By Harold Kerzner, Ph.D. and Al Zeitoun, Ph.D.
Published by PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue I – January 2025
January 15, 2025
Introduction
Military personnel, police departments and other professional organizations recognize the achievements of their workforce by awarding them medals and ribbons. So, why shouldn’t we do the same thing for project managers? This could be significantly more important to a project manager or project team member than a simple handshake and thank you. We begin our projects with the greatest of intentions. Some people view project management as a series of contests or challenges beginning with a well thought out plan that everyone agrees with. When projects do not necessarily go according to plan, we may end up with rigorous confrontations that can lead to skirmishes and even battles with stakeholders and other personnel. Some battles on projects are so intense that we consider them as all out wars. Years ago, many aerospace and defense industry projects were managed using war rooms. There was a reason why we called them war rooms. These were rooms with one door and no windows. On the walls were scope, scheduling and financial information as well as other key metrics. It was called a war room because this is where the battles between project teams, project team members, executives, project stakeholders, clients and contractors took place. The concept of using project war rooms still exists today. If we look at the literal definition of a war, we can see the comparison to the project management environment. This appears in Exhibit 1.

Exhibit 1. A Project Management Interpretation of War
Both victors and losers in a war are often given ribbons and medals to commemorate their heroism in the face of adversity or simply to show their participation in a military campaign. This should be done for project managers and team members. The PM’s battles can exist on several fronts: battles with the client, the stakeholders, the project team, the governance group, and even with your own senior management. Each battle can be a different type of combat, and they can all be taking place concurrently. This is one of the reasons why most PMs have good health insurance plans. If each project is viewed as a military campaign or even a war, then what would life be like if we were to award ribbons and medals to project managers the same way we do it for military personnel? There are numerous challenges in project management and people should be recognized for overcoming these challenges. Of course, this will probably never happen, but it is still something worth considering.
The Competing Constraints Ribbon
For more than 40 years we defined project success using mainly the triple constraints of time, cost and scope. But today, we have competing constraints which go well beyond just time, cost and scope. Other constraints, which are often not listed in the project’s requirements, but may be important include:
- Using the client’s name as a reference after project completion • Probability of obtaining follow-on work
- Financial success (i.e. profit maximization)
- Achieving technical superiority (i.e. competitive advantage)
- Aesthetic value and usability
- Alignment with strategic planning objectives
- Meeting regulatory agency relationships
- Abiding by health and safety laws
- Maintaining environmental protection standards
- Enhancing the corporate reputation and image
- Meeting the personal needs of the employees (opportunities for advancement)
- Supporting and maintaining ethical conduct and industry drivers (Sarbanes-Oxley Law, sustainability strategic aspirations)
- Hoping for a better assignment on the next project
Today, our projects are becoming more complex and have an expanded view of what value could entail. We realize that meeting all the constraints may be too challenging and even impossible on some projects. The solution may be to prioritize the constraints and hope that we can perform at a minimum within all of the high priority constraints. It is entirely possible that performance within all of the constraints may be more wishful thinking than reality.
For those project managers that perform within all of the competing constraints, they may receive the Competing Constraints Ribbon shown in Exhibit 2. Since green is often used to portray success, it is only fitting that the colors on the ribbon be various shades of green. The star on the ribbon can be a variety of colors signifying the number of projects that were successfully managed within all of the competing constraints.

Exhibit 2. Recognition for Meeting All of the Competing Constraints
The Pain and Suffering Endurance Ribbon
When projects get out of control, whether it is the result of changes in the enterprise environmental factors or the personal whims of stakeholders, project managers end up taking the brunt of all of the pain. The pain can come from physical, verbal or emotional abuse. Some projects are completed without pain and suffering, but these are usually in the minority. Unfortunately, projects will get into trouble. When this happens, not all project managers know how to perform under this type of pressure or stress.
The criteria for this award are based upon:
- Number of trips to the emergency room over the duration of the project
- Number of bones broken or mutilated over the life of the project
- Number of stitches received within a given time frame
- Criteria does NOT include issues at home (although maybe it should)
Exhibit 3 shows the Pain and Suffering Endurance Ribbon. Since blue seems to be the most used color in the medical profession, it is only fitting that the award be various shades of blue. The symbol in the medal is a common symbol used in the medical profession. The alternative colors in this ribbon would be black and blue, and I am sure we all know why, and no further explanation is necessary.

