Herding Cats

Agile Project Management - Again

Is Agile Project Management Simply Good Business Management? Imagine running a Nordstrom's (or your favorite retailer) shoe department or men's store with a PMI structured work process, where you use compliance, contracts, and Gantt chart based rules of engagement as... Read more →

Pull versus Push

One of the distinct differences between traditional project management and agile project management is the difference between "pull" and "push" tasks, processes or activities. PUSH paradigm - "let me plan out all the things that need to be done over... Read more →

Failed Process or Failed Execution

I'm working on several things at the moment at three different sites. Two are process improvement and one is product development. What dawned on me today was that the conjecture that we need a new process fails - many times... Read more →

Declaring Victory?

David Anderson has declared victory for Agile Development. Hopefully this is not the same declaration that our President made from the deck of the USS Lincoln. I'm sure it's not, since we've all learned from that to be a bit... Read more →

The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth

These words have many meanings in our society. In project management its hard to find a specific meaning. What is the project going to cost - truthfully? What are the risks that are going to cause problems - truthfully? Who... Read more →

Complex Adaptive Systems and Agile Project Management

I was reading a publishers pre-announcement newsletter and came across a reference to Complex Adaptive Systems and Project Management. The concept that "Agile Project Management is like a Complex Adaptive System" is popular in the literature and discussion forums. Having... Read more →

Systems Thinking in Project Management

The term "system" is used often to describe a collection of processes. It is used in the agile literature, in other descriptions of software development and project management. But it is not always used in the form defined by Systems... Read more →

The Power of the Past Tense

When we speak in the past tense about an event or a milestone, we speak about it being complete, delivered, conducted, resolved. We speak about the accomplishments needed to complete, deliver, conduct or resolve the Event. We know there is... Read more →

Another Case for IMP/IMS and Capability Based Planning?

Previews of Jim Highsmith's new book The Agile Revolution are available on the web from Addison Wesley. I'm interested in the book and I should be excited about the concepts of Agile Project Management he presents. But I'm troubled y... Read more →

Work Breakdown Structures

I'm working on a process improvement initiative for a client that integrates Systems Engineering, Program Management, Systems Architecture and Product Development. One of the topics of discussion is how to develop a Work Breakdown Structure. The motivation for the WBS... Read more →

The Challange of Being Agile

There's a discussion of sorts (as it always turns out on email) about "what is agile" on the Agile Management forum. One poster has suggested that "being agile" means adhering to three principles: Our highest priority is to satisfy the... Read more →