From the Co-publisher's Desk— William Sand
In July, Bill Richardson began writing about how project managers could begin taking their thinking off autopilot — being aware of the issue, assessing where they stand and conditioning their thinking to start making changes.
In this month's theme article, The Tyranny of the Fifth Constraint: Taking Your Thinking Off Autopilot, Bill moves into the "how to's" of making change happen and making it last — applying "engaged" thinking on the job and assuring that readiness, agility and objectivity mark a project manager's logic in the future.
Bill gets into ways to avoid bad ruts in thinking and deal with the impact of emotions. He goes into detail on how you can actually put engaged thinking to work to benefit you and your team. Then, Bill amplifies the strategies and tactics needed to make the new, improved mindset take hold and last — really escaping the tyranny of a limiting "tunnel vision" you create for yourself.
From the mind of project management, Dr. Kifah Jayyousi this month ventures into the newest twist of the communications nervous system, Web 2.0, in Project Management Wiki! Everything, Everywhere and Everybody's Project. Kifah presents an excellent overview of the potential that Wiki offers project managers to work collaboratively and facilitate a wide range of tasks.
Laura B. Moore splits the difference between thinking correctly and approaching tasks with practicality in this month's Communications Toolbox: What's Your Ideal Job Portfolio. And it's perfect for September's mood of back to work after the summer holidays — and with that, thoughts of where you should be going and what exactly you should be doing in your career. Plus, how to get there. Laura offers excellent advice on self-analysis, networking (that "dread" word), and resume development you should be doing as your job change process unfolds.
Co-publisher Frank Saladis's leadership article this month focuses on Team Building, Influencing and Leadership. Frank's article looks at the most respected wisdom on leadership and finds a common thread in the ability to "influence" others through their respect — not intimidation, force or fear. Gaining that influence the right way in the project manager's world is Frank's topic.
Co-publisher Emeritas Judy Umlas, a leader in her own right, muses about her own corporate title — executive director of learning innovations — and the meaning of learning itself. Judy explores the many levels of learning for her and us all. … She also reminds us that the poets among us should be submitting your work to her at pmpoetrycontest@allpm.com.
In A Simple Model for Forecasting System Test, John C. Goodpasture provides a straightforward, "almost back of the envelope" approach to getting the most out of the limited amount of opportunities for test repetitions and measurement.
Karen McIsaac cuts to the chase in Keep Your Project Objective in Focus by reminding us that, like road maps, project management methodologies are meant to guide the way toward an end — not form an end in themselves — and be used creatively along the journey as new turnoffs and directions open up.
In the meantime, Sloan Campbell has been thinking about the traits that define a super hero, and finds an uncanny parallel to those of project managers, The Super Heroes of Business. In fact, he argues, if you look at a project manager hard enough you will find a superhero — complete with the extraordinary powers, strong moral code, recurring characters and predictable enemies. Lonnie Pacelli, on the other hand, brings any budding super heroes or heroines down to earth by reminding that there are Seven Deadly Sins of Management to worry about from arrogance to disorganization to distrust.
Finally, Frank Saladis borrows a page from The Donald (Trump) on ending things with a bang in this month's entertaining crossword: You're Terminated! Closing Out a Project.
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I hope you find much to enjoy and learn in this month's allPM TODAY. And in closing, remember November 2 marks the second annual International Project Management Day, featuring the initial selection of the Kerzner International Project Manager of the Year awards. (To learn more or to participate, go to www.iil.com/ipmday2006.) You may want to get involved in emerging plans or organize activities where you are.
In the meantime, regards from New York.
Bill Sand
Co-publisher allPM.com
bill.sand@allPM.com
From the Co-publisher's Desk - Frank P. Saladis, PMP
 Project management has been described by some as an art, by others as a science, and still others as just "bull." It depends largely on who you are talking to. It's actually a combination of all three. The art of project management is associated with the ability to think creatively or to see opportunity when others see danger or potential failure. Reflect back about the situation associated with the Apollo 13 mission. A few famous quotes from that memorable incident include "failure is not an option," "this has become a successful failure" and a response to an executive who said "this will be our worst disaster" the flight director said "Sir, I believe this will be our finest hour." It's all about attitude and positive thinking. It's about removing the thinking constraints that many of us have developed over time. The science of project management is associated with tools and techniques, forecasting, estimating, planning, simulations, analysis, specifications, methodologies and best practices. The "bull" is related to reports, fancy charts, and dazzling management through presentations that, in many cases, seem to always paint a very positive picture about the condition of the project.
Getting back to the "art of project management" there is a need to look at a project from a holistic perspective. It's important to see the project from every angle and from every stake-holder's viewpoint. This forces the project manager out of the auto-pilot mode and creates a need for continuous analysis. Continued analysis results in options and having more options to consider can lead to better decision making. As an example, fighter pilots use a technique referred to as the OODA loop. Developed in the early 1950's OODA means observe, orient, decide, and act. You can't do that on auto-pilot. You have to continuously assess the situation, process the information and make decisions. The loop was the actual action and direction taken by the pilot. In the project environment, the need for continuous assessment is also essential and there is very little time that can or should be spent on auto-pilot.
This month allPM continues to focus on the 5th Constraint, the tendency to allow our thinking to go on auto-pilot. When we are thinking on auto-pilot we do not see the entire picture, we are not asking the "what if?" questions and consequently we can make some uninformed and potentially dangerous decisions. In his article The Tyranny of the "Fifth Constraint": Taking Your Thinking Off Autopilot — Segments 4 and 5
Bill Richardson provides additional insight to the subject by offering information about
Application - taking aim at putting engaged thinking into play (step 4) and
Assurance - taking the necessary time for lasting change to take hold (step 5).
In his article Richardson helps us to focus on what we want versus what we don't want. He offers suggestions about how to control patterned recognition and to manage bias and harness emotions. He refers to these items as the "three minefields." Of particular interest is his method for putting engaged thinking, the ability to use the information around you more effectively, into play. The word TEAM becomes a key factor for the project manager in developing engaged thinkers. According to Richardson you must: Teach It - Make Your Team Aware, Expect It — Make It Clear Anchor It — Make It Stick, Model It - Show Your Team How Its Done. Each of these items is explained in detail and will assist a project manager in developing a team of people who can see problems from different perspectives and arrive at solutions that are much more effective and long lasting. Engaged thinking causes the creative part of the brain to kick into overdrive. Rather than jumping to solutions, the team will analyze a situation or a problem, view several different alternatives and determine the best approach for resolving the situation.
Taking the lead provided by Bill Richardson we, at allPM wish to engage our readers, not to merely inform them. We continue to seek new ideas that will assist you as you think through project challenges and obstacles. As Richardson explains; first it's important to understand that how information is presented (the frame) influences the choices people will make. If the team understands how framing can influence decisions you can then introduce the concept of reframing (looking at a problem or an issue from alternate viewpoints. This allows the team to think from different perspectives and discover new ways for achieving goals. Consider allPM to be a source of information in a continually changing frame that will keep you engaged as a reader and stimulate you as an engaged thinker.
Frank P. Saladis, PMP
Frank.Saladis@allpm.com
August's Poll Results
Do you think the job prospects for PMs are:
a) Improving today vs. 3 years ago? - 86.89 % (106)
b) Neutral? - 8.20 % (10)
c) Worse than 3 years ago? - 4.92 % (6)
Total votes: 122
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The September poll question is:
Should critical thinking be considered a core project management competency?
a) Yes — absolutely mandatory and should be proactively developed
b) No — it's important but isn't a critical factor for success
c) Situational — it depends on job level and project complexity
If you have not already done so, please stop by allPM.com and add your opinion today.
Theme of the Month: The Tyranny of the "Fifth Constraint": Taking Your Thinking Off Autopilot — Segments 4 and 5
By Bill Richardson, PMP
This article is aimed at helping project managers and their teams escape the clutches of The Fifth Constraint, thinking on autopilot, by working through a five-step process. It focuses on operationalizing a more engaged thinking style and how you can implement lasting personal change in this area that stick with you throughout your career. The article also builds on an allPM article in July by presenting the final two action steps in the process.
To read the first installment of Bill Richardson’s The Tyranny of the “Fifth Constraint” please click the following link- The Tyranny of the “Fifth Constraint”: Part One
As to the five overall steps to freedom, they are:
Step 1 – Awareness - taking charge of understanding the problem
Step 2 – Assessment - taking stock of how you think and laying the foundation to change
Step 3 – Action - taking action to become an engaged thinker
Step 4 – Application - taking aim at putting engaged thinking into play.
Step 5 – Assurance - taking the necessary time for lasting change to take hold
Intellectually, the underlying premise for taking yourself off autopilot is learning to think about your thinking. Practically, it is learning to ask the right question versus necessarily having all the right answers. Learning to ask the right questions is best achieved by good old fashion practice or as some marketing visionary said in Nike — "Just do it".
For you as a project manager, the subject is engaged thinking and the audience is your team, your stakeholders including your sponsor and hopefully even yourself. By engaged thinking we mean someone who is paying attention to their natural human tendencies for patterned recognition, susceptibility to bias and the powerful influence of emotions. Think of each these three oriented to either the future, the present and the past. Patterned recognition is literally your brain identifying what your next step should be in the future based on the patterns it has seen. Emotions live in the present and influence how you interpret things right now and can be positive or negative. Your biases have a history and reinforce and feed off their mental ancestors. They are clearly from the past.
© 2006 allPM.com
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 As a top tier project management coach, Bill Richardson specializes in helping and championing project managers to their personal best. Inspiring greatness for individuals, teams, communities and organizations, Bill raises the bar for top performance.
Bill is PMP certified with extensive hands-on experience in leading major technological and change initiatives in the financial services industry. He has managed several large-scale project management teams in the IT environment including the setup and day-to-day management of centralized PMO functions. Having worked in a major Canadian Bank in senior positions, Bill brings the unique blend of account management, project management and process management to the realm of maximizing the ROI of projects, program portfolios and people.
As an accomplished speaker, facilitator and trainer, Bill brings years of accumulated corporate experience and know-how to project management organizations, leaders and practitioners, strengthening vision and competencies, and delivering the right solutions for winning products. Bill can be contacted at bill.richardson@iil.com or 416-565-0977.
Project Management Wiki! Everything, Everywhere and Everybody’s Project
By Dr. Kifah Jayyousi, PMP, PE, CPE
In case you have not noticed, there is a new web that has been emerging and is taking over the internet, and promises to change our lives forever. The new web environment is called Web 2.01 and has taken root in company offices, private homes, government and the connective tissue of cell phones and WiFi (wireless) devices. A now famous Web 2.0 map2 is shown.
This second generation web environment has imposed itself by virtue of new web services and applications available mostly for free and which quickly replaced traditional internet applications. Such services include: blogs, wikis, internet telephony (called Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP) and web applications are proliferating into company and project offices such as Yahoo 360° and Xanga blogs, Skype IP telephony, Jotspot and Socialtext Wikis, and advanced Google Desktop search engine.
Project managers will look and feel great in this environment as they will finally see their wishes come true: a live-collaborative and team-spirited project environment. Web 2.0 services will streamline project execution and control, smooth communication, promote innovation and change forever traditional project thinking and management.
© 2006 allPM.com
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Dr. Kifah Jayyousi, PMP, PE, CPE, is general manager at Project Logistics in Coral Springs, Florida. He brings over 20 years of construction and facility management experience nationwide in the U.S., and overseas including the Gulf Region where he has been a consultant on project equipment and supplies. He can be reached at kifahdc@yahoo.com.
Communication Toolbox: What's Your Ideal Job Portfolio?
By Laura B. Moore, PMP
Laura B. Moore Now and then, we all need to look for the next adventure, the next job, the next project. Often, people tend to look for jobs with a certain title "Sr. Project Manager", "Business Analyst", etc. Another approach is to look in specific organizations of interest. The trouble with this is that it limits your options. What you might want to consider is building a Job Portfolio; that is, looking for a job based on the traits of the job, rather than on the title or the organization.
The Ball of Change
Probably the first thing to do is to accept change. The ball of change is in motion, and you need to decide if you're going to be a bowling pin, or a catcher's mitt. You need to decide if you are going to let change race towards you and take control of you, or if you're going to stand in the ready, positioning yourself just right, to catch and take personal control of the change. To quote Mr. Gedde Lee (of the band Rush), "if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." You need to determine what your choice will be.
Once you've done that, you can act… or not act… accordingly. For the purposes of this article, I will assume you've chosen to be a mitt. There are a few things you will need to do, and I will do my best to provide tools through which you can succeed. But before we get to the tools, there are some basic questions on what you're willing to accept.
© 2006 allPM.com
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Laura Moore (PMP, M.A. Social Psychology) has an eclectic background that includes not only project management, but clinical research and social work as well. Currently, she works as a Senior Project Manager in the telecommunications industry and does, what her team calls "guerilla project management", that is, taking urgent, high impacting issues and resolving them within a matter of days. Laura lives in California with her husband Lorin, and their two amazing daughters Lily Faye and Layla Blue.
Positive Leadership in Project Management — Team Building, Influencing and Leadership
By Frank P. Saladis, PMP
"Don't follow where the path may lead, go where there is no path and leave a trail."
"The key to leadership is having dreams. The key to success is making dreams come true."
"The important thing is not how much you know but how well you can apply it."
