Moving The Matrix...

Moving the PM Matrix to ... http://rcubed-pm.generation-joe.com/ my new Wordpress MU install!!! Woot!

Be sure to check it out :)

-Optimal Optimus

My Favorite business books... No Surprises here...

Back when I was in college I loved reading pulpish novels about Spies and Specialized Warfare along with a whole bunch of Fantasy and Science Fiction etc etc. I am a creature that tries to stay as close as I can to my roots.

So back in the late 90's I found Dick Marcinko's Rogue Warrior series and I was hooked. I liked the gritty in your face style. It was most definitely attractive seeing as how much fun it was to read about a guy and his like minded pals, who bucks all the little rules and fights for all the big ones.

Then it got worse... I found his Business Book line and I was in heaven. All the foul language aside it was all just takes on the Art of War and the Go-Rin-No-Sho and all matter of treatise on Strategy and Combat that I had already absorbed at an early age.

Nowadays Rich Marcinko is making a Videogame and I actually know a couple of those folks. But I must say that I am lucky to have gleaned those insights from those tomes of knowledge that have helped inform if not shape my career.

People should check'em out. They are definitely entertaining if not insightful. Nowadays my reading list is a lot more ... tame, but man while definitely not on the Harvard Business Review top 10, did these Rogue Warrior Business series resonate and still continues to do so today.

-Optimal Optimus

An Amazon Link:


* Rogue Warrior (1992) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-70390-0
* Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior: A Commando's Guide to Success (1997) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-54514-0
* The Rogue Warriors Strategy for Success (1998) ISBN 0-671-00994-X
* The Real Team (1999) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-02465-5

The Importance of Management

OK so kinda scrambling to find a topic and wanted to talk a little bit about the importance of management in general not just PM.

Management as intangible as it is, is crucial to any organization. Clarity of vision, facilitating communication, and focusing work efforts is the role of management in general and in my experience its a rare thing to have clear thinking management in position.

Whether its the pressures to perform or that the majority of management is pulled from the rank and file technicians of an organization who by virtue of their work earned their commission not taking into the account that management skill and expertise are rare skills to be sure.

Some Principles that Have to be there to make it work:

A Vision Shared and Articulated Vision - Management has to get their resources on the same page.

Empower and Be Empowered Command Style - This means you trust the people that are under you to do their jobs and provide them an atmosphere to do so.

Versed in the Art and proficient in the science - You understand people and the situations and can artfully navigate them to a positive outcome and you understand the science of management the generation of performance metrics and the processes to get them.

Hopefully this helps a little on the management aspects of project management

- Optimal Optimus

Software Development is like cooking with too many chefs in the kitchen ;p...

Working with Software Developers is always a challenge IMO (not so humble opinion) its the more difficult challenge as compared to other more tangible Project Management disciplines (IT, Construction, etc). The simple reason is that you are dealing with the intangible and often fluid nature of software.

Software of any significant value is simple in its value offering, but inherently complex in its development. This complexity is an equation of developer personalities, responsibilities, organizational infrastructure, communication levels, political battles, resources all shifting to meet the needs of the consumer of the application that needs to be balanced adroitly. The same could be said for a construction project or server deployment but the concept of ground being broken and servers are on the dock is by and far more real than, how an abstract object will be handled by the as yet un-coded system.

Where in traditional IT shops and more concrete project organizations like construction there are a lot of regulatory strictures that exist, governance is part of the overall development model, in software similar concepts exist but the ways to meet them are as limited only by the architecture and skill of the development team(s) and their product owner(s) framing the problem space. That's why software is so different. So many factors so many people feeding the critical mix soup, then factor in the vendors, the methodologies and the time and associated risks it often is a maelstrom of chaotic decisions and knee jerk reactions all to the beat of the all mighty "Time to Market Drum" hammering away at you.

This is not to say all Software shops are the same they aren't, like anything there are orders of Magnitude of chaos. Software serving high governance industries will never be built the same as a video game (having worked in both sides of the spectrum I can attest to that). But it never looses its fluidity its almost art like quality, that when your cooking it it has to come out right or it will fail to meet expectations. Developers are like Chefs striving to make the experience unique and to their liking, like true artisans of their craft and the restaurateur the product owner or management hammering away at them to make the restaurant shine and then there's the general manager of the restaurant doing his best to keep the kitchen in shape and the chef's from fighting with each other and churning out wonderful dining experiences so that people come back and buy more.

