Everyone likes to have choice . No, that's not quite correct. These days people demand choice, especially in the arena of consumer goods and services. The more choice the better, it would seem - or at least the manufacturers would have you think so, as you try to pick out a new cell phone from the hundreds of similar models available on any given day. Fotolia_43362365_XS But the truth is we don't handle choice all that well. Choice means change and uncertainty - and offering too much choice can ...
Nov 15, 2014
Cost-Benefit Analysis A process by which you weigh expected costs against expected benefits to determine the best (or most profitable) course of action. http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/cost-benefit-analysis A few years ago I was at a customer site in Independence, Missouri. It is a classic American town, sitting on the eastern edge of Kansas City. One of the advantages of working for a company with a wide-spread customer base was that I had the opportunity to visit a lot of different pl...
Nov 14, 2014
I recently attended an Outdoor First Aid course at Camp Waingaro, which is an old scout hall nestled in 19 hectares of New Zealand bush. Quite a long way from anywhere - or at least it felt like it when I found that I could no longer get a cellphone signal. It was a beautiful site, surrounded on three sides by a creek that wound its way down the valley. I initially thought it would be something of a refresher course, as I had attended first aid courses before, but in many respects this was an en...
Nov 13, 2014
Today's interview is with Bryan Barrow , a widely recognized Project Management and Risk Management consultant and Speaker. Bryan is the founder of Nova Consulting Ltd in the UK. Over the past twenty years, he has worked with Project Management Offices, Project Directors and both public and private sector organizations, helping them to improve project planning and rescue troubled projects. He also provides coaching and mentoring to help develop the skills of the next generation of project leader...
Sep 09, 2014
When I was in my late teens, I bought my first car. My friends were all doing the same - we all had our licenses and we wanted to put them to good use. Of course, not having a lot of money, we each ended up buying older, cheaper cars. I bought a 1974 Mazda RX4 from a family member, one friend bought an old Chevy Nova, another had an old sports car, and one had bought a 1977 Honda Civic. CC Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1973-1978_Honda_Civic_5-door_hatchback_01.jpg All of these c...
Aug 13, 2014
When I was a child, I didn't like sports. Well, that's not exactly true - I loved swimming and spent almost every day during my young summers in the water at our local pool, and was part of the swim team. Wrinkly skin, and a persistent smell of chlorine - it was a wonderful way to spend a good part of your summer's day. Besides, when your town had an outdoor pool that was only open for 3-4 months out of the year, you made the most of it. The rest of the year it was either too cold, or just plain...
Jul 10, 2014
" Where there is no vision, the people perish..." Proverbs 29:18 One of the most important things you will do as a leader or Project Manager is to communicate a compelling vision to your team or organization. It not only sets the direction for the team and the project, it also begins to pull a group of individuals into a cohesive unit - and eventually, if all goes well, into a high-performing team. Without vision, all is lost - or has the potential to be, unless you bring things back on track. T...
Jun 13, 2014
How do you make sure your projects complete on time? When you set a deadline, you are supposed communicate it to everyone, right? Then, presumably,the entire team will work towards that date, vendor and client alike, to make it happen. That is usually what happens on most projects - you may be a little late on some target dates, a little early on others, but generally all of you are working towards the same dates, and hopefully the same priorities. But what about when it doesn't work out, and de...
May 26, 2014
The Cost of Change We have all heard about how the cost of change increases exponentially the further you are along the path of project delivery. If the unit of effort is, say, (1) at requirements stage to accommodate a feature change, in design it increases to (10x), in development it increases to (100x) and once delivered it may increase again to (1000x) or more. Or perhaps a different scale applies to your project, but you get the idea. The same rules apply when you are doing construction, wh...
Apr 21, 2014
A few years ago I went on a fly-fishing trip with a group of work colleagues. I was working on a project in New Zealand, and we were going to be staying in an old company-owned holiday "bach" just outside of Taupo. You could book these properties for a weekend and pay a small fee. A basic type of unit - furnished with several beds, kitchen, TV, tables, chairs and couple sofas - nothing too fancy. We unpacked our gear, loaded up the fridge and headed back outside for fly-fishing lessons. My first...
Mar 24, 2014
You know the drill - anyone who has ever flown on a commercial airline has heard this announcement from the flight attendant, usually followed by a safety briefing video and a demonstration by the crew. Most of us briefly look up, see the flight attendant standing there, snug our seat-belt, glance up above our heads, and resume reading - or listening to music, whatever. Most of us ignore the actual briefing if we have flown more than a few times. Even the comment " you may have flown before, but...
Mar 16, 2014
Let me ask you an important question: Have you Exploited your Project Team Today? Wait a minute, Exploit your Project Team? You are probably thinking - He can't be serious . That's a horrible, evil thing to do, right? You probably also have visions of unfair wages, an evil boss, overworked and under-appreciated staff, things like that. Unfortunately, that does happen - but it is not what I am talking about. You really should exploit your team - and a trip to the toy store made me come to view th...
Dec 08, 2013
Fifteen minutes of Fame - we all seem to want it, and according to some we are all due our fifteen minutes in the limelight. Well, maybe, or maybe not. I am sure that the law of averages has something to say about that, and more likely some celebrity out there is using up a whole lot of other people's 15 minutes. I am sure mine has already been used up somewhere, maybe yours too. Who knows? We all day-dream about what might be. However, instead of making the dreams a reality, we often squander c...
