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Nullius in Verba (Nobody's Word Is Final)

Physicist Freeman Dyson is writing again. This time about global warming and the secular religion of environmentalism.

What I found most interesting about this article, which is actually a review of two books, is the characterization of science and economics, echoing Mark Gray's notion of physics envy—that every social science is jealous of the mathematical precision and replicability of physics.

Link to article Slip over here for more ...

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Play Ball!

The final installment of my Unlearning Project Management series was posted this morning on the Projects@Work Executive Briefing site. The posting also features links to the first five installments.

What did I unlearn in the process of writing this series? Two months ago, when I started writing this series, I was smoking about ten exquisite little cigars every day. Just after I finished the third installment, I stopped smoking. For unlearning, I highly recommend this strategy: First, start smoking. Smoke pretty steadily for five or six years, then decide to stop. Slip over here for more ...

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Who's Managing Whom?

The fifth installment of my Unlearning Project Management series has been posted online. Here's the link.

This part continues considering project control."In a recent conversation, Howell remarked, “Current project controls increase risk in projects ... external risk is rarely the killer. Things most often go wrong because of the wreckage caused by the feedback and control used in current PM: control for cost, squeeze ‘em down, and the people will find a way to do just what you ask — reduce the immediate cost of their work. This reduces the predictability of workflow in the system, further reducing performance. Hazing managers in response to further cost increases puts projects into the death spiral.”



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The Lake Wobegone Effect

Romanticism has a dark side. It's one thing to look on the sunny side of life, but it's neither optimism nor evidence of positive self esteem to ALWAYS look on the bright side. Garrison Keilor speaks of the mythical home town where all the women and strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average. Commercial bluster promises unconditional superlatives, too. I remember an ad campaign that promised "For A Merry Christmas, Lay Linoleum!"

The problem is that we believe we have a problem. Slip over here for more ...

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