Adrian Savage, the creative force behind lifehack, wonders if the Pareto Principle¹ can reliably be put to use in today's posting How Useful Is the Pareto Principle? He concludes that the principle is useless if it only after-the-fact describes the membership of the 20% group. Adrian misunderstands how the principle is effectively used on a prospective basis. He writes,

'My guess is the Pareto Principle distinguishes groups you can only find after the event, once you can see what worked and what didn’t. If that’s so, the Principle is almost worthless as a guide to future action, which is how it’s most often used.'

Since it is not possible to collect facts about the future we are left to making assessments. The Principle provides a way of giving weight to our assessments for the sake of planning.

Adrian does understand that we cannot know for certain what the future holds. He argues that we cannot know what 20% subset of all our possible actions will yield the 80% of desired results. Again, I agree. So are we to subscribe to a random walk of life? I think not. From reading Adrian's postings on other topics, I doubt he would either. We all have learned that some of our actions are more effective for us in some circumstances than they are in other circumstances. This tacit knowledge allows us to respond somewhat effectively and without deliberation as we encounter our everyday world. That tacit knowledge is called upon as we make observations and assessments. Read the rest of this entry ¶

1. Italian economist who noticed the concentration of wealth and then generalized the finding to other areas of life [ ⇑ back ]

Seth Godin is on a mission — to drive out the ordinary. He's collaborated with 32 top thinkers to show us how. It is a follow-on to Seth's Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside.

The Big Moo has been available for less than 14 days. It's already in the third printing and this weekend became an Amazon best seller. All royalties go to three charities Junior Diabetes Research Foundation, Room to Read, and Acumen Fund. Already, Seth reports one school has been constructed.

I had the pleasure of getting advance copies. Here are two previous reviews: Stop Trying to Be Perfect? and Plant Rocks. Learn to become remark-able while benefiting three fine charities.

'Leaders know that the value-added revolution rests upon: Emphasizing Experiences!'

Tom Peters has been on a whirlwind worldwide speaking tour. From a look at Tom's PowerPoint slides his general message is about the same as it's been for the last five years. In true Tom Peters style there are over 300 slides in these presentations. Set aside about 30 minutes to view one of more than 20 presentations.

For me Tom's message on customer experience rings as one of the biggest opportunities for delivering projects. Customers get excited about their projects. Let's get excited with them. At least one company has responded by creating the position CXO — Chief Experience Officer. What other ways can we put more of our attention on the experience we create for our clients?

ast week I worked with one of my client's executive team on some business planning. The company has been pursuing a lean approach to delivering their projects and for general operations improvement. Progress has been good at two of their divisions. The executive team came together to plan initiatives for the next two years to expand efforts to the balance of their dozen divisions. I invited Norman Bodek to join us for the session. What a treat that was for us all.

Norman is the godfather of the lean movement in the western world. He was the first to publish Shingo's and Ohno's¹ books in English through his company Productivity Press. Norman went on to lead 50 study missions to Japan and he created the very successful 5 days and 1 night approach now called 'kaizen blitz'. Norman eventually sold Productivity Press, but he couldn't stay away from Japan or the publishing business. In the last two years he's published three books all of which he authored or co-authored. He is getting ready to publish three more books in the next year through his new firm PCS Press.

Throughout our planning Norman joined the working groups and our discussion sessions. At the end of the day he spoke to the group for 90 minutes. His message:

Unleash the energy and creativity of the workforce…all you gotta do is ask!

My client came away enthused and ready for action. They invited Norman back for their annual leadership program in January. It should be enlightening. Read more about kaizen for Projects.

1. Engineer Shiego Shingo and Taiichi Ohno were the creators of the Toyota Production System [ ⇑ back ]

The IGLC is in its 14th year bringing together researchers and practitioners in an international forum. We've been highlighting and commenting on some of the best of more than 500 peer-reviewed papers. I added a lens for IGLC Papers where you'll find a single source for the papers reviewed in RPM. I'll be adding to the lens as I continue to present and comment on more papers. Enjoy!

Business 2.0 is one of my favorite magazines. They have a way of breaking great stories and introducing topics from new perspectives. In June this year their cover story was The CEO's Secret Handbook. They broke the story of a CEO's advice to managers in his firm. Everywhere I looked someone else picked up the story. There were so many stories I decided not to write about it. I took another look. The advice works for project managers and leaders just as it does for division managers.

Read the rest of the story Bill Swanson's 25 Unwritten Rules of Management.

