Free Project Management Planning Tips

Most projects that fail, were failures before they started

Your project stakeholders are your best allies or your worst enemies – you decide

If your project plan hasn’t changed – be afraid

Ask for help, advice, assistance...from everyone! – early and often

Focus first on delivering the benefits then focus on costs

Don’t own the project, own the process

Document all valid assumptions

Don't allow jerks to work on your project....ever

Make friends not war

Weekend Break - Kayaking on the Sarasota Bay

Click here for more photos

Weekend Break - Kayaking on the Braden River

Some bird photos I took earlier today

Click photos to enlarge

E-mail Rules for Project Managers

High volumes of e-mail can be overwhelming. In the course of managing a long project a project manager can receive thousands of e-mails. To manage this level of e-mails we need some rules.

If you have time, there is a great video on this subject by Merlin Mann entitled "Inbox Zero". I have created a link to Merlin's video at the end of this posting.
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E-mail rules for Project Managers

1) Ensure your inbox messages are viewable in one screen. This means you should not have to scroll your Inbox window to see all your messages. To clean up your current inbox you may need a few hours (or a few days if you have thousands of e-mails in your inbox), but the effort is worth it in the long run.

2) Scrub your e-mail inbox using some of the same rules that exist for cleaning up the paper on your desk. These rules are simple: Act on It, File It, or Throw it Away.

a.) Act on it - Act on the individual e-mail now or if there is not time then schedule the time on your calendar to review it later. Also, you can create a “Pending” folder for e-mails you can’t act on because you are waiting on more information. Schedule time regularly to review your "Pending" e-mail folder. Lastly, delegate the message and ensure you set a date to follow-up

b.) File It - Decide if you need to keep it. If so, ensure you have setup a logical e-mail folder structure so you can find your e-mails quickly in the future

c.) Throw It Away – If the e-mail is not needed then hit “Delete”. The "delete" key can be very liberating

3.) Decide on a schedule to check your e-mail and stick to it (twice a day, every three hours, etc.). Be willing to adjust the schedule as you find what works for you. Don’t be one of those dorks that checks their e-mail device every time it vibrates. You probably aren't that important and neither is the e-mail you might be receiving

4.) For all important communications call the person(s), don’t send an e-mail.

5.) Don’t reply to the same e-mail more than twice. Pick up the phone or go talk to person face-to-face

6.) Setup time on your calendar each week to manage your e-mail

Finally, check out Merlin Mann's great video about managing your e-mail entitled "Inbox Zero" by clicking here

End of Project Survey Template - Repaired Link

Click here for a direct link to the document that was discussed in last week's post. Some people had problems viewing the document because of permissions.

Steve

End of Project Surveys are Important

Measuring customer satisfaction at the end of the project is critical. I recently started using a new Post Implementation Project Survey document. I send the document to all key stakeholders just after the project's completion.

Is the document useful to you? Is it too long? Is there questions you would ask that aren't listed?

Click here to review the document, and please take the time to leave me some feedback.

Corporate Purpose and Core Values

I came across this last year on the Internet. I thought it was worth sharing. I changed the company name to XYZ.

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Purpose and Core Values

Building a Better World: We better the lives of those we touch and improve communities around the world through our personal and professional contributions.

Our employees are our greatest assets and we will grow, inspire and protect them.

XYZ is committed to actively encouraging diversity through our people and our activities, as we truly believe in the value of a diverse workforce to both inspire our people and grow our business.

We will be uncompromising in our determination to achieve product excellence and, in turn, improve the world's quality of life. Our everyday work is focused on reducing impacts to the environment and improving focus on reducing impacts to the environment and improving society, while meeting client needs with superior project design and delivery.

We are committed to being involved citizens, both as a business and as individuals, in improving the communities where we reside and work. We want to leave a positive legacy in the communities we work in.

Our reputation as a trustworthy business partner is critical to our business success. Honesty, professionalism, ethical behavior, and integrity with our staff and clients. Our reputation with them is paramount to our success as is our technical leadership reputation.

Our business goals are only met when mutually we make our clients successful and we are fairly rewarded. By getting all these right, delivered through our project management, quality, safety, health and environmental management systems, we serve our clients' needs successfully.

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WOW, this sounds like an organization that is focused on the right things.

Competency and the Project Manager

Competency can also be called - Ability, Capableness, Ableness, Capacity, etc...

Knowledge + Skills + Attitude = Competency

Knowledge - Awareness or comprehension acquired by study or experience

Skills - Ability to apply knowledge

Attitude - State of mind or feeling

One of my favorite formulas is: Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom

What is your Competency Rating?

Don't Follow a Bad Leader

Leadership = Purpose + Direction + Motivation + Coaching + Passion + Character + Trustworthiness + Discipline + Communication

I witness poor leadership behaviors all the time. It amazes me that these scoundrels have followers. People that follow bad leaders are a lot like sheep following a shepard. Don't follow a bad leader. Break out from the flock and look for a leader that wants you to succeed.

Characteristics of a Successful Organizational Culture - Part 2

Signs your organization's culture is healthy

Change is not seen as a goal but a journey

An individual’s status in the organization is gained because of their results ...and methods ...and communications, not their role or title

People have fun at work

People become more willing to speak their minds

All levels of the organization come together to solve problems

Risk taking is encouraged

Project management is taken seriously

Senior staff and executives are visible, available, and relevant

There are blurred lines between organizational groups and departments

External employee concerns (home, family, school) are part of the organization’s agenda

Teams evaluate themselves and other teams

Teams determine who is on or off “the team”

Executives and senior managers that show anti-social behavior or who are not team players are told to seek work elsewhere

People manage themselves

People doing the work are looked upon as experts on how the work should be done

Organizational decisions, rewards, and results are shared openly

There are formal and explicit links and work rules between internal groups

Managers are visible, informed, and accountable

Team assessments are used to measure a Team’s success

There is a new paradigm about what the organization owes the employee and what the employee owes the organization

The gap between potential and performance is reduced (must be measured by outsiders)

Teams replace supervisors

Information is shared about the organization’s failures, problems, successes, and opportunities

People smile more and like coming to work

People discuss then decide

Trust, Respect, Integrity, and Truthfulness are not an option

People are eager and willing to learn new things

Characteristics of a Successful Organizational Culture

Culture can be described as a set of behaviors that are refined and are used or sought after by people in their group. Cultural behaviors are a set of shared ideas and beliefs that are associated with a way of life.

In highly effective enterprises, cultures tend to have the following characteristics. There are many more, but these are some that come to mind:

Leaders lead and teach others to be leaders

A positive attitude is displayed by key managers and leaders

The organization's plans, policies, procedures, rules, and strategic direction are well documented and discussed at all levels of the organization

The opinions of employees are valued and they believe they are key members of the larger enterprise team

Work teams are encouraged to develop solutions to organizational problems

Continuous improvement is a part of the way business is done

The organization believes in and practices a philosophy of creativity and innovation

Professional politicians are looked at as a liability

Interdependent relationships are numerous and exist at all levels of the organization

Employees are recognized for their achievements

Feedback is continuous and two-way

Senior managers are visible and available

Resourse planning is practiced continuously

There is "Systems Thinking"

There is a shrinking gap between organizatinal potential and performance (and it is measured)

Team members evaluate the performance of their team as a whole and eliminate unproductive members that are unwilling to perform at acceptable levels

Senior management understands that the people doing the work are the ones that know how the work should be done

Managers are facilitators and coaches

Moral is high and people are satisfied with their jobs

People are committed to the organization's goals and to their work groups success

Kayaking in Florida

Had a great time kayaking this weekend here in Florida.

