New PM Articles for the Week of February 22 – 28

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of February 22 – 28. And this week’s video: Seth Godin on the difference between leadership and management. “The Beatles didn’t invent teenagers, they just showed up to lead them.”

Must read!

  • Michael Mankin on the dark side of Metcalfe’s Law: “As the cost of communications decreases, the number of interactions increases exponentially, as does the time required to process them.”
  • Daniel Zacarias shows how working with stakeholders to better define the problem can give more useful and sustainable results than focusing on proposed solutions.
  • Michael Sueoka argues, “You shouldn’t always design what people want – you should design what people need.” What will you do with this? What will you be able to stop doing?

Established Methods

  • Elizabeth Harrin reviews “Project-Driven Creation,” a results-driven methodology handbook by Jo Bos, Ernst Harting and Marlet Hesslelink.
  • Peter Taylor and Karolina Jackson-Ward discuss value-driven leadership. About 42 minutes, safe for work.
  • Nick Pisano mixes science fiction and religion in with his thoughts on three widely used marketing labels: “Web-based,” “Cloud,” and “Big Data.”
  • Robert Wysocki explains a lean bundled change management process that integrates well with the PRINCE2 stage planning process.
  • Ian Whittingham explains the Triple Constraint of project ethics: integrity, trust, and accountability.
  • Kerry Wills categorizes his meetings into five broad types, and tries to optimize the mix.

Agile Methods

  • Cesar Abeid interviews Johanna Rothman on the estimating methods in her new book, “Predicting the Unpredictable.” Just 37 minutes, safe for work.
  • Mike Cohn relates the Agile lesson learned from his recent “world’s shortest hotel stay.” Incremental delivery helps you recover from mistakes quickly.
  • Todd Holden describes “innovation days,” as events designed to foster innovations as a cultural value.
  • The Clever PM continues his occasional series on “why Agile isn’t working for me,” with observations on the impact of inadequate knowledge, commitment and progress.

Applied Leadership

  • Donna Reed summarizes the key messages from Stephen Denning’s book, “The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management.”
  • Aaron Smith reviews “Committed Teams: Three Steps to Inspiring Passion and Performance,” by Mario Moussa, Ph.D., Madeline Boyer and Derek Newberry, Ph.D.
  • Bruce Harpham reviews “The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, and Change the Way You Lead Forever,” by Michael Stanier.
  • Liane Davey lays out guidelines for giving feedback to people who don’t report to you.
  • Elise Stevens interviews Laura Barnard on getting people to overcome their doubts and embrace change. Just 21 minutes, safe for work.

Pot Pouri

  • Cameron Conaway reports on sledgehammer innovation, “What happens when a brilliant idea is paired with the grit of hard labor,” at Cree, an LED technology firm.
  • Art Petty interviews Eric Wallor and Michael Lucchesi, proprietors of a running coaching business, on why work ethic beats talent. Just 38 minutes, safe for work.
  • John Goodpasture extols the virtues of the Excel Watch Window. It’s a floating collection of cell values from multiple workbooks, useful for auditing and debugging.
  • Ryan Ogilvie talks about that guy, who always seems to notice (and report) when something is amiss, and suggests we start treating him like an incident barometer.
  • Ugo Micoli examines BMW Group’s coming Centenary, as a look back and as an affirmation of identity, evolution, and independence.

Enjoy!