June 2011
43 posts
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“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Then, a recent ignorant definition of education:
What I support is putting all science on the table and then letting students decide. - Michele Bachmann
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PM Post: It's what you finish; not how much you...
[This is the last in a series on Multi-Project Management and Organizational Effectiveness. Start at Part 1: Organizations are multi-project systems]
Too many organizations act as if by packing the pipeline and keeping everyone heavily loaded with work, a combination of filled queues and busy resources will result in rapid and reliable project completions. Instead, projects bump into one another,...
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PM Link: A Day Without Distraction →
Lessons Learned from 12 Hrs of Forced Focus
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PM Post: Managing the present and the future
[Part 3 in a series on Multi-Project Management and Organizational Effectiveness. If you want to start with Part 1, you can find it at Organizations are multi-project systems.]
Once an organization understands the constraints associated with it’s ability to deliver projects, whether for customer-driven deliverables or for internal process improvements, it has the basis to not only avoid...
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“Autonomy is important, but so are mastery and a greater purpose.”
– More on Self directed teams, Knowledge management
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Fun Link: Back in my day... →
See the cartoon at The Joy of Tech.
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“If you look across the digital landscape, the most exquisitely designed user...”
– Subtraction.com: How Much Design Is Too Much Design? (reblogged from danielmall)
[This quote reminded me of a landing page we did a few years ago - a relatively ugly landing page the performance of which beat the crap out of every “better looking” page we A-B tested against it. - FP]
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PM Post: Organizational effectiveness is resource...
[Part 2 of a series in Multi-Project Management and Organizational Effectiveness. If you haven’t already read Part Organizations are multi-project systems.]
The old saw defining efficiency largely as doing things right and effectiveness as doing the right things definitely applies to multi-project systems. How individual tasks are defined and delivered are key to the efficient completion of...
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Mobile UI Post: Do as I say...
Related to a few recent posts (including yesterday’s) about the need to optimize mobile sites…
I was talking to someone last week who complained about an unnamed site about a certain topic that was not optimized for mobile.
Here’s a screenshot of a site on the same topic that I found…
Irony alert!
The site that I found after the conversation is called Mobile Marketing...
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PM Post: Organizations are multi-project systems
Every organization is dependent on projects.
From its business strategy, which could be considered the “meta-project” against which it tracks its performance and growth over time, to its portfolios of “improvement projects” and product development projects that keep it effective and competitive, to its day-to-day delivery of unique efforts for which customers or clients pay, projects are the...
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UI Link: Apple page with "tap-friendly" layout →
Last week, I posted a link on why mobile sites fail.
Today, I’m offering up an example of a redesign of a desktop-based site so that it is more “tappable” on phones and tablets.
Check it out at Apple updates support page with more “tap-friendly” layout.
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PM Link: One-Person PMO →
This link - One-Person PMO - provides a good list of PMO basics that even a one-person PMO could put together…
Information repository
Project templates
Lessons-learned process
Project closure processes
Training
Subsidiary plans
Change control system/configuration management system
ROI
As usual, I’m going to send you to the original at One-Person PMO for the whole story.
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“We’re the (fill in the blank) of (fill in the blank). With badges.”
– The New Silicon Valley Douchebag
LOL
[via @alphadave]
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Design Link: Design Principles →
Zeldman says it’s required reading.
I agree. (…and could not decide what example to show, so go read it.)
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Change Post: The Mechanic
A couple years ago, Britt Blaser opened up a posting with comments about Turn Around Artistry (sorry for the absence of a link - the original is no longer live). There were things in the piece about the conflicts over local and global performance to which I initially responded. But Britt’s opening line got my attention, as it hit quite close to home, and has stuck in my craw since first...
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“What are the facts? Again and again and again — what are the facts? Shun wishful...”
– Robert Heinlein
(via Herding Cats: Quote of the Day)
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PM Post: Magic Numbers
From Scott Berkun, The magic numbers of project management, an exploration of some of the games played with estimates.
One of the things he doesn’t mention in the “what to do instead” section is to make the estimation process a conversation and the transparent use of range estimates (buffers) for the project as a whole. This takes the pressure off of everybody to come up with...
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Social Link: The Six Pillars of Influence →
From David Armano - Six significant factors for analyzing “influence”…
Reach
Proximity
Expertise
Relevancy
Credibility
Trust
Read the whole thing for the details: The Six Pillars of Influence
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PM Post: Creation and Revision
OK. I’ll admit it….