Click picture to enlarge

Relationships in Project Management

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” —Dale Carnegie

100ft. = 100 miles or 30.48 meters = 160.9 kilometers

In one of Tom Peter's many free presentations on his website he had the following quote from his book "In Search of Excellence".

I found the quote in regards to communication distances troubling, but true.

Tom's quote goes:

"It was the only chart we used in In Search of Excellence! It arrived courtesy of the research by Tom Allen and his colleagues at MIT. Studying communication patterns, they discovered that people more than a hundred feet apart might as well, in terms of communication frequency, be 100 miles apart!. Internet or no Internet (these days), that is nothing short of … stunning! And the implications are nothing short of profound!"

The Heart of Business Strategy - Tom Peters

Tom's wisdom is awesome. Find lots more at his website

The post below was taken from a document Tom wrote called the Heart of Strategy.

Start Tom's Message below:

"We usually think of business strategy as some sort of aspirational market positioning statement. Doubtless that’s part of it. But I believe that the number one "strategic strength" is excellence in execution and systemic relationships (i.e., with everyone we come in contact with). Hence I offer the following 48 pieces of advice in creating a winning strategic that is inherently sustainable*:

"Thank you." Minimum several times a day. Measure it.

"Thank you" to everyone even peripherally involved in some activity—especially those
"deep in the hierarchy."

Smile. Work on it.

Apologize. Even if "they" are "mostly" to blame.

Jump all over those who play the "blame game."

Hire enthusiasm.

Low enthusiasm. No hire. Any job.

Hire optimists. Everywhere. ("Positive outlook on life," not mindless optimism.)

Hiring: Would you like to go to lunch with him-her. 100% of jobs.

Hire for good manners.

Do not reject "trouble makers"—that is those who are uncomfortable with the status quo.

Expose all would-be hires to something unexpected-weird. Observe their reaction.

Overwhelm response to even the smallest screw-ups.

Become a student of all you will meet with. Big time.

Hang out with interesting new people. Measure it.

Lunch with folks in other functions. Measure it.

Listen. Hear. Become a serious student of listening-hearing.

Work on everyone’s listening skills. Practice.

Become a student of information extraction-interviewing.

Become a student of presentation giving. Formal. Short and spontaneous.

Incredible care in 1st line supervisor selection.

World’s best training for 1st line supervisors.

Construct small leadership opportunities for junior people within days of starting on the job.

Insane care in all promotion decisions.

Promote "people people" for all managerial jobs. Finance-logistics-R and D as much as, say, sales.

Hire-promote for demonstrated curiosity. Check their past commitment to continuous
learning.

Small “d” diversity. Rich mixes for any and all teams.

Hire women. Roughly 50% women on exec team.

Exec team “looks like” customer population, actual and desired.

Focus on creating products for and selling to women.

Focus on creating products for and selling to boomers-geezers.

Work on first and last impressions.

Walls display tomorrow’s aspirations, not yesterday’s accomplishments.

Simplify systems. Constantly.

Insist that almost all material be covered by a 1-page summary. Absolutely no longer.

Practice decency.

Add “We are thoughtful in all we do” to corporate values list. Number 1 force for
customer loyalty, employee satisfaction.

Make some form of employee growth (for all) a formal part of values set.
Above
customer satisfaction. Steal from RE/MAX: “We are a life success company.”

Flowers.
Celebrate “small wins.” Often. Perhaps a “small win of the day.”

Manage your calendar religiously: Does it accurately reflect your espoused priorities?

Use a “calendar friend” who’s not very friendly to help you with this.

Review your calendar: Work assiduously and mercilessly on your “To don’ts.”—stuff
that distracts.

Bosses, especially near the top: Formally cultivate one advisor whose role is to tell you the truth.

Commit to Excellence.

Talk up Excellence.

Put “Excellence in all we do” in the values set.

Measure everyone on demonstrated commitment to Excellence.

Weekend Video - How to Buy a Car Without Getting Screwed

Stuff I Really Believe!

“The deepest human need is the need to be appreciated.” — William James

“What creates trust, in the end, is the leader’s manifest respect for the
followers.” — Jim O’Toole, Leading Change

“The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.” — James Yorke,
mathematician, on chaos theory in The New Scientist

“People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be
part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust.” — Howard Schultz, Starbucks

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin

“If things seem under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” — Mario Andretti

“We have a ‘strategic’ plan. It’s called doing things.” — Herb Kelleher, founder, Southwest Airlines

“I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy
dying.” — The Shawshank Redemption (Tim Robbins)

“Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.” — Chinese Proverb

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"Leadership is all about love...

and

Passion,
Enthusiasms,
Appetite for Life,
Engagement,
Great Causes & Determination to Make a Damn Difference,
Commitment to Excellence,
Shared Adventures,
Bizarre Failures,
Growth Beyond Measure,
Insatiable Appetite for Change" - Tom Peters

Fish Stink from the Head?

Tim Sanders has a few words regarding company culture...

Is Project Management a Profession? - Not Again!

What is your opinion? I believe that project management is a profession, however I have met many "project managers" that don't have a clue about project management and aren't very professional.

The following story comes from www.reformingprojectmanagement.com.

"Is project management a profession? The experts in the matter of establishing conditions for a profession say no. Why? Most of it has to do with the accumulation and study of theory. I've been on the fence about whether or not we should seek professional status for project managers. I'm married to a registered nurse. Her brother is a registered engineer. My cousin is a licensed physician. One son is finishing his law degree so he can sit for the Bar while the other is studying for the landscape architect's exam. I know what these people have done to become professionals. It's time that project managers do the same.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Weekend News - 1.75 Trillion Dollar US Deficit for 2009

The Treasury Department said Friday that the budget deficit increased by $192.3 billion in March, and is near $1 trillion just halfway through the budget year, as costs of the financial bailout and recession mount.

Last month’s deficit, a record for March, was significantly higher than the $150 billion that economists expected.

The deficit already totals $956.8 billion for the first six months of the budget year, also a record for that period. The Obama administration projects the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.75 trillion.

A deficit at that level would nearly quadruple the previous annual record of $454.8 billion set last year. The March deficit was nearly four times the size of the imbalance in the same month last year.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated last month that President Barack Obama’s budget proposals would produce $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next decade, a figure $2.3 trillion higher than estimates made in February in the administration’s first budget proposal.

Definition of Leadership - Video

Tom Peters on the Definition of Leadership from Tom Peters on Vimeo.

Ugly Power

Power changes people. It changes people’s attitudes about themselves, and how they feel about others. POWER CHANGES PEOPLE!

The ugly side of power gives the powerful a distorted opinion of themselves and contempt for others. The ugly (powerful) leader continually seeks and requires the approval of his/her subordinates, but over time the ugly leader finds flaws with these same people because they don’t share the same level of power.

