Someone once said to Ron: “the words project management are such a turn off. You need to sex it up a bit and call it something else!”

You see. In that way.

So. I started recently the Project Management Makeover Project. A different image for the profession. And a different word. Bootstrapping! I already wrote some suggestions on Gantthead.com.

I remembered that in the introduction of my first book (2002) I already struggled with this topic:

Let me provide you with some text from the introduction:

“Sometimes I wish the job of software project manager has more danger. Walking around, shooting from the hip to your opponent. Employees in fear, ‘cause there’s a new project manager in town. Something like that.

Sometimes I wish the job of software project manager is cool. In the 1995 movie “Hackers” actor Jonny Lee Miller is painting his laptop with camouflage colors. Cool. Mine is black, sadly.

But there is danger. It is cool. That’s why being a software project manager is the choice of Sofi. Sofi is the new heroine we desperately need in our profession. It’s like Lara Croft is kicking some programmer butt.”

Oh my. Really?

Other suggestions…

Black Belts. Snoop Dogg. And Titles For Bootstrappers.

“The first thing on the agenda for The Project Management Makeover Project, my attempt to make Project Management sexy, are the titles. The words or acronyms you may put behind your name when you managed to pass the test criteria.

I always admired the people that have a title from Lean Six Sigma. The belts. A Black Belt. A Green Belt. You can hear Mr. Miyagi from the The Karate Kid in the background: “Paint the fence. Wax the floor.” You will step aside when a Black Belt enters the office. There is a sense of admiration going through the room. With one well placed kick the Black Belt will kick the crap out of your waste.”

Agile Has A Better Legend Than Project Management.

“There were a few hero’s that couldn’t stand it anymore. They had a hard time fighting The Mechanistic Man. Fighting those who thought of humans as resources. Fighting those who wrote large documents. They were tired of that. They couldn’t stand it anymore.

On a legendary November day they met in a ski resort in Utah. The resort was called The Lodge. Of course it was. What else would you call it.

They secretly crafted their manifesto. Against something. Or in favor of something. Whatever. Seventeen hero’s sitting around a fireplace drinking wine, and crafting there Message To The World.

The Agile Manifesto was born.

Now THAT is a story. Now THIS is how you create a legend.”

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - Bootstrapping. That Thing Your Grandparents Called “Project Management”. is a post from: Project Shrink.

So. Recently I wrote stuff. But not here. Not on this blog. Somewhere else.

So. Not here.

Wrap This In An Enigma! About Giving Advice In Blog Posts.

I try to avoid giving advice in blog posts. Before you know it people start taking you serious. And we already have enough of that. People taking themselves very seriously.

I am not good in attempting this. I give way too much advice in what I write online. So. I dress it up in … well … my own voice. This reduces the number of people that read the text. Limiting the people that read the advice. Yes. Really.

I try to have consideration for the poor PMs that go online for relaxation. Suppose you run a project. It’s doing ok. Not great. Ok. In the bathroom you read your favorite blogs on your fancy mobile device. You read something about planning. That’s timely. You have some planning to do. Let’s see what advice is given.

An Alternative For: “Being On The Same Page”.

“I hate the phrase “being on the same page”. Nothing wrong with the sentence itself. It’s me. My associations with it. I actually hear: “you need to agree with my point of view”.

Same thing with “thinking out of the box”. The people who use it, wouldn’t even recognize a box when it was dressed up as a parrot and danced in front of them. Or, as elegantly described by Penelope Trunk:

“The reason telling someone to “think out of the box” is so stupid is because it really means “I hate all your ideas” or “I can’t think out of the box myself, so I need you to.” In any case, it’s lame to say.”

This is a problem as two of the main topics about project management for me are “being on the same page” and “thinking out of the box”. Irony. I know.

So I need other phrases that describe what I mean, without having the creepy associations. Clean, uncontaminated words that aren’t polluted yet…”

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - Giving Advice In Blog Posts. And Being On The Same Page. is a post from: Project Shrink.

In the winter, when snow and ice would block roads in some remote places of the country, the postmen would not bring the mail there. They couldn’t get there by bike, car or truck. The truck drivers from the newspaper would take the mail with them. They would go to the most remote place, whatever the weather conditions. The newspaper would be delivered always and everywhere. No matter what.

I love this story. So much better than: “We have a culture dedicated to 100% guaranteed deliveries being resilient towards disturbances caused by external conditions.”

But. When it comes to messing around with culture, some turn into a mix between Michael Jackson and Freddy Mercury.

“We are the best. We are the world. We are the children. We are the champions.”

Ah. The verbal diarrhea fest called “Name That Shared Value“.

Read more about how stories beat statements and what the three I’s mean (Incredible. Insane. Insulting.) in my article on Gantthead.com.

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - Name That Shared Value. How To Disconnect People From Your Culture. is a post from: Project Shrink.

“The original goes roughly like this:

Three blind men that are describing an elephant by just touching the animal. The first one feels its trunk and thinks it is some kind of rubber hose. The second one is standing at the side of the elephant and imagines some kind of massive wall. The third and final man is located near the tail of the elephant. He figures its a rope. The moral of this story is that while everyone is “looking” at the same thing, they don’t see the proper whole. So, leaders must have an overarching view of the problems, not be blind men.

