Eagle Scout Project

Today, I was out helping a scout on his Eagle Scout Project. We installed markers on fire hydrants around our town (South Windsor), to make the hydrants visible in the snow.

It was a great day for working outside, and the leaders of Troop 880 collaborated to support this Eagle project, just as they have supported other projects over the past years.

Zap the toleration

Today is the start of the 4th of July weekend in the USA. Fabulous firework displays light up the skies in most towns around our home, despite the unseasonal rain that we have experienced this past week.

4th of July celebrates Independence day in the USA, when American citizens stopped tolerating the British. Essentially, they said "Enough is enough" and they zapped the toleration.

As you celebrate this weekend, take a few minutes to consider having your own personal Independence day. What is bothering you that is draining your energy? What are you tolerating in your office, on your desk, or you home that you want to repair or replace but haven't gotten to it yet?

I will purchase a new paper shredder over the weekend, and declare independence from the toleration. My current shredder squeaks and requires cajoling to do it's job. It is draining my energy now, and I will zap this toleration over the weekend.

If your desk is a mess, your home needs cleaning, or your workshop has tools on the floor, then this weekend gives you a little extra time to zap those tolerations. Go ahead and remove the things in your life that are draining your energy. Then enjoy the celebration of Independence day and the accompanying festivities.

Car Show - June 28, 2009

We visited a car show in East Windsor today. This is an annual charity event. I am standing next to a Graham. I think this is the first time I have seen a Graham in real-life, and it has a striking profile and distinctive design.

The yellow hot rod started life as a Ford Anglia. The new engine and other improvements makes it a completely different vehicle to the one that left Henry's factory.

One of the enormous benefits of summer time in Connecticut is the car shows. There is a car show almost every weekend within driving distance, much to my delight.

Unseen benefactors

If you had been with me on this past Friday in the late afternoon, you would have been overcome with extreme gratitude. I was meeting with two other project managers to find a resolution to a problem on an enterprise-wide project for a multi-national corporation.

Here is the short version of the story. A defect was found in the final round of testing an enhancement for the enterprise-wide application. The business partner is willing to accept the workaround and live with the inefficient work-around until the defect can be fixed in the next version of the application, scheduled for release in 2010.

However, the project managers responsible for this project are not giving up so easily. The project managers have involved many stakeholders over the past week, and worked relentlessly to find a way to get this defect fixed and tested now, so that the business users will have the benefit of functionality, defect free. The enterprise project manager has taken ownership of the defect and is working relentlessly to deliver a great product.

The end users of this application will never get to know the enterprise project manager. The end user will receive the new version of the application and go about their work, without ever being aware of the effort that went into resolving the defect. The end users will never even know that they should thank the enterprise project manager on this project.

Project managers are usually unseen benefactors in large corporations. Working with other IT professionals and influencing decisions, so that end users don't have to work around known defects.

The two points from this story:
1. When you receive a new version of a software application, don't be too quick to complain about the defects. Be thankful that many project managers worked late on Fridays, to remove the large defects which could have caused you frustrating moments.
2. When you are the enterprise project manager for a software application, then take ownership of defects, even if your business partner is willing to accept defects. You know what is the right thing to do for your project, your users and your organization. Do the right thing, and don't give up too soon. Where there is a will, there is a way. You will probably find the way if you try hard enough.

Winning

Last Saturday, I crewed the good ship Asterix, out of Noank. We took part in the West Cove Yacht Club Annual Regatta. As you can see from the smile on our faces, and the beaming captain with the first prize trophy, we won in our class. Yahooo!!

You know that your project is in trouble when ....

1. Your status spreadsheet is so complex that it is stretched across two wide screen monitors, and you still cannot see all the status columns.
2. Your project manager tells you that there is no time for planning.
3. You say that there is no time for planning. (You should wash your mouth out if you ever say this).
4. Your project manager thinks that sending cryptic directives to each team member through instant messaging is a substitute for a communication plan.
5. You are asked to fill out a status spreadsheet, and you first have to study the instructions before you can determine how to fill out the spreadsheet.
6. Project progress is measured in terms of "How many hours were you in the office over the weekend?"
7. Your project manager is astonished when you propose the use of a project plan.
8. Team members spend more time retaking decisions and double guessing decisions than executing the actions flowing from decisions taken.
9. Your project manager firmly believes that a giant "to-do" list eliminates the need for a project plan.

