Lessons from the ancient pygmy tribe in Africa to improve your 2010

Just posted January 2010 newsletter, with advice to improve your experience of 2010.

Read what the ancient African pygmy tribe's theme is 2010 and remove tolerations from your life.

How are you doing?

At the end of 2009, and planning for 2010, how are you doing? Have you developed new skills that make you a better project leader? What skills should you focus on developing in 2010?


Read my latest article to find out, and take the assessment to see which demonstrable project management behaviours influence positive project outcomes.

Announcing Mentor Program

People frequently ask for my advice on professional speaking, creating audio products and authoring their books. Although I willingly help out where I can, it has become too time consuming.

Therefore, I have created a mentor program now with two options to help people access my value in a way that provides equitable compensation and a win/win situation for both of us.

You can join the brand new mentor program here.

Thrive! by Alan Weiss

I received my autographed copy of Thrive! by Alan Weiss yesterday and read it last night. Everything that describes Thrive! on Alan's website is true - I am not going to repeat it here.

Take my word for it - you need a copy of Thrive! for your bookshelf.

Best Wishes for holiday season

With best wishes from Botha family in Connecticut - hoping that you have a great holiday season and prosperous New Year.

p.s. This is the first blog posting from my Christmas gift to myself - the Samsung NC10 Netbook. (Did I mention that I am thrilled with this device?)

Professional Networking Tips for Project Managers

Hot off the press is my latest article. This is the first value provided from my new Samsung NC10 Netbook.

I am thoroughly impressed by this Samsung NC10 Netbook. It is an innovative development in the world of portable PC devices and has made notebooks obsolete. Who wants to lug around a 15 inch notebook when you have more power in a portable 10 inch netbook? My notebook has already been relegated to the basement for storage while the Samsung NC10 is the vehicle of choice to provide written value to all the project managers in the world seeking prosperity.

So, without further ado, here are the Top Networking tips for Project Managers. Read this article before hitting the vacation parties over the next week and get your professional network off to a super-start for 2010.

White Christmas for 2009

Snow from this past weekend (Winter storm Albert) is going to be on the ground and roofs for Christmas. Looking forward to a long weekend with wife and son and a white Christmas.

A little sad that we won't be able to enjoy Christmas celebrations with South African relatives this year. Part of the price we pay for following our dream and moving to the USA.

What is the price that you pay to follow your dreams? How can you make the investment exponentially worth it?

Why Prosperous Project Leaders Have A Coach

Do you want to know why top performers seek out and engage a professional coach? Find out the benefits that project leaders get from working with a coach.

Perhaps you know someone who would also enjoy these benefits?

From Inbox Captivity to Email Ecstasy

Are you frequently in email jail? Do you feel as if your inbox dictates your schedule and your "to-do" list grows longer with every incoming email? Is your email holding you hostage and preventing you from devoting time to address important project issues?

I just posted a series of three free articles to help you gain control of your email and confidently use email as a project communication tool instead of allowing email to be the master of your time.

If you are a project leader then you would benefit from reviewing your philosophy towards email, and learning new email strategies and tactics for email success. You cannot afford not to master email if you want to continue prospering as a project leader.

Geloftes en simbole

16 Desember, 2009 het hierdie week verby gegaan in Connecticut, VSA. Daar was geen erkenning van Gelofte Dag in my kantoor nie of in die land nie.


In my hart sal ek altyd onthou wat ons in die skool geleer het en wat gebeur het by Bloed Rivier. My generasie heg sekere indrukke en betekenis aan 16de Desember elke jaar. Ander geslagte heg hul eie betekenis aan hierdie spesifieke datum.


Terwyl jy jou projekte bestuur, watter dae kan jy geskiedkundig maak? Hoe kan jy 'n datum kies en dit spesiaal maak vir jou projek span? Watter simbole kan jy tot stand bring? Jou projek span sal die projek onthou ongeag van waar hulle in die toekoms reis.

How to facilitate productive virtual meetings

Do you abhor attending conference call meetings that are unproductive? Do you want to learn how to facilitate productive and effective virtual meetings?

My latest article provides the twenty tips that superstar meeting facilitators employ to lead successful virtual meetings. Add these valuable skills to your repertoire and make sure to highlight them to your manager at review time.

How to get the most from training events

Do you attend training events and wonder how you can get more from your investment of time and energy?

Do you want to learn how to leverage training events? Read my latest article on how to get the most from training events along your professional development path.

2010 Reading list for Prosperous Project Managers

You need to continually expand your skills, and stretch your mind to be in a significantly better place when you start 2011. There is no time, nor excuse to be complacent with your career in 2010.

To keep you growing in 2010, I just released the official "2010 Wayne Botha list of recommended reading for Prospering Project Managers", free of charge.

