The Godfather: an accidental project manager

We often talk about the ‘accidental project manager’ – the civilian worker who, knowingly or not, is part of our tribe. Michael Corleone proves they can master the art. It’s all about those Corleone competencies, writes Richard Young.

It’s 50 years since The Godfather was released. Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece is the archetypal Mafia movie. Career-defining performances from Robert Duvall, James Caan and the already legendary Marlon Brando make it worthy of its iconic status. But here at Project Towers, it’s not Don Vito’s mumbling delivery or Sonny’s explosive rage that makes the movie memorable. It’s not even the notorious equine decapitation. No, what makes this movie truly special is Michael Corleone’s journey to project management mastery.

His long-term project – and his fate as a programme manager – reveals itself in The Godfather Part II, Michael’s ultimately doomed attempt to take the family legitimate. And that failure is crystallised in The Godfather Part III, set decades later. (Like a veteran programme manager desperate to take on a cushy consulting career, the reluctant Don wails, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”). So instead we’ll take Michael from project innocent to PMO master in the original film – and see how effective an ‘accidental project manager’ can be, given the right motivation and advice…

Project principles

Michael Corleone’s note-perfect character is carved in the finest traditions of epic storytelling: the youngest son of a king, whose family tragedies thrust him unwillingly into the role of protagonist. Michael is just such a prince. We can’t resist a pun, so although PRINCE2™ was not around when Coppola made The Godfather in 1971, we wondered: how does Michael’s final project to ‘settle all family business’ stack up against the classic model? How does this Mafia prince’s journey stack up against the core tenets of PRINCE2™?

6/10 Continued business justification

The business case is the family. It’s a perpetual, clear and easily communicated goal. The real test of a strong business case, of course, is how much you can flex your project strategy and execution to cope with changing circumstances while retaining your core mission. Michael has a mixed record here. He pivots the project’s strategy to one of moving the family to Las Vegas and (perhaps optimistically) away from crime. But he loses points for allowing his own obsession with definitive project deliverables (murder and revenge, essentially) to alienate two family members: wife Kay, dismayed at his rise to Godfather; and sister Connie, who’s a tad upset at the execution of her husband. A reminder that sometimes a project leader has to compromise on elements of the mission (keeping your hands clean) to deliver the core outcomes (success for the family).

7/10 Learn from experience

The Mafia has a strong oral tradition. The lessons log might not be a written register, but the optimum tools and strategies to further the family project are well defined. There’s hardly a scenario that crops up that isn’t informed by past experience. Michael gets great advice on how to handle an assassination weapon, for example, and his own story of Luca Brasi holding a gun to someone’s head while Don Vito explains, “Either your signature goes on that contract or your brains” shows the lessons learned are unusually compelling in Mafia circles.

8/10 Defined roles and responsibilities

It’s tempting to mark Michael down here because his own role changes so much during the film. But think about it: at each stage of his journey, his project role is extremely well defined. He starts out as a kind of shareholder – he loves his family but prefers to stay aloof. In that sense, his roles are separate from him as an individual. Then he ends up getting drawn in as a team member – making sure his father is safe in hospital after the assassination attempt. He’s making low-level project decisions on the fly, but nothing strategic.

Soon he becomes a project manager himself to handle the killing of corrupt cop McCluskey. (He even sets his team a project stage gate: “If Clemenza can figure a way to have a weapon planted there for me, then I’ll kill ’em both.”) Finally, he ascends to project board, personally directing his teams to execute the final tasks to complete ‘Project Family’. PRINCE2™ allows for multiple roles for individuals (corporate and project lead, for example), so long as the roles don’t interfere – and Michael delivers on that score, too. He never lets his corporate responsibilities muddle efficient task completion.

9/10 Manage by stages

An area where Michael adheres to the Corleone family’s strong track record. Despite his initial protestations – “That’s my family, Kay, that’s not me” – he’s a chip off the old block. Remember Don Vito being presented with the tricky project to secure a movie role for his godson Johnny Fontane? He tests Fontane’s business case and weighs up the risks. Then he sends consiglieri Tom Hagen to negotiate with the director (a supplier, in project management parlance). When the initial strategy fails due to the film-maker’s intransigence, the next stage is a clear adaptation: a horse’s head in his bed. That does the trick.

