David Heinemeier of 37 signals blogged about the impacts to him of working the next day without a normal nights sleep. All of the typical signs were evident: irritability, lack of creativity, decreased performance. Once upon a time, I had a boss that claimed he could operate effectively on 4 hours of sleep. I tried [...]
In an audit, quality means having an opinion that is supported by the facts. The PCAOB defines what are acceptable procedures for gathering and testing facts.
Quality components to a manufacturing process means that the components work according to the specifications. If the lugnut fits, screws on tight, and doesn’t slip over time, it’s a quality [...]
I was talking to an expert in project metrics research. I asked him what are the most accurate metrics for measuring project schedule status. Based on his research, the best metric for accurate project schedule status is the best guess of the person closest to the project. Not earned value, not % complete, not critical [...]
I had lunch today with Professor Kenn Sullivan at ASU. I first met Kenn when he gave a presentation on project management to my local PMI chapter. One of the primary conclusions of Kenn’s research is that project performance improves where there is accountability for results, and that accountability improves when risks have clear owners [...]
Jeffery Fox in his book “How to Become CEO” recommends that you think daily for one hour. Not the unfocused, random thinking you might do in the shower or on your way to work (although these unstructured moments of thinking have their value), but focused, committed thinking: planning, brainstorming, writing down ideas, testing hypotheses, considering [...]
Let us roll all our strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one ball;
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
- Andrew Marvell
Amelia Bedelia is a children’s short story about a young woman trying to make her way in [...]
My uncle is a program manager for a software development company. Technically he’s the CTO, but his job function is to oversee all the software development projects. He reports directly to the CEO.
I once asked him what are the two or three most important things to remember as a project manager. He talked about how [...]
