Not sure how the thread got here from there, but K wrote:

>We need an analogy for a small monster that grows up to be a big headache of a monster
>and to apply it to Project Management. If it is a small monster
>then we need to be able to identify it then stomp all over it
>to make sure it does not get a chance to grow up.

The literary metaphor for this is the baobab tree.
See The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
It tells of a tiny planet (easily walked around in minutes)
where the occupant needed to weed out some baby baobab trees, or else.
Cute little sprigs at first, they would grow into ... baobab trees.
Do a Google Image search on "baobab".

... No, better yet, reproductions of the book's illustration will be found
if you do a Google Image search for "Saint-Exupery baobab".

I grant that it's not a perfect fit for the Project Management application,
but it's a great metaphor for small monsters getting out of control..

In NYC or Chicago, say, think ailanthus (Tree of Heaven).




Martin C. Tangora
University of Illinois at Chicago
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