Michael’s multistage project also has very clear stage gates and risk resolutions along the way. Eliminate the family’s most obvious enemy. Identify the broader conspiracy to undermine its operations. Use the knowledge acquired to reveal internal opposition. Carefully coordinate multiple hits on these impediments to minimise blowback. Move to Vegas. Each stage sets the foundations for the next towards a clear and conclusive project end game. Brilliant.

8/10 Manage by exception

Organised crime is inherently cellular. The Capo di Tutti Capi (think programme director) can’t possibly oversee every detail of every family project. But a good Godfather knows enough about project performance throughout the organisation to step in when required. If the project managers are updating their metrics dashboards and staying on top of Slack notifications (underbosses paying forward protection money and suppressing rival hoodlums), no problem. If someone steps out of line? Well, no one likes to see the boss paying a surprise visit. Michael’s a strong project lead, though, and with a trusted team, he delegates well.

5/10 Focus on products

The definition and delivery of top-quality products is perhaps a weaker area for Michael. If his goal as a programme lead is to live up to the aspirations he had before he was drawn into managing family projects (being legit; not murdering people), and if we can call that a ‘product’, then he’s failed. You can’t even argue that the definition of the project is particularly good, since ‘going legitimate’ is pretty vague. Perhaps this is a common problem for accidental project managers – always thinking about business as usual rather than discrete deliverables…

6/10 Tailor to suit project environment

Michael’s adaptation to the circumstances is pretty good. He develops his own project style very quickly when the family is at war, for example. We’re dropping several marks, however, because the resolution of that adaptation – multiple hits at the end of the film – is so far away from the core project principles. In summary, it’s clear that Michael Corleone shows many attributes of a great project manager. He proves his worth as a team player prepared to get his hands dirty (literally). He takes on management duties calmly, respectful of the skills of his project team, and the organisation’s culture and lessons learned. And he ensures real clarity of purpose and decisiveness as programme leader while letting his teams get on with the job. So, take a leaf out of his book: get out there and make your suppliers some offers they can’t refuse.

Don Vito Corleone’s project masterclass

The tech, regulations and environment around projects change over time but there are lessons that experienced practitioners – and the industry body of knowledge – offer to help young project managers. Let’s look at some of the advice Don Vito can pass on…

Guard your people’s wellbeing

“You look terrible. I want you to eat. I want you to rest a while. And in a month from now, this Hollywood big shot’s gonna give you what you want.” Don Vito is reassuring Johnny Fontane that he can fix his project – that’s a great programme leader at work before we even think about how much he’s focused on his godson’s wellbeing. In any project, relaxed, confident people who know senior management have their back will always do better work.

Be decisive; consider downstream risks

“Signor Sollozzo, my no [to the drugs racket] is final. I wish to congratulate you on your new business, and I know you’ll do very well; and good luck to you – as long as your interests don’t conflict with my interests.” This is a pivotal moment when Don Vito places the Corleone family in opposition to the other Five Families. He’s looking at the big picture – there are project dependencies and risk management issues at stake, and he knows being in the drugs trade will hurt his crucial political connections. But look at how he rejects this ‘supplier’ – no bridges burned, no blame. A class act.

Be thorough – sweat the big risks

“I hope you don’t mind the way I keep going over this Barzini business. It’s an old habit. I spent my life trying not to be careless.” A great scene where the now-retired Godfather briefs his youngest son on how negotiations will go – warning that Michael is likely to be killed as the film nears its climax. We can sometimes get bored with a project risk register, but success is seldom guaranteed and the smart project manager rehearses and revisits critical stages of their plan so they’re ready for anything.

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU FROM THE Summer 2022 ISSUE OF PROJECT JOURNAL, WHICH IS FREE FOR APM MEMBERS.