People and Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast

Free Premium Episode I am immensely thankful for the many people who are premium subscribers to the People and Projects Podcast. By making this investment in their personal development, they receive extra episodes for additional insights into the topics covered by our free episodes. In addition, this investment helps cover part of our costs for our free episodes. So here's a big thank you to our Premium Subscribers! To give you an idea of what Premium Subscribers get with each episode, I'm including this Premium episode in the free podcast stream. If you'd like to get these additional episodes each month to further your application of the material, please go to http://bit.ly/PremiumSubscribe to learn more.   Follow-Up to the Tom DeMarco Interview I trust you had the opportunity to listen to both episodes of my interview with Tom DeMarco. He's a guy who has uniquely impacted the world of projects, and it was certainly a pleasure for me to talk with him. His books are insightful, practical, and even a bit quirky (in a good way) at times. But I'm confident that if you're in the software development side of project management or leadership, you'll get value from his books. In this premium episode, I follow-up on some issues that Tom and I touched on that are relevant whether or not your projects are related to software development. Tom's ideas truly span further than that domain. I cover topics such as: The myth of "The more pressure, the better" Why having only a 50%-70% likelihood of success could be a good thing Why stressed brains do not learn the same way as non-stressed brains Where the line crosses between stress being a good thing and it becomes a dangerous thing One additional factor that impacts workplace stress and productivity (and it's none of your business!) Why it can help to realize that all your team members are volunteer employees Max DePree's secret for learning how effective of a leader you are "It's not what you don't know that kills you. It's what you know that just isn't so." Are we changing people or just amusing them?   Resources Resources that I refer to during this premium episode include: Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD) Know What You Don't Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen. You can listen to my interviews with Michael Roberto at http://bit.ly/RobertoCast1 and http://bit.ly/RobertoOnFilters. Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. To listen to my interview with Cathy, go to http://bit.ly/NowYouSeeIt-1 and http://bit.ly/NowYouSeeIt-2.   Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and then join the discussion. Thank you for being a Premium Subscriber to The People and Projects Podcast! I greatly appreciate this opportunity to be part of your personal development strategy. Have a great week!

The Deadline In this episode, I continue my discussion with Tom DeMarco, with insights related to his writing in books such as The Deadline. If you didn't listen to the first part of my interview with Tom, I recommend you listen to that one before continuing. In this episode, Tom addresses topics such as knowing what we don’t know, dealing with jerk bosses, and what he writes and speaks about but has trouble doing himself. Make sure to stay tuned after the interview for a very transparent story from Tom about his career.   Tom DeMarco Resources Want more from Tom DeMarco? Here are some recommended resources: The Deadline Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (Second Edition) Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies: Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior   Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion.   Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!  

The Deadline A couple of months back I was teaching a PMP®Exam Prep workshop. One of the participants mentioned that he was reading Tom DeMarco's book entitled The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management. It's a book that I had wanted to read many times since it was originally published in the late 1990s but it never bubbled up to the top of my book list. But when this workshop participant continued to rave about the book, it ended up on my iPad Kindle Reader before the day was done. And in the coming days, I couldn't put the book down. If you're not in the software side of project management or leadership, you might not have heard of Tom DeMarco before. But if you do work on that side of the house, Tom DeMarco has likely impacted you and your job more than you know. He's been a leading thinker and practitioner in this space for decades, and in the next two episodes, you have a great opportunity to hear from this industry giant. Even if you're not in the software development arena, you'll get some practical insights from this exceptionally insightful thinker on how to deliver your projects and lead teams.   More Tom DeMarco To get your copy of The Deadline, click here Join us in the next episode when Tom will address topics such as knowing what we don't know, dealing with jerk bosses, and what he writes and speaks about but has trouble doing himself.   Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

I seem to be encountering a lot of favorite books these days, and the one we’re talking about today is no exception. I really like How Will You Measure Your Life? Perhaps my favorite thing about the book is how it takes business practices and ideas and applies them to life. Frankly, if you haven't read much of Clayton's work or just haven't had much training in topics such as strategic planning, the book is worth the price just for the business concepts. But then applying those concepts to life is powerful.   Thank you for being a premium subscriber to the People and Projects Podcast! It is a privilege to be part of your personal development strategy. Please let me know what questions you have and if there's anything I can do to help you lead and deliver. Thank you for joining me for this premium episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!  