Awfully flowery but close enough.

The whole idea here is that for me at least, a project manager in a software environment is supposed to bring harmony in a world of dissonance. To pull together the team by whatever means (hard selling or soft selling methodolgies, tools, communication models whatever is apropos to the problem space) necessary to bring clarity and concordance to the team and start delivering value add as quickly and as efficiently as possible. (Somewhere in there there has to be management support but that's a whole other story)

Ok Grasshopper ... When you can take this pebble from my hand...

On the Merits of Certification:

At its very core, Certification is a piece of paper that says you have been exposed to or have been trained to a certain level of proficiency in a certain body of knowledge.

I won't question the value of the certification. I for one think that there is intrinsic value to being trained and certified, Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Project Management Professional(PMP) whatever. For me the issue is that the connotation that one can be certified in something like the PMP or the CSM and they walk away a master in the art/discipline is specious.

All PMPs are not created equal all CSMs are not created equal. All those credentials really mean is that they have exposure and ideally a better than average understanding of what the methodologies offer as value propositions to an organizartion and how to implement them, to what levels of success may vary.

In the case of the CSM, I think the real weakness of the certification is that because its "Agile" it is some how easy and fast a panacea of sorts. This connotation sets erroneous expectations of what someone walking around with a CSM is or is not capable of. Maybe a more hardcore approach to the certification is warranted. Hopefully the discussion with the village elders of the Agile Community will come up with something that better protects the integrity of the skilled practitioner and brings more value to the table.

For the PMP, while the certification is much more rigourous with the concept of an auditable period of time before qualifying and continuing education requirements, that really only scratches the surface of what it means to run a project or be a project management professional or a leader in general which is really what project management provides at its basest level, and any leader worth is salt will tell you no one can just magically wave their leader wand and bam you are a leader, something about blood, sweat, and tears needs to get mixed in there,

Let's use a metaphor for this issue (everyone loves metaphors), I look at it like the mall strip Karate Studios and how many people have black belts these days? 2k and 1 year and bam you get yourself a black belt. They were certified in "attaining" knowing a certain level of skill, practiced it in a prescribed time, and a governing body approved said level of skill.

I have studied and trained for more than half of my life never got more than a brown belt at any one school of martial arts. To the uneducated many would discount me as a dabbler or amateur until they check my references as a closed door student to several highly respected masters of the martial arts, renown by blood and by deed. Maybe one day I will pony up 2k and join the certification class but then the master's would look at me funny and say so what's this about you want to start your own school too huh? (like that?... yeah like that and all it implies.)

Certifications are always nice to haves. I for one am far more concerned with practical skill and experience than fancy papers even though they can make me look really cool. My real value lies in how I apply my skills and expertise not whether or not I have a pedigree and I sleep-walked through it all. Black belts like that get weeded out eventually, usually by a kick to the neck and a short nap on the canvas.

Does that mean I don't value a certification process? No but I do check under the hood and kick the tires a couple of times just to be sure things are where they are supposed to be.

Remember in Kung-Fu the series Grasshopper's journey didn't end when he was able to take the pebble from his masters hand... It was only the beginning. Oooooo...Zen-esque Mystical stuff now what would be the billable for that?

- Optimal Optimus

A post on Corporate America

This is a great show. Definitely captures the essence of being a late 20's early 30's in the new millenia. Part of me is sad that I'm actually 3 years older than the main stars in the show. The comedy is sharp and relavent. Cobie Smulders is ridiculously haawwwt. But my favorite character and probably the favorite character of many is the character of Barney Stinson.

In this newest episode Barney doled out an "Awesome" insight in the world of corporate america as evidenced by the youtube clip above.

The episode centers around the gang talking about resumes in hopes of helping Robin's character from being deported due to visa violation. Barney relates what Corporate America is looking for in an employee.

As we watch Barney's ridiculous video resume about randome non relavent buzzwords with flashy images and no mention of anything he has done. The gang points out that resume has nothing about what you do and Barney looks up and says exactly.

"Corporate America doesn't want people that do. Corporate America wants people that look like they do but don't; in fact doing anything ... that will get you fired." (or something to that effect)

A more true statement has never been uttered. I have had my share of hiring and firings and let me tell you from my experience more people are hired on flash than substance and when substance is provided they are usually punished for it.

