Principles use in Projects

  • Thread starter Thread starter PY8
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still confused about principles, need a concrete example

So I've read through all of the posts in this thread, but I'm a little thick-headed and learn better from a concrete example than from abstractions. Perhaps someone can help me understand how the concept of principles would apply to one specific project of mine.

The project is simply stated: I need to buy a mass spectrometer (very expensive piece of lab equipment) in the new laboratory that I'm setting up. I will be choosing from amongst several instruments made by different vendors. The instruments have slightly different performance characteristics and all have their own idiosyncrasies. It is the main piece of instrumentation in my laboratory and I will be expending a substantial fraction of my total laboratory setup budget to buy the instrument.

Following the flow of Chapter 3 in GTD, I start with the purpose:

I am buying a mass spectrometer so that we (me and my lab group) can learn about the interactions between protein molecules. Generating this knowledge moves this scientific field forward, produces scholarship that will aid in my bid for tenure, and generates preliminary data used to obtain further research funding. (Perhaps I am mixing in some vision/outcome here?)

Are the principles simply:
good technical specifications/performance
low price
ease of use
flexibility/adaptability to other types of experiments
low maintenance/upkeep costs​

Or, am I missing something?
 
re: Missing Something

If you could hand this list off to others and trust that they would purchase the one that met these expectations, then I think you got it.
 
confusion

I think the start of this thread was rather confused by the way GTD uses the word "project". The person who started this thread was thinking in terms of "project management", I think, which is a different thing entirely: in GTD of course a project is just something that you want to do that takes one or more actions, which is a different thing altogether (sic).

In my opinion you don't need principals to plan a project. But you might be well advised to use principals to plan your goals. NewProf, this is your vision/outcome, I think.

(And IMO you don't need principals or even goals to get something out of GTD.)
 
Principles and projects

Principles should be universal to be useful. However, for very simple tasks, many principles would be overkill.

For example, I may have 12 "principles" for managing any project:

1) State my goals as specific outcomes
2) Make sure goals are understood and committed to by everyone
3) Make sure leadership towards the goal is shared
4) Make sure resources are adequate and used optimally
5) Make sure everyone knows their roles
6) Make sure decisions are based on best information and expertise
7) Make sure there is trust & openness in communication & relationships
8) Make sure conflict is approached openly & constructively
9) Make sure the needs of everyone have been met
10) Make sure work is organized to accomplish the goals
11) Make sure processes are modeled and rehearsed first
12) Make sure work & communication processes are optimized

If my project was "stage the olympics" this list might be too small.
If my project was "Organize the annual company Christmas party" this list might be OK.
If my project was "Use the bathroom" this list would be overkill.

However, the "principles" still apply to all three examples. Some of them become redundant when no one else is involved in the project. Some of them become inadequate when the project is huge.

Because they are principles they are useful to know and apply. Look at them as a checklist.

Try it with your "mass spectrometer" project and see if your project has a higher quality after applying the checklist.
 
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