Project Management Lesson From Star Wars

When asked what I do, I often tell people “I’m on the Dark Side” as a reference to an engineer’s view of management and/or project management. Little did I realize what Darth Vader’s role was in the construction of the Death Star! I have watched the classic Star Wars movies multiple times and only thought that the opening scene of Return of the Jedi was just establishing Vader’s fearsome character:

Have you worked with Darth Vader and promised to double your efforts? Or worse, have you been Darth Vader?

As much as I joke about being on the Dark Side, I strongly believe the role of leadership is to bring light to the Dark Side. I much prefer this approach to building the Death Star and would probably volunteer to have the chat with Vader:

Scrumtrooper Retrospective, courtesy of Axis Agile

Big thanks to Todd Little for sharing the Star Wars clip in his presentation at the Agile Leadership Summit!

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