We do get caught up in life and work and Projects. Pause today and consider this poem from William Henry Davies. (Thanks to Tom Peters and here.) Leisure What is this life if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.No time to stand beneath the boughsAnd stare as long as sheep or…
Posts – Old and New
Experience, Talent, and Ability
Many think that experience is the most important thing. I’ve written some commentary on that here. Talent can easily trump experience. Only experience that demonstrates talent has value. Ability can easily outweigh experience. Experience must demonstrate ability and an increased ability to have value. Aim for Talent and Ability.
We’re All in Sales
I used to hate the idea of sales. That’s mainly because I viewed it as trying to get someone to buy something that they didn’t really want. Sometimes I still think that way – except with a newer understanding. It’s when I don’t believe in what I’m selling that it’s hard to be motivated to…
Mapping Information for Projects
Mind maps are an increasingly popular visualization tool for collecting information or planning. (Get the Wikipedia story here, see more at the Mind Maps blog here, or the mind maps software blog here). Here’s a sample of a hand-drawn map on the left. If you aren’t familiar with these, they start with a central idea…
Scheduling – Purists vs Randoms – Obvious Lessons
In ProjectWorld, scheduling can create massive controversy. Much of the debate is between “Scheduling Purists” and the opposite – I’ll call them “Random Purists”. Scheduling Purists often feel that whatever is generated on paper (or on screen) is what will happen, at a certain time, and in the exact required sequence. They are often disappointed…
PROJECT-ing Forward
There is some debate in the Project community. The wider community. Some vote for PMI, PMP and all the other letters. Some vote Lean and Agile and 2.0 and the “new way”. It can be easy to pick a side or easy to go buffet style and take some of each. (That will be heretical…
Who Manages Time?
Time – “A continuous, measurable quantity in which events occur in a sequence proceeding from the past through the present to the future.” In doing Project work, we manage people, money, and materials. Those are often thought of as the basics. Within reason, we can get people and manage what they do for your Project….
YourSelf as a Project
Interesting post titled “42 Practical Ways to Improve Yourself” by Celestine Chua over at Lifehack. (She also has her own blog about Personal Excellence.) To keep improving our Project work, we have to also make a Project of ourselves. Notice a few of her personal items that also sound like Project work: Overcome your fears…
3 Quotes for Project Workers Heard these a thousand times? Think about them now in the context of your current Project work: “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” Leonardo DiVinci “The greater danger for most of us…
Make Better Project ConnectionsSometimes we talk about Projects as if they are objects that live on their own. Projects never see a start or a completion without people working on them. Every Project ends up with at least one Customer (someone who receives or experiences the result of the project) and an Executor (at least…