Count Dracula is one of the oldest and smartest monsters in the world. Under the curse of immortality and with an appetite for blood, he has lived long enough to become an expert in the art of living, managing, and achieving. Across the centuries, Dracula has tried himself in different styles of leadership, practiced many business models, and learned how to orchestrate projects. What advice would he give to C-levels, senior managers, and project experts if he had a chance to speak with them? This Halloween, we’ve collected some insightful tips based on Dracula’s life and vision.

 

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Even though Count Dracula lives in Transylvania, Romania, he is an excellent speaker of English and a culturally competent monster. He can read people’s thoughts and get invited to places where no one expects him. He’s proof that doors get opened as soon as you introduce yourself to cultures. With cultural knowledge, you can approach partners, customers, and teams with finesse. Learning about cultures teaches us to be tolerant, patient, and understanding. Knowledge of cultural diversity blurs the line between newcomers and natives. Let’s take some practical advice from Geert Hofstede, an expert in national values. Preparing to leave for London, it looks like Dracula is aware of the following cultural differences presented by Hofstede:

 

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Hofstede’s analysis of six cultural dimensions between Romania and United Kingdom.

 

Dracula knows for sure that his visitor, Jonathan Harker, likes to find himself in ambiguous situations, so he takes care that any inequalities between him and Jonathan are minimized. While Dracula can be a benevolent business autocrat in Romania (as generally accepted there), in England he’ll play a different ball game. *You can find a more detailed country analysis below.
To get more insights on different cultural tricks, the Epicflow team encourages you to take a look at **Erin Meyer’s book The Cultural Map. Meyer will help you focus on the most important cultural values without actually traveling.

 

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Remember Lucy, Count Dracula’s victim? She’s an example of a true failed project. Even though there are many people surrounding her and trying to help, they eventually find themselves on the brink of failure. Why? First, from the beginning, her relatives lack a complete understanding of her lunacy. They let her meander just like some project experts let their employees meander in their intuition. But what seems right emotionally is sometimes wrong objectively in business. Second, the rescuers try to save Lucy when it’s already too late. Once the project has already failed, a blood transfusion (adding more resources) won’t help to save time or money.

 

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Think about what mistakes you’ve committed in the past to avoid them in the future. Analyzing your projects at the historical level of resources will help you be more cautious and thorough in planning at the project level. Explore the microscopic pieces of your broken projects to discover where they have cracked and how you can improve. This tip helped Van Helsing figure out the true problem with Lucy and it is fully supported by our PM tool. Epicflow’s analytical platform helps you get to the root of the problem fast.

 

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Read More: 13 Methods To Ace Problems Like a Pro.

 

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It’s no secret that Count Dracula can transform into a bat. He can fly over his “projects” at any time. It’s essential for business leaders to also be able to see what’s happening on the work floor – to step out of their offices and zoom in. Luckily, Count Dracula has a supernatural capacity. But you can have supernatural powers too – with Epicflow. This business management tool gives you information about your projects at the employee level so you can spot bottlenecks before they occur and release them.

 

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Jonathan Harker can be considered Dracula’s partner as he helps him prepare for his departure from the castle in Transylvania to a new home in London.  And as his partner, Dracula makes sure to keep Jonathan safe from his vampire teeth. As a matter of fact, the Count makes Jonathan feel at home, providing him with a beautiful room, tasty food, and drinks.

 

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Managing a company is akin to leading a symphony orchestra, or perhaps an orchestra of… wolves! Just as Count Dracula strikes up a scary march, so too can you strike balance among your employees by helping them switch to another project when they operate in modern multi-team environments. Just as Dracula can change the calm of the sea into the waves on demand, so also should you change the weather for your teams when they turn from project to project.

 

The truth is that Count Dracula is immortal, however, while every project has a deadline. To finish your projects on time and on value, sign up for a free demonstration with Epicflow and we’ll help you get rid of your project fears!

 

Sources:

*Hofstede’s Country Comparison.

**Erin Meyer. The Cultural Map.