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Saturday, November 15, 2003
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A Guru's Approach to Project Management..
Source: Reforming Project Management
Project management could use more qualified gurus, if for no other reason but to solidify PM ideas and theories.
That was the opening line of Bob Weinstein's latest Gantthead article, A Guru's Approach to Project Management. Let's here it for Bob Weinstein and Gantthead. Woohoo! Weinstein is a regular columnist for Gantthead as well as an author of a dozen books. This article is a gem. Print or save a copy.
Weinstein interviewed two people he designates as gurus. Dave Schrader is the director of strategy and marketing at Teradata. Bob Sutton is the author of the well-known book Weird Ideas that Work. He calls them both "the real deal." So what does he mean by guru?
Gurus are justifiably praised for their unconventional view of the world. They have the unique capacity of taking theory and applying it, a skill possessed by a select few.
Here's a short summary of the two gurus' take on project management. Read the article for the rest.
Dave Schrader's seven guidelines for good project management
- Perform quarterly reviews.
- Control projects with a management triangle. The three parts of the triangle are features, time, and resources.
- Customer-based staging of delivery is essential.
- The bigger the project, the bigger the risk.
- Highly motivated teams drive projects.
- Provide constant feedback.
- Celebrate!
Bob Sutton: The Process Paradox, Too little or too much process is dysfunctional.
Start out pretending there is a process, yet avoid falling into the trap of thinking that's all there is. Myopic thinking leads to failure. Don't let the process become an end in itself or a formula. Think of it as an initial roadmap that will have to be changed as problems surface. The people who are really good accept this fact of life. They understand project management is never as linear as it seems.
Wish I had said it. Gantthead is becoming a powerful voice independent of the PM professional forums. They take a practical view of the world while still being provocative. This article is just one of many examples of what Gantthead has to offer anyone managing projects.
[Reforming Project Management] [Dewayne Mikkelson and his Radio WebDog, Shadow]
9:03:19 PM 
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Hugh White. "When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power."
Another one...
"Mistakes are lessons of wisdom." True.
"The past cannot be changed." True.
"The future is yet in your power." Debatable. I feel like in the last week that the truth is so hard for individuals to find that one person controlling their future completely just doesn't seem possible. The truth may be that I can do a job well. If someone tells my boss I didn't do something well and my boss chooses to believe that person....I may not get the promotion I deserve. You know...things work out like that sometimes. It's annoying, but true.
9:02:46 PM
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.NET Test Driven Development update.
I've updated .NET Test Driven Development with an additional 32 links, doubling the original number of links. Updates include:
Most of these, as you can see, are “testing” related, as opposed to Test Driven Development. I've found that writing unit tests has become much easier the more I've learned about testing in general. If you don't read anything else, check out the Testing for Programmers notes. [Darrell Norton's Blog]
9:00:13 PM
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George Bernard Shaw. "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same."
I always pick the quotes that are hard for me, but that I agree with. This one is hard 'cause it's also hard to know what people really want...actions are so often different than words.
5:10:25 PM
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So good to be back home with my high-speed access. My hotel had a dial-up connection that died every two minutes...
4:41:27 PM
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© Copyright 2005 Rebecca Schwoch.
Last update: 2/8/2005; 2:14:25 PM.
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The Art Rocks asked 100 artists to produce album covers for their favorite musicians. It turns out that Kurt Vonnegut is also a painter, and a Phish fan.