Integrity is Job One

Integrity not only means that your actions are aligned with your words, it also implies that both are ethically bound. Most importantly, it implies 360-degree accountability, meaning that you are accountable above, below, and sideways, in the organization.

That's not to say you can't make a final decision (and indeed you must), but you need to observe, listen, and consider all angles and impacts before making what you feel is the right decision for the organization. And, for real success, you need to do it quickly. This is done easier in an environment of decentralized-decision making, operating under a set of basic guidelines and high level objectives.

When operating in a more autocratic environment, it can be challenging, especially if the orders conflict with your better instinct.

Here's a great quote I came across in a Tom Peters presentation. The quote comes from Colonel John Boyd, the legendary fighter pilot who founded the concept of OODA loops (Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act), which also helped organizations like Toyota become so successful.

“If your boss demands loyalty, give him integrity. But if he demands integrity, give him loyalty.”

-- BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)

This is a motto we should all carry with us.

Managing Innovation Projects; A Different Breed?

I've been reading an excellent book by Tom Kelley, of IDEO (the award-winning industrial design firm). It's called The Ten Faces of Innovation, and from reading it, I'd say there's more than meets the eye that's applicable to project management in general. I'll be posting on that shortly.

Meanwhile, from Innovation Tools comes a good article that talks about the nuances of managing projects that are specifically for the purposes of innovation (i.e. research and experimental projects, etc.).

For example, according to the article:

• Innovation projects tend to start with loosely defined, sometimes even ambiguous objectives that become clearer as the project proceeds. The processes used are more experimental and exploratory and seldom follow strict linear guidelines.
• Teams need to be more diverse and have a higher level of trust as they explore new territory where failure is a possibility.
• With failure as a built-in possibility, innovation teams are more actively involved with risk management and need to learn to fail fast and fail smart in order to move on to more attractive options.
• Also, innovation projects generally need to be sold to project sponsors and funding committees, a responsibility usually not required from normal project teams.

Although I think many of these apply to a good portion of IT projects in general to a certain degree, they are good points nonetheless. For the full article, read on...

Innovation Weblog - Project management vs. managing innovation projects

Fighting the Status Quo; A Lesson from an Education Reformer

Reading Dennis Littky's The Big Picture: Education is Everyone's Business has been very inspiring. Just as Littky challenges the status quo in the education system, we must do so in our organizations.

Here's a quote I especially like in the book:

"No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back"
- Turkish Proverb

I've listed 21 key points, paraphrased from the book, to illustrate how the same issues that face the education system apply to creating a learning environment in business...

1. Teach how to think flexibly, not that there's a right way and a wrong way for doing everything. It's worth noting that the best tennis players hold the racket the wrong way.
2. Create an environment that allows students the freedom to find themselves with the support and motivation of inspiring adults [leaders]
3. Teach students to fish; don't give them fish. Quote: "We have plenty of people who can teach what they know, but very few who can teach their own capacity to learn" - Joseph Hart
4. Use collaborative learning - i.e. "What do we think of this passage as compared to this one?" etc.
5. Teaching and learning are about problem solving. Put teachers and learners in the best possible environment for them to do this together.
6. Don't dismiss someone as "dumb in math" or "uninterested in science." Cater to their strengths [as Peter Drucker says, "Make weaknesses irrelevant" and pair people with complementary strengths if need be]
7. Don't measure education [or any kind of success] by the number of minutes a kid sits at a desk.
8. Remember the Three R's: Relationships (with teachers, community, parents, etc.), Relevance (to the students lives and passions - i.e. "what's in it for me"), Rigor (allow them to concentrate intensely in an area of their interest - build depth, not breadth)
9. Insure a shared philosophy among the principal and teachers [i.e. management]
10. Fix the atmosphere. Create an environment for learning. Fun, happiness, respect, kindness.
11. Build celebration into the culture. Celebrate often, for various occasions.
12. Know who really sets the culture of a school [or organization]. It's the senior students [middle management and vocal champions -- what Seth Godin calls "the sneezers" --those who can spread an "idea virus"]. Engage them in recreating the culture, and others will follow suit. You can't change the culture by holding a special assembly [or a meeting or a memo]
13. Never make rules based on the exception.
14. To build trust and respect, provide responsibility and decision-making to students, and control over their environment, tools, and learning
15. A culture can thrive and grow on its own stories. Every interaction helps build the culture.
16. Start with the student, not the subjects or classes. Quote: "One size never fits all. One size fits one." - Tom Peters
17. Use real world examples - or better yet, real projects. Students can tell when things really matter and when they're contrived. [so can business people learning project management]
18. Don't give grades. The real world is based on giving feedback and showing people what they need to do to improve. It helps students succeed. Grades are meaningless, subjective, and can destroy morale. Use a narrative instead. It's a tool to help learning, not evaluation for evaluation's sake.
19. Quote: "Nobody grew taller by being measured." - Phillip Gammage
20. Measure what counts. There is no one indicator of success that fits every student. Instead, measure how often a student talks to teachers about their problems [builds the right culture]; measure if parents agree the school is a safe place and that it views parents as partners [i.e. customer satisfaction]
21. Friends of change [6 C's] are: concentration (on your philosophy), commitment, conversation, collaboration, caring, conviviality

IT SOA Strategy: Form Architecture Group ...

What is the role of an IT architecture group with regards to SOA? Ajit Sagar shares his experiences with developing the architecture organization. He recommends a more formalized architecture function to support SOA standards and performance agreements. I like his ideas regarding a more active and involved architecture team that interacts regularly in projects, in addition to traditional roles, such as publishing reference architecture documents. Good advice ....