Your 2010 Reading list should include:
1. "Tribes" by Seth Godin.
2. "Influence" by Robert Cialdini.
3. "Life Balance" by Alan Weiss.
4. "SPARK" by John M. Ratey and Eric Hagerman
5. "You're broke because you want to be" by Larry Winget
6. "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
7. "Brag!" by Peggy Klaus
8. "Neal Whitten's No-Nonsense Advice for Successful Projects" by Neal Whitten.

Feel free to obtain these books on audio programs, instead of hard copy if audio copies are available. I prefer audio copies of books so that I can learn while driving or working out.

Intentions and mannerisms

You have to learn to distinguish between mannerisms and intentions of the people that you work with.

I was in a meeting where a person shook their head to every suggestion made. People interpreted this gesture to mean that the person was in disagreement with the suggestions. After harsh words, it turned out that the person was not aware that he was shaking his head, and was thoughfully processing the proposal on the table while listening intently.

As a project manager you need to learn how to distinguish between the true intention of your team members and your perception. Does the team member complete activities on time? Are you satisfied with the work produced? Or do you focus on the color of his shirt and interpret a green shirt to signify defiance of the corporate diversity policy?

You need to understand that we are all human - with strengths, habits and mannerisms. Just because a team member has blond hair, does not mean she is blonde.

It is your job to identify harmful intentions and adapt to human mannerisms.

Ignore your "body language dictionary". Put your perceptions in the closet and ask for clarification when needed. Your pop-psychology training has no place in your quest for becoming a prosperous project manager.

How to lead volunteer projects to extraordinary success

I have posted the case study from Project SPUD, to help people successfully lead and manage volunteer projects.

The key learning is that as the leader of a volunteer project, you have no organizational culture to build on. You must create the foundation and structure before you can execute your project. This requires more up-front thought and work from the project leader in order to receive the payoff of a well-managed project later on.

Fast and Flexible Projects

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the "Fast and Flexible Projects" workshop presented by Greg Githens. I gained new insights, confirmed existing thoughts and enjoyed the company of the other seasoned project managers in the class. I recommend that you attend Greg's workshop if you get the chance.

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We discussed these concepts:

1. Much touted "best practices" have limited value in projects, because projects are unique. "Best practices" are most suitable for process management such as manufacturing where you produce 100,000 units of the same widget. A one-time, multi year software project should rely on the skills of the project manager, more than obsession with seeking out and trying to apply "best practices".

2. Due dates versus Dead line. The word dead line originated in the US Civil war. Any prisoner that crossed the line of markers was shot dead - no questions asked. Our projects have due dates. We don't shoot team members on IT projects for missing a target date.

3. Viper automobile design as a case study. This was fascinating.

4. The project manager has a number of chief roles on the project. Chief learning officer and Chief integration officer. Project managers should be leading the project, looking out into the future and eliminating speed bumps, proactively removing speed bumps and communicating with the team leads. Project managers should not be focused on aligning the columns on the daily status report.

5. Post-modernism, as it relates to project leaders. Although much of the current project management training focuses on "One size fits all" approach to managing projects, the reality is that project leaders should be focused on becoming skilled in many approaches of project management and learn how to apply the appropriate project management skill to each unique project management situation. Instead of rigid project management processes, we need skilled project management leaders who have access to a tool box of skills and can apply the correct skills to create unique structures and organizations, to meet the needs of the specific project.

6. Rolling-wave planning. In my experience, rolling-wave planning is not discussed or implemented often enough. It is a waste of time to develop a detailed plan for more than three months in the future, because the plan will change before you get their. You need to plan the foreseeable future in detail, and then plan to replan every few months when you have new information into the next foreseeable future. I prefer to only plan the coming two months in great detail, and schedule time to replan at the end of every month.

Absolutely suspect

Always be wary of anyone who talks in absolutes. Be careful of people who zealously say things like "You must keep all of your documents electronically, and no paper is allowed into my office", or "Every schedule and report must be created using my favorite project planning software".

Such absolutes are always an indication that you should be extraordinarily skeptical of this person's advice.

Life requires you to adapt with current technology, and be flexible in the paths that you choose to follow your dreams. People who obsess about following paths when there is nothing to be gained by insisting on the absolute, are always to be suspected. (Warning: You may have a died-in-the-wool bureaucrat on your hands)

Your goal is to be successful in reaching your dream. Your goal is not to focus on the minutiae in life. Who cares if you have some paper documents and some electronic documents in your office? Flexibility is required to be successful. Steadfastly fighting for absoluteness on irrelevant topics is dysfunctional - always.

Pin Ceremony - South Windsor Rotary club

Tonight, I received the pin and formally became a member of the South Windsor Rotary club.

Always end your presentations with

Always end your presentations with your Pow'rFul closing. Never end with a lame Q&A section or "Thank You" on your slideshow.