“Facts” continue to dribble out regarding what went wrong with the Iowa Caucus. Depending on your newsfeed, you’ve seen plenty of blame tossed about. It’s fairly easy to adopt a “blame them all, and let God sort it out” perspective. My experiences lead me to a different, very specific, conclusion. You see, I have these…
Popular Mechanics regularly publishes brain-teasers. One of those captured my fancy the other day, a classic about a fox, a hen and a bag of corn. I experienced a Eureka moment while figuring it out. This riddle provides a vital lesson on one of the most important aspects of organizing project work: a lesson in…
The Problem By far, the most common project management “methodology” I come across is the “pick a date and we’ll figure it out” approach. Practitioners of this approach create lists of tasks and pin those tasks to dates. This is a project “worst practice.” This is a dartboard approach. When relatively simple practices can dramatically…
When I took this picture I was immediately reminded of an old joke popularized by Ronald Reagan. The story varies, but typically ends up with a little boy receiving a giant pile of horse manure as a gift. Confronting the smelly pile, the boy dives in, scratching and digging about. When asked to explain his…
Ever hear the adage “you get what you measure?” If that’s the case, what SHOULD you measure when it comes to your projects? Seize control of your project by using these two project metrics: Days (or %) of project completed, since the last update. Days (or %) lost (or gained) due to uncertainty (surprises). Here’s…
News article: “Artificial Intelligence to take over 80% of Project Manager work. Chatbots will take over doing data collection, project tracking and reporting.” Source: Mega-consultant Gartner. Fascinating! Let’s peek ahead at what the future may bring to the Project Management field. . . <wavy lines showing we’re entering a dream state> The AI Future of…
How exactly does one change an organization? Projects involve change. While our firm uses analogies to GPS systems to describe how we succeed, we also understand change management – very deeply. I recently ran across a puff piece from Forbes that alleged to share “Three Key Principles of Change Management.” To give you an idea of how “puffy”…
The USS Arizona Memorial is the #1 visitor attraction in Hawaii. Alas, the memorial closed on May 6, 2018 because the moorings under the unloading platform had begun to shift, creating a significant safety issue. On Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 2018, the National Park Service announced good news – they had a repair plan…
We each see different things in the mirror. Sometimes we see what we wish to see. Other times we see things as they are.
A poorly run meeting sucks the energy from the room. Too many meetings are unfocused, meandering and inefficient. With the following tips, meetings can move work forward instead of wasting time. Here’s how to plan your meetings for success: Follow the PAL principle. Every meeting should have a clear Purpose, Agenda and Limits. Provide the…