Mad in Craft: Hamlet and Project Management

I recently saw a filmed version of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s recent production of Hamlet, starring Dr. Who and Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.

Okay, it starred David Tennant as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius, and they gave  extraordinary performances. I was particularly impressed with Tennant; I’m not a TV watcher and haven’t seen him as Dr. Who, so I had no idea what to expect. His performance started slowly — and Hamlet itself does start more awkwardly than many of Shakespeare’s plays. However, it came brilliantly alive in the scene where he confronts his father’s ghost and then determines to feign madness in hopes of ferreting out the truth about his father’s murder.

Feign madness — ay, there’s the rub. One of the central questions in a production of Hamlet is whether Hamlet is “but mad in craft” — faking it — or has truly become unhinged. Either choice offers a rich feast for the audience and numerous opportunities for good actors to explore the character. Tennant and director Gregory Doran chose the former approach, and Tennant delivered brilliantly against it.

So go rent the DVD — or, better, buy it, DVD or Blu-Ray, because it’s a performance worth watching more than once, and sharing with your kids.

So what’s this have to do with Legal Project Management?

From an outsider’s perspective, good project managers sometimes appear mad — at least in the sense of non-normal. They take the worst news in stride. They see threats and danger in what others perceive as calm waters. They demand precision in certain matters others think unimportant, yet honor other “requirements” more in the breach than the observance.

Crazy or not? Are they essentially not in madness, but mad in craft? Or if it be madness, might there be a method in it?

Some great project managers act this way on instinct. Others have learned the craft behind this apparent madness. And that’s critical for aspiring project managers — effective PM behavior can be learned.

But effective PM behavior, like the character of Hamlet, is complex. Ever-methodical doesn’t cut it, though a PM must have a method. Nor does ever-reactive, though PM’s must understand how and when to react to surprises. It’s a mix of right and left brain, of reasoned analysis blended with intuition and insight. Sometimes it even looks like madness.

As for me, though, when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.