New PM Articles for the Week of July 25 –31

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of July 25 –31, 2011.  We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Janis Rizzuto interviews Scott Ambler on scaling Agile to create value across the enterprise.
  • Ty Kiisel uses the occasion of his recent return to Japan to reflect on “knowing where you’re going” and engaging the team to map the route.
  • Peter Taylor, author of “The Lazy Project Manager” is campaigning for real sponsors, and he has a detailed list of behaviors, good and bad, to guide the search.
  • Jason Hiner has been studying the trends in IT, and says we will soon see only three kinds of IT professionals: Consultants, Project Managers, and Developers.
  • Elizabeth Harrin quotes a survey that indicates most women don’t want to move into management roles.  And then disputes those findings.
  • Geoff Crane is back in school, finally finishing his undergraduate degree, but takes the time to write about assertive dialogue.
  • Glen Alleman takes a look at a figure from a McKinsey report, using data from the Standish reports on success rates of IT projects, and finds the picture less than illuminating.
  • Kelly Waters is proposing some basic extensions to the PMBOK to address Agile methods, as part of “Direct and Manage Project Execution.”
  • Jeff Sutherland says he started practicing Scrum in 1967, while bombing North Viet Nam.  And in the seventies, while teaching medicine.  Fourteen minutes, safe for work.
  • Meanwhile, Terry Bunio writes a “Dear Scrum” letter.  “I guess I just need space.”
  • Rob Prinzo presents the case for a “project assurance” methodology.
  • And Bruce Benson argues against “quality assurance” becoming a substitute for project management.
  • Josh Nankivel shares an update from Cornelius Fichtner on the changes they’ve implemented to The PM Prepcast in advance of the changes to the PMP exam, effective August 31.
  • Andrew Makar suggests we “move beyond” certification, toward putting all we’ve learned into practice.
  • Todd Williams recalls using unshelled peanuts as bait to get scurrying managers to stop by his cube and communicate.
  • Curt Finch and Dan Vickers advocate for succeeding as a project manager by building influence.
  • John McKee writes about leadership in the modern, “challenged” organization, and the Law of Unintended Consequences.
  • Avinoam Nowogrodski wants to kill the project status meeting.  Personally, I just to make them about exceptions, rather than affirming the obvious, but to each his own.
  • Rick Swanborg notes five ways to “win” at project management.  And no, Charlie Sheen didn’t make the list.
  • Brad Egeland has posted a three-part series on project management benchmarking.
  • Paul Boos continues his “Government Gone Agile” series with the five characteristics of the innovation personae.
  • Bill Krebs writes about using kinesthetic intelligence in Scrum team meetings; techniques like “The Fist of Five” and “Chickens sit, Pigs stand.”  Note: neither of these is a Kung Fu movie.
  • Samad Aidane interviews Jonathan Jordan on the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Brains.”  An hour and seven minutes, but well worth the time.  Safe for work.
  • Project Shrink Bas de Baar touches on introversion, mirror neurons, and the potential virtues of less-than-precision feedback.
  • And Ted Hardy writes about subconscious information processing.  Yes, it’s neuroscience week in the blogosphere …
  • Derek Bruff reflects on what he learned about measuring progress from watching “Lost.”
  • Matthew Saunders lists the couple of dozen tools he’s used over the years to manage various aspects of his projects, from MS Project and Jira to Omnigraffle and DropBox.
  • Kerry Wills updates us on “consultant-speak,” using the Dilbert-language dictionary.
  • Scott Jennings rebuts Michael Pachter on “crunching” as normal.  Worth the click just for the picture of the puppy Michael is alleged to have kicked.

Enjoy!