... a beginner at something

Project management - just got easier

 

definition of agility, by bertboerland (2005)

To people somewhat involved in projects - and who hasn't been - the word alone may bring up personal experiences and a general notion, well, most projects fail. HBR said so in 2003 (source) and ten years later, the situation appears not all that different, in academic research, and it seems to get worse, according to the Project Management Institute,  who have solutions on offer and whose newest standard PMBOK5 adds a chapter on project stakeholder [engagement] management [addition mine].

 

Examining how I could accelerate innovation in the company, I saw the need to  learn about professional project management.  This is a story in two parts:
1. how,  where and what I studied recently, and
2. what tools I picked up along the way work for me. 

Sky so Brown (not Blue)

Intercontinental dust drift approaching from North in Yokohama 2013-03-10 around 14:00.

We closed all windows shut and stopped the 24h ventilation fan. Do you know where the switches are in your home?

Days where visibility drops like this happen once or twice in a bad year, when winds sweep the smog from the nearby continent. Here the 2008 event

Customer in control?

Thank you Wim Rampen for your blog post, and commenters for adding insights.

One of the key-premises of the “Social era” is that the power has shifted from companies to Customers. We’ve all read cases of “United Breaks guitars” and alike to prove this. We also know that Customers are more keen to follow advice from close friends, relatives and credible strangers online than from just any company representative. And there’s plenty of evidence that Customers are showrooming.

But does this all mean that the power has shifted? The more I think of it, the more I disagree. Customers, despite the social tools, mobile devices and what have you, are losing ground. And here are some reasons why.

 

From the reasons why I take away ...

Social Might Connect

 

Artists inform scientists what might be worth trying.
Engineers build what might be worth buying.

Marketers find people, offer win-win for mutual profit.
Industrialists make it affordable and cheaper - this might not work much longer.

Financiers take risks and take rewards, cyclically bubbling.
Teachers help future artists, scientists, engineers, marketers, industrialists, and more find their vision and calling. This might work.

Others create safe spaces for stillness and peace, to find personal truth. This might be worth trying. 

How to define by what is not

 

When I was 16, I was ignorant, like most at that age (nothing new to see here, move on, go to work). Almost 40 years later, I am still ignorant, that amount of accumulated knowledge and experience not making a visible drop in the ocean of what might be knowable. Here is one drop that stood out for me.

Generous generations

 

Grateful for our forbears' lives we enjoy building on foundations they laid and clean up messes they had to leave behind. And the next generation will build the next level and do it for us.

 

 

高安寺 Kōan-ji Temple, Fuchu, Tokyo

 

 

 

神事

Art Requires
a Commitment
to Kamiwaza
-- Seth Godin

Longing for 2013

Here we are, in the new year, and some of us choose to make resoutions. Fine if you like to, but for many it is better not to, writes Chuck Blakeman.

Instead of resolutely setting goals, I went to follow a faint calling to examine and re-discover what am I still longing for, silently, at the turn of the year. Yes, there it was, as always, noticed and celebrated rarely in the rush of getting things done. 

These longings are personal, I am sure you have yours, and no, you need not look for any now, or even reveal, just as some of mine may not resonate with readers, and some other may not be good to put in public. So if you long to know what are mine, ask in private. 

Tohoku and virtual community

The ongoing recovery operations for Tohoku were a topic at the recent Green Mondays event in Tokyo Mike Baldwin and I attended on the occasion of our first ever F2F meeting. Mike interviewed Patricia, the author/coordinator of Tohoku Comfort Food, where she said many people who were moved to temporary homes will not move out but die there.

 

 

WHAT ISN’T THERE

Writes Matt, "...CAN OFTEN TRUMP WHAT IS". Quote:

 

I love optical illusions. Here’s why: The white circles that you see in the rather incomplete grid below don’t really exist. Neither do the white diagonal lines you see connecting them. Yet what isn’t really there is the most interesting part of the image.

The reason it’s so interesting isn’t just that you see the white circles and diagonals, it’s that ␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣ does. And even if I tell you to focus only on the drawn lines and completely ignore the space between them, your brain will override the order. So will everyone else’s.

 

Here is why I bought this book (got a free copy, too), enjoy it, share parts of it: