Herding Cats

Quote of the Day

When an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside as fate – Carl Jung Read more →

Quote of the Day

Systems of information-feedback control are fundamental to all life and human endeavor, from the slow pace of biological evolution to the launching of the latest space satellite ... Everything we do as individuals, as an industry, or as a society... Read more →

A Compendium of Managing Complex Systems

The picture is used by a Complexity advocate to conjecture that complex systems cannot be managed. This is not correct, like many of the claims made by self-proclaimed complexity experts. I've seen this scene of flocking birds first hand. It... Read more →

What We Knew in the 1940's About Managing Projects

In Bent Flybjerg's book there is a chapter by Sylvain Lenfle and Christoph Loch (Google both for good solid papers and books on project management) describing how projects were managed in the 1940's. The Manhattan Project, Atlas launch vehicle, Polaris... Read more →

Resources for CoronaVirus "Facts"

There is a huge amount of misinformation going around about the Corona Virus (Covid-19). As a former scientist and having a son who is a microbiology scientist, here's a collection of resources for Facts STATNews - Exclusive analysis of biotech,... Read more →

Without a Road Map, We're Driving in the Dark With The Lights Off

For project success we need to know if we're on the right path to Done and we need meaningful measures of progress to the plan. We must measure the increasing maturity of the Deliverables and their Value to the customers... Read more →

Book of the Month

This book is about networks and complexity and the modeling of complexy. Computer networks, social networks, genetic networks that impact all aspects of our lives and the lives of everyone on the planet. I came to this book through our... Read more →

Four Root Causes of Project Failure

In a previous blog, Root Causes of Project Failure, there were four root causes from research at the Institute for Defense Analyses. In that Blog there were measures missing. Here's the details of those measures, defined in the Technical Measurement... Read more →

Capabilities-Based Planning is Foundation of All Project Success

The foundation of all project success starts with a Capabilities‒Based Plan. What Capabilities does the project need to produce to accomplish the Mission or Fulfill the business strategy for those paying for the work? Without knowing that, along with the... Read more →

Quote of the Day

What punishment can and ought to be inflicted on a man, if such an one there be, who, holding an office of importance, prostitutes that office to the purpose party; and thereby hazards the peace, happiness, and prosperity of his... Read more →

Five Immutable Principles of Project Success

What Does Done Look Like In Units Of Measure, Meaningful To The Decision Maker? Know where we are going by defining “done” that will arrive at some point in the future. In this future, Stakeholders acquire the Capability to accomplish... Read more →

Eliciting Capabilities

All project success starts with knowing what done looks like in unitys of measure meaningful to the decision makers. These units start with effectiveness and performance. These Capabilities are the foundation of defining the technical and operational requirements of the... Read more →

Seven Critical Success Factors of Project Success

Agilely managing projects start with 7 Critical Success Factors. These are based on Seven Drivers Transforming Government, IBM Center for The Business of Government and used in the course I'm teaching Agilely Managing Projects in the Federal Environment, for Stafford... Read more →

Quote of the Day

Principles are Timeless. Practices and Processes are Fads When someone suggests a process or practice, ask what principle is this based on? Hear none? Use with caution. There may be anecdotal evidence that the practice or process is useful for... Read more →

All Project Success Starts with Applying Principles

Proactive organizations adopt principles that help them continually achieve targeted outcomes in the presence of uncertainty. There are 10 Principles of Effective project management. I've adopted these principles from a colleague to the domain of project management, where we worked... Read more →

Some Timeless Advice

The way to success is... First, have a definite, clear, practical idea - a goal, and objective Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends - wisdom, material, and methods Third, adjust your means to that end - Aristotle... Read more →

Quote of the Day

In the space of two days I had evolved two plans, wholly distinct, both of which were equally feasible. The point I am trying to bring out is that one does not plan and then try to make circumstances fit... Read more →

Quote of the Day - Managing Projects Like a Sailor

We Can Control the Ship and Sails, But Not The Wind and Waves All project work operates in the presence of uncertainty. Uncertainty creates risk to the success of the project. Uncertainty comes in only two forms: Epistemic uncertainty, which... Read more →

How Projects Go Bad - No Matter the Domain, Method, or Tool

Project failure is not only common, it's predictable. The root causes of Project Failure are well documented and corrective and preventive actions are also well known. Let's start with the four primary root causes of project failure. ‡ Unrealistic Performance... Read more →

Summary of No Estimates Posts

After a contentious exchange on twitter about a contentious topic of managing complex adaptive systems - the other side of the exchange doesn't actually MANAGE Complex Systems - he just talks about non-actionable outcomes aspect of his theory of how... Read more →