I went out recently with some friends and had a curious experience. And of all things it was around disposable plastic straws. What caught my attention was that each place we went to did not offer straws. More importantly though the establishments were proud and adamant about their no-straw policy. It opened up some interesting […]
So… What is a Project?
“All is flux, nothing stays still.” – Heraclitus “The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.” – Alfred North Whitehead When I ask “what is a project?” I enjoy the different perspectives and interpretations. Concepts like work packages, ongoing operational tasks and even programmes are often perceived as […]
Sustainable Project Management: The GPM Reference Guide 2nd Edition
GPM Global is delighted to announce the publishing of the Second Edition of the Sustainable Project Management: The GPM Reference Guide. The guide is 156 pages and is available on Amazon in both paperback and electronic Kindle formats. Sustainable project management is a rapidly growing discipline. With changing expectations of consumers and investors and the […]
Challenges with Using PERT for Estimating
This post was modified from one I developed several years ago for the Mercure AACE 2013 program I took, called W5_PM_PERT-Challenges. I am still surprised that with the number of project managers I meet who recommend this technique, which effectively puts the Flaw of Averages on steroids. This post is not specifically about sustainable change […]
Sustainable Estimating
The only certainty is that nothing is certain. Pliny the Elder, Roman scholar, 23-79 CE Our culture encodes a strong bias either to neglect or ignore variation. We tend to focus instead on measures of central tendency, and as a result we make some terrible mistakes, often with considerable practical import. Stephen Jay Gould, naturalist, […]
The necessity for Project Management skills: The transition to freelance and project work
The Only Person that Likes Change is a Baby with a Wet Diaper. Anon By nature we hate change; seldom will we quit our old home till it has actually fallen around our ears. Thomas Carlyle(1795-1881) Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin(1924-1987) […]
The Advantages of Conflict in Projects
“The absence of conflict is not harmony, it’s apathy” (Eisenhardt) “God does not play dice” (Einstein)… would God be so cruel to structure so much conflict if it could not be constructive (Tjosvold)? I come from a Canadian middle class family with a British lineage. At a young age we were taught to be quiet […]
The Importance of Mentorship
When I was doing my undergrad in the early 90’s, it was widely understood that when you graduate and find an entry-level job, the employer would provide you with the training and development to ensure your success in your role. This approach to new hires was the practice at Anderson Consulting (now Accenture) when I […]
Career Paths for Those Interested in Project Management
“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” Laurence J. Peter. 2011, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong (p. 145) The Traditionally Perceived Project Manager Career Path There is a perception in our profession that the following graphic represents the traditional career path for project managers. […]
Sustainable Development Goal #17 of 17. Partnership for the Goals and Project Management.
At the UN Global Compact Leadership Summit, our 5th, as a stakeholder, it was stated as part of the plenary that business cannot thrive if the people and the planet aren’t. This also includes that the 17 UN SDGs are on target. They are universal, transcend borders, industry, and societies. It is the world’s greatest […]
