From the category archives:

commentary

Fire Me!

by Hal on November 17, 2004

in books, commentary

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I just finished the book QBQ!: The Question Behind the Question®, by John G. Miller. This is a wonderful little book that belongs in every briefcase (not on your bookshelves) and ready to give to that special person you [...]

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Not-So-Secret Dirty Little Project Management Secret

by Hal on November 15, 2004

in commentary

In today’s Wall Street Journal (WSJ) technology columnist Lee Gomes claims that we won’t be seeing another tech investment boom for at least five years. He offers the following as explanation:
“One of the not-so-secret Dirty Little Secrets of the tech world is that no one knows how to make this stuff work. When [...]

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What Do We Mean by Lean?

by Hal on November 12, 2004

in commentary, innovation, lean

After a handful of reader comments and another handful of reader emails I’ve decided I need to comment further on Wednesday’s posting Innovation and Lean Go Hand-in-Glove. I wrote it in response to Joyce Wycoff’s Do Less, Have More appearing in her weblog Good Morning Thinkers! Joyce argued for more slack time so [...]

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Innovation and Lean Go Hand-in-Glove

by Hal on November 10, 2004

in commentary, lean

Joyce Wycoff suggests that one of the reasons companies aren’t more innovative is they have become so lean they don’t have the time for thinking, Good Morning Thinkers!: Do Less, Have More. I’ve found the exact opposite to be true. Taking a lean approach to projects frees up time that otherwise is spent [...]

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Begin with a Number for Titling a Best-Seller

by Hal on August 14, 2004

in commentary

I think I’ll write a book. I’ve been looking over the best-sellers. The big hits have one thing in common. Their titles all start with a number. The author follows that number with a few words to convey that he or she has the secret. For just $19.95 you can [...]

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Building a Bad Reputation: Then Make It Lean

by Hal on August 9, 2004

in commentary, construction, design

The August 8, 2004, Sunday Edition of the New York Times ran a story Building a Bad Reputation: Sloppy American Construction, Julie V. Iovine. The story appeared in the Arts and Design section. [You'll need to move fast to read the article. The NYT only makes their stories available for about 1 [...]

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Time for the Next Big Thing, or Comeuppance?

by Hal on August 6, 2004

in commentary, lean

David Drickhamer writes a monthly commentary for Industry week on the topic of continuous improvement. His articles are enlightening and entertaining. While Drickhamer writes about manufacturing I always find a lesson for doing projects. His latest article didn’t disappoint, The Next Manufacturing Craze.
Drickhamer points fun at how people make fads out of [...]

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The Toyota Production System Has Legs

by Hal on July 27, 2004

in commentary, lean

Read Business 2.0 if you are interested in great business journalism. The latest issue describes the Toyota Production System (TPS) effect on industry. Toyota Retools Japan is reason enough to spend the $4.95 for unlimited access to the site. Don’t take my word for it. Check out the latest issue. [...]

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OSHA Betrays Dead Man’s Family

by Hal on December 21, 2003

in Safety, commentary

After OSHA concluded that Linda Moeves’, owner of Moeves Plumbing, willful inherent disregard of safe work practices led to the death of 22 year-old Patrick E. Walters when he was buried alive in the cave-in of a trench, OSHA then negotiated away the willful designation, reduced the fine, and set-back safe work practices in the [...]

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[grid::brand] Tango with Ted for a Song

by Hal on December 1, 2003

in commentary

You gotta be asking what is he doing now? Well, I’m participating in an experiment in concurrent blogging. Bloggers all over are writing today on the subject of the “brand”. The idea is to see what new is created when we all blog intentionally rather than just top-of-mind. To find other [...]

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Grid Blogging the “Brand”, December 1, 2003

by Hal on November 15, 2003

in commentary

Being Saturday, I thought I’d offer something different. As regular readers of weblogs know bloggers link to other bloggers. It makes the experience of reading a blog so interesting. When I visit a blog I do so wondering “where will I go today?” Blogs like mine have a topical focus. [...]

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Try the Search Facility on Reforming Project Management

by Hal on November 12, 2003

in commentary

I am really embarrassed. Over a year ago I added the Atomz search tool to my weblog and website. I’ve tried it a couple of times and was disappointed I couldn’t find what I had written. Today I decided to dig in. I found I was not including my own weblog [...]

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Trust Is Crucial in Project Coordination

by Hal on November 11, 2003

in commentary, leadership

This article was written by Michael Sheerin, P.E., Healthcare Division Director TLC Engineering for Architecture, Orlando, Trust Is Crucial in Project Coordination.
Sheerin opens his article this way:
The key ingredient of any successful project is trust: the owner must trust the building team to envision and create the owner’s goals; designers must trust the contractor’s ability [...]

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A Blogger in Their Midst

by Hal on August 25, 2003

in commentary

Harvard Business Review, Sept 2003, leads with a case study on blogger behavior at work. The case is kinda fun. A woman writing a blog calling herself “Glove Girl” is responsible for a big increase in the sale of the company’s products, but she blogs without permission, and without following the company line. [...]

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There Can Be No Such Thing as a Project

by Hal on August 14, 2003

in books, commentary, theory

So claims David Schmaltz in his book The Blind Men and the Elephant, Mastering Project Work. Those are words only a self-described heretic could utter. The key word is “thing”. While we speak of projects as nouns, the experience of a project is much more like a verb.
I won’t make this a [...]

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Blogging on Blogging on Project Management

by Hal on June 1, 2003

in commentary

While this is a blog about project management, I thought a few points about blogging might be useful to the readers. Dave Winer, one of the founders of the blogging phenomenon, has recently left his position at Scripting News and joined the faculty at Harvard. His writing on blogging has always been good. [...]

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Readers’ Project e-Tips

by Hal on May 29, 2003

in commentary

Well, my whining has worked. Two readers submitted proposals for Project e-Tips. I accepted both and they selected Purple Cow as their reward. Look for their e-Tips in the next two weeks. I still have 3 more copies of Seth Godin’s Purple Cow and 5 full-year subscriptions to Business Book Summaries [...]

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The Jury Is Out on Reforming Project Management

by Hal on February 2, 2003

in commentary

The reform of project management is underway. Long live the reform!

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Partnering, Promising, and Project Management

by Greg on September 18, 2002

in PM practice, commentary

Project management is broke — now fix it!

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Better is the enemy of good

by Hal on September 16, 2002

in commentary, lean

Adopt good solutions rather than waiting for the best solutions to surface.

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