Archive for October, 2008

500 Channels and There is Nothing On, 700 Friends and No One Shows

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

My twitter pal Kay Ballard shared this link with me on this guy who has 700 friends on face book, invites them all to a party and only one person shows. It reminded me of the lament from 15 or so years ago how there were 500 channels now on cable TV and there was nothing on. Why has it become a sign of your popularity how many people you have following you on facebook and twitter? Is this really any better than having 500 stations to choose from on the TV when really there is no entertaining content there?

For some reason Kay got an invite from me to join Kwippy (I didn’t send it – some how this service got my twitter list and invited everyone on it). Kay replied that she would have rather been invited to dinner. So I invited my entire twitter list to dinner – I do afterall have 1600 pounds of lean beef that I need to consume (it is going to a food bank soon). I did not get one response on my invitiation to dinner – yet got five responses thanking me for the invite to join Kwippy.

If we want interesting things to watch on cable, and we want people to come to our parties, we have to start creating interesting things to watch and have to start showing up at other people’s parties. Dare I say, I don’t think this will happen if you sit behind a computer, alone, all day long.

Got to run, my friend (in real life) Monica just showed up and we are heading to the pool.

Intentional Chocolate – Like Project Management?

Friday, October 24th, 2008

I’m not even sure how I stumbled upon Intentional Chocolate – the concept is entirely fascinating.    And just how does this apply to Project Management?   Doing project management in a way that is fast, easy, and fun, can have you hit the same pleasure centers in your brain as “intentional chocolate.”   First – you do projects in the pursuit of some goal.   Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book, Flow, shows that people attain the highest levels of happiness when in aggressive pursuit of a goal.   Second, just like intentional chocolate, when you have a fast and easy way to do projects (i.e. achieve your goals), your life is in fact a lot more fun and less stressful.    When you follow a simple way to pursue your projects, you are more calm in the pursuit of your goals, and you tend to stay more focused.   Third, when you efficiently pursue the projects in your life, you actually have more energy to do more of what you love.   A good chocolate and a well run project – does life get any better?

Congratulations to Craig McElfresh, PMP

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Craig  was one of our online PMP students.   He  just passed the PMP exam today.

“Good news … I passed the exam. Thanks for the support of you and the Cheetah team. The learning process was excellent with the various methods for helping me retain and recall what I learned. It really helped me relax during the exam. I appreciate your rapid and informative responses to my homework, exams, and questions along the way. It feels good to have achieved the PMP certification. Now I can celebrate with my wife and all who supported with the time and moral support I needed to be successful.”

Thanks,

Craig McElfresh, PMP

Interview with Kristen L. on Becoming a CAPM

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Interview with Kristen L. CAPM

Kristen, you recently passed Project Management Institute’s CAPM exam (Certified Associate in Project Management). You did this after using Cheetah Learning’s four week online CAPM exam prep course.

Why did you take the course?

Kristen – I took the course to pass the CAPM and to demonstrate I knew the basics of project management.

What did you learn preparing for the exam “cheetah style?”

Kristen – While my friends are still in classes “gettting ready” for preparing for the CAPM.. I blew by them and whap- I have the credential already. The four weeks were a bit intense as I had to juggle work, house hunting, two business trips, and dating a new great guy, but I pulled it off.

What are you going to do now that you are a CAPM?

Kristen – This is going to help me work with others on my team when working on projects. I got a promotion at work because of the CAPM (and a pay increase). And now I’m in line to become a PMP and take on even more challenging projects. THANK YOU CHEETAH LEARNING.

Kristen can be reached on twitter at kristencapm and via email at kristenkent123@gmail.com.

Kristen Studying for the CAPM

Kristen Studying for the CAPM

Tuning Your Ear to the Direction of the Buffalo

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Over the past 20 years, I have sold off my entire stock portfolio three times – all times this was within six weeks of a major “correction” in the stock market.   Each time, it was to invest in some real estate transaction.   Every time, whoever was my financial adviser at the time winced as I did this.  And every time, I more than doubled my money in less than three years on the real estate transaction.  This last time, was in early August as I was positioning myself to pursue some great real estate values because of the housing market tanking.

Watching what has been going on in the entire investment community I wonder – why would i ever want to invest in someone else’s business again?   Why are these folks on the stock exchange in the first place?   I run a very successful business and have never relied on OPM (other people’s money).  Why give up control?    I used to think that maybe I was missing something, maybe I wasn’t as smart as these other folks who were taking their company’s public.    Then I participated in this great program at Harvard that helps second stage entrepreneurs grow into mature business owners.   Strangely enough that is called “OPM” as well – http://www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/opm/.   (I am an OPM 35 graduate).    Not one, but several professors there stressed – STAY PRIVATE.    If you’re running a successful company, there is no reason to take it public.

Good advice, but why would I want to invest in someone else’s business that had gone public?   I’ve been joking with my pals lately that it seems that I have learned how to hear the direction of the buffalo running with respect to the stock market.   But really it’s just watching subtle signs and listening to the inner workings of my own gut.

My gut right now is telling me to stay the course with my real estate investing strategy.  I just got another seller today to agree to sell me their house for 50k less than their original asking price.  It’s less than a mile from where my daughter goes to college and the roomates cover the mortgage.   She learned more life skills in the four weeks of house hunting than she has so far in college.   She still laments that spring break in sixth grade where I made her listen to Rich Dad Poor Dad book on tape on the drive to Florida – I think it sank in.