To celebrate the Library of Congress granting me an ISSN for RPM, I've launched my most ambitious of tasks. I'll be posting a new cover image for each issue with help from Kim Black. Hope you enjoy them. Where did I get that skiff-on-an-empty-beach photo that has served as the background image for RFP? It's served its purpose as a placeholder. Long live Reforming Project Management, The Magazine for the Project Age.

"So if you want to be a novelist, don’t be a copy editor."

I'm enthralled by the ongoing story of an architect starting her own business. Alane Ebner is a NYC architect who is opening her own business. She's getting outside help. Her goal is to be fully operational in 10 weeks. She and the Transformist team are blogging every step of the way. She's in day 20 of her 82 day plan. Check in…

eth Godin is on a roll. In the last three months he's published 3 e-books and is launching a new website (business?). It started with Knock Knock and was quickly followed by Who's There? Seth's latest is Everyone's an Expert (about Something). This book makes the case that we all have something useful we can teach others. Seth is not charging for any of these books, however he does encourage readers who like the book to make a gift to the Red Cross or another charity.

So what does this have to do with project management? Everything. First, Seth has an amazing capacity to bring together people to get his and others' projects done. Each of these books, along with the forthcoming The Big Moo, take collaboration and the contributions of many. Everyone's an Expert introduces the idea of providing a lens on a topic. A lens is a way an expert can introduce that expertise to others. Think of a lens as a single webpage that assembles a collection of resources. Of course, each of us could search and assemble our own resources, but then we have to find the best among all the rest. Enter the expert.

I've posted a lens on project leadership and project-based kaizen. I'll follow these with a lens on the language-action perspective. You can find them from the navigation bar in the header or RPM Lenses.

Design for design sake? Not according to BW Best Product Designs of 2005 nor bplusd. Jess McMullin writes,

"Value-centered design recognizes that the point of our work is to generate value. And not just bottom line cost savings, or top line sales through new products. True value comes at the intersection of business goals and human needs."

McMullin's weblog explores how design addresses human needs while satisfying business objectives. He has a refreshing perspective. Also, check out the design websites in his blogroll.

"When I stop (looking for excellence in others), things always suck."

It's been a month since I set out my challenge to make acknowledgement and appreciation a common occurrence on your projects and in your organizations, Try this with Me: Acknowledge and Appreciate. I'll get to my experience with it in a moment. But first, just posted on FC Now, Doug Sundheim reminds us to Look for Excellence in Others.

So how did I do? I made it a point to be unconditionally constructive on all my weblog postings. It's not easy. It's never been easy for me. People say (and write) crazy things. At least that is often my first reaction. When I started my blogging over three years ago I wanted to interrupt this automatic way I engaged with ideas and people. For the most part, I am satisfied with the progress I've made. This last month however gave me the opportunity to pay closer attention.

My results weren't as good in my everyday conversations and working. I started by making a tally of the instances I acknowledged others. There were too many days when that didn't have a tally. It was easier at home than it was on the phone with my clients and colleagues. I noticed I was more likely to do it when I was physically present with others. I also noticed that when I saw the yellow sticky reminder I had in my notebook I was more likely to acknowledge others.

The Gallup Organization's research showed that one way high performing organizations are characterized is by the frequency of acknowledgement and appreciation that occurs — at least once every 7 days for each person in the organization. It hasn't been my habit. Nor was I mindful enough to produce a new habit. However, I can see why it is so important. I noticed the encouragement and appreciation of me during the last month. That alone can bring me back to my writing and engage me more in my work with clients. It's time for me to redouble my efforts. I've got a new yellow sticky along with a daily reminder in my calendar. How about you?

rom down under we are advised to align management compensation to project success. On the surface this looks right. On-Time and On-Budget, by Munir Kotadia, ZDNet Australia, however the author fails to address the source of project success. It shouldn't take management compensation schemes to have a project team do well.

"If all you think is, 'Is it on time and on budget?' then you are in trouble."

Egidio Zarrella, KPMG, recommends IT organizations establish an enterprise project management office (EPMO) to bring oversight and aid to project teams. He goes on to say,

"Project management is there to say, 'If it is going off the rails, how do we pull it back? It is like steering a ship — you don't just say 'everybody jump off and let the ship smash into the land'."

Zarella goes on to say,

"The EPMO does not intervene on every project — that is not the point. They become part of the learning organisation."

So what does an EPMO have to do with executive compensation? Neither author Kotadia nor Zarella offer insight. Until we hear more, let's keep our attention on putting together project teams whose talents and interests are in alignment with the aims of the projects. Along with that, help the team make and keep promises to each other. These things work.