I saw this painted on a storefront window.
Community, United We Stand.
With all the polarization these days, is this still true?
Unity is literally built into Comm-unity.
Divided, we tear each other apart.
Instead, we could accomplish so much together. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Saw this in a window from the street.
Pac-Man eating the dots/pellets and going for the ghost.
The classic arcade video game from 1980s still speaks volumes.
Pac-Man is goal-oriented and hungrily eat the pellet pieces, but if the ghosts touch him first then he’s toast (or at least one of his 3 lives are).
Not so different from real life…
We try to reach our goals, by taking one bite at a time until we “eat the elephant.”
But if those people who are naysayers, haters, Debbie Downers, and obstructionists, get to us first, then we can not only lose momentum, and but also eventually be forced to divert or miss out on achieving our goals.
Ghosts aren’t hollow friendly creatures, but those who want to stop progress, stop you, and maybe even end your pellet-eating life.
You need to eat the super “power pellets” to overcome and eat the ghosts.
Eating all the pellets can be a herculean task requirement strength, resourcefulness, and determination, but that’s what takes you to the next level in the game of life. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Have you ever noticed the relationship between those that contribute and those that whine.
The bad news is there is a highly inverse relationship between contributing and whining.
– Those that contribute, don’t whine–they are focused on how to make things better!
– Those that whine, don’t contribute–they complain and naysay, but add no real value.
The good news is that some solid contributors can more than counterbalance the whiners.
– Unfortunately, too often the whiners outnumber the contributors.
– But fortunately the contributors outweigh the whiners.
Despite your best efforts, you may not be able to make the whiners stop whining and throwing up roadblocks.
You’re often best-off spending your time working with the other contributors who want to see things through to success.
Be a leader, not a babysitter and help the contributors win! 😉
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal adapted from here with attribution to mediamodifier)
This just seemed so perfect for election day this year.
With the country torn asunder between left and right.
We are the grateful dead of the U.S. of A.
– Our political system is stymied and our representatives are only self-minded.
The integrity of our founding fathers has vanished and last century’s great national hope has languished.
Cause the liberals hate the conservatives.
And the conservatives hate the liberals.
All of my folks hate all of your folks, and everyone blames the Jews.
– The Constitution has become malarkey, and the Bill of Rights now makes people snarky.
Polarization and they’re a lyin’, fake news and no one is even tryin’.
It’s either my way or the highway, and everyone else can go to h*ll.
– Throw a fit and curse your neighbor, chase the opposition to the wayward.
Know that threats and violence are better than silence, and resistance means persistence.
How could this have even happened, and you’re all on the wrong side of history.
– Are we making things great, and they’re only about hate.
Or are they racist deplorables, and we’re the self-righteous ennobles.
From the economy to trade wars, and from immigration to healthcare.
Why is it that we can’t listen, negotiate, compromise, and play fair.
– I don’t know why we’re even having an election.
When we only want to defeat the opposition.
Cause the Democrats hate the Republicans.
And the Republicans hate the Democrats.
All of the Obamanicks hate the Trumpeans, and vice versa is certainly true too.
– It’s up to everyone to put the country first and stop the bickering and the hate.
Practice patriotism and nationalism, tear down the walls so progress does not stall.
No one is all right and no one is all wrong, instead we’ve got to come together and just let everyone belong.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was an interesting analogy.
A colleague refers to some customers as snowflakes.
At first, I didn’t get it.
Then I understood.
Every snowflake is unique.
Based on how the ice crystals fall to the ground through different temperatures, moisture levels, and atmospheric pressures, the shape of every snowflake is different.
Sometimes when it comes to project management, customers too think they are unique, different, and special.
They think that solutions that work industry- or enterprise-wide could never work for them and their wholly distinct ways of doing business.
Hence, as I learned, the term snowflake.
For those of us who have been around the project management block a few times, we know that while there are specific customer requirements, most of them are not all that unique.
And when some customers simply don’t want to do things differently than they’ve done it before, there can be greater resistance to change.
Hence, the “We’re special. We’re different” reframe along with the standoffishness, doubting, circling the wagons, throwing up obstacles, or just refusing to fully participate.
Obviously, it’s a lot more difficult to modernize and transform through technology and business process re-engineering when your customers aren’t on board.
So it is critical to manage organizational change, address the questions, the fears, and elements that are truly unique, and bring the people along as true partners.
