 |
 |
|
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
 |
|
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
|
|
What's New? This is the What's New column released with the Reasonable Expectations issue of Compass, V5N1. We have been delivering many workshops lately, including several back-to-back sessions. I remember the days when I first started working with Ontara in Silicon Valley when it would take me a week to recover from delivering a single two day workshop. I recently delivered a three day Mastering Projects Workshop® the week before delivering a six day Problem Solving Leadership workshop, then delivered two three day Mastering Projects Workshops back to back on either side of the next weekend, punctuating those, before and after, with half day follow-ups from other sessions. This was not simply an exercise in personal stamina. It became a hyper-learning experience. We innovated quite naturally. I believe these workshops were among the best we've ever delivered. We pushed the edge of old envelopes and discovered some wholly new territory, too. Staying true to our original intention of never delivering the same workshop twice (some say we've never delivered the same workshop once), these intense periods yield the most remarkable innovations. New Simulation: Amy's designed a brand new simulation which we call the Small Change Game®. We have used it with several groups and have found it to be a remarkable medium for helping people observe their responses to change. The magic of this simulation, and, indeed, the magic of every well-designed simulation, is that it provides a non-threatening way to observe, reflect, and to try out different responses to change. We think this experience can help your organization better cope with change. Contact us for details. New Threads: The Heretics' Forum has sprouted a few new threads. Most notable is one called MistakingPracticeForProcess. This page identifies some of the effects of our culture's focus upon process improvement. I started this thread after finally putting a name to a phenomenon I'd been observing in some of my consulting engagements. Some client initiated process improvement efforts seemed to make matters much worse, but the initiators persisted with them anyway, apparently out of a curious respect for the underlying theory. After all, isn't process improvement a good thing? Danger seems to come with indiscriminate application of process improvement strategies. Not all work activities are processes and applying techniques meant to improve processes can tangle up other kinds of work activities. The most familiar example of this is where HMOs have indiscriminately applied changes meant to make physician practices more efficient. As my doctor recounted, he was criticized for spending more than the HMO-prescribed seven minutes with each patient. This sort of manic pursuit of efficiency for efficiency's sake seems common in the project management world as well. Stop by and add your observations. Gathering: The Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology sponsored a talk by David entitled Five Things We Do To Destroy Our Projects. A hundred and twenty five people signed up. This presentation was an opportunity for David to present some of our latest insights. Several of these ideas will be featured in future Compass newsletters. We were gratified to connect with several members of our community at this session. This gathering reminded us that we really should engineer more opportunities to connect. Stay tuned. We've got some interesting ideas. If you'd like David or Amy to speak for your group, let us know. Recommended Titles: Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (And Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland ISBN: 0884963799 If project management is as my colleague Antoinette Hubbard says, both a science and an art, this book explains how to be a successfully practicing artist by showing how to cope with the fear and uncertainty inherent in all artistic undertakings. Order a signed copy: http://members.cruzio.com/~tno/artandfear.html The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary by Eric S. Raymond, Bob Young ISBN: 0596001088 Here is the manifesto and the story about how open source software development has transformed our assumptions of how to build reliable software. This is a powerfully story about building a deep and abiding real world community. I consider this essential reading for any project community builder. Leadership from the Inside Out : Becoming a Leader for Life by Kevin Cashman ISBN: 1890009318 Are you earning a paycheck, plowing a field, or feeding a community? This book shows how to find your purpose and how to use your work, whatever it is, as a medium for pursuing this purpose. Cashman says that true leadership is grounded not in assuming some powerful role but rather in authentically representing yourself to the world. This is a delightful, life-changing perspective. Required self-knowledge for every real leader. More next time. David
Copyright © 1999-2005 True
North pgs, Inc.
|
|