Why Hannibal Smith would have been the Greatest IT Project Manager Ever!

It’s 5.25pm on a rainy Saturday in March, 1985.

A 9-year old Nigel settles himself in front of the TV, dressed in his highly flammable Action Man pyjamas.

In front of him, the TV starts to blare the familiar theme tune of the most action packed, over the top and almost cartoonish TV shows ever dreamt of …

….yes, it was time for another episode of - The A-Team!

Anyone who was a kid growing up in the 80’s will remember this show. How we were held spellbound by the exploits of Colonel John Hannibal Smith and his team:

 Captain Murdock aka “Howling Mad Murdock”…

Lieutenant Peck aka “The Face Man”…

and our course, Sergeant BA Bosco aka “Bad Attitude Baracus”.

This team of ex-soldiers (on the run from the authorities for a crime they didn’t commit), made it their purpose in life to roam the country helping those with problems they couldn’t resolve themselves.

Under massive odds, the A-Team would find solutions and resources to overcome whatever challenge they faced. Each member of the team had their own unique skills and strengths that they would use to win the day.

…jumping back to a rainy drive through a grey skied Leeds in 2019, my thoughts led me to thinking of the similarities between this heroic band and the attributes needed to deliver the most difficult IT projects (yes … I get THAT bored when driving!)

You see, the reason the A-Team won every week was because they all embodied the attributes and pragmatism needed to deliver time after time.

Take the Face Man for example, the smooth-talking Templeton Peck – definitely the person for “user engagement”. A great communicator who always sought to defuse conflict, he would use his calm and affable personality to obtain essential resources. In the enterprise, the Face Man would have thrived as the project frontman. Presenting a vision to the user base and securing the resources to deliver the project.

The polar opposite of the Face Man was the eccentric Captain Murdock. This guy was actually a genius with extensive knowledge on a number of subjects and a second in command leader, able to step in for Hannibal when needed. If you have a Murdock on your project team, you’re in luck. We all need that person with deep technical knowledge of the solutions we’re implementing, able to spot the problems before they occur and provide a sounding board when it comes to issue resolution.

BA Baracus was less analytical – he took, let’s say, a very “direct” approach to problem solving. BA would come into his own when all looked lost. He would use whatever resources were at his disposal to craft the impossible. I guess we’ve all been there, on the verge of a project Go Live when suddenly, we’re faced by a gigantic problem that jeopardises everything. It’s good to have that person in the team who confidently steps in to engineer a fix at the last moment. The hero that saves the day.

Then of course, there is the project manager themselves. Our own Hannibal Smith. For me, Hannibal embodied all the qualities it takes to be a great IT project manager. Genuine and sincere with those the A-Team were trying to help, supportive of his crew and completely unflappable. The thing is, even though Hannibal’s plans never work out exactly the way he expects, he is a master tactician. He is able to respond to any situation with the help of his team to still deliver a great result.

..and I guess that’s the reality of IT project management, isn’t it?

…no matter how much planning we do, there will always be the unexpected. That’s why we need our own A-Team. Knowledgeable, pragmatic, engaging … and able to focus on solutions rather than problems.

So, if you have a project … and no-one else can help…

…and if you can find them…

…maybe you can hire your own “A-Team”.