The ugly leader likes to blur the line between their successes and the organization’s successes. They often take credit for successes that aren’t their own. They rarely give credit to others. They sometimes use the word “we”, but they find it tedious and annoying to do so. They find fault with the successes of others since they weren’t involved. They are masters are creating spin (positive for them, negative for others).

Great leaders love people and use things. Ugly leaders love things and use people. Ugly leaders are bad listeners, are intellectually dishonest, and often use their power for corrupt or unethical purposes. They love to communicate using jargon and techno-babble. They are rarely personally accountable for failure and almost always responsible for success. They have few close personal relationships (that last) and are usually held in low regard throughout the organizations they represent. They are often smart, but small minded. They are rarely available, often invisible, and pathologically self-centered.

Ugly leaders are everywhere, and they behavior is a cancer that can kill an organization’s/team’s spirit.

Ugly leaders surround themselves with yes men/women. These “supporters” love to reinforce the ugly leader’s self-delusionary perceptions. They filter out bad news which causes the ugly leader to lose touch with reality. Ugly leaders require praise from their followers, but over time the ugly leader devalues the feedback because it comes from people that are inferior. Over time they come to love the praise, but have contempt for the praise giver.

Ugly leaders are blinded by power and usually don’t realize they are caught in the throws of ugliness. Their egos, unethical behavior, and delusions are easy to spot by everyone but themselves. They are pathetic, but often a curiosity.

Ugliness can be overcome, but it takes the ugly leader to conduct an honest self-appraisal and seek out the opinions of those leaders that are held in high regard. They then must take this feedback and act on it. This rarely happens because of ego.

Power by itself is not good, bad, or ugly, but ugly power almost always corrupts. Remember Lord Acton’s quote, “All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Quotes to Ponder

In this economy we need to think differently. Here are some quotes to ponder.

Our business needs a massive transfusion of talent, and talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among non-conformists, dissenters and rebels.”—David Ogilvy

"The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.”—David Ogilvy

“The Bottleneck Is at the Top of the Bottle” - “Where are you likely to find people with the least diversity of experience, the largest investment in the past, and the greatest reverence for industry dogma: At the top!” — Gary Hamel/Harvard Business Review

“Diverse groups of problem solvers—groups of people with diverse tools—consistently outperformed groups of the best and the brightest. If I formed two groups, one random (and therefore diverse) and one consisting of the best individual performers, the first group almost always did better. … Diversity trumped ability.” —Scott Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies Diversity

The short road to ruin is to emulate the methods of your adversary.” — Winston Churchill

“Beware of the tyranny of making Small Changes to Small Things. Rather, make Big Changes to Big Things.” —Roger Enrico, former Chairman, PepsiCo

Kevin Roberts’ Credo

1. Ready. Fire! Aim.

2. If it ain’t broke ... Break it!

3. Hire crazies.

4. Ask dumb questions.

5. Pursue failure.

6. Lead, follow ... or get out of the way!

7. Spread confusion.

8. Ditch your office.

9. Read odd stuff.

10. Avoid moderation!

Weekend Diversion - Is the "Depression" Over?

I like Jim Cramer, and he certainly is a smart guy.  But I wonder if we were/are in a depression?  If so, is it really over?

Project Management Paradox

In Tom Peter's book "Liberation Management", (Peters, Tom. Liberation Management. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1992) he talks about the paradoxes of project management. In the book Tom outlines a few things we need to keep in mind when managing our projects.

Total Ego versus No Ego - On the one hand, project managers must be consumed by the project before them. On the other hand, they must have almost no ego. They deal with many outsiders and insiders whom they can hardly command. This means the project manager must take a smaller share of the credit for accomplishments and give a larger share of the credit to other participants.

Autocrat versus Delegator - When the chips are down, the project manager must issue orders fast. At the same time, the project managers must turn ownership over to the contributors.

Leader versus Manager - Effective project managers must match their passion for inspiring others with a passion for the grubby nuts and bolts of doing the job.

Oral versus Written Communication - Communicating orally and on the run comes easily to effective project managers. But, the must also be masters of the detailed plan and the daily checklist.

Complexity versus Simplicity - Nothing is more complex than dealing with a sophisticated, multi-organization project. The effective project manager must juggle, sometimes for years, hundreds of balls of differing and ever-changing shapes, sizes, and colors. On the other hand, the project manager must be adept at keeping it simple.

Big versus Small - Project managers must appreciate forests and trees equally. They must be able to see the relationship of the small to the big and the big to the small, and do so at every moment simultaneously.

Patience versus impatience - Smart, independent leaders spend lots of time on relationship building and networking. This is a s important as pushing project participants for action.

As long-time readers of this blog know, I value the insight of Tom Peters. I believe he hit the nail right on the head in regard to a Project Manager's behavior when managing projects.

Free Project Software

In case you didn’t know, there are a couple of free software packages available that fit nicely into the Project Managers tool box. The first is Control CE 6.3. The vendor states that this free program can be used for Process Mapping, Business Improvement, Business Reengineering, Software Package Implementation, and Quality Management.

The vendor goes on to say “Whatever the project, it all starts with an understanding of the business from a process and metrics perspective. That means mapping processes, and identifying KPIs. To get REAL ownership and buy-in they need to be developed in LIVE workshops. Control-CE was designed to be used confidently by consultants with little training, in live workshops where people have a short interest span.
Whilst control-CE has some great process mapping functionality, it extends beyond simply creating hierarchies of diagrams”.

I have reviewed and used the Control CE software and find that it is quite powerful and worth a look.

The other free software program is Open Workbench. According to the vendor, “Open Workbench is an open source desktop application that provides robust project scheduling and management functionality. Already the scheduling standard for more than 100,000 project managers worldwide, Open Workbench is a free and powerful alternative to Microsoft Project.

Open Workbench provides all the functionality and benefits that project managers expect in a world-class scheduling application:

• Open Workbench can be used and distributed free of charge throughout an enterprise.

• Open Workbench is a stand-alone desktop application that provides robust project scheduling functionality.

• Open Workbench provides the unique ability to generate project schedules based on resource constraints.

• Open source developers will find a ready-made community of business users interested in their enhancements and extensions.

The source code and other developer information are available on SourceForge.

The open source distribution and community development model will now bring quality, innovation and cost advantages to the project management world. Open Workbench can also be used in a fully integrated fashion with CA's Clarity solution. Please visit www.niku.com/go/owb for more details.

I have found Open Workbench to be a powerful standalone project management scheduling software package. Again, you will have to determine if Open Workbench's features and functions can work for you.

Hopefully some of you will find one or both of the above software packages useful. Your comments are always welcome.

My Rules for Project Management

Remove people from your team that don’t ask questions, don’t talk with other team members, won’t provide documentation, or won’t do analysis.

Only people that aren’t competent won’t show off their work

Question authority or live with the result

A sense of humor can help get teams through tough times. Keep in mind, some managers don’t appreciate humor unless they initiate it.

A working meeting should have no more than five people. Meetings with more than five should be reserved for providing updates or relaying information.

Paper status reports are worth what they are printed on.

Project failure is planned at the beginning of the project. Project initiation is the most important phase.

Be honest in all your dealings.

Project managers are expected to offer their opinions, but be accountable for your words.

