The Hard-Nosed Project Manager

Project management podcasts I recommend

Here is the updated list of project management podcasts I recommend:

• A special mention for The Mentisor Soapbox.  I know the guys behind the podcast which is not restricted to project management; for example they cover subjects like the life of an independent contractor.  Basically this podcast is a call-in show/round table format in which you can participate live, every Monday at 12 noon Eastern time.  I do my best to join every week; why don't you?
• Project Management War Stories. I’ve listened to each and every episode.
• The PMO Podcast.  I’ve listened to each and every episode.
• The Project Management Podcast.  I’ve listened to each and every episode and I am a Premium subscriber.  Yes, I pay for this.  It is that good…

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Kill, kill, kill

No, I’m not angry and no, I’m not going postal.  Anyway, we don’t have weapons up here in Canada.  Do you need a chief killing officer? is the title of an article I read a couple of day ago in The Globe and Mail.

The main premise of the article is that you need to clear out the clutter, the accumulated baggage.  And that applies to products, product features, people, standing (as in regular) meetings, reports, investors (partners), processes, HR practices, and software code.  Give it a little thought and I’m sure you can’t find other things that are in need of a good pruning; for example the project that doesn’t end and for which all hopes of an ROI have long since evaporated.

A couple of anecdote that illustrate the topic:

• In Steve McConnell’s book Code Complete he mentions the case of a lady who cuts the ends of a roast before cooking it.  She does that because he mom did it and mom did it because grandma did it too.  Looks like a best practice to me…  Eventually the lady asks grandma why she used to cut the ends of the roast; grandma’s answer?  Because my roasting pan was not big enough.  As I said, looks like a best practice to me…  

• A couple of years ago I took a couple of courses with Dr. Harold Kerzner.  Let me go in a tangent to say that it feels pretty good when a guy with 40+ years of project management says the things that you think about in your little corner of the world.  Anyway, Dr. Kerzner was advocating periodically weeding out best practices libraries and doing the same with project portfolios.  That sounds like a job for the CKO although the tendency is for project manager to reuse best practices and fight to complete their projects at all cost.  I don’t advocate giving up easy but you don’t want to have your own “Charge of the Light Brigade”; somehow the cry of “For the glory of project management” does nothing for

Now, I’ve always said that I didn’t want to be a CxO; I’d rather be a NOO (that’s a NO O), but I might just change my mind.  Elect me Chief Killing Officer; I promise to be ruthless…

What do you think?  As always comments are welcome.

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Agile? Me?

I try to continually improve myself.  I know, it’s hard to believe, but it is still possible for me to do so…

So, I’ve been thinking of expanding my project management skills some more but, what do I pick?  I already have the piece of paper that proves that I know something (the PMP) and I work in Manufacturing IT so I could go ITIL, I could go PRINCE2, I could go IPMA.  All of those are PMP look alike certifications with various strong points.  For a comparative review lookup this post from the How to Manage a Camel blog.

I also trained on RUP a few years ago so I could go Agile/Scrum or some other approach.  In my current work environment Agile methods are not really in fashion; my clients typically insist on gate reviews and a waterfall approach. 

That being said I can appreciate that understanding Agile could be useful to me it is like speaking more than one language or knowing more than one culture.  On that level, it appeals to me because, after all, you’d have to be an idiot (I was going to say [20100712 - PR - expletive deleted] but it is not polite to do so…) to think that there is only one good, fits everything approach/language/culture.

So assuming I decide to go Agile, can anyone out there engage in a conversation with me on benefits they have realized from going Agile?  I am not looking for dogma (e.g. waterfall is crap), for preaching on the Agile Manifesto (I hate motherhood statements), for how Agile is better that sliced bread/the 4-hole button/the wheel.  What I am looking for numbers on hard benefits (consistently cheaper, consistently shorter schedule, etc.) or soft benefits (easier to lead the current generation, higher customer satisfaction, etc).

Go ahead, convince me to go Agile.  I’m open-minded about it; I’m just looking for good arguments before I invest my time.  Thanks in advance to those who chime in.

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How to be a successful eXtreme project manager. Yeah, right...

I’m having a grumpy day so I’ll warn you

• Warning 1: Do not waste your time listening to this month’s PMI-ISSIG webinar; “How to be a Successful eXtreme Project Manager” by Doug DeCarlo. It is 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 16 seconds of pure pain…

• Warning 2: Some coarse language ahead.

You’ve been warned…

I just suffered through this month’s PMI-ISSIG webinar; “How to be a Successful eXtreme Project Manager” by Doug DeCarlo and, although I will claim the PDU to repay my suffering, I suggest you give it a pass; PMI-ISSIG should have done so too.

This webinar is bullshit.  I tried keeping an open mind but just could not; 10, 20, …, 45 minutes pass and nothing of substance is said.  Actually nothing of substance is ever said.  Basically the listener is being hammered with psycho babble and motivational crap about unleashing passion; you might as well use “The Secret” as your foundation for delivering successful projects.  One example of a quote from the webinar:

The most important day of your life is not the day you are born, but the day you find out why.

The originator of which Mr. DeCarlo does not identify.  WTF does this have to do with project management, eXtreme or not?

The whole webinar has really close to nothing to do with projects, project methodologies, project managers, leadership, or anything.  It is pure mush; really.  When it does talk about borderline useful stuff (from minute 45 to 54) it could have been said about any project management approach and calling it eXtreme is window dressing.

It that is what he sells, I hope his hourly is damn low.  I’m thinking that Mr. DeCarlo should retire, find a quiet spot far away from civilization, and bang on his drum to his heart’s content…

Now that I’ve taken this off my chest I feel much better.  I’ll go wipe the foam that’s coming out of my mouth…

What do you think?  As always questions and comments are welcome.

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