What’s In Your Attic?
One of my favourite books is Steinbeck’s “The Winter of our Discontent”. In it, he writes “So many old and lovely things are stored in the world’s attic because we don’t want them around us and we don’t dare throw them out.” I love this sentiment. It can be applied at a personal level, organizational level, institutional / societal level or at almost any abstraction one cares to apply it to. These lovelies in the attic could be ways of doing...
Read MoreSecret Sauce Ingredients: Judgement, Experience and Confidence
The website dictionary.com defines judgement as “the ability to judge, make a decision, or form an opinion objectively, authoritatively, and wisely, especially in matters affecting action”. I believe one of the most important attributes of a good PM is the ability to apply sound judgement at key times. (In fact, this is probably true of good managers in general.) Projects require thousands of decisions, small and large, over their life cycle. All participants are required to make them and...
Read MoreTo Fail or Not to Fail?
I’m torn between the essence of two ideas I find very appealing, but seemingly at odds with one another. The first is based on achieving progress using a “fail fast, fail forward” approach and the second involves achieving excellence by “minimizing mistakes”. The former is more of a philosophy for growth or innovation I suppose. Try new things, learn as quickly as you can, and understand that there is as much (or more) to be learned in what we mess up as there is...
Read More7 Speeds of Fast
I once read that John “Pieface” McKenzie, a Boston Bruin in the Bobby Orr era, described Orr as having “7 speeds of Fast”. I don’t have the actual quote but I recall the context of his comment being that he was skating up the ice one game, thinking he was going pretty fast, when Bobby glided past him, going much faster, but appearing to be barely exerting himself. The world we live in almost always puts a premium on speed. Business wants to bring products to market...
Read MoreAre You Working Hard?
I’m mentioned in several prior posts that I love sports and the many lessons from the sporting world that can be applied to everyday life, including business. Recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed a former star back into the fold after several decades of estrangement. Dave Keon, a four-time Stanley Cup champion shared a comment with current Leaf coach Mike Babcock that someone had shared with him early in his career. “Are you working hard or do you think you are working...
Read MoreEstablishing Ownership of Deliverables
The fundamental elements of value that a project provides to its stakeholders are sometimes known as deliverables. Attempting to articulate a project’s deliverables at the beginning of a project is a good way to define what the project sponsors are expecting to gain upon successful completion of the project. Deliverables can range from the very complex (a large new software system) to the relatively simpler (a high level written assessment by a third party of an existing business...
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