Herding Cats

The Future of Project Controls

Hal Macomber just submitted a post titled "The Future of Project Controls - Five Years Later." In this post Hal states. "The future of project controls is to place the responsibility for gauging where we are and how we are... Read more →

Uncertainties are Correlated

The NAVAIR (Naval Aviation) Earned Value Management handbook has an interesting table showing project success and failure modes. (This link will ask for a confirmation of the certificate). These modes are effective or ineffective: Planning Cost estimating Measurements Milestone tracking... Read more →

Restating the Obvious

Through a series of posts I came across an interesting site. www.typealyzer.com which will tell you what Meyers Briggs type you are from reading your blog. Well guess what, I'm INTJ. The long-range thinking and individualistic type. They are especially... Read more →

Another Confused Look at Earned Value Management

David Schmaltz provides a look at the application of Earned Value to projects. Several common mistakes are made in this post, possibly from lack of experience on programs subject to 748B or possibly just from not seeking out information from... Read more →

CMMI, Agile, and Managing Projects

The topic of CMMI and Agile has come up again with a Technical Note from SEI on how CMMI and Agile might be somehow connected. This is one of those "must read" papers. But not necessarily for the reasons the... Read more →

Earned Value is Necessary But Not Sufficient

The use of Earned Value in construction, government, and defense programs is common practice. Some SOX IT organizations have discovered the benefits of EV. But using the EV variables - Cost Variance, Schedule Variance, Cost Performance Index, and Schedule Performance... Read more →

Agile and Project Management - Again

Dennis Stevens made a recent comment that brings up the old topic of the term "agile" in the same sentence as Project Management - PMBOK still. The 4th Edition of PMBOK is on it way, so we'll have to see... Read more →

Making Credible Estimates

The art of estimating the cost and schedule aspects of a project a fraught with problems. The primary issue is the belief that estimates are either credible or completely worthless. Both extremes are wrong of course. But a reality check... Read more →

$35B to build advanced manufacturing? Too Late!

See the video from the Detroit News on an advanced Ford Plant - in Brazil. Read more →

Troubled Projects

A report from the Center for Business Practices, "Troubled projects: project failure or project recovery (2006)," describes the reasons for projects getting into trouble. Expectations that are too high, unrealistic, not managed, or poorly communicated. The needed capabilities were not... Read more →

What's A Good Plan Look Like?

Adde parvum parvo magnus acervus erit Add little to little and there will be a big pile - Ovid 43 BCE - 17 CE The notion of "well formed" is lost many times on a program. A well formed system... Read more →

Theory is Obsolete and other touchy topics

I've stepped on toes again with a too-long winded post to Hal's web site on the conjecture that the "Theory of Project Management" is obsolete. I apologize for being a bore. This topic hooks me for some reason. I know... Read more →

Deliverables Based Planningsm

The notion of managing a project by managing the consumption of funding and resources is fundamentally flawed. But it is surprisingly common in many business domains. We see it all the time, when asked for a schedule. The schedule shows... Read more →

Project Management Quotes

One of our Program Planning and Controls staff (supply chain management) went to a seminar and came back with lots of information. Three quotes struck a cord with me: Be creative. Focus on possibilities, not limitations - this one is... Read more →

PMBOK, Agile and the need for Theory

A popular starting point for the criticism of PMBOK and PMI is a series of papers by Koskela and Howell stating "the theory of project management is obsolete." These can be found on Google using Lauri Koskela, Greg Howell, and... Read more →

What is Project Management?

The discussion of how PMBOK and Agile are related needs to go back to some fundamental principles before starting down the path of discussion. The first question is "what is project management?" Is Project Management the same as software development?... Read more →

PMBOK(r) and Agile - Round 2

PM Bistro has a new post on Agile and PMBOK(r), referencing a post I made last year. As I've mentioned more work is needed. This includes gaining, sharing and confirming an understanding that: PMBOK is a description of work processes,... Read more →

Bechtel Project Management Videos

Bechtel Corporation has a series of videos (via PMForum) on its site about its projects and their management. The range of work under the title "project management" ranges for activities like these, to building and flying the 787 or the... Read more →

PMI Global Congress Books

At the PMI Global Congress, there is a book store. I love book stores, being the son of a University Librarian. I bought several books that I would not have normally bought: Effective Opportunity Management for Projects: Exploiting Positive Risk,... Read more →

Top 10 Reasons not to do Project Management

Jim Chapman's site provides many resources for project managers. My favorite is the Top 10 Reasons Not to Use Project Management. There are many other principles there. Some are simple restatments of the obvious - but so often overlooked. Others... Read more →