Firefighting: Don’t Reward the Arsonist
Firefighting is a self-perpetuating cycle that ultimately engulfs an organization. It is caused by four behavioral biases, but there are ways to fight back and reduce damaging firefighting.
Category Archives: Management
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Project Management Maturity in Lake Wobegon
Attaining the highest levels of project management maturity is expensive, difficult, and has diminishing returns. Don’t be satisfied lingering at level 1, but don’t feel bad if you’re not at level 5.
Don’t Cheerlead During a Crisis
Instead of a call to action, in times of crisis people need “holding” – guidance on how to move with purpose. Holding acknowledges difficulty without giving in to powerlessness. Here are some pragmatic ways you can hold your organization.
How to Love Your Fuzzy Front End
The messy, uncertain time at the start of a new project can be a swamp – or a time of powerful innovation. Here’s how to take advantage of it.
Looking for a Goldilocks Decision Moment
The timing of a good decision is like a Goldilocks moment – not too soon and not too late. A technique called the last responsible moment can help you identify when that is.
How Managers Can Help During Change
CLARC spells out the kinds of help that managers and supervisors must provide during change.
How to Manage a Portfolio: Separate the Best from the Rest
Spreading your organization’s precious resources thinly over too many active projects is a recipe for lots of disappointment. It’s better to do fewer projects well by concentrating effort on them, even if that means fewer projects.
How to Manage a Portfolio: Air Traffic Control
An effective portfolio manager is like an air traffic controller, ensuring that all projects in the portfolio are monitored and managed together.
Forward Progress
Facilitators use the consolidation technique to intentionally build up a series of small agreements, like a bricklayer laying a sturdy foundation brick by brick and layer by layer.
How to Manage a Portfolio: All Together Now
Managing projects as a portfolio helps ensure alignment, just as flying in formation helps birds stay on course, avoid collisions, and conserve energy.