Exhibit 3. The Pain and Suffering Endurance Ribbon
The Project Recovery Ribbon
We know that projects tend to get into trouble, yet not all project managers possess the necessary skills to turn around a failing project. Sometimes people with special expertise are brought in to take over the possibly failing projects. These people may have the title of recovery project managers and wear armor and bullet-proof vests.

Exhibit 4. The Project Recovery Ribbon
The ribbon for successfully recovering a failing project is shown in Exhibit 4. The colors in the ribbon identify the direction in which the project must go, namely red (in trouble), yellow (there’s hope) and green (out of trouble). Recovery project managers may also be awarded the Pain and Suffering Endurance Ribbon.
The Global Project Manager Ribbon
Some project managers become very good at managing internal projects and may receive numerous Competing Constraints Ribbons. Yet the same project managers may become failures at managing global projects because of their inability to deal with cultural differences, politics, power struggles, and rapidly changing enterprise environmental factors based upon who is in power in the host government at that time.

Exhibit 5. The Global Project Manager Ribbon
Exhibit 5 shows the ribbon awarded for successfully managing global projects. The seven colors in the ribbon and medal represent the seven continents. People that are awarded the Global Project Manager Ribbon may also be awarded the Pain and Suffering Endurance Ribbon. It is unlikely that they will also receive the Competing Constraints Ribbon.
The Professional Responsibility Ribbon
The project management environment offers numerous ways for project managers to get into trouble. Typical ways include:
- Inappropriately giving or receiving gifts
- Failing to report violations
- Getting involved in bribes for giving or receiving contracts
- Insider trading due to privileged information
- Untruthful reporting of information
The Project Management Institute (PMI®) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct should be adhered to and people that abide by the code should be identified and rewarded. Exhibit 6 shows a typical ribbon and/or medal for such people. People that fail to abide by the PMI® Code of Ethics Professional Conduct could end up with prison sentences and voluntary admission to the witness protection program.

Exhibit 6. The Professional Responsibility Ribbon
The Say "No" Ribbon
Perhaps the most important and rarely used word in the project manager’s vocabulary is the word “NO.” No matter how well the project’s requirements are thought out and the fact that everyone initially agrees on the project’s requirements, changes seem to occur. While some changes are necessary, many changes are requested because of the personal whims of individuals, including senior managers and executives, and these requests may not be in the best interest of the project.
The ultimate purpose of a change control system is to prevent unnecessary changes from entering the project. Scope changes result in baseline changes with the ultimate effect of elongating the schedule and driving up the cost. Project managers must be prepared to say no. Project managers should be rewarded rather than punished when correctly saying no to the clients and stakeholders. This personal quality of the project manager could be a critical prioritization muscle that would actually enhance the chances of delivering value to the client. The ribbon for this is shown in Exhibit 7 below.

Exhibit 7. The Say “NO” Ribbon
The Innovation Ribbon
Innovation is generally regarded as a new way of doing something. The new way of doing something should be substantially different from the way it was done before rather than a small incremental change such as with continuous improvement activities. The goal of innovation is to create hopefully long-lasting additional value for the company, the users, and the end-product deliverable itself. Innovation can be viewed as the conversion of an idea into cash or a cash equivalent.
While the goal of successful innovation is to add value, the outcome can be negative or even destructive if it results in poor team morale, an unfavorable cultural change or a radical departure from existing ways of doing work. The failure of an innovation project can lead to demoralizing the organization and causing talented people to be risk-avoiders in the future rather than risk-takers.
Not all project managers are given the opportunity to manage projects that require true innovation. The criteria for the Innovation Ribbon in Exhibit 8 should be not only the creation of a unique product or service, but one that creates long-lasting value and possibly profits and other financial benefits for the company.

