New PM Articles for the Week of March 28 – April 3

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of March 28 – April 3. And this week’s video: Coert Vissar diagrams the difference in motivation between our autonomous choices and those choices made for us. Complete with a slide guitar soundtrack; two minutes, safe for work.

Must read!

  • Johanna Rothman’s new book, “Agile and Lean Program Management,” is now available.
  • Harry Hall shares three brief videos on making and executing better decisions.
  • Nancy Settle-Murphy explains how to get a conversation going by asking the right questions. If you spend much of your working day on conference calls, be sure to read this!

Established Methods

  • Laura Barnard applies some lessons on stakeholder management learned from Fred Rogers.
  • Elise Stevens interviews Julie Goff on managing a team of project managers. Just 16 minutes, safe for work.
  • Elizabeth Harrin shares her recent reading list. What does work-life balance look like? Well, start here.
  • Klaus Nielsen applies lessons from Daniel Kahneman’s book, “Thinking: Fast and Slow” to project management.
  • Dave Wakeman articulates the five steps in putting a new process in place.
  • Cornelius Fichtner interviews Joe Drammissi on Enlightened Project Management. Just 33 minutes, safe for work.
  • Nick Pisoni explains the difference between measuring progress against plan (earned value) and progress during development (technical performance).
  • Dmitriy Nizhebetskiy gets us back to basics in describing what to include in a project plan.
  • Glen Alleman adapts Jon Stewart’s final rant on “The Daily Show” to direct it toward his favorite target, the #NoEstimates movement.

Agile Methods

  • Mishkin Berteig lays out the four principles of refactoring. Sometimes, good software engineering can be a metaphor for life.
  • John Goodpasture introduces the notion of coupling to a discussion of architecture in an Agile approach.
  • The Clever PM (possibly) concludes his series, “Why Agile isn’t working for me.” This time, the focus is on individual actions.
  • Jake Bartlett points out some of the reasons Agile is hard to adopt.

Applied Leadership

  • Kathleen O’Connor interviews Ray Zinn, who founded and led semiconductor manufacturer Micrel for 37 years, on key lessons from his new book, “Tough Things First.”
  • Liane Davey shares a simple exercise that exposes each participant’s default reaction to change.
  • Peter Saddington shares a great infographic: 18 Things Mentally Strong People Do.
  • Scott Berkun uses the history of the Eiffel Tower to illustrate what it takes to drive real innovation and see it produce real change.
  • Eileen Burton says that great leaders are those who step up in a crisis.

Pot Pouri

  • Suzanne Lucas says that recruiters are good at spotting lies. Here are a few things that you really don’t need to lie about.
  • Jamie Hale gives us science-based recommendations on how to study. Key point: we best remember that which we best understand.
  • Steve Johnson identifies four “areas of expertise” that should drive what is (and isn’t) required in a job candidate.
  • Paul Sawyers opines on the market viability of an internet of consumer product things. Who needs a smart oven in the microwave society?

Enjoy!