How Will You Measure Your Life? In this episode, I continue my discussion with Karen Dillon about her new book entitled How Will You Measure Your Life? Karen talks about success with the important relationships in our life as well as a powerful concept they refer to as "Just This Once."   Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Sara Adam: Making a Difference With Her Life I am recording this episode from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where I have the privilege of speaking at a conference this week. Since this is a very special destination, my wife and family have joined me on the trip, which included prior stops in London, Nairobi, and Doha. If all goes as planned, we hope to go all the way around the world as a family over the course of three weeks. While in Nairobi we had the opportunity to spend time with some very close family. And one of the real treats was spending time with my niece Sara Adam. Sara will soon be starting up her senior year at Duke, but she's not waiting until graduation to make a difference. Despite her age, Sara is building an amazingly cool clothing and accessory business that is based in Kenya. Along with her business partner Anna, they are growing a business they name Judith and James. They are developing marketable sewing skills for vulnerable women, most of whom live in the Nairobi area slums. As these skills are developed, they begin working on merchandise that will be sold in the U.S. and other countries. In turn, the proceeds from that merchandise will produce a sustainable income stream for the women. It's an inspiring model being driven by an inspiring young lady. Sara is in the process of making a remarkable difference in this world.   How Will You Measure Success? How do you measure success in life? As professionals who lead projects, we know that defining measurable success criteria for projects is a very important and helpful practice. But what about life? There will be a day when you've finished your last project at work. Whether it's when you hang up your Gantt charts, so to speak, or come to the end of your life, how will you measure it? It's an intriguing question that is also the title of one of the most anticipated business books of this year. How Will You Measure Your Life? is authored by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon. I recently had an opportunity to have a discussion with Karen and look forward to sharing that interview with you over the next two episodes. By the way, if you're a premium subscriber, your extra episode will show up in the podcast stream when the second part of my discussion with Karen goes live. For now, let's hear from Karen about her work with the book entitled, How Will You Measure Your Life?   Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

I trust you were able to take away an idea or two from the discussion with Keith Murnighan. Between his book Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader and the forthcoming interview with the author of How Will You Measure Your Life? these are two of my favorite books in some time. In this premium episode, I call out some specific ideas from Keith's book that I got to benefit from, with the intention to help you grow in your ability to lead and deliver. There is so much from Do Nothing! that you’ll find helpful to your calling of leading people and projects. I strongly encourage you to add this book to your personal or team library. And if you'd like to help develop the leaders in your organization, I invite you to contact me! Between our keynotes, workshops, and executive coaching, we can help you and your organization learn how to more effectively lead and deliver.   Thank you for being a premium subscriber to the People and Projects Podcast! It is a privilege to be part of your personal development strategy. Please let me know what questions you have and if there's anything I can do to help you lead and deliver. Thank you for joining me for this premium episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!  

Beware: Management Heresy Ahead! In this episode, I continue my discussion with Keith Murnighan about his new book entitled Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader. Keith talks about why some long-accepted management practices might just get in the way of our team successfully delivering. And you’ll find that he offers some intriguing alternatives to help you become a more effective leader. You can find the first part of the interview with Keith here.   Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Is it possible that we make difficult situations worse by overmanaging them? Keith Murnighan responds with a resounding "Absolutely!" In the next two episodes, I talk with Keith about his new book Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader, which hits the shelves this week. Keith will tell us how we can, perhaps surprisingly so, be more successful when we Do Nothing!   Make Sure to Listen to The Rest of the Interview Join us in the next episode when Keith will talk about such heresy as ignoring performance goals and de-emphasizing profits. I trust you'll find it helpful in your quest to more effectively lead and deliver.   Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

So have you spent some time trying to better understand agile project management? I know some of our premium subscribers are avid agile practitioners, so good for you. But for many people, it's a topic that you know you should be looking into more but have been standing on the sidelines for too long. In this premium episode I follow-up on some points from my discussion with Andy Crowe about agile project management. Thank you for being a premium subscriber to The People and Projects Podcast! Total Duration 7:48 Download the premium episode "PMI", "PMBOK, "PMP®" and "PMI-ACP" are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.