A few years back I wanted to develop better negotiation skills on day to day negotiations so I developed a course and wrote a book called “Cheetah Negotiations” – for the more basic type of negotiations we all do day to day.   I’d say I’ve made my money’s worth with what I learned doing that – many times over.   And just recently, I wanted to figure out just how do I do this “tuning my ear to the direction of the buffalo”  so in the course I just created  called Project Prosperity – I reflected on just how did I learn how to calibrate my gut and tested out and developed a number of activities to do just that.   I create these courses that later turn into books for my own learning first.   If they help other people, great.  But they have helped me tremendously.

After watching the fiasco on Wall Street and the fear being promulgated by our government, I am investing my money in my own way, beating to my own drummer, and tuning into the direction of the buffalo.    At least so far this has kept me from being run over by the stampede.

Top Ten Ways to Use Project Management to Power Your Career

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

At Cheetah Learning, we’ve put over 30,000 people through our Project Management programs.   We keep in touch with many of our past students and have noticed that most are weathering this economic down turn exceptionally well.   What are these folks doing to not just survive, but thrive – turning difficulties into opportunities?  

1.       SHOW RESULTS.  Project Management is the art and science of getting things done.  When you improve your Project Management skills, you know how to get things done quickly, and even more important, you learn how to document the results.  In our careers, we are often as good as our last hit.  You can’t be a one-hit wonder.  Instead, you want to keep charting, year after year, with success after success.

 

2.       BE EFFICIENT.  When you apply Project Management principles to your work or your home life, you stop reinventing the wheel.  Project Management teaches you how to make the most efficient use of resources to generate the best results in the least amount of time.  At the end of every project, you capture best practices and lessons learned, creating an invaluable documentation of hits and misses.  Sound too good to be true?  Good project managers do this on every project, and you can, too.

 

3.       CREATE AN ONGOING DIALOGUE.  One mistake I see a lot in Project Management and on teams is the assumption that there’s one meeting and everyone goes away, and then the communication ends, and somehow everything is still going to magically get done.  Your communication skills are not about your vocabulary.  They are about how you manage your communication.  Are you communicating frequently enough and with clarity?  Are you communicating what is relevant?  Are you communicating your successes?

  

4.       PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS.  People hear the word teamwork, and they groan or they say that they are, of course, a team player.  That’s why I like to bring it back to the kindergarten place in our mind:  Back to the sandbox.  Do you play well with others?  Do other people want to be on your project team?  Are you respected?  Do you listen actively to what others have to say?  Good project managers know when to lead and when to get out of the way.  When someone is interviewing you, you know what that person is thinking:  Can I work with him?  Will my team work well with her?

 

5.       LET YOUR CONFIDENCE SHINE.  When someone shows confidence, everyone in the room feels it, too.  One thing I consistently hear from our students is that the biggest payoff from their Project Management training or PMP® certification is the confidence that they gained.  They went back to their job with a solid Project Management foundation that made them feel more competent and able to project more confidence to their team and their boss.

 

6.       KEEP YOUR COMMITMENTS.   Missed deadlines and projects that slip through the cracks are career killers.  Project Management skills focus on timelines and results that build your reputation and give team members a reason to trust you.  “I know that I can always count on her to get the job done.”  That quote can – and should – be about you.

 

7.       GET A GRIP.  Good project managers don’t have to freak out.  They can remain calm and in control because they have a Project Agreement which has all the critical information about the project in it.  They know when all the deadlines are, who is responsible for what and when, and they’ve also documented changes.  Everyone wants to have someone on the team who can stay calm when a project gets rocky and bring stability to chaos.

 

8.       ADAPT TO CHANGE.  Don’t ignore change.  Companies change.  Deadlines change.  People come and go.  Good project managers know they often have to adapt their plans and document what has changed and how that impacts the entire project.

 

9.       KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW.  What are your strengths and weaknesses?  What skills do you need to move from the status quo to the next level?  Once you have a solid foundation of Project Management skills, keep building on that foundation.  Don’t stagnate.  Continuous learning and a thirst for knowledge are always attractive to employers and team members.

   

10.   LEAD WITH PURPOSE AND PASSION. People will follow those who know what they are doing and who can generate results.  Project Management is a powerful leadership tool because it not only shows us how to keep our eye on the prize and the purpose, but it’s also about the passion to achieve and succeed.  Nothing feels better than accomplishment. 

Sarah Palin and Project Management

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

I’m heading back to Alaska where my youngest daughter is finishing up high school.   I was thinking about the current governor and her latest foray into the national scene.  This woman is a damn good project manager.    Whether you like Sarah Palin or not,  she knows how to get things done (which is after all the job of a project manager).    Here are the five reasons why Sarah Palin has a future in project management, regardless of what happens in her political career: 

 

  1. When hunting, Sarah uses the most efficient means possible to achieve her goals.
  2. She knows how to make friends with the right people to create incredible opportunities for her career.
  3. She manages a multifaceted job while juggling her 7+ member family.
  4. She has long range vision (Russia is a long way from Wasilla).
  5. Sarah knows how to squeeze money from her state’s sponsors to keep her constituents happy (and warm).

A big hooray for Sarah.  And Sarah – you were great on Saturday Night Live but stay away from the other media – those folks just aren’t as nice to you.  I don’t think they quite grasp the Alaskan way of life or our sensibilities.   SNL seems to have a much better handle on life up north.