The sources of these quotes are anonymous but they do touch on the very foundation of strong leadership. You can't really be a leader if you are always following someone else's steps. If you don't have a dream or a vision, you won't have a destination, and if you cannot apply your knowledge there will be chaos, confusion and very little progress. Of course, there is much more to leadership than blazing a new path, dreams of the future, and application of knowledge but these are certainly key to any leader's success.
If we look at the definition of leadership from three prominent authors and experts in the field we can see a direct connection to the opening quotes of this article:
Peter Drucker: "The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers."
John C. Maxwell : "Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less."
Warren Bennis :"Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own leadership potential."
© 2006 allPM.com
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Frank P. Saladis (PMP) is Senior Consultant with International Institute for Learning, Inc. He has been involved in the development of standardized Project Management Guidelines (PMGs) for the AT&T Corporate Information Technology Services (Corporate ITS) organization and is the author of the Project Evaluation Review Process (PERP). He is the President of the NYC PMI Chapter.
The Heart of PM: How do we learn, and keep what we learn?
By Judy Umlas
I love my corporate title: Executive Director, Learning Innovations. Isn't that mysterious? Isn't that "out of the box?" Isn't that just a great invitation to play in the sandbox of discovery, innovation, breakthroughs? But what does it really mean, and how can I "deliver" the goods in ways that assure that learning occurs for people and that it stays there?
Some of my most vivid experiences of learning as a child had to do with discovering mastery. In primary school, we were taught our ABC's, and then how to sound out words and suddenly I found myself reading stories — actual stories with beginnings, middles and ends! They were about the antics of Dick and Jane, their dog Spot and their cat Puff. I know I am both dating and geographically locating myself (I'm sure you have your equivalent stories in Paris, Madrid or Bengalore), but if you remember those tales as I do, I suspect that you remember them with great fondness and definite nostalgia. They crept into our minds first, but were followed by our hearts and, I suspect, our souls. We learned with pleasure and pride and delight!
© 2006 allPM.com
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Judy Umlas, allPM co-publisher emeritus and continuing columnist, remains the heart and soul of this community and invites you to correspond. Her professional accomplishments are many.
Cut to the Chase — Keep Your Project Objective in Focus
By Karen McIsaac, PMP
What happens when you walk into a conference room and see reams of paper covering the walls with project graphs and charts? In many cases, you can safely assume more time is being spent on generating those graphs and charts than on driving an initiative forward…and this project may be faltering. This was the scenario when I was interviewing to manage a project that had an unmovable year-end deadline. It was late August and the project was in distress.
The project manager with the wall charts was not relating to his team, was not working with his supporting partners and was not focused on the milestones ahead as well as the end goal.
In my experience, countless graphs and charts have been good indicators that a project is faltering and that more focus is being placed on the methodology rather than the objective. We are all asked to make presentations, participate in unrelated meetings, complete forms and checklists, etc. that may not have any direct impact on the progress of your project. There is no denying that one must do them, but what is most important is that we ensure that these activities do not distract us from delivering our projects. Staying focused on the goal is what drives the team to getting there.
© 2006 allPM.com
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Karen McIsaac, PMP, is an expert in organizing, planning and executing large program/project initiatives. She has over 20 years of experience in delivering large business-driven initiatives with significant business, cultural and technological impact. Karen has assisted the firm’s clients create success stories through achievement of project-related business objectives and management of the associated change. She can be reached at kmcisaac@projectmgrs.com.
Project Managers, Inc., founded in 1998, specializes in the implementation of business-driven initiatives that transform Fortune 1000 organizations. As implementation professionals, we deliver on time and within budget to all of our clients thus forwarding their business and maintaining their trust.
A Simple Model for Forecasting System Test
By John C. Goodpasture, PMP
Everyone who has ever tested anything knows that it does not always work the first time it is tried. If it always worked, system test would be a simple procedure at the end of the deliverable's development lifecycle. But it's almost never that simple, and the six sigma protocol tells us that to really reduce errors, many test and measurement repetitions are needed to ascertain root cause and correct error sources. But for most practical projects, there are only a handful of opportunities for test repetitions and measurement.
Here's a simple model that can be applied to many test situations that provides a practical, almost back-of-the-envelope, simplicity that can be employed by project managers and test deliverable managers in a variety of different project situations. After reading this article, you will know that a 40-40-20-attempt model means the test effort must be multiplied by a factor of 1.8 for planning purposes, and that test setup time must be multiplied by a factor of 3.
Test Conditions
We begin by thinking about test conditions. Test conditions are either functional or technical. They can be expressed as capabilities or capacities, and/or they can either be a state, or a change in state, or a functional stimulus or response. Test conditions can be tested individually or collectively.
