Seth Godin continues to innovate with marketing. This time he's gathered 32 of his favorite thinkers to write a book on being remarkable. All royalties will go to three charities Junior Diabetes Research Foundation, Room to Read, and Acumen Fund. The book is a collection of stories that taken together offer an avenue for becoming remark-able. It is a follow-on to Seth's Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside.

You might remember that Purple Cow was initially delivered in a purple milk carton. Free Prize Inside hit the shelves in a cereal box. No packaging gimmicks this time. Instead, the initial supply of books, galley copies for reviewers and for proofing, are only available in lots of 50. That's right, to get one copy you have to buy 49 more. But they're really not for sale. I can't say that it was worth $100 to me to get to read a copy before the book is available in October. But what is worth much more than $100 is getting to share it with my colleagues and clients. Read the rest of this entry ¶

I've been meaning to write about the art of project management for quite some time. No need for me to do something that Scott Berkun has done so well. His book, The Art of Project Management, is unlike any other book on the market. Scott understands something that most project managers fail to grasp. Developing proficiency is not a matter of knowing techniques and engineering. Proficiency develops with practice, by making mistakes, taking on challenging work, and by learning at the feet of others. Read the rest of this entry ¶

My hat's off to an amazing group of organizers and volunteers of the Orange County PMI Chapter. Saturday's PMI in Action event brought out about 150 people on a sunny day. The agenda was packed. The speakers did a great job from Mark Mullaly's keynote "What Makes a Great Project Manager" to David Anderson's back-to-back sessions on Agile, Deming, and the the use of cumulative flow diagrams (CFD) for managing project work. (More on CFD in another post.)

I did my two presentations on Let's Play Catch! and Why Do Projects on a Lean Basis? They were well-received. I've uploaded them for you.

he motivationists would have us believe that people do what they are rewarded for doing. Bonus programs, salesforce commissions and incentives, and promises of raises and promotions are part of the everyday way companies organize themselves in hopes of getting higher performance from their employees. My own experience is different from that (and numerous studies reported in HBR are consistent with my experience). Neither the carrot nor the stick get me to do more work or better work. I do more, give more, and engage more deeply when my interests and ambitions are connected to those of the organization.

Neither the carrot nor the stick get me to do more work or better work.

In the August '05 issue of PMI's PM Network Neil Whitten offers his advice on getting more from our teams. He wants project managers to "Celebrate" the accomplishments of the team. "Leadership," he says, "means acknowledging a job well-done by thanking the project team that did it." Neil urges readers to do this at least once every three months. The Gallup Organization's research supports that as published in First, Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. Except, the research showed that people in continuously high performing organizations receive acts of appreciation and acknowledgement at least once every 7 days! Read the rest of this entry ¶

I'm speaking at the PMI Orange County Chapter on Aug 13th. It's a Saturday. That's a big deal for me since I live north of Boston. I'm quite excited about the speaking opportunity. I'm on stage with some great speakers and writers. Mark Mullaly and David Anderson are just two. I've commented on both their work over the last three years. This will be the first time I speak publicly on two topics: "Why Do Projects on a Lean Basis" and Let's Play Catch! Now that the Powerpoint presentations have been submitted for printing I'm coming up with better ways of presenting the topics! I'll let you know how it goes.

If you're in the area, please stop by to say hello.