“All good lessons come at a cost.  Try to learn them inexpensively.”  Howard Zucker When I made a mistake as a child, my father would remind me that all lessons come at a cost.  The goal was to learn them cheaply.  I did not always follow this maxim.  But, this pearl of wisdom stayed […]

Remember the last time you joined a new team or organization. What was it like? Was it awkward? Did you make decisions easily? Were expectations clear? Did the team gel immediately? You probably answered “No” to these questions. High-performing teams do not form quickly or naturally. As a manager or project manager quickly moving your […]

Well facilitated brainstorming sessions are amazing. A creative, sharing atmosphere is built. Numerous ideas are generated. Participants feel productive, valued, and are enthusiastic. By contrast, poorly run meetings are horrible. Little is accomplished. People feel frustrated and that they wasted their time. Brainstorming is a valuable tool and has an almost endless number of uses: […]

I believe each of us has our own, undiscovered inspirational story. We have not recognized our own accomplishments. We have not verbalized our achievements into a personal narrative. Or, we may be uncomfortable talking about ourselves. We consider heroes or great people to be innately different from ourselves. They were destined for greatness. Or, had […]

Ben Franklin was a an American founding father, inventor, diplomat, and philosopher. He also wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac which contained information for farmers and timeless adages. When it comes to project management, two quotes come to mind: “An ounce of prevention is work a pound of cure” and “A stitch in time saves nine.” These […]

Recently, my wife and I took a trip.  We were at the airport.  Our flight was delayed.  She was sitting with her back to the window and checking the flight’s status on her iPhone.  She said that we should start boarding in 5 minutes.  I looked out the window and replied, “I don’t think so.”  […]

Many organizations struggle with project portfolio management (PPM).  On the face of it, portfolio management should be easy.  We want to align our fi\unding decisions to the organization’s strategic objectives.  Since budgets are limited, this becomes a constrained optimization problem, which most easily performed in the classroom. Investment portfolio management is often used as an […]

I spent most of my career in management, leading teams in fast-paced, ever-changing companies.  I have a lot of experience with organizational change. I led teams through reorganizations.  I have also been reorganized. Change is often necessary.   Today’s business environment is disruptive.  Enterprises must adapt.  However, the vast majority of change efforts fail to meet […]

  Go to Boston.  In the Beacon Hill neighborhood, you will find the Paramount Restaurant.  The Paramount is both a great eating experience and a fine example of Lean production.  The restaurant was opened in 1937.  Its unusual service policy that is prominently posted on the wall and states, “Please ORDER and PAY before being […]

A big thank you to one of our very own Velociteach Instructors, Alan Zucker, for creating the content for this blog. You can subscribe to his blog and see the sources of this content by following this link: http://pmessentials.us/blog/ Organizations starting their Agile journey are confronted with an array of choices.  One early decision is, what […]