Teambuilding: Some Assembly Required

Use Gloom N. Doom when:
¥ You need a “devil’s advocate” to test assumptions, designs or solutions.
¥ You want to ensure that a schedule is doable.
¥ You want to ensure that key issues and risks are identified.

Op T. Mystic

This is Gloom N. Doom’s polar opposite, always seeing the glass as half-full and taking the viewpoint of why something can work. These people can be overly optimistic in estimating task durations, which can lead to schedule slips, but Op T. Mystic is good at energizing the team and customers and at thinking outside the box. Be careful of Op T. Mystic’s enthusiasm where accurate assessments of risks and issues are needed or where work scope needs to be tightly managed.