Herding Cats

Program Management and Project Management

I needed to define the difference between Program Management and Project Management for a process improvement effort. Program Manager Is responsible for and has authority to accomplish program objectives for development, production, and sustainment to the user's operational needs. The... Read more →

Project Management's Problems

In the current issue of PMForum there is a discussion of the failures of Project Management to deliver on its promises. There are three points made about the failure of project management: Claims don't match the observed results The pro... Read more →

Two good reads

Just finsihed two good reads The Software Architect's Profession: An Introduction, Marc Sewell and Laura Sewell, Prentice Hall, 2002 and Systems Engineering: Coping with Complexity, Richard Stevens, Peter Brook, Ken Jackson, and Stuart Arnold, Prentice Hall, 1998. The Architect's Profession... Read more →

Six Trusted Friends

There was recent mention on as forum about chartering projects and the attributes of that charter. Rudyard Kipling's six trusted friends: What When Where Who How Why It's the first and the last that the charter should address What does... Read more →

Systems Engineering View of Project Management

In the Systems Engineering paradigm a project is a temporary creation brought into being to implement specific goals. At the end the team goes back to the businesses that spawned the project. The control mechanism for a Systems Engineering based... Read more →

Enterprise Projects? Follow the Money

If Enterprise Project Management is to become a member the Enterprise IT Project community, then the discussion needs to move away from features and functions and toward cost savings. But first a "cost Structure" for the deployment of Project Server... Read more →

Are there mutiple views of project management processes?

The recent discussion about the separation project processes from project products fails to recognize that there many alternatives views of project management. I’d like to present a broader concept based on systems architecture and systems engineering described in Rechtin’ s... Read more →

Enterprise Project Management (EPM)

Can Enterprise Project Management be considered "enterprise" if I can't find the saves on the balance sheet. I typical ERP project with it's associated Enterprise Services (consolidated processes) is looking for saves in the $50M to $100M range for a... Read more →

The Value of PM Tools

There's a very useful conversation taking place on Brian's site about the economics of project server. Take a look. The big question is - "is there a different between convenience and value?" We own Project Server on several major programs.... Read more →

Project Management Paradigm

An ongoing discussion of sorts takes place on the New Grange forum regarding the PMBOK view of Product Scope and Project Scope. This is an old discussion based in the 1996 version of PMBOK. I work in a program/project management... Read more →

Systems of Systems and Agile PM

In the "complex systems" development world there is a concept of Systems of Systems." One definition of Systems of Systems is a system which contains... ...operational and managerial independence, geographical distribution, emergent behavior, and evolutionary development. These are the types... Read more →

Two Critical Project Success Factors

Had lunch today with a senior Planning Manager. He's got 25 years managing the construction, launch and operations of spacecraft and their associated components. He mentioned two critical attributes of a successful project Have the right people - this means... Read more →

Why does one size fit all?

I participate in several project management forums. A recent posting resurfaced some ideas that I find down right arcane. Projects have two parts - product and process. This is the antithesis of good Systems Engineering. Work Breakdown Structures are defined... Read more →

The Iron Triangle (Again)

The previous discussion of the Iron Triangle - the suggestion that it should be melted down - was a diversion from the real problem of project management. It was a diversion because those suggesting the melting don't work in an... Read more →

Gold Practices

The Data and Analysis Center for Software has a Gold Practices resource that provides information relevant to software acquisition and management. At first glance the reaction might be "this is Big Design Up Front," for weapons systems and space flight.... Read more →

Planning processes

The verb "management" in Agile Project Management produces an actionable outcome - a "managed project." The simple implication is that a "managed project" has a plan for "managing of the project." No matter what the format of the plan, there... Read more →

Frameworks for Project Managament

We're embroiled in a definition "discussion" about what is a Integrated Project Team. My gut impulse when this happens is to rush back to my office and type in the operational phrase "integrated project team" or "integrated product team" to... Read more →

Economic Value and Agile Project Management

One of the principles of the Declaration of Interdependence is that Agile Project Management "... increase(s) return on investment by making continuous flow of value our focus." Sounds great, I want that. How is value defined? What are the units... Read more →

What is agility?

I've started some research on Capabilities Based Planning (see previous posts) and come across an enterprise reference model for agility. There are some interesting definitions of agility in this area: Agility is the ability to maintain competitiveness in firms, while... Read more →

Why IT Planning is Hard

I've started a new engagement to help an Enterprise Services planing team get a handle on where they are there and how much it's going to cost to finish. Enterprise Services is the consolidation of core business processes in centralized... Read more →