10 and 2: Keeping Your Project on the Road

Projects vs. Business as Usual

Before we dive into the driving analogy, it's essential to understand what distinguishes a project from everyday operations. According to the PMBOK Guide, a project is "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result." This stands in stark contrast to what PRINCE2 defines as Business as Usual (BAU)—the routine, repetitive operations that keep an organization running day-to-day. Projects are about building something new, solving a unique problem, or creating a deliverable that has never existed before in quite that way. Understanding this distinction is fundamental because projects require a different management approach than ongoing operations.

The License to Drive: Project Initiation

Every driver needs a license before getting behind the wheel, and every project needs proper authorization before it can begin. This is where the Initiation phase becomes crucial. The Develop Project Charter process (PMBOK 6 process 4.1) and the Identify Stakeholders process (PMBOK 6 process 13.1) serve as your project's license to operate. Without sign-off of the Charter by key and empowered stakeholders, moving into Project Planning, Execution, or Project Monitoring and Control is essentially illegal. The Charter is your green light—it authorizes the project, assigns the project manager, and provides the authority needed to apply organizational resources to project activities.

Planning Your Route: The 10 O'Clock Position

Once you have your license (approved Charter), it's time to plan your route. In our driving analogy, Project Planning (PP) represents the 10 o'clock position on the steering wheel. This is where you determine exactly how you'll reach your destination. Planning in project management is comprehensive and touches every aspect of the project through the knowledge areas:

• Project Integration Management - The master plan that summarizes all other knowledge areas
• Project Scope Management - Defining what's in and out of the project
• Project Schedule Management - Determining when things will happen
• Project Cost Management - Budgeting and financial planning
• Project Quality Management - Establishing quality standards and metrics
• Project Resource Management - Planning for people, equipment, and materials
• Project Communications Management - Determining who needs what information and when
• Project Risk Management - Identifying and planning responses to uncertainties
• Project Procurement Management - Planning for external acquisitions
• Project Stakeholder Management - Managing expectations and engagement

Monitoring the Journey: The 2 O'Clock Position

While planning tells you where you want to go, Project Monitoring and Control (PMC)—our 2 o'clock position—tells you where you actually are. For every planning process, there's a corresponding control process that ensures you're staying on track. These control processes are your dashboard indicators, telling you when you're drifting off course and need to make adjustments.

The Driver's Head: Project Execution

If Planning is your left hand at 10 and Monitoring and Control is your right hand at 2, then your head—looking forward and steering the actual direction—is Execution. This is where the work actually gets done through Direct and Manage Project Work (4.3) and Manage Project Knowledge (4.4). Your execution must be guided by the constant interplay between your plan (10 o'clock) and your monitoring (2 o'clock).

Making Safe Lane Changes: Integrated Change Control

Sometimes you need to change your route—perhaps there's unexpected traffic or a road closure. In project management, changes can and do occur, but they must go through proper processes. Monitor and Control Project Work (4.5) identifies the need for changes, while Perform Integrated Change Control (4.6) evaluates, approves, and implements them. Just as you check your mirrors and signal before changing lanes, you must follow proper change control to keep your project safe.

Agile Scrum: The Same Principles in a Different Vehicle

While traditional project management might be like driving a sedan on a highway, Agile Scrum is like navigating a rally car through varied terrain—but the 10 and 2 principle still applies. Scrum projects are Initiated by empowered stakeholders who define scope through Epics and User Stories—essentially plotting the course. The Plan and Estimate phase in Scrum is exactly like Project Planning—it's the 10 o'clock position. Teams estimate effort, plan sprints, and determine how they'll deliver value. The Review and Retrospect processes represent the 2 o'clock position, functioning like PMC in traditional project management. Teams constantly monitor progress, inspect deliverables, and adapt their approach.

The Capability Maturity Ladder: From Jail to Excellence

Capability Maturity Level Zero: The Road to Jail

Before we discuss proper project management maturity, we must acknowledge the darkest scenario—Capability Maturity Level Zero. This is where project budgets are mismanaged and money is being lost through corruption, such as over-inflating the price of procurements to steal money off the top. This is surely a sign that the project is operating at Capability Maturity Level Zero, and the project, its team, and its stakeholders are nowhere. As the Cheshire Cat wisely told Alice in Wonderland: "If you don't know where you are going, then any road will take you there." At CMM Level Zero, the road should be direct to jail.

Capability Maturity Level 1: Driving Without Hands on the Wheel

At Capability Maturity Level 1, organizations run projects without the 10 and 2 approach in operation. There is no systematic Project Planning and no Project Monitoring and Control. Projects are characterized by ad-hoc, chaotic processes where success depends entirely on individual heroics rather than proven processes. It's like driving with your hands off the wheel—you might stay on the road through luck or exceptional reflexes, but you're far more likely to crash.

Capability Maturity Level 2: Hands at 10 and 2

When you properly demonstrate the use of Project Planning and Project Monitoring and Control, and when you follow the correct stage gates between Initiation and Planning, and Planning and Execution, you're operating at Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Level 2. This means your organization has moved beyond ad-hoc, chaotic project execution and has achieved repeatable project management processes. You have established the discipline to repeat earlier successes and built the foundation upon which higher levels of maturity rest.

Conclusion: Stay Between the Lines

Whether you're managing a traditional waterfall project or running Agile sprints, the principle remains the same: keep your hands at 10 and 2. Balance your planning with your monitoring and control. Respect the quality gates between phases. And always remember that without proper initiation and stakeholder authorization, you don't have a license to drive. By maintaining this discipline, you'll keep your project on the road, reach your destination successfully, and demonstrate organizational maturity in project delivery.

PMBOK Dashboard: The Project Management Roadmap

Scrum Processes: PP and PMC in Agile