New PM Articles for the Week of December 2 – 8

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NewNew project management articles published on the web during the week of December 2 – 8. We read all of this stuff so you don’t have to! Recommended:

Leadership, Mistakes, and Failure

  • Loren Thompson adds his assessment of the HealthCare.gov problems, and finds that most of the fault lies with the government agency that managed the project.
  • Martin Webster makes the case that mistakes are good for business.
  • Glen Alleman counters, saying that learning from mistakes is overrated.
  • Dick Billows analyzes the “project failure is unacceptable” meme as a failure of executive leadership.
  • Sharon Florentine looks at the data to determine why so many IT projects are failing. “Consolidation and cost-cutting have really taken their toll.”

The Future Starts Tomorrow

  • Anne Eisenberg reports on progress in developing algorithms to read your facial expression from your web camera. “You seem bored. Shall I speed up the game?”
  • Zack Whittaker reports that PC shipments are declining even faster than expected. Are you getting ready for the post-PC computing environment?

PM Best Practices

  • Susan Madsen argues that the “iron triangle” metaphor for project constraints is outdated.
  • Mike Clayton suggests that, as project managers, we work in six different modes.
  • Peter Tarhanidis explains how to integrate change management with project management.
  • Lynda Bourne tells us how to deal with a toxic professional relationship.
  • Elizabeth Harrin shares an excerpt from her chapter in the “Gower Handbook of People in Project Management,” on managing social communications in projects.
  • Gary Nelson demonstrates how to capture our attention, by recounting an eye-opening flight on Aeroflot.
  • Andy Makar shows how to identify potential problems in MS Project using custom filters.
  • Duncan Haughey tells us of a phenomenon he calls “the sudden go-live realization.”
  • Allen Ruddock walks us through the key planning points for a go-live.

Podcasts and Videos

  • Cornelius Fichtner interviews Sarita Maybin on her presentation at SoTeC, “How to get more done with less stress.” Just 24 minutes, safe for work.
  • Cesar Abeid interviews Michael Sliwinski, creator and chief user of productivity tool Nozbe. Just 39 minutes, safe for work, and perfect for you GTD geeks!
  • Barry Hodge shared a cool little video on the science of procrastination. Less than three minutes, but if you really need it, you’ll put it off.
  • Dave Prior interviews author and information architect Dan Brown on how designers and project teams can deal with conflicts and communicate together better.

Agile Methods

  • David DeWitt clarifies, “Agile itself is not a methodology; it’s a mindset.”

Career Management

  • Toni Bowers ticks off five things that hiring managers do that tick off job candidates.
  • Peter Saddington puts on his career coach hat and advises, “Know yourself.”

Enjoy!