I get all kinds of excuses for it:

"Nature of the Beast"
"Welcome to Corporate America"

Excuses aside doesn't change the fact that its not right. If you stretch it a little all our economic woes stem from the tolernance of this line of thinking.

"Sell a good game and don't deliver. Then protect your sale by doing as little as possible as cheap as possible possible."

Sounds like a winning solution set to me.

I founded Generation-Joe and its professional oriented R-Cubed Project Management (the more professional oriented sister site/blog) to take a stand against sentiments like that.

We should stand on principles

• If you can make a difference then make one.


• Speak your mind without fear of reprisal


• If you are going to speak make sure it makes sense and its not bullshit


• Never give up


• Fight for what's right


• Don't be a passive aggressive dick


• Take Risks


• Don't believe your own press

- Optimal Optimus.

Death by Band-Aid

Working in the industry I've noticed a few things. People always look at Band-Aids vs. Solutions. Even within the realm of project management or some might say particularly in the world of project management.

Classical Band-Aids:

• Communication is poor, instead of increasing frequency and quality of interaction an often response is to document it.
• Schedules are slipping consistently, so lets through more people/money at it.
• Morale is low, let's give em the pep talk and a hand shake, a pat on the back, and tell them to soldier on.

Sound familiar? Of course it should these wouldn't be "Classical" Band-Aid approaches to business issues if they weren't seen often enough to approach cliche.

So why Band-Aids over a solution? Why?

Solutions are:

• Expensive
• Complicated
• Often Embarrassing

How so?

Band-Aids are easy. Low Hanging fruit in the consultant world. Often picked to show immediate gains and validate hypothesis. But cutting to the root of a problem or issue takes more effort, more commitment, and lastly ownership and the last thing anyone wants to do in the "corporate" world is own up to a failing in their organizational operations.

Expensive - Solutions often mean paradigm (yeah I used the word paradigm) shifts in how they approach the issue/problem. These changes mean re-training, resistance and sometimes buying new machines, software, and people. All daunting prospects. How does all this stack up if we can go to the classical Band-Aid of saying ok we need to document this...

Complicated - Solutions at least good ones are end to end endeavors. They address a business problem/issue end to end. They aren't stop gaps. This means it crosses over organizational silos, human capital relationships, and the political barriers in addition to their overall pure business impact. Honestly who wants to step on the feet of the powers that be to solve a business problem that has been affecting the higher ups but obviously has been assumed as "nature of the beast". It doesn't get much more intimidating than that.

Embarrassing? How so? In order to solve a problem you must admit that there is a problem to begin with. Telling a "C" Level exec that his decision to adopt a particular stance on technology is killing his competitive advantage is the nightmare for any management type and similarly a line engineer telling his co-worker in production that their process may not be revealing the end all to the products woes.

So what to do what to do?

Get over it.

An unpopular viewpoint I am sure but I didn't join the the workforce to be popular. I have tons of friends. I joined to workforce to solve problems and provide an unquestionable value proposition. I leverage Project Management and Scientific Management principles to enact such solutions. Sometimes it casts light to places where others would rather remain within the umbra and there are consequences for that, I bear many a scar from such altercations. But it changes nothing. Solutions not Band-Aids are what is called for in times of doubt and uncertainty.

You don't go to the hospital with abdominal pains and say "My insides feel funny? Can you slap a "Band-Aid" on me doc? I think I can handle it"

You wouldn't want that doc to say "Oh I've seen this 1000x no problem, here's a Band-Aid call me if it gets worse"

Call me crazy but I would be looking for like "Ok. Let's see tell me the syptoms, when did it start, how intense, and I am going to assume you want me to fix this, ah ha based on this I think you have a ruptured appendix. I am going to schedule surgery to fix this... I hope you have insurance... ;p "

What's the alternative, soldier on and die a septic death? Pass.

Solutions are much more desirable than a slow agonizing death.

The video is from Heartbreak Ridge(1985) I thought it appropos.

-Optimal Optimus

If you are gonna play... better know the game.

So in keeping with the Project Management meets competitive sport fighting motif, I have decided to tackle the concept of does a project manager need to have technical expertise/industry experience to manage projects effectively.

For me the answer is surprisingly… No. But wait there's a caveat to that answer…. Can a project manager manage a project without intimate technical/industry experience? Yes, but will they be as good as a project manager with the technical/industry experience… No.

But why?

