Project Shrink

You know: a project is just a bunch of people working together to achieve a certain goal. It is the result of many different interactions. Interactions between individuals, but also between project and employees, project and company, company and market. Yeah, we don’t use the term “complexity” for nothing. It isn’t easy to make sense [...]

When I got a PR notice last week telling me that the “Dictionary of Project Management Terms” currently is in its third edition, I went blank… Why do I need a dictionary? Why not just use “simple” language? So, I asked the author, J. LeRoy Ward … [Project Shrink]: “Why should one learn the specific [...]

In this post I have three postings from Duncan Haughey. He writes great stuff on his site Project Smart. This is of course a new addition to my series “Proud Postings” in which I ask bloggers in the Project Management arena one question: “What are the 3 postings you are most proud of?” Successful Projects: [...]

This post is intended as my Grande Finale of 2008. That year, I learned that you cannot jump from the PMBoK directly to topics like “mental flexibility” and “emotional intelligence”. A path to “project enlightenment” has to be defined. With this article I am outlining a training route, using the Buddhist “Turnings of The Wheel Of Dharma” as a metaphor.

Designer Tim Brown talks in a new Ted.com presentation about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play. This 30 minute presentation is very interesting for Project Managers: In the opening minutes he demonstrates that we fear the judgment of our peers, and therefor are embarrassed to show our ideas (perhaps, that is why every [...]

If you want to dig a little deeper into new BIG ideas surrounding “management”, I’ll recommend the following four (have fun, it will take some time ) Socialutions (free ebook) “Companies must begin to apply Socialutions to their existing and future problems before the problems become social and public relations nightmares. For this reason we [...]

In my series “Proud Postings” I ask bloggers in the Project Management arena one question: “What are the 3 postings you are most proud of?” This time three great postings from Alec Satin. He writes wonderful pieces on his blog “Making Project Management Better“. Hey Project Manager! Beware of Fool’s Gold! “Project managers often find [...]

In his book “Blink” Malcolm Gladwell popularized the term “thin-slicing”. “… our ability to gauge what is really important from a very narrow period of experience. In other words, spontaneous decisions are often as good as—or even better than—carefully planned and considered ones.” (Wikipedia) This “thin slice of reality” is a pattern of all things [...]

This is not for you, but for those other PMs. Of course. ARE YOU ALL OUT OF YOUR MIND? YOU ALL AGREE THAT “PEOPLE PROBLEMS” ARE OUR BIGGEST ISSUES AND THEN YOU START FUMBLING WITH THE ITEMS YOU FIND IN YOUR BIG SHINY PROJECT MANAGEMENT BOX. ARE YOU NUTS? I know that if you only [...]

The last couple of weeks I had the pleasure of traveling through South India. It is an experience for all your senses: bright colors, continuous noise and smell (level of enjoyment varies), 35 degrees Celsius with high humidity, fabulous food and the loveliest people you can imagine. Of course this subcontinent also has its share [...]