If you are working on a project that displays the above behaviours, then your project is in trouble. You need to stand firm and bring sanity to the situation as you apply your project management skills. Don't allow this behaviour to go unchallenged, because you know that the result will be sub-optimal. Project management can be summed up as "Plan the work, then work the plan". You can't work without a plan.

Prop me up

Have you noticed how speakers in a Toastmasters club use props? How often do you see Toastmasters win contests when they use props?

Over the past five years, after critiqueing many speeches, I have observed that props distract from speeches.

Most winning speeches exclude the use of props. In contrast, I have predict that if a prop is included in a Toastmaster speech, then the speaker will lose the speaking contest.

This is because props limit our imagination. As speakers, we have the opportunity to conjure up images in the minds of our audience. We can describe a fire truck, and a cat up a tree with a child crying in despair at the situation. Our audience can feel the circumstances and emotionally support the child while the fire truck hurries to get the cat down from the tree.

Yet, I observe that as soon as a tangible prop comes on stage, the spell is broken. Suddenly we are focused on a speaker and a ladder and logistical complications, including climbing up the ladder and so on.

If you want to speak well, and win speaking contests, then learn how to create images in the mind of your audience. Get inside their minds. Do not resort to using props. Even if you are well intentioned, props are not a substitute for the real skill of creating images in the mind of your audience.

You are doing a disservice to your audience when you resort to using props, and are likely to pay the price by losing a speech contest as well. (Of course, there is no need to share this advice with your fellow contestants.)

Feeling old?

Tetris is celebrating it's 25 year Anniversary today.

Now I feel old!!

I recall playing Tetris on PC's which required a diskette for the Operating System to load and then a second diskette to load the games. Why? Because the PC's in the UNISA computer lab did not have hard drives in the 1980's.

Not that I would ever violate University computer lab Policy and play computer games on these PCs, of course :)

Diskettes in the 1980's held 360 KB of data. You could count the data bits with the naked eye. I am in the process of purchasing a new computer as I write this. It comes with a 1 Terabyte hard drive. Let's see. 1 Terabyte is equivalent to .... Uhmm, many, many, many 360 Kilobyte diskettes stacked on top of each other.

My new PC is quad-core. This means I will soon be playing Tetris faster than a 1980's PC could drop monochrome objects down a 14-inch monitor in a month of overclocking.

Here is a toast to another 25 years of Tetris fun. WooHoo!!

P.S. Can you believe that when I ran the spell checker on this blog posting, that it did not recognize the word "Tetris"? Where have the "Blogger" developers been living for the past quarter century? Or are "Blogger" developers too young to remember IT before the Internet? Come on Blogger developers - Add Tetris to the spell check dictionary, with honor.

Finding new ways to serve your profession

After record participation, five new directors were elected to the Board of Southern New England Chapter of PMI, include none other than yours truly. I will serve in this position for the next two years.

I volunteer and take leadership roles in PMI (Project Management Institute), because I believe that Project Management is the profession that makes a difference in our world. Better managed projects take us from daily firefighting into controlled management of our futures. We are making project management indispensable for business results and Project Management is a noble profession.

What are you doing to serve your profession? How are you sharing your expertise, experience and scars with other people so that they can be more successful? Have you offered to mentor anyone in the recent past?

Sailing The Sound - Excursion 1 of 2009

Yesterday I was out sailing with two very experienced sailors on the good ship Asterix. If you are not familiar with Asterix, then take a few minutes to research him. He embodies the spirit of everyone who chooses to stand and fight for what is right.

Asterix and his village defied the Roman Empire and resisted all attempts to become part of the mighty Roman Empire. Similarly, the good ship Asterix stands symbolizes the spirit of those of us who steadfastly stand and fight to make a difference in little ways in our worlds every day.

While we were out on the perfect sailing day, we crossed paths (or would that be wakes?) with the good ship Amistad. See the short video clip of the Amistad with sails up.

We also crossed paths with a large tanker that changed course after we changed course to avoid it, requiring us to tack again. Believe me, it is a lot larger and travelling much faster than appears from this photo. No matter who has the right of way -sailboat or tanker - logic dictates that you keep your eyes open and move out of the way of large tankers as soon as you can.

Measuring Success

This week I was talking with a colleague. I commented that my calender was free of meetings for the day and that I was focusing my efforts on preparing for a significant project meeting. My colleague was surprised to learn that I did not have any meetings for the day.

He asked how this could happen. I said "I don't know. Perhaps due to intelligent prioritization, my excellent time management skills or as result of decades of project management experience?"

