Project Shrink Links 28-02-2008

Photography by Kyknoord. Wild Success in 2008 through Optimism and High Self-esteem “Unrealistic optimism and high self-esteem are key factors in individual and team success. However the project management environment isnt exactly brimming with unbridled optimism and positive reinforcement. Quite the opposite. Many projects are highly challenging, some are carried out in unsupportive environments, and …

Management And The Medina

In the previous post I used a picture of myself leaving the medina of Fes, Morocco through the gate. For me, this old city is a great illustration of human complexity. When discussing abstract concepts like networks of humans, complex adaptive systems and their fractal nature (a society is a large organization, an organization is …

On Why Project Sociology

Click here for an explanation of this image (entrance of the medina of Fes, Morocco). We are currently in the era of agile methodologies. Before that we had our plan driven approaches. Software development had its structured design and its object oriented design. I am not suggesting that they are all the identical, this is …

Coordination Without Central Control. Huh?

How are people coordinating work when there is no central control? You might read about all this self-organizing, no-command, treehugging teams, but you just keep on wondering how this can work? Ted.com brings us again a great presentation that provides us with the answer to how ants do exactly this. Watch it, and watch it …

Communicate The Bigger Picture

Photography: Sylt August by knudsburg With large groups and a lot of time pressure you don’t always spend enough effort in communicating the overall perspective of the project. Too bad, because emphasizing the “bigger picture” helps stakeholders to keep in line and, if done properly, enhance motivation among the team (they wanna be part of …