New PM Articles for the Week of June 17 – 23

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of June 17 – 23.  We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Alfredo Zangara examines the means by which project teams accumulate and pass along the “tribal knowledge.”
  • Ken Whitaker looks at the pros and cons of virtual teams.
  • Conrado Morlan recalls how his multi-cultural distributed project team bonded over dinner, with the waitress as moderator.
  • Elizabeth Harrin reviews Charles Duhigg’s book, “The Power of Habit.”
  • Cheri Baker also read Duhigg’s book, and reports from practical experience that new habits aren’t quite so easy to develop.
  • Mike Griffiths makes the case that planning, beyond the point of diminishing returns, can be detrimental.
  • Patrick Richard starts a new movement: Say No to #NoEstimates!
  • Glen Alleman extols the virtues of reference designs, those well-understood solutions to common problems.
  • Tristan Wember covers the basics of contingency planning and risk management.
  • David Hillson reminds us that the techniques we use to analyze risks can also be used to assess a potential opportunity.
  • Derek Huether shares a video on how Toyota Production System concepts improved the ability of a non-profit to feed the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
  • Ian Webster reports the news that IBM’s Watson super-computer is recommending cancer treatments, and sees a trend worthy of Robert A. Heinlein.
  • Kailash Awati looks at the commonly identified causes of project failures, and finds that they are symptoms of organization dysfunction.
  • Johanna Rothman recounts a story of managing a portfolio of projects, as if people mattered.
  • Shim Marom observes the trend toward organizations desiring agility enough to actually change.
  • Bertrand Duperrin thinks the biggest barrier to change is accounting.  Not the department, but the way we measure value.
  • Ted Hardy and his wife go looking for a new house, and decide they need to document their requirements.  So much for work / life balance.
  • Kerry Wills finds a metaphor for project management in the winter sport of curling. No, this isn’t about “Hair on fire …”

Enjoy!