My colleague totally missed the point and said "Well I have meetings all day. I will invite you to some of them."

This is a common problem. We default to measuring success by activity not by results achieved. We see people actively attending meetings and assume that projects are progressing. We measure success by the number of meetings attended, which is a meaningless metric. It takes more effort to identify the results you are working towards and then measure progress towards those results than it does to observe the number of meetings that you attend.

This is no excuse for professional project managers. Activity does not indicate progress. You need to manage your time wisely and stay focused on achieving results while deflecting meeting invitations that do not require your presence. Your time is a limited resource - don't waste it.

I should to this

The "shoulds" and "should nots" are enormous biggest mental blocks. I hear people saying that "I should do this", which is usually followed by "but, ..."

Some people seem to act first, get right to the heart of the matter, without thinking that there are "shoulds" and "should nots". What is stopping your from acting on your "shoulds". Is it because they are not your "shoulds"?

When we "should" do something, we are usually not living our own lives. We are living according to someone else's standards and to please them.

Every time that you think "I should do this", stop and answer the question "Why should I do this?"

If you don't have a good answer, then perhaps you have just liberated yourself from another "should".

The one question you should never ask a bureaucrat

There is one question that you should never ask a bureaucrat. Whether you are standing in line at the DMV and fuming about the paper work, or staring down an electronic "request for service" from a different department in corporate America, never, ever ask this question.

You do not want to hear the answer to this question. The form that you are filling out was created by a bureaucrat. Bureaucrats get up in the morning to craft and fine tune processes, procedures and forms. They stand tall with each new invention, irrespective of the effectiveness it brings.

Never ask a bureaucrat this question: "Could you be more anal?"

You will not like the answer.

SNEC-PMI Conference - Day 2

Today was an absolute blast at the SNEC-PMI conference. Toni Newman kicked off the day, with a dynamic, entertaining and memorable keynote.

Now that I have seen more Toastmasters club speeches, conference speakers and speaking contests to know that I don't need to see another one, I have become more critical of speakers. I have also come to learn that when a speaker's bio includes words such as "entertaining, dynamic, enthusiastic, memorable", then the speaker usually isn't. I have learned through hard experience that if a speaker is entertaining, dynamic and memorable, then their bio does not include these words.

Well, Toni's bio does not need any of these descriptions. Toni is awesome. Toni rocks. She is by far the best keynote speaker we have had so far at our annual convention.

If I were to describe Toni's keynote address, it would include the following memorable points:
1. She climbed a ladder on stage, and referred back to it during the speech.
2. Her story of Stephan, the waiter, had us all laughing.
3. We felt the sand under our feet as we walked on the beach in her description of the beach.
4. We laughed when she found herself in the men's bathroom and had to take a decision on how to exit the bathroom.
5. I don't anyone will forget the activity when we learned to answer the question "Why? Why Not?"
6. She walked into the audience and engaged the audience throughout the keynote. Talk about audience interaction par excellence!

Unfortunately, the other general session speakers were, well, uhmm, not as good. (I walked out when a speaker asked me to share my personal goals with other people in the room. This is about as amateurish as "turn and hug your neighbor")

The breakout sessions that I attended were fabulous.

Overall, it was again a great conference and I am amazed at how much work can be accomplished by volunteers. This whole conference is put together by volunteers under the leadership of a volunteer project manager. This is the power of project management when applied under the servant - leadership of a passionate project manager. Kudo's to SNEC-PMI. I am honored and proud to be part of SNEC-PMI.

SNEC-PMI Annual Conference - 2009

Today I attended the first workshop of our multi-day annual conference for Southern New England Chapter of PMI. Believe it or not, this is already the fourth annual conference, and I am glad to say that I have 100% attendance rate. The adjoining science center is still under construction, four years later - it sounds to me like they need some project managers over there :)

I chose to attend Lee Lambert's session and thoroughly enjoyed it, as always. He says, and I quote "If you are not making a difference, then you are taking up space". In other words, if you are following the process, filling out the forms and checking off the boxes, then you may not be adding value. You are most likely just taking up space, and soon may have no space to take up.

The people making a difference are those who are supplying data to managers to make decisions. These people are impacting decisions. These are the people who will always have space.

Lee also said "What saves your butt in project management, is the relationships that you have taken the time to develop". I fully believe that relationships are one of the keys to successful project management, and is not taught in the traditional project management training courses.

