“I’m Winston Wolf. I solve problems… may I come in?”

For those unfamiliar with Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction, a brief explanation. Our two anti-heroes, hitmen Jules and Vincent, have accidentally killed a passenger in their car in broad daylight. It’s a mess. So they hide the car in the garage of a friend, Jimmie. But he’s not happy. His wife, Bonnie, is due home from work within the hour. If the bloodied car isn’t gone by then, they’re all in big trouble.

Okay, so it’s a bit more extreme than most projects you are likely to find yourself running. And as the iron triangle goes, it’s pretty severe. They have to get the project done by the time Bonnie comes home; there can’t be a drop of blood left behind; and there’s literally zero budget.

In fact, it’s classic crisis project management within an agile framework – where the minimum viable product is a clean getaway.

Jules and Vincent are lucky. Their gang boss, Marsellus Wallace, knows exactly who to call to help fix the situation.

“Chill out,” he says when they call in a panic, “and wait for the Wolf, who should be coming directly.”

And fortunately for them, troubleshooter Winston Wolf shows many of the attributes of an elite project manager.

Agile is as agile does

Let’s assign our personnel. Marsellus is the senior decision-maker. It was he who sent the hitmen on their mission, and he’s the best kind of executive (well, apart from being a homicidal gangster) – when a project goes off the rails, he retains ownership of the problem and assigns resources to a solution.

Jules and Vincent are the project team on the ground. They had a nice timeline all worked out: drive to the hideout being used by the thieves who raided Marsellus; recover his stolen property; mete out justice; and head back with the mysterious briefcase. When it goes wrong, they panic. They need a framework – and a fixer.

We first see that fixer, Winston Wolf, taking a call from Marsellus. And like any good project manager, he begins in evaluation mode, taking notes. He wants to understand the situation and what constitutes an acceptable outcome, and get to grips with the factors that have to be addressed immediately. Personnel, timings, the project scope and specifications are quickly jotted down. The Wolf signs off to Marsellus: “It’s about 30 minutes away. I’ll be there in 10.”

He arrives at Jimmie’s house “nine minutes and 37 seconds later”, according to the on-screen caption. And he wastes no time in getting his project team in order: “Let’s get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. If I was informed correctly, the clock is ticking. That gives us 40 minutes to get out of Dodge, which, if you do what I say, when I say it, should be plenty.”

Marshalling your resources

After going over the details of the project again with the team on the ground – always wise, as the project sponsor won’t know everything – the Wolf assesses the problem for himself and starts to issue very precise instructions. Not just “clean the car”, but gruesome specifics about exactly how to approach different jobs.

(Note that the Wolf also sends Jimmie – the innocent in this scene – away to brew coffee while his project team starts work. There might be a message in here about steering business-as-usual folks away from your project while you get on with it…)

Vincent acknowledges that this newly arrived project manager knows what he’s doing. But like many people you’ll encounter in business units or project teams, he bristles at direct instruction.

“Get this straight, buster,” says the Wolf when Vincent gets prickly. “I’m not here to say ‘please’. I’m here to tell you what to do. And if self-preservation is an instinct you possess, you better do it and do it quick.”

You can’t fault this for clarity of communication – a key principle of agile project management. And the Wolf even acknowledges that he’s been overly direct – while still injecting urgency into the process: “If I’m curt with you, it’s because time is a factor. So, pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the damn car.”

Focus on the outcome

Crisis project management is partly about fixing rapidly emerging problems. But it still needs to have a deliverable end state. You can be as agile as you like, but if the job isn’t finished to the sponsor’s satisfaction, or the problem re-emerges after the project team has decamped, it’s still a failure.

So, when we next see the Wolf, he’s on the phone to Monster Joe – owner of a junkyard, a car crusher, and someone happy to do the Wolf a favour. Before the team has even finished the primary task – cleaning out the car – he’s made arrangements for its disposal.

The team is still bickering – Jules blames Vincent for the deadly accident, and they seem ready to come to blows (or worse). It’s a reminder that strong project leadership can make all the difference to team dynamics. Given clear instructions and a full understanding of the implications of failure, they overcome their hostility and get on with the job.

That clarity of leadership is evident in the next scene – when the Wolf orders Jules and Vincent to strip and be hosed down. Again, the project manager reminds the team why they have to undertake actions they’re unsure about: “You know what you two look like? Like a couple of guys who just blew off somebody’s head. Yes, strippin’ off those bloody rags is absolutely necessary.”

No loose ends

The Wolf wraps things up with another set of clear, precise instructions about the drive to the junkyard. His orders cause no confusion, and the team by now understands that his project management skills are unimpeachable (unlike his team’s behaviour).

He also drives the tainted car to Monster Joe at the yard himself – taking on the principal risk, and showing he’s not a shirker. The car is crushed, Jules and Vincent are rescued, Jimmie’s house is clean and Bonnie is none the wiser. The project is a success.

But the Wolf doesn’t live outside this world – like a good project manager, he’s forged relationships, knowledge and experience that are central to his ability to do his job. He might not know Jules and Vincent, but he clearly has a well-developed relationship with Marsellus, he can rely on Monster Joe (and his daughter Raquel) and he knows his way around the city.

Whether it’s project management in a crisis or run-of-the-mill agile, being committed to the organisation, focused on its long-term success and familiar with its setting are key attributes leading to success. Although we can’t guarantee that, like Winston Wolf, you’ll end up with a lucrative deal to flog insurance…

Further reading

Check out Vivianne Walters’ short blog on crisis project management at bit.ly/2HnkLAV

Richard Young is consulting editor of Project