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Wednesday, September 01, 2021

Your Last Project



It has been said “You only live as long as the last person that remembers you”.

In Project Management it has been said that “You are only as good as your last project”.  While this statement may see unfair, it is nonetheless true in many environments.

Saturday, August 28, 2021

Be, Say, and Do!

 


Three action steps when working with others, per Ajayi Jones

1. Be: Write down what’s important to you, and what’s worth fighting for. 

2. Say: When you don’t see eye to eye with your boss or disagree with the rest of the room, ask yourself these three questions. If you answer “Yes” to all three, speak up.

“Do I mean it?” 

“Can I defend it?”

“Can I say it thoughtfully?

3. Do: Match your thoughts with your actions

Fair warning: Just because you follow these steps, it doesn’t mean your team will automatically be on the same page. It’s more that these practices force you to check in with yourself, and know that you said what you needed to say. 


You’ll leave the discussion knowing you tried.

Monday, August 23, 2021

Variety is the Spice of Life

It has been said that variety is the spice of life.  We can fear variety (change) because of its unknown impact be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological.  Variety often means trusting others and stepping into the unknown with courage.

You must embrace change to experience the spice of life!


Tom Brady has some thoughts about change Life is about always changing and adapting to different things. Today, the world wants to blame, and shame, and guilt, and fear everything all the time”


Do you blame others when changes go wrong?  Do you fear change? 


Sometimes it takes courage to embrace Variety!

Tuesday, May 04, 2021

Ignorance of Things

Nobody should be embarrassed for not being familiar with the Sunning-Kruger effect, the cognitive bias in which the more incompetent or ignorant you are about something the better or more knowledgeable you think you are at that thing.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Wisdom vs. Knowledge

From dictionary.com - The primary difference between the two words is that wisdom involves a healthy dose of perspective and the ability to make sound judgments about a subject while knowledge is simply knowing. 

Anyone can become knowledgeable about a subject by reading, researching, and memorizing facts. ... Wisdom is knowing when to say it.”

Monday, June 22, 2020

Project Management Similar to Creating Art


"A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally important, what is not.  It is the discipline to discard what does not fit - to cut out what might have already cost days or even years of effort that distiguishes the truly exceptional artist and marks the ideal piece of work, be it a symphony, a novel, a painting, a company or, most important of all, a life"

Author Unknown

Monday, February 10, 2020

Top Ten List

Florida Power and Light management came up with the list below of the ten most important things they think helped them complete the St. Lucie 2 Nuclear Power Plant on schedule, within cost, and without major quality issues.

  1. Management Commitment
  2. A realistic and firm schedule
  3. Clear decision-making authority
  4. Flexible project control tools
  5. Teamwork
  6. Maintaining engineering before construction (design before build)
  7. Earlsy start-up involvement
  8. Organizational flexibility
  9. Ongoing critique of the project
  10. Close coordination with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (strong, fair oversight)
This is an awesome list that can be adapted to any environment and project.  Do you have a top ten list of things you need for your project to be successful?