When it comes to project scope, what is not in writing has not been said.

Have verifiable milestones

End of project surveys must be completed and the results distributed to the team

Bad conclusions lead to more bad conclusions

Documented assumptions are believed to be true for planning purposes

The best lessons learned come from failures

Without data you only have an opinion

Data doesn’t tell the whole story.

Bad data leads to bad decisions

Senior management is usually clueless when it comes to what your project is all about

A bad project team will never deliver good project results

If your project sponsor isn’t responsive you should put your project on-hold until such time they can become involved

The bottleneck is at the top of the bottle

A project manager’s main job is to keep the customer happy

At the end of a project if you have met all scope, quality, budget, and schedule objectives, but the customer isn’t happy your project is a failure

Documentation doesn’t replace knowledge

Most people want to do good work. Many times they don’t have the tools or information they need to perform well, or they aren’t managed properly

Project managers aren’t successful if their team members aren’t successful

Not all successful project managers are competent and not all unsuccessful project managers are incompetent. Sometimes you just have to be lucky

Good project managers are insecure by nature

An introvert can’t be a (successful) project manager

A project manager with lots of enemies won’t be able to be successful over the long run.

You must be a relationship guru and be ready to fall on the sword sometimes

A project manager must be a motivator

If you don’t listen, you can’t plan

Project managers deal with change. You must be the change agent for your project. Your project sponsor is the change salesman.

Weekend Video - C02 Climate Change w/ Al Gore

Canadian Tar Sands - Free eBook

Click Here to Download the Book in pdf format

Business Process Basics

Project managers need to ensure that customer's are satisfied with a project's deliverables. Part of this process is ensuring that the customer's business processes are optimized. You can't provide the best possible project results if your customer's processes aren't efficient. Improving processes is about improving quality while reducing costs and waste.

Processes need measures. If you don't have measures then your processes aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Processes have to meet the needs of the organization, business unit that executes them, and the customer's requirements. Measures also help to identify and solve process problems, and help to ensure they are meeting the customer's requirements.

When it comes to process improvement, a good project manager understands:

How to develop team skills

How to break down work into processes

How to solve problems and to find the root cause of the problems

How to recommend solutions to problems that are acceptable to the majority

How to lead a team and when to let the team lead

Measure the effectiveness of a process by:

Looking at the cycle times between process steps

Identifying bottlenecks that cause unnecessary delays

Identify problems that cause defects to occur

In order to help develop good business processes, a project manager must have the knowledge, skills, and experience to ensure that the right people are doing the right things at the right time, using the right tools and delivering the results that are expected.

Use a Process to Manage Big Changes

Good steps to consider when making major changes in your organization. It was taken from the book "Leading Change" by John P. Kotter (see source information at the end of the posting).

1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency
a. Examining the market and competitive realities
b. Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities

2. Creating the Guiding Coalition
a. Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change
b. Getting the group to work together as a team

3. Developing a Vision and Strategy
a. Creating a vision to help direct the change effort
b. Developing strategies for achieving that vision

4. Communicating the Change Vision
a. Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies
b. Having the guiding coalition role model the behavior expected of employees

5. Empowering Broad-Based Action
a. Getting rid of obstacles
b. Changing systems or structures that undermine the change vision
c. Encouraging risk taking and non-traditional ideas, activities, and actions

6. Generating Short-Term Wins
a. Planning for visible improvements in performance, or “wins”
b. Creating those wins
c. Visibly recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible

7. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change
a. Using increased credibility to change all systems, structures, and policies that don’t fit together and don’t fit the transformation vision
b. Hiring, promoting, and developing people who can implement the change vision
c. Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents

8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture
a. Creating better performance through customer and productivity-oriented behavior, more an better leadership, and more effective management
b. Articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success
c. Developing means to ensure leadership development and succession

SOURCE: Adapted from John P. Kotter, “Leading Change,” Harvard Business School Press 1996

Office Politics and Gossip

- This Soviet war poster conveys the message:
"Don't chatter! Gossiping borders on treason" (1941).

According to Marilyn Haight, at BigBadBoss.com Office Politics “is the use of one's individual or assigned power within an employing organization for the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond one's legitimate authority.” Those advantages may include access to tangible assets, or intangible benefits such as status or pseudo-authority that influences the behavior of others. Both individuals and groups may engage in Office Politics."

I think most people would agree that those participating in office politics seek to gain an advantage. Being a skillful office politician may get you recognized or promoted, but it may also come at the expense of your or another’s integrity.

Remember, gossip is usually destructive (at a minimum unfair) to somebody, and should be discouraged whenever possible. If we are honest, we would all admit that we participate in office gossip. We need to limit office gossip to be the exception, not the norm in our daily conversations with others.

Be accountable for your words in the workplace. Work should be fun and our work relationships should be positive and healthy. Healthy work relationships are dependent on gossip being kept to a minimum.

These Tips are Essential Right Now!

The quotes from Tom Peters below are very relevant in today's world. I have bolded the ones I like, and feel are the most important. Tom is one of my personal heroes, and I can't wait to read his new book.

Check out his website for free copies of some great documentation and for more information about all his books.

In any public-sector business, you must become an avid student of "the politics," the incentives and constraints, mostly non-economic, facing all of the players. Politicians are usually incredibly logical if you (deeply!) understand the matrix in which they exist.

Risk Assessment & Risk Management is more about stories than advanced math i.e., brilliant scenario construction.

Don't waste your time on jerks, it'll rarely work out in the mid- to long-term.

Under promise (i.e., don't over-promise; i.e., cut yourself a little slack) even if it costs you business; winning is a long-term affair. Over-promising is Sign #1 of a lack of integrity. You will pay the piper.

There is such a thing as a "good loss", if you have tested something new and developed good relationships. A half-dozen honorable, ingenious losses over a two-year period can pave the way for a Big Victory in a New Space in year 3.

Keep it simple! (Damn it!) No matter how "sophisticated" the product. If you can't explain it in a phrase, a page, or to your 14-year-old ... you haven't got it right yet.

Don't hold grudges. (It is the ultimate in small mindedness, and incredibly wasteful and ineffective. There is always tomorrow.)

Little People often have Big Friends!

Work hard beats work smart. (Mostly)

Phones beat email.

Obsess on ROIR (Return On Investment In Relationships).

Scoring off other people is stupid. Winners are always in the business of creating the maximum # of winners among adversaries at least as much as among partners.

Your colleagues' successes are your successes. Period.

Lend a helping hand, especially when you don't have the time.

Don't get too hung up on "systems integration", first & foremost, the individual bits have got to work.

For Gods sake don't over promise on systems integration it's nigh on impossible to deliver.

It's Relationships, Stupid; Deep and from multiple functions.

Don't over-schedule. Running late is inexcusable at any level of seniority; it is the ultimate mark of self-importance mixed with contempt.

"Preparing the soil" is the first 98 percent. (Or more.)

Be kind. It works.

Opportunism (with a little forethought) mostly wins.

"Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes."

Integrity. Credibility. Humanity. Grace.