There's the rub. In the fight game there is a saying "Ring Time is Golden".

What the hell does that mean?

It means that fighters that have logged "Ring Time" hours or have fought actual fights possess as strategic advantage to a fighter without.

Well what about all that sparring and training? Wouldn’t that help a fighter without the "Ring Time"?

Yes, they would.

But when it comes down to business and a fighter's business is winning a fight in the ring, in front of a crowd. No amount of sparring or training prepares you for the cheers of the crowd, the pressures of your family, the tunnel vision, and the myriad of psychological challenges that a fighter takes on, on top of the physical combatant. This isn't to say that some fighters sheer physical prowess and skill can compensate for a lack of "Ring Time" but ask any serious fighter out there, the smart money is on the guy with the best "Ring Time".

Being there. Knowing the rules of the ring. Controlling the anxiety, mitigating the affect of personal factors, possessing the clarity and singularity of purpose to fully leverage your training and experience is what makes a great fighter and similarly a great project manager.

I chose the opening for "The Contender: Asia" which centered around Muay Thai in which several rising stars in the professional Muay Thai circles were contestants in competing with very well known names in the Muay Thai champion fighters. And as I expected the more experienced fighters rose to the occasion and the other fighters with less experience, less ring time fell to the affects of the pressures of the ring. Some couldn’t reign in their personalities, some their lives outside the ring, their health, and in the end the last 5 fighters were all veterans of the Muay Thai ring. No accident. Ring Time is golden

Technical and Industry experience equate to having the tools talent and sense of situational awareness that can take a good project manager and makes him one that can in "Jedi" like fashion see the future improving response/reaction times making things seem effortless or even scripted. It is rare sight to see but a beautiful to behold.

So to boil it all down. A Project Manager can manage any project but when the stakes are high and they often are, its always best to go with your "game face on" and in order to have a game face you have to know the game. Knowing the Game means you have been there before and you didn’t choke. You rose to the occasion, faced the challenges with poise and composure and sent them all home packing. It takes a project manager with that situational awareness… that "ting Time" to make it happen. So if you are in the game for blood best have some quality ring time under the belt.

- Optimal Optimus

Glory? Good or Bad?

There are a lot of things that bother me when I approach an organization in an engagement ; first and foremost is an organizations understanding of "glory" or what it should be doing.

I think there are 2 kinds of "Glory"…. Good and Bad.

As I have often being accused of being negative let's start off with the BAD…

In the pursuit of glory, individuals often begin to think of it as their own and this is not an optimum situation . People tend to tunnel vision their careers to their own narrative. It is this "Their Own" concept that makes the pursuit of glory negative.

How so? When we are hired by an organization we are hired to perform for them not for ourselves. Their goals as dictated by management, their direction, If we are lucky we get to influence that direction but ultimately it is still theirs. This "Own" concept some individuals build up in their minds works in contradiction to the we are here to make real the organizations wishes dichotomy. It is this break in perspectives that causes inter-organizational strife. Groups of individuals begin to push their own agendas over the needs and concerns of the overall business organization. In the end this kind of glory seeking attention yields chaos and frustration.

Well it sounds as though glory in any sense of the word is bad? How can it be a good thing?

It’s a matter of perspective. What is "Glory" ? If "Glory" is simply self gratification of individual aspirations then that is small and petty and frankly pathetic. If the concept of "Glory" centers around the betterment and sustainability of the greater good in this case an organization's well being and not any one individuals' then it’s a concept that should be lauded and encouraged. The concept of the well being of the whole vs. the needs of the one and achieving excellence and thereby attaining "Glory" should be what everyone working for an organization that we don't own or control should aspire to. Do not take me for someone who doesn't seek the adulation of his peers, because I do, but I am not one to sacrifice the well-being of an organization for a personal win.

Entrepreneurs, business owners, they get the lions share of glory because they put up the risk. The peons (us employee, contractor types) we get to help and if we are good at it they recognize us for our efforts. The act of posturing and grabbing for power is unprofessional and counter productive to the "Long Game". It's not about you its about what you bring to the table and how it keeps food there, not how "shiny" you can make yourself with shadow games and political ploys.

The clip is from the movie 300. Its important to remember that the Spartans (at least theatrically) were striving to be an example to the rest of Greece to stop their petty squabbles and individual bids for power and unite for a greater good. To stand for freedom blah blah blah... I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

- Optimal Optimus