We are living in a time of economic uncertainty. Fine. For some people, that might mean a hunker-down, reduce-risk, stick with what we know mentality. I take a contrarian’s approach: Start the risky projects. If we don’t start the risky projects, how can we discover a breakthrough, reduce waste, or innovate enough to work our […]
The project portfolio book is in Beta! For those of you who have not heard of a Pragmatic Bookshelf Beta book, here are the limitations: It’s not laid out correctly Although I’ve looked for typos, I have not discovered and fixed them all The bibliography is not yet included (it will be on later betas,
Several of my colleagues are concerned by their “back-door” references, or unintentional references. They’ve gone on interviews, felt as if they’d aced the interview, were told “we just need to check references” and boom, they are out of contention for the job. One colleague was told, “Oh those people you worked with > 10 years
After I returned home from the Sweden PSL, I had a cold, and then have been redesigning simulations for my upcoming (tomorrow!) customized project management workshop. At PSL, we invoked one idea repeatedly: the zeroth solution. The zeroth solution is the simplest thing that could work. So, if you need a simulation for a workshop,
My most recent Stickyminds Column, Decisions, Decisions, Decisions: Should You Commit, Kill, or Transform is posted. Enjoy!
I just read Steve Johnson’s post, call your mom. I chuckled, because this morning I had sent off my Sweden PSL itinerary email to my folks, hubby, and daughters. I cc’d my contact in Sweden in case my Sweden sim card doesn’t work or I do something stupid, such as forget the phone. The key
I’m editing the project portfolio book. Yes, I’m trying to get ready for beta. No, I have no idea when I will be ready. I’ll have more information before Wednesday, if you want to know. I realized that when managers don’t make ranking decisions about the project portfolio, when they don’t fully commit to a
I was working with a client recently, and one of the managers declared, “What we really need are a bunch of innovators. All of our open reqs–let’s hire some innovators.” Well, there’s a little bit about creating an environment in which innovation can flourish (e.g. ending the multitasking, giving people a little slack time, building
I gave a talk last night at the Software Quality Group of New England about schedule games. During the talk, I explained how serial lifecycles don’t manage technical, schedule, or cost risk. Serial lifecycles actually increase the duration of the project. And, serial lifecycles don’t offer feedback early enough for the project team. (They only
Esther has insights, Specialists AND Generalists, on Why Projects Don’t Need Specialists. Her point, that people tend to coalesce around their interests, and that as specialists, they may not share interests, is something I have also seen on projects. As Esther says, Reducing categories (having “developers” rather than many named specialists) reduces differences and helps