The "Unbreakable" Rules for Successful Project-Based Work

Growing up in the Rocky Mountain West, I have lived with snow my entire life. For example one night a couple of years ago, a freak snow storm turned my normal 35-40 minute commute home into a five plus hour ordeal (but that's another story).

As a seven- or eight-year-old I remember one snowy day when, for some reason I can't remember, I was all dressed up in my Sunday best just sitting at home when my best friend Scotty dropped by to see if I could play. We wanted to venture out into the neighborhood and enjoy the beautiful snowy day—despite my polished dress shoes and the fact that my mother had told me not to go outside that day.

Rules are made to be broken, right?

We determined that the reason my mom didn't want me outside was because she didn't want me to get my shoes wet—so we devised a plan. Scotty would take a trashcan lid and push the snow down in front of me so I could step in the mashed-down snow (keeping my shoes dry). We went all over the neighborhood like this. Until my mom found us. I still don't remember why I wasn't supposed to go out, but she did try to impress on me that rules were NOT made to be broken.

A couple of years ago I stumbled across some rules that Mark Lilly and Tim Rahshulte had put together for Gantthead and called "Unbreakable" for everyone doing project based work. Lily and Rahsulte ask, "Why do so few projects succeed? Despite the decades of increasingly complex attempts to manage projects, far too many managers overlook the 10 Unbreakable rules for project success...these common sense guidelines hold the key to increasing your success rate and delivering greater consistency across your projects life-cycle."

Here are their 10 "unbreakable" project management rules:

1. Know what you are doing

2. Know why you are doing it

3. Be prudent, honest, and prepared

4. Play to your strengths

5. Know how to navigate

6. Know how to communicate

7. Know how to succeed

8. Know how to fail

9. Know when the project is over

10. Know how to learn

I've heard it said that "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission," but when considering successful work management methodologies, I think I agree with Lilly and Rahschulte. How about you? Are there any rules you think we should add?

About this Author: As an "accidental" project manager and marketing veteran with over 25 years of experience, Ty Kiisel makes the concepts and best practices of web-based project management accessible to both the expert and novice project professional by weaving personal experiences, historical references and other anecdotes into daily discussions around effective leadership approaches that maximize the effectiveness of project teams. Ty is also the host of the popular podcast, TalkingWork.com.