When all the world is going c-r-a-z-y…
The best thing you can do is stay CALM.
– Calm is where good energy enters and bad doesn’t.
– Calm is where rational thinking gets done.
– Calm is where positive action happens.
– Calm is where our inner faith is sustained.
– Calm is where we can inspire and lead ourselves and others to do good.
Calm is where we all yearn to be. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I like the saying on this guys knapsack:
Discipline equals freedom.
The opposite is true too:
From the violent riots across the country the last week, even a modicum of discipline has gone out the window, and with that comes a curtailment of freedom through deployment of the National Guard, Military, and imposition of curfews and more.
There was a time that peaceful protests led by leaders with integrity held sway…but now it’s anarchy out there!
Today, the cities are burning, the stores are being looted, people are afraid, and our republic is being torn asunder by racism and filthy election politics. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I like this quote from former Israel prime minister, Golda Meir:
Don’t be so humble; you’re not that great!
Nice way to pop someone’s oversized bubble of an ego and tell them to put a cork in it.
Or as my dad used to say:
He’s not a big shot; he’s a big sh*t!
Anyway, she had a sharp mind (like my dad) and was an amazing leader that Golda. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
It’s been a few exhausting weeks since the outbreak of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) has gone public.
First case in China in November.
Now as a Pandemic in 126 countries!
Over 132,000 confirmed cases, so far .
And around 5,000 deaths 🕱.
The numbers are projected to climb/////.
With Dr. Faucci of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) warning that it will “get worse before it gets better.”
Everything is closing down from our work facilities to Cruises, Broadway, and Disney.
Of course, we need the government (at all levels), health professionals, and pharmaceutical companies to get their acts together with an effective response strategy.
Also, this is a wake up call for better preparedness for all sorts of natural and man made disasters that are awaiting.
Today it’s a virus (natural or biowarfare) and tomorrow it’ll be a devastating cyber attack that we are woefully unprepared for.
No more playing politics, half measures, and waiting for the next shoe to drop (Spanish Flu, Pearl Harbor, 9/11).
The rest of us need to do our “prepping” parts and to say a prayer or two and keep going.
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
There are two quotes on innovation that I came across recently that I liked and wanted to share:
The first by David Ben-Gurion:
If an expert says it can’t be done, get another expert.
The second by Shimon Peres:
When you have two alternatives, the first thing you have to do is to look for the third that you didn’t think about, that doesn’t exist.
Both of these smart thinkers understood that solutions and innovation means breaking previous paradigms and thinking outside the box.
They got it absolutely right! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Just wanted to share this quick business case scoring template.
In evaluating various business cases, individuals can score each based on the following:
– Business Justification
– Analysis of Alternatives
– Technical Alignment
– Feasibility of Implementation Strategy
– Funding/Resource Availability
The ratings are done with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
The scoring sheet calculate average, and identifies highest and lowest scores.
Then the individual scores can be summarized and used to rank the projects in your portfolio.
Based on overall funding, you can determine how many of the top-ranked projects are doable in the year, and then roll over the others for reevaluation along with new business cases next go around.
Capisce? 😉
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this may be helpful for those looking at a Governance Process and Gate Reviews for project management.
This aligns the Capital Planning and Investment Controls (CPIC) process of select, control, and evaluate phases with the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
There are 5 notional gate reviews with associated documentation for project conception, initiation, planning, execution, and launch.
Of course, this can be modified as needed based on the project threshold and governance stringency required and seeks to create strategic alignment with the goals of the organization.
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
So I had to drive into downtown Washington D.C.
Along the way, I saw this colorful artistic rooster.
I appreciate this quick pick-me-up from this.
Yet, all around the streets were homeless people.
One was literally collapsed on a narrow island between the opposing lanes of traffic.
Some horrible-looking food, rags of clothes, and two bottles of liquor lay next to him and one of his arm hang almost into the moving traffic.
This was just one of many that I saw in abject poverty and desperation.
So I really feel conflicted looking at this colorful rooster.
What good is it when the people are homeless, sick, and starving? 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I was in an Agile and Scrum Management class yesterday.
Always looking for new best practices and efficiencies for what we are doing in software development.
We did one exercise to compare the old Waterfall methodology with Agile.
And the instructor had us as a team build paper airplanes one way and then the other so see the difference in output and outcome.
Lo and behold, we had almost 40 planes in agile and only 6 in waterfall.
What you see in the photo is the testing phase: we actually had to see if they could fly at least 10 feet without taking a nosedive. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This is a quick breakdown of the 3 types of Project Management Offices (PMOs).
A good place to start is with an enabling/supportive PMO and then progress to a more delivery/controlling model. Generally, a compliance/directive PMO is for more highly regulated organizations.
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal and concept via CIO Magazine and Gartner)
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