Posted on March 16, 2009 by Paul Ritchie
I’m trying to tie up some loose ends, especially follow-ups promised in earlier blog posts (here). In particular, here are the top two answers from the “Is Project Management a Profession Yet?” survey (survey here):
38 percent: Yes, but second-tier — like engineering or non-university teaching (33 of 86 answers)
26 percent: No, not yet — could [...]
Filed under: Polls, Project Management, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: professionalization, professionalization of project management, professions | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 4, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.
I liked this quote because it provides an example of something I’ve found hard to explain: the difference between a skill and a competency. In this case, the skill is knowing [...]
Filed under: Communications, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: Emily Post, etiquette, PM Quote of the Day, table settings | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 18, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
I very much liked this post by J Schwan (here) about the dangers of over-specialization. Some of the comments miss the point — J acknowledges the value of domain knowledge — which is that a role-bound workforce conspires against:
Understanding how to optimize the whole vs one’s part.
Remembering why one is doing a project in the [...]
Filed under: Organizational Change Management, People Development, Project Management, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: overspecialization, technology workplace, that's not my job, work to rule | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 14, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
I’m starting the long-promised review of the answers to my survey: Is Project Management a Profession Yet? I’ll ignore the “undecided” answers (8 percent) and start with the two extremes.
First the “nays”: five percent answered No — and it never will. I’m not sure how one can be so confident that PM will never have [...]
Filed under: Polls, Project Management, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: professionalization of project management, professions | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 10, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
Last week I attended the PMI Global Corporate Council’s semi-annual executive forum. This meeting included a one-day symposium with education leaders on the challenges and trends facing academic programs in project management.
I was a bit of a skeptic going in. I had known of PM programs in a few schools — my brother had attended courses [...]
Filed under: Leadership, People Development, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: Drexel University, Frank Anbari, George Washington University, John Cable, Louis Laucirica, Project Management Education, Project Management Institute, Stevens Institute of Technology, University of Maryland, V.K. Narayanan | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 21, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
Let them hate us so long as they fear us.
Project managers often have to exercise influence without authority. We can’t always get what you want from people over whom you have no authority. We end up doing a lot of horse trading — offering what you have that the other person desires in exchange for [...]
Filed under: Leadership, Organizational Change Management, People Development, Project Management, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: Caligula, influence without authority | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 17, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
I’m curious about what the updated PMBOK Guide will have to say in the new People Skills Appendix. What it includes will set the baseline for the topic (BTW, I’m not expecting any earth-shaking inclusions or exclusions). It is good that the PMBOK Guide to will start to address such an important topic in a greater degree [...]
Filed under: Leadership, PMO, People Development, Performance Management, Project Management, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: Center for Business Practices, James Pennypacker, Kent Crawford, Project Management Roles and Responsibilities, Project Management Skills, What Makes a Good Project Manager | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 14, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
Check out Elbot (here), the winner of the bronze award at the annual competition for the Loebner Prize (press release here). I was curious whether Elbot could help fill the looming talent gap in project, program, and portfolio management. Our conversation is below:
Crossderry: Would you be interested in a project management job?
Elbot: Robots have to be [...]
Filed under: Project Management, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: Artificial Intelligence, Elbot, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Loebner Prize, talent management, Talent Shortage | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 8, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner.
Far be it from me to comment on Tallulah’s mistakes, though she certainly wasn’t known for restraint of tongue and pen!
That said, I love her attitude. I prefer to learn from other’s mistakes rather than my own. However, if I’m going to make them, [...]
Filed under: Knowledge Management, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: mistakes, Tallulah Bankhead | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 5, 2008 by Paul Ritchie
People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.
When I read this quote, it reminds me of how I have approached situations that must be met and decisions that must be made. My own thinking — at least my own un-aided thinking — leads me [...]
Filed under: Leadership, Skills vs. competencies | Tagged: action, grace, Helen Keller, meditation, mindfulness, PM Quote of the Day, self-examination, self-searching, vision | Leave a Comment »