http://ijsm.org Plan B? We're still working on Plan A! Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:23:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It's easy to say that there are two kinds of project managers: process-oriented folks and seat-of-their-pants folks. [One glance at the title of this site should tell you where I lie.] But really, it's a spectrum. I work in a group of four project managers [counting my boss, who ... http://ijsm.org/2009/04/the-spectrum-freestyling-to-process/ What's the value of planning in the time of crisis, you may ask? If ever there was a moment for firms to keep their crystal balls under wraps, this may appear to be it. But many companies are still issuing annual forecasts in spite of the uncertainty roiling their markets. On ... http://ijsm.org/2009/03/plan-god-god-yall-what-is-it-good-for/ Just now, to a colleague: "I swear. Project management is like huffing glue and then driving bumpercars: you're lightheaded all the time, you get whiplash a lot, and you never know where the f**k you're going." She responded, "That's pretty much it." http://ijsm.org/2009/02/huffing-glue-and-bumpercars/ Can't tell you how many times I've saved myself time/money/frustration by being an inveterate archiver of email [including sent email]. Invariably, something I sent to someone will be needed down the line by someone else, and if I can dig it up ... I save everyone heaping amounts of ... http://ijsm.org/2008/09/ijsm-rule-18-being-a-digital-packrat-is-worthwhile/ Waiting for more information is an understandable reaction. Me, I like to have lots of data before I make a decision. In the line of great being the enemy of good, though, making a suboptimal decision quickly is most often better than making the right decision too late. [I ... http://ijsm.org/2008/09/ijsm-rule-3-indecisiveness-is-bad/ When you've made a mistake, admit it up the chain as fast as possible to the people that it affects. State why you made the mistake, what you can do to correct it, and leave it at that. Anything more is overkill, and anything less is suicide. [If you're ... http://ijsm.org/2008/09/ijsm-rule-17/ My apologies if I've made everyone's feed readers go wonky today. Every piece of content that used to be here should now be on GFMorris.com. I believe I've set up redirections for all old URLs as appropriate. What's going on here? Well, I'd like to have a place ... http://ijsm.org/2008/09/reloaded/