Test conditions are applied to, or exercised by, one or more scripts. A script is a step-wise procedure that is followed by a test individual or machine that proves that the deliverable can perform in the context of the test conditions.
© 2006 allPM.com
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John C. Goodpasture is Founder of Square Peg Consulting. He can be reached at www.sqpegconsulting.com
Professional Project Managers (PMP), The Super Heroes of Business
By Sloan Campbell MBA, PMP
A superhero is a fictional character who is noted for feats of courage and nobility, who usually has a colorful name and costume and abilities beyond those of normal human beings. A female superhero is often called a superheroine.
The common traits of almost all superheroes include:
- Extraordinary powers and abilities, mastery of relevant skills, and/or advanced equipment. Although superhero powers vary widely, superhuman strength, the ability to fly, enhancements of the senses and the ability to project energy of some kind are all common. Some superheroes, such as Batman and Green Hornet, possess no superpowers but have mastered skills such as martial arts and forensic sciences. Others have special equipment, such as Iron Man’s powered armour and Green Lantern’s power ring.
- A strong moral code, including a willingness to risk their own safety in the service of good without expectation of reward.
- A special motivation, such as a sense of responsibility (e.g. Spider Man), a strong sense of justice (e.g. Superman), a formal calling (e.g., Wonder Woman), or a personal vendetta against criminals (e.g., The Punisher).
- A secret identity that protects the superhero’s friends and family from becoming targets of his or her enemies. Most superheroes (but not all) use a descriptive or metaphoric code name for their public deeds.
- A flamboyant and distinctive costume.
- An underlying motif or theme that affects the hero’s name, costume, personal effects and other aspects of his character (e.g., Batman resembles a large bat, calls his headquarters the "Batcave" and his specialized automobile, which also looks bat-like, the "Batmobile").
© 2006 allPM.com
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Sloan Campbell is a Program Manager at ELCAN Optical Technologies. ELCAN Optical Technologies (ELCAN) is a world photonics leader specializing in the design and manufacture of complex, precision opto-mechanical and electro-optical systems and subsystems for projection display, medical, industrial, automotive, defence, entertainment and telecommunications markets. You can e-mail your comments to the author at
scampbell@elcan.com.
Seven Deadly Sins of Management
By Lonnie Pacelli
Pride. Envy. Gluttony. Lust. Anger. Greed. Sloth. You either recognize these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that these are bad and you shouldn't do them. For this article, do as you were taught and think bad when you commit these similar sins in the workplace.
Knowing the mechanics of managing a project or team is secondary to the character attributes that a manager displays in their daily action. Here are the seven deadly sins of the management, and how to avoid them. Can you relate to any of these?
Sin #1 — Arrogance
Ever known a manager that consistently claimed to know more than the rest of the team? How about one that was unwilling to listen to opposing views? Isn't this just a sign of confidence? What's wrong with that?
Confidence as a manager is crucial as people will look to you, particularly when things get tough. When it runs amok and turns to arrogance, the manager disrespects the team. Show respect and have confidence and you'll do fine. Subtract out respect and you're just an arrogant doofus.
Sin #2 — Indecisiveness
So you have a meeting on Monday and the management agrees on a course of action. On Tuesday, the manager decides to take a completely different course of action. Thursday the manager goes back to Monday's course of action. The following Monday you're back re-hashing through the same problem from last Monday. Blech.
© 2006 allPM.com
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 Lonnie Pacelli has over 20 years of project management experience at both Accenture and Microsoft and is the author of The Project Management Advisor – 18 Major Project Screw-Ups and How to Cut them off at the Pass. You can reach Lonnie at: www.projectmanagementadvisor.com.
PM Crossword Connections™: You're Terminated! Closing out a Project
By Frank Saladis, PMP
(Click here or the image above for a larger, printable crossword in a new window. )
Across
1 compare with EAC for variance
6 Mick can't get any_______
7 type of assurance
9 structured review
12 receiver of the product
15 Information worth sharing
17 tangible, verifiable item
18 bill
19 individual performance reviews
23 check functionality
25 Kool and the Gang do this
26 everyone involved
27 formal acceptance
Down
2 historical file
3 give to the customer (football term)
4 terms and conditions are found here
5 document of items not complete
8 analyze, study, examine, critique
10 source of information
11 right to terminate early
13 necessary items or functions
14 document that provide status
16 fail to meet terms and conditions
20 check sent for work completed
21 data file, stored information
22 to thank with a bonus or gift
24 contested change or dispute
© 2006 allPM.com
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Click here to view/print the crossword solution: http://www.allpm.com/Crosswords/September2006answers.htm
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