Strategic planning is the last refuge of scoundrels

Focus groups are counter-productive

All information making it to the top is filtered to the point of danger and hilarity

"Success stories are the illusions of egomaniacs (and "gurus")

If you believe the "cause & effect" memoirs of CEOs, you should be institutionalized

"Top teams" are "Dittoheads"

"Expert" prediction is rarely better than rolling the dice

Statistically, CEOs have little effect on performance

Success kills

Important Words

Important Words for the Workplace

The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake"

The five most important words: "You did a great job."

The four most important words: "What is your opinion?

The three most important words: "If you please"

The two most important words: "Thank You"

The one most important word: "We"

The least important word: "I"
_____________________________________________

Important Words for Relationships

The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake"

The five most important words: "You are everything to me"

The four most important words: "How can I help?"

The three most important words: "I love you"

The two most important words: "I'm sorry"

The one most important word: "Us"

The least important word: "I"

Commitment, Not Authority Gets Results

While getting ready to leave for the day I was reminded of a quote by Tom Peters, "Commitment, not authority produces results". All project stakeholders need to be committed to seeing that a project's objectives are met, but more importantly they need to be open, effective, and honest when it comes to their communications with the other team members and management.

To support the project team and ensure their success, management must provide the best people to participate on project teams, and have a deep seated belief that the people on the team are intelligent, creative, and have the capability to succeed.

The entire project team and all levels of management involved must have the attitude that they will do everything possible to ensure that the customer (end user) is satisfied with the product of the project.

The number one measure of project success is customer satisfaction. Having a set of "shared values" will help a project team increase customer satisfaction for every project they support.

(Replay)

Project Managment Culture

Moving your organization to embrace a “project management culture” takes time and patience. A great first step an organization can take is to ensure that their project leaders are trained and fluent in the discipline of Project Management. Also, and most importantly, senior management must understand and embrace the value of project management, and commit to support the process of implementing project management throughout all levels of the organization.

To help change the organizational culture to one that embraces and values project management, it should fund and support the development of a project office, which can help facilitate rolling out this “project management culture”.

Some first steps that should be taken:

Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of existing project managers and project support personnel

Develop a basic project management training plan for the entire organization to familiarize all with the project management verbiage and practices

Identify and provide specialized advanced training for all project leaders and functional managers

Develop a project management office (PMO) to provide enterprise coaching, and to develop and manage your organization’s project management methodology

In addition to the methodology, the PMO should develop and maintain standard project management templates for the organization to use

Ensure that existing projects are audited and meet your organization’s minimum project management standards

Setup a program where your PMO provides coaching to less experienced project managers and oversight of all enterprise projects

Ensure all projects have Lessons Learned captured

There are many more things that can be added to the list above, but the intent of this posting was to get people thinking about ways to change the Project Management Culture where they work.

To learn more, you can review the book entitled “Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO” on Amazon.com. There is a link to purchase the book on the left hand side of the blog.

(Replay)

Weekend Video

Natalija Gros from Jure Breceljnik on Vimeo.

US Airways 1549 Animation with Audio

Simple Planning Steps

One of the biggest reasons projects fail is because groups/organizations use an adhoc or random non-repeatable method to plan the work. Minor issues and details are overlooked in the “planning” phase that can turn into major problems down the road. It happens all the time. Combine the normal corporate bad communication with worker incompetency, mix in some management apathy, and you are setting yourself for disaster.

Poor planning, organizational miscommunication, and employee/employer errors mixed with a lack of training can be expensive and sometimes catastrophic (Think NASA).

What can be done? How about applying some basic project management processes to the work? Below are some very simple steps to get started. There are many more to consider depending on the size of your project, but we must realize that some organizations need to move away from today’s chaos and get back to basics right away.

Four Simple Steps

STEP 1 - Divide the work down into tasks that must be completed. Then continue to break the tasks down into smaller tasks. No task should take more than a day (two at most).

One reason that projects are delivered late is because project managers aren’t breaking down the work into smaller and smaller tasks (decomposition). Small tasks are easier to estimate and manage. Remember, good estimates are the foundation of on-time, on-budget projects.

STEP 2 - Sequence your tasks by dependency
If you don’t establish your dependencies you don’t have a timeline since dependencies help establish duration.

STEP 3 - Verifiable Milestones
What pieces of the project will you deliver and when. Remember the old saying, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”.

STEP 4 - Assign tasks to people not groups
Get everything on paper. Remember my favorite project management rule “what is not in writing has not been said”. Also, ensure everyone understands their role and responsibilities. No matter what you do there will always be somebody that can’t follow instructions or refuses to fall in line. These people need to be brought into line or moved off the project quickly.

Miscommunication is fatal to projects. Always communicate in multiple ways; – face-to-face, team meetings, status reports, e-mail (as a last resort). Monitor progress, give feedback continuously, and document, document, document.

Symptoms of Defective Strategic Planning

To be successful, organizations need to ensure that their projects and project outcomes support their strategic goals. Poor strategic planning leads to failed projects, and people working on projects that add no value to the organization’s bottom line.

I found the text below in the book, Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO– by Gerald I. Kendall, PMP and Steven C. Rollins, PMP. The book is an excellent resource for the seasoned project manager looking to move his or her Project Management Office to the next level.

Symptoms of Defective Strategic Planning (pg. 73)

Project and resource managers often fight over resources. The organization’s arteries are clogged with too much work.

Priorities of projects frequently change, with resources reassigned.

Senior managers have the authority to unilaterally approve and release projects

Projects are released as soon as approved by a senior manager, irrespective of the availability of the resources to do the work

Senior management frequently complains about how long it takes to implement change

Even when a strategic idea is implemented, the company sometimes does not achieve major or expected improvement

There is no comprehensive document or portfolio that links all of the organization’s projects to the goals and the strategic plan

There is significant turnover at the senior management level, right up through the president

The strategic plan is presented as a list of ideas or initiatives. There is no attempt to validate if those initiatives are sufficient by themselves to meet the organization’s goals. The cause-effect logic tying those ideas and the resulting effects to the goals of the organization is absent

The list of ideas in the strategic plan is not sequenced. Therefore, each executive assumes that he or she must try to implement all ideas simultaneously, and that his or her functional initiative must be the top priority.

The book goes on to talk about some of the problems that executives face when creating strategic plans. I have summarized some of the information below.

Root Problems of Strategic Planning Processes (pg. 75)

Executives don’t speak the same language. They tend to view the organization through the eyes of their experience and silo. They don’t understand the organization as a whole.

The organization has measurements and policies that are silo-oriented.

Executives lack the skill to build a strategy that has the commitment of the entire senior management team, meets the goals of the organization, and can be implemented with current or planned resources

Strategies ignore internal systems that are out of control. When executives attempt to improve something before bringing it under control, they often throw the entire system into chaos.

Closing Thoughts

Many organizations I have worked for experience the challenges noted above. As project managers we know that poor or ineffective planning can lead to failed projects. The challenges I currently face in the workplace can in many instances be tied back to the lack of an effective or poorly communicated strategic plan.

In Project Management, Criticism is Inevitable - Rewind

Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing. Aristotle, Greek philosopher and scientist

Many of you probably know that every now and then I can be critical of a situation or type of person. Evidence of this fact can be seen in last week's posting or others regarding teams, executive apathy, etc. One thing we can all learn about criticism from others - "if you expect criticism, you will seldom be disappointed when you receive it" - Author unknown.

