It’s Halloween, but what can horror movies teach us about project management?

While horror films generally have a strong focus on a project – by definition, the challenges faced by the protagonists are never ‘business as usual’ – quite often they’re focused on a narrow set of project goals. Well, one, really – survival. But looking at how either the heroes – or, sometimes, the key villains – handle their project can offer some interesting lessons. Welcome to your nightmare.

Cabin in the Woods

There is no horror film that more accurately portrays a project than Cabin in the Woods. Meet Gary Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford), project managers for some kind of global spiritual cult that has evolved over countless generations into a well-oiled corporation. This corporation undertakes an annual project to prevent the return of a world-ending ancient demon from a shadow realm. Meet also their project sponsor, ‘The Director’ – played by Sigourney Weaver!

Project goals?

The mysterious organisation has subsidiaries around the world, all running projects to undertake the very specific ritual murder of innocents, preventing the arrival of the aforementioned demon. The facility in the US is the last remaining hope – the projects in all other countries have failed, and now Sitterson and Hadley must manipulate the classic horror trope of teenagers being murdered gruesomely at a cabin in the woods to fulfil the terms of the ritual.

So, the goal is crystal clear, the team is well versed in the project’s dependencies and timelines, and the mission is crucial.

Stakeholder management?

Where do we start? There are some great scenes inside the complex where the corporation runs the project. There’s team camaraderie, solid organisation, the project is extremely well resourced and the team members know exactly what their roles are – and how they fit into the project’s deliverables. Textbook.

The outside stakeholders – the teenagers on their excursion who don’t know they’re key to the project – are also well marshalled by the project managers at every stage. They can be unpredictable, but the project methodology has built-in contingencies to manipulate the stakeholders around the project goals until the end. Almost…

Does it work?

Ah. Sadly, one of the stakeholders manages to avoid the manipulation by dint of being stoned the whole time. (It’s complicated: let’s just say, using hypnotic gases to convince your users to conform to the project outcomes might make an ERP roll-out a bit easier, but it’s not exactly ideal.) He must die (and one other teenager survive) to meet the contractual terms set down by the demonic forces, and when he demurs in that deliverable… well, all hell breaks loose. This is a post-project contract dispute you don’t want to witness.

Key project lesson: If your PMO regularly undertakes a particular type of project, don’t let them get complacent. All it takes is one stoner to derail a well-oiled project machine and we’re all doomed.

Shaun of the Dead

Crouch End slacker Shaun (Simon Pegg) is so numbed by his dead-end existence and depression at being dumped by his girlfriend that he and his mate Ed (Nick Frost) completely miss the onset of a zombie apocalypse. But then his innate project management skills kick in.

As soon as the pair finish off the undead lurking in his garden using a variety of household implements and his record collection, he sets about saving his people with a masterplan.

Project goals?

We’re blessed that the title character literally produces a list of stage gates for the key project: “Take car. Go to Mum’s. Kill Phil – ‘sorry’ – grab Liz. Go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over. How’s that for a slice of fried gold?”

Note how the project is framed as a series of dependent goals, satisfying a wide range of stakeholders, with clear deliverables, crafted to take full account of environmental factors outside the project manager’s control, with a final, unarguable end state. All communicated in 28 words. “Fried gold” indeed.

Stakeholder management?

Shaun has uneasy relationships with everyone in the movie – even best friend Ed, whose ham-fisted approach to life jeopardises the project several times (including playing a loud slot machine in the Winchester pub when the humans are trying to avoid detection by the zombies). But his ability to reconcile with the different personalities despite his misanthropic approach to life is textbook project leadership. Keep them focused on the deliverables, use their talents to further the project goals and leave the emotion to one side. Well played.

Does it work?

Yes… There are casualties along the way, including several of the main characters. Even Shaun’s mum Barbara (Penelope Wilton) buys it, and Ed gets bitten and turned into a zombie. But Shaun and girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) make it through safely, and the film ends with the world returned to normal: Shaun playing video games with Zombie Ed in his garden shed. So sure: some of the team didn’t make it. But the project overall works (and Shaun gets his girlfriend back).

Key project lesson: Clarity of purpose, adaptability of project techniques, and easy to- understand deliverables make all the difference, especially in a changeable and hostile environment.

Interested in more horror movie lessons? Read the autumn 2024 issue of APM’s Project journal.

 

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