... "One of the main responsibilities is also to align with the business to define the IT strategy for SOA and to provide an implementation roadmap, including the migration of existing applications towards a service-oriented paradigm. " ...

IT SOA Strategy: Form Architecture Group: Via Sys-Con Italia: Architecting for SOA ...

Projects@Work Interview- Sacre Bleu! Napoleon, Project Manager?

For those curious to learn more about my upcoming book, Napoleon on Project Management, I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Karen Klein at Projects@Work about it.

We spoke mostly about the "six winning principles" that led to Napoleon's extraordinary accomplishments, and the "four critical warning signs" that we should all be aware of to avoid meeting our own Waterloo.

Also cleared up a few popular misconceptions. For more, here's a link to the interview...

http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/articles/229826.cfm

Project Strategy Weakness Hampers Mine Cleanup ...

Deficiencies in project management strategy contribute to poor remediation performance. And, you thought IT project management was lacking ....

... "An overall project strategy for assessing the site and evaluating remediation is completely lacking, resulting in hasty and reactive ineffective efforts at the site, said the memo entitled Anaconda Copper Mine Site " ...

Project Strategy Weakness Hampers Mine Cleanup: Via Las Vegas SUN: EPA criticized Nevada for slow cleanup at mine, contact with Arco

Project Management: Microsoft Office Live Beta Now Available ...

Office Live Beta is now available to support collaborative project management in a software-as-a-service model ...

... "the Microsoft Office Live Collaboration service offers small businesses password-protected online workspaces (intranets and extranets). Capabilities include customer management, project management, sales and marketing management, employee management, and company administration, as well as password-protected internal shared sites to facilitate collaboration among employees, customers, suppliers and other business partners. " ...

Project Management: Microsoft Office Live Beta Now Available: Via Microsoft: Microsoft Launches Beta Program for Microsoft Office Live Services: Internet-based services include free Web site, domain name and e-mail accounts ...

Project Management: Virtual Decision Making

Struggling with enabling and sustaining project decisions? Bill Thomas promotes effective decision-making through a process that considers the level of decision-making participation and measures performance. The decision roles of participants should be understood, documented, and monitored (helpful with compliance, such as SOX). Graphical visualization of key measures is recommended, in combination with the appropriate commentary to provide the color and texture of the business context. ...

... "Effective group decision making within performance management has always been a challenge, but traditional decision-making approaches do not consider the speed and complexity of dynamic virtual work teams regularly employed at this time. They also neglect recent compliance regulations that have a direct impact on defining current business processes. Ten years ago, an organization could employ loose guidelines and/or project management techniques because group decision making was less complicated. " ...

Via Business Intelligence Network: Decision Making and Risk within the Performance Management Process ...

Mindmappping for Project Success

We frequently tout the benefits of mind-mapping software. Here's a good article from Projects@Work about how to use mind-mapping to facilitate idea generation, requirements definition, and scope refinement.

The article offers some examples and some links to mind-mapping software, including a free open-source product called Freemind.

Check it out...

http://www.projectsatwork.com/article.cfm?ID=229167

For Project Management State of the Art, Attend the PMI Research Conference 2006

At PMThink, we're committed to researching the latest methods in project management, portfolio management, and governance.

Whether it's Agile Scrum methods, more focus on conceptual phases, or the latest innovations in organizational leadership, we're always looking for new and better ways to manage projects.

One good way to find out the latest and greatest in the field is to attend the PMI Research Conference 2006, which will be held at the Centre Mont-Royal in Montreal on 16-19 July 2006. Between the speakers and the attendees, it should be quite informative. Registration begins March 1st.

Here's the info...

Research Conference 2006

ITIL Service Catalog: How To Design One ...

newScale training on how to design ITIL service catalog ...

... "The newest dates and locations for upcoming Service Catalog training courses are:

London , United Kingdom - Feb. 22-23, 2006
Minneapolis - March 21-22, 2006
Philadelphia - April 25-26, 2006
Las Vegas - May 23-24, 2006 " ...

Via newScale: newScale Launches New Service Catalog Online Community and Additional IT Service Catalog Courses: IT Service Catalog Experts Share Insights to Ensure Successful ITIL Initiatives ...

Project Management Exam Prep ...

Upcoming PMP exam prep course ...

March 16-18: The Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of the Project Management Institute will conduct a three-day project management professional exam preparation course from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Liberty Hall, 800 Eisenhower Drive, Kimberly. The course is designed to tutor attendees through the PMI Project Management knowledge areas and code of professional conduct with the focus of helping students prepare to pass the PMP exam.

Project Management Exam Prep: Via Appleton Post-Crescent: Business planner ...

IT Governance: CIO Interview ...

... "Proper corporate IT governance is necessary to prioritise IT investment according to business drivers. " ...

IT Governance: CIO Interview: Via CIO Asia: Lean and Mean

Project Managers Need to be Cheerleaders Too

Sometimes the project manager also needs to be the head cheerleader, if you will.

Recently my project team has been suffering with morale issues due to a shifting organizational culture and marketplace. On Friday, the project hit 50% completion. With this, an opportunity was created to remind them that they have accomplished a lot and in fact, all of these accomplishments have collectively resulted in our achieving 50% completion. I praised them and thanked them. This cost nothing but a few minutes of my time. There were no mentions of a hard road ahead - simple, sincere praise and thanks - no ifs, ands or buts.

Cheer your team on - find a reason - any reason. It certainly can't hurt.