Exhibit 8. The Innovation Ribbon
The Profitability Ribbon
Not all project managers have the opportunity to manage projects designed to create immediate profits. Some project managers do not have profit and loss (P&L) responsibility and end up managing internal projects where the measurement of actual profits may be difficult and may not occur until well into the future.
But those project managers whose efforts directly contribute to the profitability of the firm should be recognized perhaps with the ribbon shown in Exhibit 9. There’s no apparent need to explain why green is used as a color in the ribbon. However, there must be reasonable criteria established for what constitutes significant profitability. Also, the criteria should indicate that this is done without any sacrifice to quality.

Exhibit 9. The Corporate Profitability Ribbon
The Power of Acknowledgment Ribbon
Today, we are asking project team members at the end of a project to evaluate the performance of the project manager and whether they would like to work for this project manager on future projects. If the project team members feel that they were personally challenged and motivated by the project manager to the point where they ended up performing to the best of their ability, they will most certainly want to work for this project manager again.
One of the secrets to effectively motivating the team, without incurring any detrimental results, is by using the power of acknowledgment. Exhibit 10 shows the Power of Acknowledgment Ribbon. As reflected in her book, “The Power of Acknowledgment”, Judy Umlas supports the principle that effective acknowledgment goes from your heart to the heart of the team members. Using the proper words when acknowledging the efforts of the team will unlock their hearts and motivate them to higher levels of performance. That’s why the heart appears in the medal and, of course, I assume we all understand why various shades of red are used as colors.

Exhibit 10: The Power of Acknowledgment Ribbon
The Quality-of-Life Ribbon
Having the first nine ribbons and medals pinned to your chest may have no meaning unless you have a family or friends to share the recognition with. All too often, project managers become so in love with their job that they forget about their family, personal life, and the community.
The Quality-of-Life Ribbon appears in Exhibit 11. The criteria for the award should be established by the spouses, partners, or best friends, of the project managers based upon criteria that might include:
- How much time does the PM spend at work as compared to the time spent with the family?
- Does the PM remember the names of his or her children?
- How much company work is done at home?
- Does the PM attend and support community events?
- If you have a dog at home, does the dog recognize the PM or bark as though the PM is a stranger in the house?
- If applicable, how much time does the PM spend with the children?
- How much travel is required in the PM’s job?
This award should be presented at a public ceremony for all to see. Maintaining a stream of successfully managed projects is a nice accomplishment if it is not done at the expense of your personal life.

Exhibit 11. The Quality-of-Life Ribbon
The Path Forward
There are numerous battles that project managers must participate in to be effective. These battles can occur at any time and last for the duration of the project. In this paper, we have identified just 10 possible battles and project managers should be somehow recognized for their ability to have won these battles. Especially in a future of growing project complexity and an increased reliance on digitalization, we all know that there are other battles that project managers must endure, and perhaps the list may be as many as 30 to 40 battles. But at least we see the need to recognize some of the critical accomplishments made by project managers. This could be the first step for building tomorrow’s inspirational project leaders and effective project workforce.
Dr. Harold D. Kerzner, Ph.D., is Senior Executive Director at the International Institute for Learning, Inc., a global learning solutions company that conducts training for leading corporations throughout the world.
He is a globally recognized expert on project, program, and portfolio management, total quality management, and strategic planning. Dr. Kerzner is the author of bestselling books and texts, including the acclaimed Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, Thirteenth Edition. His latest book, Project Management Next Generation: The Pillars for Organizational Excellence, co-authored with Dr. Al Zeitoun and Dr. Ricardo Viana Vargas, delivers an expert discussion on project management implementation of all kinds.
Consultant and Trainer, International Institute for Learning
In his current role with Siemens DISW, Dr. Zeitoun is responsible for driving the global program management practices, master plan governance, and enable strategy transformation priorities.
Dr. Zeitoun’s prior roles include Executive Director for Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation in Abu Dhabi where he led the transformation of capabilities to support the operational readiness of their $40 billion nuclear power plant across four facilities. He was Senior Transformation Executive & Strategic Portfolio Solutions expert at Booz Allen Hamilton in the U.S, where he envisioned and customized a digitally enabled EPMO to support their billion-dollar strategic initiatives. He also led the firm’s Middle East and North Africa Portfolio Management and Agile Governance Solutions.