This presentation was delivered by Jim Dale of the APM Programme Management SIG in March 2013.

1. Measuring Up
Isambard Kingdom Brunel:
A legendary & prodigious engineer
but how does the great man rate
as a project manager?
Jim Dale, MBA, RPP, MAPM, FCIPD

2. Overview of Session
• A little bit about me
• An overview of Brunel’s most
notable achievements
• A brief overview of the RPP
assessment process
• Review of competences:
– Leadership
– Professionalism & Ethics
– Business Case
• Discussion / more debate

3. Why such interest …
• “Brunel built modern Britain &
as Britain built the rest of the
world that makes him a pretty
dammed great Briton in my
book” Jeremy Clarkson
• “History repeats itself but
nobody listens” Steve Turner
• “You have to understand the
past in order to understand
the present” Carl Sagan
– Source: Think Exist

4. A little about me
• Secretary of ProgM
• Contract project / programme manager
• Teach, mentor & assess project managers:
– PQ Assessor & Facilitator
– RPP Assessor
• High risk gateway review team leader
• Studying for a PPM related professional
doctorate
• Fascination with Brunel - Recently undertook a
‘study tour’ led by Robert Hulse, Curator of The
Brunel Museum, London

5. Lets look at the Great Man
• Son of Sir Marc Isambard &
Sophia Kingdom Brunel
• Born 9 April 1806
• Educated in France
• Studied as an apprentice
clockmaker
• An accomplished artist &
superb draughtsman
• Died aged 53 years

6. The Life of Isambard Kindom Brunel
You tube video posted by Brunel
University and now available at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdOrpAt1t7M

7. Key Achievement 1:
Thames Tunnel

8. Key Achievement 2:
Clifton Suspension Bridge

9. Key Achievement 3:
Dock Improvements

10. Key Achievement 4:
Great Western Railway

11. Key Achievement 5:
The Great Ships
SS Great Western
SS Great Britain
SS Great Eastern

12. I.K.B: Two lesser known projects
• The Atmospheric
Railway
• The first flat pack
hospital. Constructed
in wood and shipped
and assembled in the
Crimea.

13. What is commonly known about I.K.B.
• A brilliant engineer
• Great visionary:
– The GWR was the first leg of a trip to North
America
• Workaholic:
– Spent all day on site and all evening writing &
planning. Frequently worked 20hr shifts
• Perfectionist
– The GWR was referred to as Brunel’s Billiard
Table
• A Showman:
– The Tunnel Banquet

14. IKB: Lesser know facts
• The Little Man in the Tall Hat - just over 5’
tall: Diminutive and self conscious
• Experienced many set-backs as well as
successes:
– Work was suspended for several years on the
Thames Tunnel which was ‘bricked up’
– His atmospheric railway was not progressed
beyond branch line status
– His designs for the Clifton Suspension Bridge
were originally dismissed as unachievable
– His vision for a national broad gauge railway
was never realised
– The maiden voyage of the Great Eastern in 1859
was a disaster; cut short by a significant boiler
explosion which killed 6 members of the crew

15. IKB: Lesser known facts 2
• An artist as well as a
superb draughtsman:
Produced meticulous
sketches and drawings
• Subscribed to the
doctrine that ‘an ounce
of practice trumps a ton
of theory’

16. The RPP standard
• The APM’s ‘gold standard’
• Recognition by PM professionals of a
fellow PM professional
• ‘The standard for extraordinary PM
professionals’
Selection:
• Submission of a portfolio of evidence
• Evidence of managing a complex project
• Satisfaction of 29 competences from the
APM’s Competence Framework
• Mandatory competences
– BC03 Leadership
– BC09 Professionalism & Ethics

17. Lets examine the evidence…..

18. BC03 Key Leadership Indicators:
1. Promotes / upholds a vision
2. Adapts leadership style appropriately
3. Creates a team environment, encouraging
members to reach their potential
4. Builds & maintains trust within the team
5. Motivates
6. Identifies / addresses developmental needs
of team & self

19. Leadership: Leaving a trail that others
want to follow

20. Promotes & upholds a vision 1 ...
• Great Western Railway: broad
gauge, high speed, minimal
gradients. The first leg of a
transatlantic trip.
• But did he have a blind spot,
aggravated by arrogance and
dogma?

21. Promotes & upholds the Vision 2:
SS Great Eastern
“I have an idea
to build a ship
that can
circumnavigate
the world and
carry enough
coal for the
entire journey”

22. I.K.B. Leadership Traits
continued.
 Led by example.
Do as I do not as I say
 Led from the front: Always the first
 Considered his staff. During the
Thames Banquet a meal in a
different part of the tunnel was
served for sixty of his workers
 Praised exceptional work. When
the two bores of Box Tunnel were
joined he gave the foreman his ring

23. I.K.B. Leadership Traits
continued
• Intolerant of poor workmanship
and prepared to say so!
“Plain, gentlemanly language has
no effect on you. I must try stronger
language and stronger measures.
You are a cursed, lazy, inattentive,
apathetic vagabond, and if you
continue to neglect my instructions,
and show such infernal laziness, I
shall send you about your business”.