We know that not all criticism is constructive. Many types of criticism are destructive and that is what I want to talk about. Destructive criticism is something you receive that offers virtually no value, and comes from people that don't have your best interests at heart. Sometimes the criticism may have some merit, however when speaking about destructive criticism, the presentation wasn't communicated effectively or was only meant to do harm.

Remember, criticism is just an opinion, but if offered constructively it may be valid and helpful.

Keep an open mind when being criticized. Don't let the criticism control you or change what you think about yourself. Ask yourself, can I learn anything from the criticism? Can I change anything? Should I change?

I don't take criticism well, and I tend to discount those people around me that criticize others too much. I need to take my own advice and learn to be more accepting of criticism, especially when it is constructive.

Some rules we should follow regarding criticism:

Never criticize another behind their back. Keep in mind what Stephen Covey says and have "respect for the absent".

If there is nothing to be learned when you are criticized it is best to ignore it and move on with your life.

Responding to criticism that has no value will only reduce you to the level of the person doing the criticizing.

Don't let deceivers deceive YOU!

Political Sharks and Projects

In the past, I enjoyed reading the book, "Power and Politics in Project Management" by Jeffrey K. Pinto (and still review it periodically). I have learned over the years that playing politics is a skill set that needs to be constantly refined. As mentioned in the book, we need to be aware of all political behaviors (Naive, Sensible, and Shark) and react to them appropriately if we are to keep ourselves from getting in to trouble.

One behavior I have had the unfortunate experience of witnessing lately is that of the Political Shark. These types of people have certain character traits that if not recognized can negatively impact our careers. These sharks know how to play the self-serving political "game" and don't mind leaving blood in the water. They are experts at manipulating the system to get their way and have no interest in serving anything but their own desires. They have loyalty only to themselves and their own goals.

SHARKS ARE PREDATORS, AND ARE INDISCRIMINATE WHEN FEEDING!

To quote from the book, "work with them (sharks), and one is likely to be used and manipulated; get between them and their goal and their behavior becomes utterly amoral." "The only cause these individuals espouse is their own."

The author goes on to make an important point; Sharks "enter organizations with the express purpose of using politics and aggressive manipulation to reach the top."

As summarized in the book, Sharks are:

* Opportunistic

* Self-serving and predatory

* Manipulators that will use fraud and deceit when necessary

* Bullies that will misuse information and use others to service their own means

Do you know or work with or for a shark? What can a project manager do to ensure these types of individuals don't negatively impact their projects?

Here are some things to keep in mind:

* Be aware that sharks exist in your organization

* Know who the sharks are and avoid them whenever possible

* When working with sharks, be very careful not to become their prey

* Learn to be politically "Sensible"

* Be a good negotiator

* Expand your network and be fair and honest in all of your dealings

* Be comforted in the fact that Sharks will eventually move on to new feeding grounds

It is unfortunate that political sharks are so prevalent in organizations. They offer little value to the organization other than to serve their own means. Occasionally sharks do good things, but the cost of their behavior will always be a disruption to the organization. The benefit is rarely worth the cost.

Don't trust a shark. Don't turn your back on them and don't take them lightly. Remember they are self-serving and will stop at nothing to satisfy their appetite. I have seen the damage they can do first hand and I know they are indiscriminate in the way the feed. Even though we have to swim with the sharks, we don't have to become their victims.

Keep your friends close, but the sharks closer.

Weekend Photo - BIG Gator in Florida

Note the wild boar hanging out of the alligator's mouth.  If you look close you can see the boar's tusks by the gator's front left foot.  

CLICK THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE

My Love/Hate Relationship with Project Teams (Re-run)

Project teams can be a project manager's greatest resource or can be a huge impediment to getting things done. I have a lot of opinions about project teams and most people would find them to be controversial. I will state them here and hope for feedback.

My general theories about project teams follow:

Project teams tend to waste a lot of time, and like to blame others (outside the team) for lack of project process

Project team members are rarely on the same page

Internal politics doom many project teams from the start

Project managers usually don't have the ability to reward or punish bad behavior

One or two "bad apples" can spoil the whole bunch

Many functional managers don't believe they have to support project teams, and at times they do all they can to undermine the team approach to managing projects

A team "visionary" is a person that is usually disengaged from everything and accountable for nothing

Lack of leadership, direction, and follow-up from top management is the number one cause of project team failure

If you have a member of your project team that would rather be doing something else, do everything you can to grant their wish

Most project managers are wimps when it comes to managing individual members of their teams

Lots of organizations talk a good talk when it comes to project management and teams, then go about managing change using the same old failed processes

Many project team members are loyal to their functional departments, not to the project

Teams by nature are dysfunctional, and because of this fact the project schedule and estimates should reflect this

Dysfunctional project teams are the fault of senior management because of their refusal to attend important project team meetings

Many project teams are composed of the wrong people doing the wrong things at the wrong times.

Eight Stage Process of Creating Major Change (Re-Run)

I like the process below for creating major change. It was taken from the book "Leading Change" by John P. Kotter (see source information at the end of the posting).

1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency
a. Examining the market and competitive realities
b. Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities

2. Creating the Guiding Coalition
a. Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change
b. Getting the group to work together as a team

3. Developing a Vision and Strategy
a. Creating a vision to help direct the change effort
b. Developing strategies for achieving that vision

4. Communicating the Change Vision
a. Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies
b. Having the guiding coalition role model the behavior expected of employees

5. Empowering Broad-Based Action
a. Getting rid of obstacles
b. Changing systems or structures that undermine the change vision
c. Encouraging risk taking and non-traditional ideas, activities, and actions

6. Generating Short-Term Wins
a. Planning for visible improvements in performance, or “wins”
b. Creating those wins
c. Visibly recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible

7. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change
a. Using increased credibility to change all systems, structures, and policies that don’t fit together and don’t fit the transformation vision
b. Hiring, promoting, and developing people who can implement the change vision
c. Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents

8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture
a. Creating better performance through customer and productivity-oriented behavior, more an better leadership, and more effective management
b. Articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success
c. Developing means to ensure leadership development and succession

SOURCE: Adapted from John P. Kotter, “Leading Change,” Harvard Business School Press 1996

Project Management for Networking Geeks

Click here to go to article...

Another Project Goes Live

As many of you know I manage IT projects. While I don't work in an IT department, I still have to manage many of the issues that involve technology. One of the challenges I have had with my current project is getting everybody to agree on and put status updates to the Project Issues List.

A project issues list is key tool to track issues as they arise during and after implementation. If you aren't using one you are setting yourself up to fail.

The issues list should contain:

* A description of the issue

* The person responsible for resolving the issue

* When the issue was opened

* When the issues is expected to resolved

* Notes regarding the ongoing status of the issue

Remember in project management, "what is not in writing has not been said".

Keep and issues list and update it regularly. Finally, negotiate expected resolution dates with those that are responsible for resolving the issues.

The "19 Es" of Excellence by Tom Peters

You can also find it as a PDF on Tom's website

The "19 Es" of Excellence:

Enthusiasm. (Be an irresistible force of nature!)

Energy. (Be fire! Light fires!)

