Inspired Project Teams

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When a project team is trying to create something great – something that excites and captures the imagination of creators and stakeholders – something that could change the world – then that project’s team leaders have to figure out how to handle the passion that swirls all around that vision.

Specifically, project leaders need to answer these questions:

• How do you harness passion without snuffing it out? … or without having it blow up in your hands because you squeezed it a little too hard trying to contain it or bend it to your will?
• How do you synchronize the differing passions of individual team members and then embed these as a unified force in the finished product, so that its energy can crackle and arc like a lightning bolt across the chasm that separates your team from your customers?

I realize, after having experienced Occupy The Rose Parade (OTRP) first hand, that the OTRP leadership team seems to have answered these questions brilliantly. In this article, I’m going to share what I observed and what project managers everywhere can learn from OTRP about managing that most precious of project resources: passion.

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As you may have concluded if you’ve read many of my posts, I’m essentially an optimist. Most of the time I believe that problems can be solved, challenges can be overcome, and people generally want to do the right thing. What’s more, I believe (at least the majority of the time) that the universe itself is animated by some Source, God, or whatever you want to call that positive energy field that seems to be helping every living thing to evolve  and improve itself in that brief moment while its flame burns bright.

Still… I live in this world. I have stubborn clients who make me crazy and cause me to wonder why I chose my career. I see family or friends desperately struggling to make ends meet or trying to overcome illnesses that attack them from out of the blue. I get angry when I observe corrupt politicians and greedy executives. And worse, I sometimes do stupid, petty, or short-sighted things that directly contradict my own ideals. In short, there are plenty of times when I find my essential optimism challenged… times when I wonder what’s the point of it all… times when I ask myself, “Does it really make sense to cling to optimism and continue trying to learn, grow, and keep doing the right thing?”

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I grew up in the American Mid-West, a region where every small town had a Christian Nativity scene centrally displayed during the better part of each December. For most of my adult life, however, I’ve lived in the Los Angeles area where you can drive through neighborhoods displaying Christmas lights on you way to your local Mosque, Synagogue, Buddhist temple, or Unitarian church. In the LA area, tolerance (even celebration) of religious, ethnic, and cultural differences is pretty much the norm.

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In my 30+ year career I’ve worked as a writer, developer of training, and project manager. In each of these roles there have been many times when I had to interview experts in various fields and technical specialties (i.e., SMEs or Subject Matter Experts) to get their professional insights and help making our finished product more accurate or effective. Truth is, this has always been one of the favorite parts of my job, since these interviews give me the opportunity for continuous learning and growth.

One tool that I’ve found to be particularly valuable in these interviews is the “One Simple Thing…” question. The object of the game is to force the experts to dig deep into their experiences and use their hard-won wisdom to sort through all the possible answers they could provide, finally selecting the “one simple thing” that is the essence… the core… the pithy heart of the matter in question. This typically produces some powerful responses that reveal what inspires these experts, what they value, the origins of their passion about their field.  At minimum, the answer to this question can focus and bring meaning to what the team builds. And sometimes the answers serve as themes to guide further questioning and shape the entire evolution of the project.

Recently, as part of my pursuit of PM Minimalism, I decided to post such a question to my PM colleagues. Here’s what I asked:

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If you and your project team members are feeling world-weary and burnt out, maybe its time to step back and ask yourselves some questions like:

• What are we doing wrong?
• How could we improve our PM methods?
• How do other project managers and project teams keep things running smoothly?
• What are some innovative new PM practices that we should be using?
• Is there anyone out there who might help us renew our enthusiasm for “life in the projects?”

Now here’s some good news: It’s fairly easy to find answers to questions like these if you go online and connect with some of the many free PM training and webinars that are available. There are plenty of PM authors, public speakers, consultants, and experts who have worked hard to capture their best practices and recommendations, then make them available to share with you.

While you can always do a quick Google search, you might also find something valuable on one of my ever-growing lists of free PM training, webinars, etc. at my website, Project Management FREEBIES:

Project Management FREEBIES website: http://michaelgreer.biz/pmfreebies

Remember, you can’t get new ideas and renewed enthusiasm by keeping your head down and doing the same things over and over. So step back, look upward and outward, then “sharpen your saw” so you can work more effectively!

.. And Why You Should Look to the Clouds for Answers

[I published this last year, just in time for the holidays. Decided to make it a regular holiday reminder. Enjoy! ... and play nice at all those holiday parties! -- MG]

Do you find yourself facing a bunch of holiday parties with people whose political or religious perspectives might be drastically different from your own? Are you dreading those inevitable arguments?  This special Inspired Project Teams article provides some perspective on:

• The weird and wonderful ways our political and religious views evolve, including:
• The Happy Face Version
• The Waterfall Version
• Why we inevitably clash when we try to argue about politics or religion
• Why it’s pointless to argue about politics or religion
• How you might become an amateur anthropologist and try to see into the “cloud” of personal experiences that make up the other guy’s political or religious vision
• Specific suggestions and Challenges for dealing with your next political or religious argument

Click here to download the entire 9-page PDF (with 6 graphic illustrations).

(Note: This article, largely because of its several somewhat-complicated & whimsical graphics, didn’t seem to lend itself to the usual audio podcast or blog post.  The PDF file presents all these elements in a single, easy to read document. Hope you like it!)

(See previous post re: how I mangled the RSS feed with the help of Google Adsense!!  Aargh!!)

If you subscribe to this blog via RSS feed reader (Google Reader, Feedgator, etc.) here are two things you need to know:

• First: The URL for your old subscription is now dead. You will need to subscribe to the new URL (below).
• Second: You should copy the link text below to resubscribe in your reader:

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Caution for non-techies: Don’t enter this URL above in your browser unless you want to see a bunch of ugly stuff that your reader sees, then translates for you to read!  Just copy the link and use it to resubscribe to Inspired Project Teams in your reader. (You may need to delete the old subscription… see your reader’s Help info if necessary.)

Note: If you click the RSS feed symbol below, you’ll get the link (above) and a preview of the new feed, courtesy of Full Text RSS Feed Builder . 

Finally:  THANK YOU, Full Text RSS Feed Builder, for helping me correct this problem and for creating my new feed!

KINDLE SUBSCRIBERS NOTE: I have updated the feed in my Kindle Publishing for Blogs account, so you shouldn’t need to take any action. If you find you need to resubscribe, however, here’s the link to the Amazon sales page:

• Inspired Project Teams [Kindle Edition] –  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029XF1KK

(P.S.: A pox on Google AdSense for 1) polluting this blog’s feed in the first place with so much junk, 2) having no humans whatsoever to talk to and help me correct it, and 3) forcing me to abandon the Feedburner feed!)

If you subscribe to this blog via Kindle or RSS feed Reader (Google Reader, Feedgator, etc.) PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!

I accidentally tangled this website’s feed with my Google AdSense Account and it’s royally messed up with ads piled on top of ads!!  I’m trying to fix this ASAP!  PLEASE STANDBY!!  – Mike G.

[Update:  I am cancelling this website's RSS/Kindle feed until I can get this resolved. I am truly sorry for the inconvenience.]

The recording of my live webinar Become a Project Management Minimalist for The Project Management Bookstore is now available online. I’m proud to say that this live event was sold out!

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It’s hard for a project team to stay inspired when they’re struggling to adapt their tasks and activities to an externally-imposed PM model or methodology. This short video is meant to encourage your team to “push back” and take charge of their PM model, no matter what its origin.

A Zillion Project Management Models & Why You Should Build Another One!
from PM Minimalist.

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