Comments for Preventing Project Failure

Comment on The Issue List of Death OR You Too Can Instantly Assess your Project by Nadeem

Nadeem — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:44:38 +0000

Michiko,

I just sent you a note on Linkedin, I hope to hear from you soon. Great blog, very entertaining and valuable at the same time. thanks

Comment on Presto Chango! You DO have time to brush up on your PMBOK – Praise for HueCubed and PMBOK in Small Bites by HueCubed Flashcards » Iterate Pivot and Scale

HueCubed Flashcards » Iterate Pivot and Scale — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:59:37 +0000

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Comment on The Seasoned PM OR Why Failure is Your Friend by Michiko Diby

Michiko Diby — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:30:08 +0000

Thanks Corinna!

Comment on The Seasoned PM OR Why Failure is Your Friend by Michiko Diby

Michiko Diby — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:29:33 +0000

Samad, Thanks for the very kind words. There are many more traits for sure. I forgot that Seasoned PMs don’t’ focus on the past, but move forward into the future. Glad you found it useful

Comment on The Seasoned PM OR Why Failure is Your Friend by Corinna

Corinna — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:39:16 +0000

Failure is only a problem if we and the organizations do not learn from the failures. Sometimes timing is off. Sometimes it is as you mention an inexperienced PM. Sometimes it is fixable with the correct remediations and staffing including a seasoned PM.
Love the post and explanation of seasoning for a PM.
Pass the salt and pepper…

Comment on The Seasoned PM OR Why Failure is Your Friend by Samad Aidane

Samad Aidane — Sun, 23 May 2010 15:02:18 +0000

Michiko,

Awesome!!!

Yes, Yes, Yes, and yes on all 4 traits!!!

These make total sense to me and I can recognize them in great/seasoned PMs.

The one that really got me was “Seasoned PMs hear the facts despite the delivery”.

So right. Seasoned PM don’t get caught in the drama. They can see past it.

I also loved the “pots that have been used so much that cooking in them imparts a certain flavor ” analogy.

I love it.

Thank you for this awesome post.

Samad Aidane.

Comment on Presto Chango! You DO have time to brush up on your PMBOK – Praise for HueCubed and PMBOK in Small Bites by Bob Light

Bob Light — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:55:28 +0000

A refreshingly honest write up about this product. There are very few tools that are perfect, but this one looks like it has an opportunity to provide good value to a very broad audience. Very cool!

This kind of open feedback is great to see (and to get if you are the developer!).

Thanks for sharing.

Comment on About by Dan

Dan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:52:27 +0000

Digging the “tired, poor, huddled masses” line. An inspired bio if I saw one!

Comment on Shifting Our Thinking To Expect Crisis: Project Management Second Order by Michiko Diby

Michiko Diby — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:02:02 +0000

Stakeholders….its always the daggone stakeholders!!!! Thanks again Geoff

Comment on Shifting Our Thinking To Expect Crisis: Project Management Second Order by Geoff Crane

Geoff Crane — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:53:36 +0000

Hrm. That’s actually a really good point. I’m thinking about some god-awful projects I’ve been a part of…really freakshows where nobody anticipated or could have known the level of horrendous complexity that lay beneath the surface. They resulted in crises of epic proportions, and a lot of pointing fingers and general ugliness. But of course, like you say, the crisis wasn’t specifically expected.

On IT projects, I usually do a re-baseline prior to the start of development, when more information has resulted in more accurate estimates…but this says to me, “this phase is ongoing…let’s get everyone back to the station, regroup, and debrief. Then we plan the next phase, combining what we knew before and what we know now.”

I can dig it, and think it’s a damn sight more realistic and achievable than planning out five years on a rapidly diminishing accuracy curve. I’d think managing stakeholder expectations would be the biggest hurdle. Funding still needs to be allocated and apportioned every year at budget time, and the usual headaches will apply.

That being said, a re-education of stakeholders about the vagaries of projects never hurts.

Geoff.

PS: I read the Black Swan article and loved it. I still haven’t read your original source for this post so I’m going to do that now! LOL (By rights I should have done it by now hehehe)

PPS: You should totally get down with your economist friend and come up with that index and submit it to a big magazine or something. I’d be right behind you shouting, “go Michiko!!!”