Exuberance. (Vibrate—cause earthquakes!)

Execution. (Do it! Now! Get it done! Barriers are baloney! Excuses are for wimps! Accountability is gospel! Adhere to the Bill Parcells doctrine: "Blame nobody! Expect nothing! Do something!")

Empowerment. (Respect and appreciation rule! Always ask, "What do you think?" Then listen! Then let go and liberate! Then celebrate!)

Edginess. (Perpetually dancing at the frontier, and a little or a lot beyond.)

Enraged. (Determined to challenge & change the status quo!)

Engaged. (Addicted to MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. In touch. Always.)

Electronic. (Partners with the world 60/60/24/7 via electronic community building and entanglement of every sort. Crowdsourcing rules!)

Encompassing. (Relentlessly pursue diverse opinions—the more diversity the merrier! Diversity per se "works"!)

Emotion. (The alpha. The omega. The essence of leadership. The essence of sales. The essence of marketing. The essence. Period. Acknowledge it.)

Empathy. (Connect, connect, connect with others' reality and aspirations! "Walk in the other person’s shoes"—until the soles have holes!)

Experience. (Life is theater! Make every activity-contact memorable! Standard: "Insanely Great"/Steve Jobs; "Radically Thrilling"/BMW.)

Eliminate. (Keep it simple!)

Errorprone. (Ready! Fire! Aim! Try a lot of stuff and make a lot of booboos and then try some more stuff and make some more booboos—all of it at the speed of light!)

Evenhanded. (Straight as an arrow! Fair to a fault! Honest as Abe!)

Expectations. (Michelangelo: "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." Amen!)

Eudaimonia. (Pursue the highest of human moral purpose—the core of Aristotle's philosophy. Be of service. Always.)

Excellence. (The only standard! Never an exception! Start now! No excuses! If not Excellence, what? If not Excellence now, when?)

Great Moments in Presidential Speeches

Winter Dogs in Florida

It was cold in Florida today (64F High, 38F Low). Perfect for golfing.

Stay Warm!

When Project Managers Attack! (Rewind)

As a project manager I have had my share of frustrations over the course of my career. Some days while working on certain projects I feel like why bother. I get to the point of thinking, if others don't care about the project's objectives, why should I? I can only give one good reason why the project manager should care about their projects; THAT IS WHAT WE GET PAID TO DO!

Certainly there are other reasons to care: a sense of ownership, responsibility to our customers, a commitment to finish what we started, personal pride, professional integrity, because it is the right thing to do, because others are counting on us, because as leaders we must always do what is expected, etc, etc, etc...

Project managers wear many hats. We are members of teams, leaders of teams, we are followers, we are stakeholders, we are fiscal planners, we are risk managers, risk takers, planners, schedulers, mentors, quality assurance reps, writers, motivators, listeners, we are empathetic, we are sympathetic, we demonstrate common sense when others don't, we demonstrate a fair and balanced approach to problems, and lots more.... You get the idea. You can see why we are sometimes frustrated. You can see why we need to be as professional as we can all the time.

I have communicated with many people that read this blog, and there is a lot of frustration out there in the Project Management world. The consensus seems to be that yes, there are organizations that do a good job of Project Management and have a great support structure for their project managers. But, it seems that a large majority of organizations don't do a very good job implementing and/or supporting project management, and according to what I hear, quite a few do a terrible job.

In many organizations the project manager position (if one exists) isn't viewed as a profession, but a job that can be performed by virtually anyone in the organization. That can be frustrating for those of us that consider ourselves to be professionals. We all get frustrated sometimes no matter what job we have. We all feel like we aren’t being supported which can lead us to believe that we are being “setup to fail”.

You know what, we all get paid to do a job, and sometimes the job isn't easy, fun, or structured the way we would like. If our managers value us as individuals then they should be willing to hear our ideas about what we need to be successful.

Keep in mind; the project manager can’t be successful on his or her own. They need a management structure in place that is committed to seeing Project Management succeed. Management must at least agree that Project Management adds or can add Value. Management must be able to state the Value that Project Management is adding or should be adding to the organization. If management can’t do that then you probably need to find a new place to work. It is that important.

Rule #1 - Team Conflict hurts Projects!

Team members need to remember that they must manage their departmental responsibilities as well as their project tasks to support the project to which they are assigned. Their management needs to assist the team members in setting priorities so that the project work doesn't suffer when the departmental work becomes more important.

Rule 2 - Management Apathy Hurts Projects!

All levels of impacted management must remember that if they are not engaged and interested in a project's success then their lack of support is a major contributor to project failure.

Rule #3 - Poor Planning Hurts Projects!

Project Management can only work when the project manager is given time to plan properly. Also, the project sponsor must explain the project's objectives clearly, and most importantly, obtain the entire team's commitment to meet the all of the project's objectives (this is a critical planning component). Simple project management principle: If you Fail to Plan, then you Plan to Fail. The failure to allow enough time for proper project planning is the sponsor's fault.

Keep fighting the Good Fight!

Want a New Job?

Quotes to Ponder for the New Year

An old boss sent me these several years ago. I like them all!

No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking. Voltaire

I do the best I know how, the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. Abraham Lincoln

Doubt whom you will, but never yourself

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. George Bernard Shaw

The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck. Channing Pollock

When nothing seems to help, I go and look at the stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it – but all that had gone before. Jacob Riis

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. Andrew Carnegie

Success is a journey, not a destination. Ben Sweetland

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden

Act as though it were impossible to fail.

Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. David Lloyd George

Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared. Eddie Rickenbacher

All of the significant battles are waged within self. Sheldon Kopp

My (not glib) Christmas Thank You

Thank you to…

God. I know I will be scared when I see you

My wife and kids. Why you put up with me I will never know. I love you all deeply and pray for each of you. Please don’t give up on yourselves or me

My parents. Your love and concern was/is the deepest I have known

My sisters. Beautiful people with good hearts

Our troops for enduring conditions and situations we can’t imagine. They are our heroes, and we must never lose sight of that

Policewomen and men. My dad was a cop for many years. They are always in harm’s way and are fighting some very bad people every day.

Nurses. Wow, what you do is incredible

Firemen and women. They are under paid, under appreciated, and they should be commended for their dedication and courage

Kids that defy the odds and always strive to do and be their best

George Bush and Dick Cheney. I’m mad at them for rushing us into war and their other mistakes, but they have worked very hard to help us avoid another 9/11

Military families. Their support helps our soldiers endure

Jimmy Carter. He works tirelessly for others

My manager. Your dedication to family and work is inspiring and awesome

Co-workers and bosses – past and present - that supported me (and those that didn’t). Without them I would be nothing

Leaders. We know who you are

Friends. It has been a wild ride

People with character. We see you

Honest politicians. They do exist. Trust, but verify

People struggling through hard times, yet remaining faithful

People with kind and gentle spirits

People that love to laugh

Anybody that says “thank you”

Great listeners

Women. You guys are awesome

Excellent Free Christmas Music!

Great site for free Christmas Music - Click here

Be sure to scroll down the page to get past years' music.

Happy Holidays to ProjectSteps Readers

I hope you have some time off you can spend with family. By the way, thanks to the people that read this blog. It has been an interesting year. I'm happy and thankful that I'm healthy and employed. And most especially, I'm thankful for my family and two great daughters.