My version would go something like this:

If you have an elephant and one of your stakeholders needs a rope, just turn the butt of the elephant towards him and let him see the tail. If another stakeholder wants a wall, just direct the elephant to its side and let him marvel at the beautiful gray wall. And if a team member has a strong desire to become a fireman, let him stand close to the trunk of the elephant.“

You can read the posting here: “A Much Better Version Of Three Blind Men And The Elephant.”

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - A New Version Of Three Blind Men And The Elephant. is a post from: Project Shrink.

The Power of Intermittent Reinforcement

“In an article called “What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage”, Amy Sutherland describes her attempt to train her husband by using a technique used in animal training: intermittent reinforcement. If you see desired behavior, you reward this. That’s it. You don’t respond to behavior you don’t want. No punishment.

What works for Shamu the whale also works for humans. (…)

I am not suggesting you should hand out squid to your temporary tribe when they perform a trick well. You don’t have to “like” every single word they write on the online discussion board. And of course, tapping everybody on the head just because they filed their time sheets on time (“Good boy! Yes! Yes you are!”) gets annoying.”

Click here to read the entire post.

The Power of Habits, Rituals and Environments.

“When you enter a bar, your body is screaming: PARTY!

When you enter your office, your body is yelling: WORK!

Your surroundings signal to your body what mode to use. What kind of rules to invoke. When running on autopilot, which program to take.

If you suffer from insomnia, one of the main suggestions is to use your bedroom just for sleeping. Not for watching TV. Not for reading. Just sleep. So when you enter your bedroom, your body will switch into “Yay! Sleep!” mode.”

Click here to read the entire post.

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - The Power of Habits, Rituals and Intermittent Reinforcement is a post from: Project Shrink.

“Moving your team communication into cyberspace changes communication and leadership.

If you can’t see someone’s response to what you said, you are missing out on a lot of information. If you instead have access to his entire digital footprint, you are getting perhaps too much information.

Yes. That is different. Totally.

…

If effective communication depends increasingly on reliable social cues, and the leadership style will focus more on social context for inspirational and intellectual stimulation, well, heck yeah, things will be different.

…. it’s not just about our communication platform. Practices that are in tune with the social cues and context concepts are also needed.

Would that be Social PM?”

Follow this link to read the entire blog post.

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - Changes In Communication And Leadership. is a post from: Project Shrink.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about bootstrapping, the art of revealing a culture. I explained that culture is partly bootstrapped by imitation. One person starts a thing and when enough people start copying it, start doing it, it becomes part of the culture.

This blog is a good example.

I am a big fan of the Fluent Self blog by Havi Brooks. I linked to her writings more than once in my postings. I really recommend it. Fantastic. Awesome.

I like it so much that after reading it intensively the last couple of years, I started to adopt some of her layout techniques, use of words and even topics.

Follow this link to read the entire post.

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - Copying Cultures. is a post from: Project Shrink.

“Let’s say wearing party hats and chanting “Kumbaya” is a big deal in your group culture.

It took you an entire workshop to get your group to pick these cultural elements up. During your latest bootstrapping session, what is called a Gathering, they picked the hats and the song instead of wearing a dead fish as a tie.

Nice try though. With the fish.

So. You bootstrapped a culture for a temporary social system. That’s an expensive word for a group that doesn’t last forever.

How do you hold this new sweet tiny culture together and move it into the host organization?”

Read the entire post.

Yes we talk about The Tent again

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - Filling Up Your Tent With Culture. is a post from: Project Shrink.

There is this illusion that if you jump outside your zone, you’ll grow. By taking incredible risks, you reach for the stars. By taking the leap of faith, you get somewhere exotic and extraordinary.

The same leap of faith can get you in a boring, gray suburb.

Diving off a cliff might just feel like that. Stressful. Hurtful. Generally not good.

I like to stretch my comfort zone.
…

I have my writing room. It’s the smallest room in the house. It holds all the books I own. And two racks of laundry. That is where I write. Even if no one is at home. I will still sit in that room with all the books. That’s my comfort zone for writing.

“Go to the beach. You can write at that beautiful place.”

I know. But I won’t. I need my piles of books. I feel safe behind those piles when I write stupid posts like this.

Click here to read the entire article.

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - I Am In My Comfort Zone. And Staying There. is a post from: Project Shrink.

“I have wrecked my brain on how to create project cultures. Cultures are the rules how things are done within a group. Rituals, rules of engagements, language and visual clues that identify this specific group.

A culture can be awesome. It can that turn a collection of individuals into a tight and focused group. A group with a purpose. A group that feels special and a little different from the rest of the organization.

But how do you “create” a culture?

….

You throw stuff to the wall and see what sticks. If it catches on, awesome. If it doesn’t, forget about it.

This is not really management.

It isn’t pure leadership either.

I propose we call it Freestyling.

Oh. And it contains an awesome video clip on how to start a movement. Must see.

Click here to read the entire post.

Bas de Baar helps people find ways to enjoy the diversity of human interaction in their organizations so that they can get out of their own way and achieve their goals. - Freestyling. The Art Of Bootstrapping Culture. is a post from: Project Shrink.