Not every requirement is a snowflake and neither is every customer, but we have to manage the similarities and differences in every project and make sure it improves performance and meets the needs of the customer and the organization. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So when the train is pulling out it’s a loud call by the conductor of:
“All Aboard that’s going abroard.”
With project management, it can be the same too.
Once an organization has decided to move out on a project and make the investment of time, resources, and reputation:
– Either you get on the train and help feed the engine of progress
OR
– You get left behind.
– You get thrown off the train.
– You get run over by the train.
There really are no other alternatives.
My advice is get with the program.
The train is moving out.
The organization is going to deliver on its promise.
Get the h*ll on! 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So we went to the mall and there was a new Indian gift store.
We went in to take a look, and they had all sorts of things, but one section had a lot of colorful statues.
We didn’t even really know what we were looking at when one of the young lady salespeople came over to explain.
And she’s pointing to different statues and saying that this is the “G-d of love,” this is the “G-d of prosperity,” this is the “G-d for removing obstacles,” etc.
I said to her questioningly (non-judgmental), “So we are Jews, and we believe in monotheism. How do you understand this concept of different ‘G-ds’?”
She said, “Well, I learned about these growing up in India, but the way I’ve come to terms with this is that these “G-ds” are really different ‘faces’ of one G-d” and then she started to tell us the “stories” of them.
So in her explanation, when they are confronting challenges in life, they pray to the “face of G-d” that focuses on removing those obstacles, and when they are seeking prosperity then they pray to that “face of G-d” so on and so forth.
It was interesting to me how this young lady came to find a monotheistic interpretation and path for herself and perhaps others who have similar beliefs.
I wondered to myself whether this understanding can be in a way be similar to the Jewish concept of G-d having different attributes like midat Rachamin, din, etc.
Of course, I know that G-d loves all of us, and I respect everyone’s personal beliefs.
For me and my traditional Jewish belief system, I wholeheartedly affirm as my namesake Abraham:
Sh’ma Yis’rael, Hashem Elo’kenu, Hashem Echad.
Hear O’ Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is one.
😉
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Moshe Shalom)
So this is a new type of project management and it can be very effective.
It’s called (my name):
Shock and Awe Project Management
This technique is similar to the military doctrine of shock and awe that uses speed and overwhelming power to dominate the battlefield and vanquish the enemy.
In project management too, there are often naysayers, Debbie Downers, resisters, excuse makers, and people that lay down obstacle after obstacle to progress.
This invariably derails projects and causes them to fall behind schedule, go over budget, experience scope creep, not meet the genuine user requirements, and ultimately fail!
However, if you manage the project with “shock and awe” and set aggressive timelines, assign substantial and very good resources, and move the project full speed ahead, then you can similarly create a momentum to the project that enables it to overcome the “enemies of the progress” (i.e. those that don’t really want it to succeed or are too busying covering their own a*ses).
This approach is not advocating speed at the expense of quality nor is it calling for cutting corners or riding roughshod over people, but rather to the contrary, it calls for techniques similar to the military of moving with absolute focus, determination, efficiency, collaboration, synchronization, and overwhelming “project power” to ensure it’s success.
Projects, like battles, can be “won” by putting the right resources on the field and moving them to get quick wins in rapid succession (where the enemies of progress don’t stand a real fight) so that the projects get not only completed on time and within budget, but most importantly to real stakeholder satisfaction and the organization’s success.
(Source Photo: here with attribution to AlexVan)
I love this saying from one of my colleagues:
“G-d doesn’t do it to us.
He does it for us!”
Instead of asking with anger and resentment “why me?” — perhaps we can try to see the larger picture and be grateful for all the blessings and opportunities that G-d does give us.
While certainly there is pain and suffering in this world, there is also the chance to learn, grow, and become stronger and better people.
We are here to hopefully leave the world a better place than before we got here.
The perspective that the challenges and obstacles are not meant to really harm us, but to help us is not an easy pill to swallow.
But maybe it really is the enlightened view of faith that we all need to fight on and overcome. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was a smart saying from a colleague:
“If you ain’t the lead dog, the view doesn’t change.”
What the dogs upfront and those behind them see are quite a different view.
It’s important for the lead dogs to guide the other dogs in a good direction and stay clear from obstacles.
We may not all see the same thing, but whatever our viewpoints are, we all have to work together and pull our hardest towards progress.
It’s a race to the finish–and finish strong and together we all must. 😉
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Natalia Kollegova)
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