So much of my work life has been lost to long, tedious, low-value gatherings called either “status meetings” or “progress meetings.” As a project manager, I certainly believe in the importance of getting the team into the same room (or conference call) at the same time. But too often, I’ve had to join status meetings that leave me frustrated with how much time they burn up and how little new information I take away.
Work
Bartending and Project Management
by Chris • • 0 Comments
I believe that project managers should tend bar sometime early in their careers.
I doubt this conviction will prompt a change in the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification process, but the concept is worth investigating. So much can be learned from preparing the bar for business, making and serving drinks, ferrying platters of hot food, taking customer orders, communicating orders to the kitchen, cleaning up spills, and other such drudgery. It’s like boot camp for anybody who hopes to get a practical grasp of the physical, verbal, and mental skills needed to operate as a truly effective project manager.
Poetry
A Poem for a Freshman
by Chris • • 1 Comment
During a graduation party for my college-bound goddaughter Melinda, I sat down at a picnic table and hastily wrote out a few lines to include in the card we gave her…
Tech
O Computer, Have Mercy
by Chris • • 0 Comments
I recently enjoyed hearing this great quote from Joseph Campbell, prolific author in comparative mythology and religion: A computer is like an Old Testament god, with a lot of rules and no mercy. This could be the basis for a…
Work
How We Learn Stuff
by Chris • • 0 Comments
Richard Condie is one of the funniest and most imaginative animators to come out of the National Film Board of Canada. I remember laughing myself to tears watching one of his pieces called “The Apprentice” at a Toronto film festival in 1992.
Tech
Linux: A Difference Engine for Inner-city Youth
by Chris • • 1 Comment
If you want to see where desktop Linux and open-source software is making a difference, you should hear what some young people in inner-city Camden, New Jersey have to say now that they’ve experienced it for themselves.