Oct 24, 2013
When I was fifteen, I spent the summer visiting my relatives in Alberta. Nothing unusual about that, as we did that most summers. We would usually drive the nearly 14 hours to Calgary and then spend a few very enjoyable weeks visiting the grandparents, exploring the farmyard and visiting our many aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives in the area. What was different about that summer is that our family divided up the visits, allowing us kids to each spend more time with our relatives, one-on...
Oct 14, 2013
zom·bie \ˈzäm-bē\ noun 1. Formal. a. the body of a dead person given the semblance of life, but mute and will-less, by a supernatural force, usually for some evil purpose. b. the supernatural force itself 2. Informal . a. a person whose behavior or responses are wooden, listless, or seemingly rote; automaton. b. a person who is or appears lifeless, apathetic, or completely unresponsive to their surroundings. c. an eccentric or peculiar person, markedly strange in appearance or behavior ( sometim...
Aug 01, 2013
I have, for much of my life, lived close to sea level. Most people don't think too much about altitude, unless they travel a lot, climb mountains, or are professional athletes. If you live near hills or near mountains, you might not even think too much about a hike or drive up a couple thousand feet, or a few hundred metres or even a kilometre in elevation above where you live. You might not even notice it that much, particularly if you are driving. If you are hiking, well - any trouble breathin...
Jul 30, 2013
Have you ever saved a life? In an emergency, can you do what it takes to help someone? Could you rescue them from a life-or-death situation? Perhaps you might think I am being a bit dramatic, but it's a serious question. Are you prepared ? In July 1983, the 15th World Scouting Jamboree was held at Kananaskis, Alberta, in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies. In December 1981, several members of our Venturer company were selected to attend the HikeMaster training camp in July 1982. If we passed the...
Mar 19, 2013
A colleague of mine has no taste. None at all - either he lost it in early childhood or he never had it, he can't exactly remember. I am not being mean about his clothing or sense of style - I am being quite literal. His taste buds do not work at all. When he eats, there is only texture, no flavor. "Food is simply fuel" as he says it - there is no particular enjoyment to any particular food, just the satisfaction of no longer being hungry. "How horrible," I thought, "to never be able to taste ch...
Feb 04, 2013
Happy New Year - and welcome to your new project! The start of the calendar year often marks the start of new projects; the old year is done, the new year is fresh and full of potential. Everyone is rested from the break and raring to go...ok, perhaps recovering is the right word. However, it is still a great time of year to kick off new projects, with most people full of energy and optimism. Who knows - your New Year Resolution might even have been about your project. (Ya, right!) Many people f...
Feb 03, 2013
Today's interview is with with Chris Cattaway , an expert in building successful teams. Chris's experience ranges from designing and project managing multi-million dollar telecommunications systems to leading disaster response teams in Africa and Asia. He is a PMP®, a Registered Prince 2 Practitioner, and graduated as an Otago (NZ) MBA in 2003. Recognizing that both hard and soft competencies are necessary for sustainable performance improvement he is also licensed and accredited to facilitate w...
Jan 07, 2013
When my father graduated from university and got his first job as an Electrical Engineer, his manager told him the following on his first day: "Congratulations on earning your degree. But I want you to know the only thing it shows me is that you know how to learn." My father was stunned. He had worked hard to get his degree over several long years; surely all of what he had learned counted for something! Engineering was a hard degree to get and covered a lot of knowledge areas in depth...what wa...
Nov 15, 2012
"I got here first!" "No, I did!" "Me!" "No, me!" I just got back from a three day school camp with my youngest son. We went to new and interesting places each day, and everywhere we went, walking or driving, the adults were constantly serenaded by the same chorus when we arrived at each destination. "I got here first!" Somehow, it seemed vitally important to be the first one to arrive wherever we went, or at least it was if you were under 10 years old. The playground is a useful place to hone sk...
Nov 02, 2012
Today's interview is with Lynne Schinella , an expert on building “whole brain” organizations and teams. Lynne Schinella is an authority on masterful communication in the 21st century. She believes that at the heart of all great communication are 3 elements: empathy , understanding and respect for diversity . No stranger to these qualities, she discovered their great power early on in life. Before starting Schinella Incentives in 1991 and then Ripe Learning in 2001, Lynne worked at Qantas, Conti...
Oct 12, 2012
Definition of PAIN a : a state of physical, emotional, or mental lack of well-being or physical, emotional, or mental uneasiness that ranges from mild discomfort or dull distress to acute often unbearable agony, may be generalized or localized, and is the consequence of being injured or hurt physically or mentally or of some derangement of or lack of equilibrium in the physical or mental functions (as through disease), and that usually produces a reaction of wanting to avoid, escape, or destroy ...
Oct 03, 2012
When I was younger, I was quite risk-averse. I said "no" to a lot of things that some might consider a "safe-ish" activity - like Bungee Jumping or riding a motorcycle. (Dirt bikes were OK though, because I never got going that fast). So why did I find myself backing away from a snake charmer who was walking towards me with a fully loaded Cobra held out in front of him? More to the point, why did I let him put it around my neck in the first place? Most would say that this definitely falls under ...
Sep 14, 2012
