likely to embrace the popularity contest. Face it: When W can make fun of his dwindling popularity on the US-version of ‘Deal or No Deal‘, it’s clear that world leaders can find some avenue in media to dine with and flirt.
Even project management is not above the political parade. However could it be, as evidenced by the March issue of Project magazine. The cover boy for Vol. 20, Issue 5 was former London mayor Ken Livingstone, his index finger pointing at readers in a gesture meant to convey that London under Livingstone meant ‘A Vision For Projects’. And for all intents and purposes, Livingstone deserved cover status at the time and mention in Project’s Top 10, which annually honours 10 ‘outstanding project professionals (who) have demonstrated commitment to the development of project management’s future that goes way beyond the mere call of duty’. Livingstone was hailed as ‘a man with a vision for projects that is capable of lifting the scope and scale of the profession into new realms’.
The figures Project used served well in backing up the claims. While the 2012 Olympics is clearly the turkey at the Christmas PM dinnertable, the trimmings are nice as well: goals to build 30,500 homes each year, eco-minded congestion charges, bicycle-friendly environmental and rental projects, London refurbishments such as Design for London and the Case for London, and long-term regeneration as a result of London 2012. All of it is attributed to Livingstone’s vision and project-friendly eye. Clearly, one media outlet - Project magazine, ‘the voice of project management’ - had found a friend in Ken Livingstone.
But then came Friday the 2nd, and the election that all but ensured Livingstone’s title would heretofore be ‘former London mayor’. On a day more suited in Red Ken’s memory as his own ‘Friday the 13th’, the most popular Johnson in London since Samuel had made his popularity official in becoming their elected leader, the Pied Pie Pusher in Public Schools.
And so, London, the city benefitting from the eco-minded, regenerative projects that helped make them Olympian for the first time since 1948, has its second mayor. Outspoken and un-PC, Boris Johnson seems to the outsider to be the mannerism caricature Bush’s foibles have so readily encouraged. Rory Bremner certainly didn’t waste much time. But will Boris waste much time overshadowing the perception and producing punctual and professionally-sound policy?
Perhaps it would be wise for project management professionals to take heed: The darling Livingstone - the man who brought London three American professional sporting events, a new Wembley Stadiun, a conversion of the Millenium Dome to a state-of-the-art arena across from the David Beckham Soccer Academy, and London 2012 - is no more, and this only two months after being declared our guy. Now, the question project managers nationwide must be asking themselves is this: Can Boris Johnson live up to the project goals set by London’s first mayor? Or is the caricature that reminds us of Wembley Fraggle actually just a Muppet?
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