Happy Holidays!

Nine Predictions for 2009 - Awesome!

Click Here

What are your predictions?

Great New Book!

I wish I would have written this one!



Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life






How about these Chapter Titles!

"Too Much Cost, Not Enough Value"
Too Much Speculation, Not Enough Investment"
"Too Much Complexity, Not Enough Simplicity"
"Too Much Counting, Not Enough Trust"
"Too Much Business Conduct, Not Enough Professional Conduct"
"Too Much Salesmanship, Not Enough Stewardship"
"Too Much Focus on Things, Not Enough Focus on Commitment"
"Too Many Twenty-first Century Values, Not Enough Eighteenth-Century Values"
"Too Much 'Success,' Not Enough Character"

Mr. Bogle begins with this:

"At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, 'Yes, but I have something he will never have; Enough".

The only thing I can say is Buy this Book

Religious Group's Private Jet Not Tax Exempt

Originally found here.

"A Kenneth Copeland Ministry jet worth $3.6 million has been denied tax-exempt status by the Tarrant Appraisal District, setting the stage for a battle that could require the minister to reveal his salary if he wants the jet to be tax-free.

Jeffery D. Law, Tarrant chief appraiser, said the jet was denied tax exemption because the ministry failed to disclose salaries of directors as an application requires…

Compensation paid Copeland and other members of his family has been the source of a U.S. senator’s inquiry, but the televangelist has been unwilling to disclose the information publicly.

If the ministry gives the compensation information to the appraisal district, it would be open to public disclosure."

I'm so happy our preachers can ride around in their own corporate jets. These guys are too "good" to ride coach?

Steve

Tom Peter's 27 Points to Transform an Organization

The Top 27: Twenty-seven Practical Ideas That Will Transform Every Organization

1. Learn to thrive in unstable times—our lot (and our opportunity) for the foreseeable future.

2. Only putting people first wins in the long haul, good times and especially tough times. (No "cultural differences" on that one! Colombia = Germany = the USA.)

3. MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. Stay in touch!

4. Call a customer today!

5. Train! Train! Train! (Growing people outperform stagnant people in terms of attitude and output—by a wide margin.)

6. "Putting people first" means making everyone successful at work (and at home).

7. Make "we care" a/the company motto—a moneymaker as well as a source of pride.

8. All around the world, women are an undervalued asset.

9. Diversity is a winning strategy, and not for reasons of social justice: The more different perspectives around the table, the better the thinking.

10. Take a person in another function to lunch; friendships, lots of, are the best antidote to bad cross-functional task accomplishments. (Lousy cross-functional communication stops companies and armies alike.)

11. Transparency in all we do.

12. Create an "Innovation Machine" (even in tough times). (Hint: Trying more stuff than the other guy is Tactic #1.)

13. We always underestimate the Innovation Advantage when 100% of people see themselves as "innovators." (Hint: They are if only you'd bother to ask "What can we do better?")

14. Get the darned Basics right—always Competitive Advantage #1. (Be relentless!)

15. Great Execution beats great strategy—99% of the time. (Make that 100% of the time.)

16. A "bias for action" is a "bias for success." (Great hockey player Wayne Gretzky: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.")

17. No mistakes, no progress! (A lot of fast mistakes, a lot of fast progress.) (Australian businessman Phil Daniels: "Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.")

18. Sometimes "little stuff" is more powerful than "big stuff" when it comes to change.

19. Keep it simple! (Making "it" "simple" is hard work! And pays off!)

20. Remember the "eternal truths" of leadership—constants over the centuries. (They say Nelson Mandela's greatest asset was a great smile—you couldn't say no to him, even his jailors couldn't.)

21. Walk the talk. ("You must be the change you wish to see in the world."—Gandhi)

22. When it comes to leadership, character and people skills beat technical skills. (Emotional Intelligence beats, or at least ties, school intelligence.)

23. It's always "the little things" when it comes to "people stuff." (Learn to say "thank you" with great regularity. Learn to apologize when you're wrong. Learn the Big Four words: "What do you think?" Learn to listen—it can be learned with lots and lots of practice.)

24. The "obvious" may be obvious, but "getting the obvious done" is harder said than done.

25. Time micro-management is the only real "control" variable we have. (You = Your calendar. Calendars never lie.)

26. All managers have a professional obligation to their communities and their country as well as to the company and profit and themselves. (Forgetting this got the Americans into deep trouble.)

27. EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. (What else?)

See more great stuff at Tom Peter's Website

Weekend Fun

I was out playing golf today and a seven foot gator decided he wanted to watch.

Project Scope Overload

Always remember to keep your scope manageable. Too much scope when resources are limited can have unpredictable results.

Project Failure

Project Failures are everywhere.  Below is a list of project failures taken from an article that appears on the Lessons-from-History website.  You can read the full article here.

Why are there so many project failures?  My therory is it they are many times a result of a combination of several things:

Weak project management

Poor or non-existent project sponsorship

An organizational culture that severely disfunctional

Incomplete and/or inaccurate requirements

Some Notable Project Failures (from Lessons-from-History.com)

The following list of failures happened within the project itself supporting the Standish claim that close to 50% of projects are seriously challenged:

• The IRS project on taxpayer compliance took over a decade to complete and cost the country an unanticipated $50 bn.
• The Oregon DMV conversion to new software took eight years to complete, the budget grew by 146% ($123m) and public outcry eventually killed the entire project.
• The State of Florida welfare system was plagued with numerous computational errors and $260m in overpayments!
• August 2008 Unencrypted memory stick lost with names/dates of birth of 84,000 inmates, England 's entire prison population. Home addresses of 33,000 who had six convictions.
• Feb. 2007 £20bn UK NHS computer system 'doomed to fail‘a senior insider has warned.
• 2007 laptop with records of 600,000 recruits was stolen from Royal Navy recruiter's car
• In September 2006 Department of Homeland Security admitted project failure and closed the Emerge2 program $229m (a new financial IT system).
• In May 2006 the disastrous Seasprite helicopter program for the Australian Navy, with $1bn spent, the helicopters were grounded due to software problems.
• In April 2005 inter-departmental warfare played a significant role in the failure of a $64m federal IT project.
• In 2005 British food retailer J Sainsbury had to write off $526m it had invested in an automated supply-chain management system.
• In 2005 US Justice Department Inspector General report stated $170m FBI Virtual Case File project was a failure, after five years and $104m in expenditures. Over one 18-month period, the FBI gave its contractor nearly 400 requirements changes. 
• In 2005 the UK Inland Revenue produced tax payment overpayments of $3.45 bn because of software errors. 
• May 2005 major hybrid car manufacturer installed software fix on 160,000 vehicles. The automobile industry spends $2 to $3 bn per year fixing software problems.
• July 2004 a new government welfare management system in Canada costing $200m was unable to handle a simple benefits rate increase. The contract allowed for 6 weeks of acceptance testing and never tested the ability to handle a rate increase.
• In 2004 Avis cancelled an ERP system after $54.5m is spent
• In 2002 the UK government wasted £698m on Pathway project, smartcards for benefits payments, & £134m overspend on magistrates' courts Libra system.