Change, Organizational Survival, and Project Management, by Carl Belack
We live in an age of accelerating change. Change begets complexity. Both change and complexity affect the efficiency of today’s business organization and its operations. The ways in which businesses are currently organized and operate are holdovers from a bygone era of the post-industrial age. Organizations from that age focused effectively on mass producing products, as the markets of that age demanded. Functional organizations were most appropriate for that kind of work – operations work, the focus of which was repetitive production of similar outputs. As the demands of the market rapidly evolve, so must business organizations and the manner in which they operate. This paper posits that the value-added work that the preponderance of businesses will do in the foreseeable future will be customized (or project) work rather than operations work. And while operations-associated skills will still be part of an overall management skill set, an organization’s ability to manage projects at both the individual and enterprise levels will determine its success in evolving market environments.
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GRATEFUL LEADER PROFILE - CAPTAIN DANIEL E. SOSNOWIK, NYPD, Excerpted from: Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results, by Judith W. Umlas
I am always inspired by Grateful Leaders who have the courage to learn, the vision to lead, and the passion to grow. By my definition, Grateful Leaders are those who see, recognize, and express appreciation for their employees’, customers’, and other stakeholders’ contributions and for their passionate engagement, on an ongoing basis. Once these leaders allow themselves to feel and express their gratitude, the next step is to take action to acknowledge, support and engage their people profoundly so that these outcomes can be achieved. These leaders really want to know their employees and other stakeholders as people.
Conducting a successful acceptance with your customer
Acceptance is the act of formally receiving or acknowledging something and regarding it as being true, sound, suitable or complete1. To do that, criteria are used. Those criteria, including functional and performance requirements are essential conditions, which must be met before project deliverables are accepted.
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How the Seven Deadly Sins Can Lead to Project Failure by Harold Kerzner, Ph.D. Senior Executive Director for Project Management
For more than forty years, the project management landscape has seen textbooks, journal articles and presented papers discussing the causes of project failures. Unfortunately, many of the failure analyses seem to look at failure superficially rather than in depth.
Positive Leadership in Project Management- The Key to Achieving Extraordinary Results
Most project managers will agree that the duties of the project manager are extremely challenging. The job requires a balance of managerial and leadership skills plus some business knowledge and a dash of miracle worker. A quick analysis of the state of project management today indicates, with very exceptions, the following traits:
Read more: Positive Leadership in Project Management- The Key to Achieving Extraordinary Results
Excerpted from: Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results
I believe that we are on the verge of creating the next wave of vision, inspiration, workability, and success in leadership, which will turn many current ideas and philosophies of leadership upside down: Grateful Leadership. Aren’t employees and suppliers supposed to be grateful to you, the leader, for employing or contracting with them, providing for their families, and much more?
3 Elements for Weaving a Culture of Sustainability in a Project Environment
Alyse Nelson, CEO of Vital Voices which was founded to empower women, related a story to me that made me gasp in dismay. In an effort to solve a community health issue, individuals committed to doing good applied a solution that caused significant economic and social problems for the community. In Bangladesh, and in many areas of India as well, naturally dissolving minerals form arsenic that leaches into well water and poisons villagers.
Read more: 3 Elements for Weaving a Culture of Sustainability in a Project Environment
Working With the Prima Donna, By Harold Kerzner, Ph.D.
People often ask me if I had made any mistakes as a project manager. The answer is a resounding "Yes!" When I became a project manager, IIL did not exist, there were no project management training programs in the marketplace, and those of us that aspired to become good project managers were expected to learn from our own mistakes rather than the mistakes of others. And I certainly made lots of mistakes, but never repeated the same mistake twice.
Read more: Working With the Prima Donna, By Harold Kerzner, Ph.D.
An Awakening to a Higher Purpose, By Gregory Balestrero
In the middle of the road of my life
I awoke in a dark wood
Where the true way was wholly lost
Commedia Dante Alighieri
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Emotional and Spiritual Intelligence: Transforming Leaders and Organizations, By Karen Vernal
“We are part of the whole which we call the universe, but it is an optical delusion of our mind that we think we are separate. This separateness is like a prison for us. Our job is to widen the circle of our compassion so we feel connected with all people and situations.” Albert Einstein
In June, 2001 I was inspired by my father to write an article about emotional intelligence. Today, I am again inspired by him. Dad died two weeks ago. He lived his life with integrity and clarity. He was a feisty Irishman with gifts for storytelling, hospitality and and generosity. Life for dad was not a spectator sport. He was fully engaged. He was generous with his time, his talent and his heart. He was a good father and an astute businessman whose mantra was: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
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Kerzner's Corner
Dr. Harold Kerzner, a globally recognized expert on project, program, and portfolio management and author of best-selling project management books, is now one of IIL’s featured bloggers! Offering succinct, insightful advice, Dr. Kerzner’s blog showcases his vast experience as well as his unique sense of humor.
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