As a project manager for creative endeavors, concerned with keeping the effort moving toward promised delivery dates, there’s the occasional frustration with multiple reviews and revisions impinging on the schedule. Sometimes (?), even after the one or two or three contracted revisions and “final approval” has been granted, there’s someone...
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Mobile Link: Top 5 reasons why mobile sites fail →
How is your mobile web experience?
I know at my last agency, we got hung up on trying to support feature phones and ended up locked into a platform that tied our hands for really mobile web experiences for too many of our implementations. The linked article from iMedia Connection points out another reason for all the other lame mobile web experiences out there…
We were going to transform...
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RIP
Eliyahu M. Goldratt - No more conflicts to resolve.
Updated June 12 - link to Memorial Video
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PM Link: Showing Your Team What Urgent Looks Like →
(Note: Access to link requires free membership to ProjectConnections.)
The article shares a case study about a late project, featuring “key steps” for making the case for greater urgency in the system test phase of the project…
Convene a frank discussion of the slips-to-date with the team, and the criticality of the approaching deadline.
Create short-form test case list and...
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“I know that this defies the law of gravity, but, you see, I never studied law.”
– Bugs Bunny
(reblogged from scienceisbeauty - and hey! It’s “just a theory” anyhow.)
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Social Link: Pixie Dust & The Mountain of... →
I usually like to pull out a quote or a list from an article when I link to it, but that would only give you the excuse to read my excerpt and not “the whole thing”.
Stealing a line from Bush the elder, “not gonna do it” - not for this one.
Go read Kathy Sierra’s guest post on Hugh’s GapingVoid blog - Pixie Dust & The Mountain of Mediocrity - right now.
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PM Link: I Have ADD, Anxiety and OCD: I Am the... →
I’ve always said that a good PM is blessed with a healthy case of paranoia. The title of this article says it all.
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WatchAnother “meditation” - this time, underground.
Subwaltz
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UI Link: The Anatomy of a Notification →
Notifications, RSS, tweets, SMS, emails.
From the linked article…
We need a notification system that accounts for the fact we’re constantly signing up for new information, but don’t have the time or the tools to pay attention to it. We need a tool that allows us to adjust the level of detail of the data we receive to align with the level of attention we have to give it.
Read The Anatomy...
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Social Link: Your Return Represents Your... →
Social media maturity requires approaching it maturely, and an amount of effort equivalent to your desired outcomes.
From the linked article…
No matter how hard we try, we just can’t build a customer-centric organization if we do not know what it is people value. Social media are your keys to unlocking the 5I’s of engagement to develop more informed and meaningful programs:
Intelligence...
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Code Link: 6 Free E-Books and Tutorials on HTML5 →
It is what it is…
6 Free E-Books and Tutorials on HTML5 from ReadWriteWeb.
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Flick Link: Exit Through the Gift Shop →
Funny documentary (?) containing great comment on Art, the art market, and the art of the art market.
IMDB or Netflix
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Book Link: The Goal - Deepak Chopra for the Rust... →
I agree with my friend Clarke - this is hysterical.
The Goal is touted as a “business classic” in Goldratt’s TOC world. Even Eli G says the concepts are common sense, but as a book to learn from, I was never all that impressed. Maybe it’s because my “business novel” intro to TOC was It’s Not Luck, which didn’t overwhelm the ideas with the...
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UI Link: Microsoft Brings Touchscreen to PCs &... →
This article from ReadWriteWeb talks about the implementation of Microsoft’s phone interface in the next version of Windows (8), and particularly the touchscreen aspect.
Touchscreen works on phones due to their size and on tablets due to their primary function as content consumption machines. But on content creation machines, with my hand resting on my scroll-wheel mouse, I can navigate...
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Web Link: Free analytics tools you should be using →
A handful of free tools to assess your online performance, including:
Web Analytics: Google Analytics
Site Demographics: Quantcast
Visitor Survey: 4Q
Panel Data: Compete.com
Search Analytics: Google External Keyword Tool and Google Insights for Search
Video: TubeMogul
Mobile: AdMob Analytics (beta)
Social: Social Mention
Website Testing: Google Website Optimizer
For a good summary on...
