"The challenge with project management is that problems arrive slowly and then they happen all at once."
I love Seth Godin’s brutally honest, in-your-face facts about project management, accompanied with relatable analogies. Highly recommend this 36 mins LinkedIn course on Get It Done: Complete Projects that Matter with Seth Godin. Definitely time well spent!
So many learnings in such a short time:
1. What is a project?
a. It interacts with other people
b. It has a beginning and an end
c. It seeks to deliver a change, a desired result
d. It has constraints/boundary
e. It involves unknowns
2. Strategies for a Successful Project
| Think About… | Why? |
| Commitment | Uncover constraints & learn the skills |
| Resilience | The future is never going to turn out the way you planned |
| Make the right decisions | Project management is a decision making business |
| Separate Exploration & Implementation | Have thrashing sessions early & lock it down |
| Make a plan | Intentional, identify & plan for risks, clarify coordination |
| Constraints are required | Mitigate stress & conflict |
| Quality <> Perfect | Specifications define what’s good enough to ship |
| Put a system in place | Make harder decisions to prioritize vs endless effort |
| Focus on the right risks | Quadrant of Cost vs Possibility. Choose the middle. |
| Write a rave review and pre-mortem | Enable better allocation of time & money |
3. Potential Pitfalls to Keep in Mind
a. Hesitation to start
i. Resistance (Hiding e.g. perfectionism is a way to hide)
ii. We didn’t know we needed to do it
b. 4 Potentials leading to a project disaster
i. It’s late
ii. It’s expensive and over budget
iii. Doesn’t meet specifications
iv. Stressed project manager and team
c. Addictive red zone (Don’t wing it for the thrill, expense & risk)
d. The 3 traps
i. Communication (API Format, The Mechanical Turk by Amazon)
ii. Risk Management
iii. Constraint Confusion (What needs to happen when)
4. Additional Resource from Seth Godin
a. The ShipIt Journal