The best way to develop relationships, is to never eat alone. If you have not yet read the book "never eat alone", then I recommend that you pick up a copy.

Also, if you are not attending training sessions, and not developing your skills, then how do you intend to grow, and improve in the future. Do you want to continue doing the same old things you are doing now for the next five years? Read again what Lee said up above. Are you checking off boxes as you follow your procedures? Then you are taking up space. You can speculate what the result will be if you keep on taking up space.

Sorting fruit for Foodshare

Today, I had the pleasure of working with the youth group from my church to sort fruit at the Hartford Regional Market, on behalf of Foodshare. Foodshare is my favorite charity and I am glad to be able to help out.

Here is how it works. Wholesalers at the Hartford Regional Market donate produce to Foodshare, in large boxes, by the pallet load. Volunteers then inspect each item and discard the perished items while repacking the good items. The good items are then distributed through Foodshare's efficient distribution channel.

Let me describe the setting this morning: The sorting table is a 6 x 4 foot stainless table at waist height. A volunteer empties a box of produce onto the sorting table, and cries of "gross!!", "eeuuwww!!" and "Uhhgg!!" are utterred by the younger volunteers as moldy and squishy oranges are emptied onto the sorting table.

About 5% of the produce is perished. In a box of fresh oranges, perhaps two or three oranges are rotten, moldy or split open. The rest of the box contains perfect oranges. Our helping hands inspect each orange on the sorting table and put six oranges into a bag, which is then placed onto a fresh pallet, ready for distribution.

If it were not for Foodshare, then the 95% of good, edible produce would be wasted because it is not cost efficient for retailers to sort through it. Instead, because of Foodshare and willing volunteers, our team sorted about 1,800 pounds of produce this morning, in two hours.

The whole operation is simply outstanding and a win/win/win/win situation, which is why Foodshare is my favorite charity.

The producer's win, because the produce goes to good use. The wholesalers get a tax credit on produce that is not cost-effective to sell. Foodshare wins by receiving packaged, inspected produce, for no cost of acquisition. Volunteers win by being able to do their good deeds for the day, while building bonds with like-minded people in the community.

All the way around, I am proud to be part of the Wapping Community Church and Foodshare.

Never Eat Alone

I have finally made the time to read "never eat alone" by Keith Ferrazzi with Tahl Raz, after having it on my reading list for ages. I wish I had made the time years ago :)

I am impressed - this book is worth studying. The one word that stands out is "Audacity".

It beats out, by far, the "How to work a room by swapping 100 business cards" sea of books on the market. I always wonder how many of such authors have any lasting success from drawers full of business cards - I find card swapping techniques shallow and a waste of time, ranking alongside "elevator pitches" on my slimy-ness scale.

The authors take us through meaningful experiences from Keith's childhood - growing up in a blue-collar community and the benefit of his father's audacity, which resulted in achieving a top notch education.

The authors show the value of building relationships and how networks are instrumental in helping others, which also helps you. I relate to this concept, because much of my success in reaching dreams has been the result of personal relationships.

Up to this point, my relationship building techniques have been uncoordinated and crude. Now, after reading "never eat alone", I can refine my techniques and add more value to my network

This is an awesome book. I recommend that you add it to your "Books to read" list.

MPUG - Connecticut Chapter

Last night, I enjoyed a presentation by Mark Hall from William George Associates at the Connecticut chapter of MPUG (Microsoft Project User Group).

We heard about the wonderful features in MS-Project version 2007. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of it.

It was weird, and I felt so old. In 1997, I was a Microsoft Certified Trainer and working for a training company. My areas of expertise were NT 4 Operating System, Novell Netware, Internet Information System, Exchange and SMS. In this job, I travelled to Dallas, TX, Saudi Arabia and Holland.

Now, 12 years later, I find myself in a Microsoft office, half-way around the world. It was a reflective time, realizing how this life has incredible twists and turns. It was a deeply touching moment for me. These experiences have allowed me to help people around the world, while also expanding my understanding of humans and the earth we live on.

These experiences make me a uniquely compassionate Project Manager and allow me to coach to Project Managers to greater insights.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said that "The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size."

This is true for me. Once I realized that I could live in the USA, it became my dream, goal and my reality. Similarly, the process repeated to publish my first book and become the foremost coach to Project Managers.

OK - enough of touchy-feely stuff :)

MS-Project 2007, especially the Enterprise Server edition, appears to be the Silver bullet for many enterprise-wide Project Management challenges - I am looking forward to a demonstration of the product. Even if it is a copper-plated bullet, it will be a better solution that multiple copies of Excel documents that we email to team members and managers as we deliver projects.

P.S. As we went around the room and conversed, we found that most of the audience augment their Project Management tool with Excel documents in order to reach specific purposes on their projects. "Long live MS-Excel for Practicing Project Managers!!"

Documenting Project Manager challenges

Do you believe in coincidence? Do you believe in the law of attraction? Whatever you believe in, the stars aligned this morning as I serendipitously studied the Sunday morning paper

I am working day and night at the moment on a series of articles for the the SNEC-PMI newsletter to offer solutions that help Project Managers be more effective in the real world. After we have studied the nice, neat, Pollyanna case studies for our certifications, then we usually find that the real world of project management is a tad different.

For example, in theory, a project manager gets all the appropriate documents signed by the appropriate stakeholders and then we happily go off to lunch. In the real world, people don't get back to you, are out of the office or have been abducted by aliens. Who knows what all goes wrong, but the fact is that it is hard to get some people to respond to your emails.

I am obviously not the only project manager with these challenges in the real world. Here is what Dilbert shares in today's Sunday paper:

Dealing with Difficult People - The Results

Twyla's workshop was an outstanding success. Twyla Southall is a fabulous presenter and a boon to the Project Management community. She kept us entertained during the whole workshop while we discussed tips and techniques to deal with difficult people.

Fortunately, Twyla confirmed that none of us in the room are difficult people. It is only the people on our projects, our spouses and the other drivers who are difficult.

Seriously though, we learned that our different personalities are often at the root of difficulties. As such, we can help ourselves and other by learning the differences in personalities and monitoring our reactions to our "Hot buttons".

If you ever get the chance, attend one of Twyla's workshops. You will be glad you did.

Announcing the Project Manager Support Group

I see and feel the pressures that Project Managers are facing in 2009. Budgets that were slashed in the last few years have been decimated. Workforce reduction, restructuring and no end in sight to the increased project demands make it tough for Project Managers to keep a clear head and stay focused on delivering the best results.

To do my bit in helping the Project Management Profession move forward and support my fellow Project Managers, I am now offering facilitated Project Manager Support Groups. You can read all about it here.

The cost to you for participation in a PMS Group is a mere $200 donation to Foodshare. (Foodshare is my favorite charity). This is an excellent investment and the value you will get from participating in a PMS Group will far exceed your small donation.

If you are interested in creating win/win/win situations, then email me, and we can decide if you would be a good fit for an upcoming PMS Group.

Dealing with Difficult People

Don't we all have difficult people in our lives? Sometimes it is a team member, sometimes it is a manager or stakeholder.

I am attending an all day workshop with Twyla Southall on 3/26/2009 in Farmington, CT and the title is "Dealing with Difficult People". If all goes well, then I will be knowledgeable after the workshop and equipped to deal with difficult people that I come across in my project management trails.

As a quick update on another project - I have interviewed seasoned Project Managers and discussed the key factors that make a PM successful, what PM leaders look for when hiring a Project Manager and truckloads of other gems. I am feverishly working on compiling the results of my research into articles and papers. Expect more on this in the next few weeks.

Congratulations to Dylan Jennings

I just returned from the Eagle Scout award ceremony for Dylan Jennings of Troop 880 in South Windsor, CT. Fabulous event and well deserved award. It is nice to see our mayor - Cary Prague present an award on behalf of the town and Bill Aman present on behalf of the Connecticut state legislature.

I am learning about Boy Scouts of America and like what I see. I was not involved in Scouts in South Africa and scouting does not provide the value that Scouts enjoy in the USA.

Soon, the weather will be warm enough for a South African like me to venture on a camping trip. I have not yet accepted the concept of going camping in the snow. Summer time camping will be a different story. I enjoyed the summer outdoors during my time in the South African Defense Force in the late 1980's and am looking forward to summer camping in Connecticut as well, 20 years later.

How do you know it is a good week?

This week the US Stock market showed signs of improvement. We are heading towards Spring in Connecticut and the worst of the cold is behind us for this year. Life is good in the Botha family.

Yesterday I caught a few sentences of a news broadcast as I walked past the TV. The anchor proclaimed that International stock markets ended the day in positive territory, mortgage rates are steady and, I quote "GM did not need a bailout this week".

Thus, every week that GM doesn't need a bailout, is a good week?