24. Conflict within the Team:
Building the SS Great Eastern

25. I.K.B & self improvement
• A reflective learner.
Maintained a detailed
journal. An excellent early
example of Rolph’s model
of reflective learning
 What
 So What
 What next……

26. BC03 Key Leadership Indicators:
1. Promotes / upholds a vision
2. Adapts leadership style appropriately
3. Creates a team environment,
encouraging members to reach their
potential
4. Builds & maintains trust within the
team
5. Motivates
6. Identifies / addresses
developmental needs of team & self

27. BC09 Professionalism & Ethics
1. Commitment to continuing
professional development
2 – 4. Integrity - adopts a morally,
legally and socially appropriate manner
of behaviour when working with the
project team and other stakeholders
5. Encourages a culture of
openness

28. Professionalism
Brunel was vehemently
opposed to piecework
during the construction of
the Thames Tunnel as this
could compromise quality.
He resisted attempts by the
Directors to impose this
system of payment

29. Motivated by the greater good
• Declined a knighthood after designing a
prefabricated hospital for use during the Crimean
War “Service to my country is just reward”
• Not motivated by money - Brunel’s secret diaries
show that he was not a wealthy man
• Accepted responsibility for failed Atmospheric
Railway venture - refused to accept any fee.

30. I.K.B. as an Engineer
• Attended school in France so that he could
experience the best education an aspiring
engineer could receive
• Served an apprenticeship
• Worked with his father - a brilliant engineer
• Admitted to The Royal Society
• Maintained a detailed journal - a platform for
self improvement

31. I.K.B. & a body of knowledge
APM BoK Version 6, 2.2 Professionalism:
A profession creates & owns a distinctive,
relevant body of knowledge.
Brunel said:
“I am opposed to laying down rules
or conditions to be observed lest the
progress of improvement tomorrow
might be embarrassed or shackled by
recording or registering as law the
prejudices or errors of today”

32. But was I.K.B. driven to deliver regardless
of consequence?
Was his attitude to the high numbers of
casualties too cavalier?
• 100 men died and a further 136
were seriously injured excavating
Box Tunnel
• When questioned by the Board of
Directors Brunel said:
“I do not consider the figures to be
excessive given the dangers of
using gunpowder in confined
spaces ...”

33. I.K.B & dealing with stakeholders
appropriately (Indicator 3)
Stakeholders are individuals or groups with an
interest in the project
• Brunel was charismatic, charming and persuasive
• During the construction of the GWR Brunel faced
concerted opposition from angry / disgruntled
stakeholders
• Brunel spent 11 days giving evidence to the
Parliamentary Committee set up to determine whether
work should proceed
• He demonstrated remarkable patience, fortitude and
determination

34. A sample of some of the opposition
• The Duke of Wellington: “It will encourage
the working class to move about”
• The Head Master of Eaton College
objected on the grounds that his pupils
would be tempted to visit the brothels of
London
• Dr Dionysuis Lardner: publically opposed
Box Tunnel, which was involves a 1:100
gradient arguing that trains could reach
such a speed that air would be sucked out
of the passengers’ lungs and they would all
die.

35. BC09 Professionalism & Ethics
1. Commitment to continuing professional
development
2 – 4. Integrity - adopts a morally, legally and socially
appropriate manner of behaviour when working with
the project team and other stakeholders
5. Encourages a culture of openness

36. Finally:
A quick look at TC07 Business Case
Provides the
justification for
undertaking the
project. Evaluates
benefit, cost and risk
and provides a
rationale for the
preferred solution

37. Business Case Viability
• Many of Brunel’s projects took much longer than
originally planned and ran into severe financial
difficulties; e.g. Thames Tunnel, SS Great Eastern,
Atmospheric Railway. Given the engineering and
technical complexities this is understandable.
• Brunel prided himself on building ‘the best’, not
the cheapest and as a consequence many
projects incurred considerably higher costs. The
original budget for the GWR was £2m but the
eventual costs were £6m
• While we can marvel at the engineering feats
achieved, projects such as the Thames Tunnel &
Great Eastern did not possess a viable business
case and could never have provided a viable
return for the investors.

38. To conclude:
“The greatest use of life is to spend it for
something that will outlast it.”
“You can't leave a footprint that lasts if
you're always walking on tiptoe.”
www.quotationcollection.com

39. That’s all folks
james@jamesdale.co.uk
www.jamesdale.co.uk