Everyday Project Management

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Cooking school boot camp ended yesterday.   And I’m still in Italy.   I head home on Sunday.   I figured it might be nice to have some unscheduled time after the culinary immersion to just hang out in Italy.   I didn’t leave the room until 1.   Went to a little Tratorria a block from the hotel.   And had a lovely 84 year old gent sing us an Italian love song.   Boy do I like a country where I am treated like one of the treasures from God instead of in the US where I’m treated as if I have some type of self-discipline disorder for not being a perfect size 8. In Ominvore’s Dilemma, Michael Polen says the US has a nationwide eating disorder.  After being here - where these folks eat and eat and eat - all natural, locally raised foods, prepared with no additives,  I completely agree with Mr. Polen.   We aren’t getting fatter and fatter in the US because we don’t have any self-discipline.   We are getting fatter and fatter because we are purchasing crap products with too many preservatives and additives that help the food manufacturers increase the shelf life and shelf stability of their products, but that are literally killing us.   Spending five hours a day in the company of great people, enjoying great food and great conversation is the way to live - not running from one meeting to another gulping down whatever food you can quickly get.   The US doesn’t just have a national eating disorder, they have a national living disorder.

What is odd is in the US I am pretty much invisible - a standard middle age, rotund short woman of average looks.  It’s very strange - I am very well known in my field.   Pictures of me appear in all our publications.  Many people claim they know me.  Yet when they see me in person at meetings, they ignore me - like I don’t exist - until I go up and introduce myself.   Then it’s as if - oh my god, this PM “big wig” is standing here in front of me.   When five minutes earlier, they just blew me off.   Yes we have a problem in the US of what we think “successful” people should look like.

But because of way I look, people actually treat me nicer here.   I am reading the book Heat by Bill Buford.   In his book, he mentions a restaurant in a town just south of here called Zibello and a restaurant there called La Buca.  We had our tour guide Melanie make us a reservation there for tonight.  We were warned the woman who runs the place Mariane was a force of nature sometimes prone to storms, but the food was GREAT.  

Carey practiced her Italian all afternoon making sure she had the basics down so we would do nothing to cause bad weather with Mariane.   However, when we got there, we
were welcomed with open arms.   Mariane, just loved us.   She showed us her “cantina” - with all her salami’s, cheeses, proscuitto’s, and wine barrels.   She had her son-in-law wait on us since he spoke very good English.   We were treated like royalty.   Maybe she doesn’t like the skinny US reporters who visit her?   She was very nice to us.

The big adventure with going to La Buca was just getting there.   We had not ventured out in the car since we got here.  And getting here was a very disorienting experience.   We left for La Buca right as it was getting dark, and it was raining.   We made it there without getting lost - and had an hour to drive around.   So for another adventure we decided to gas up the car.   At the station, we couldn’t figure out if the car took diesel or regular.   After much discussion with the gas station attendant Fabio and his friend Stefano, I decided to google the make and model of the car on my Iphone - both guys looked at each other and said Google - SI, Google and were nodding their heads up and down.   Very funny - yes the answer was on google - it took diesel.

One last day in Italy before we head back to the States.   I think I might find some type of cooking school in residence back here where I can come live for a couple of months.   Who would not want to be where you are just totally loved for who you are - instead of being dismissed by the general population since you don’t live up to some ideal of what others think you should be?    I love the Italians.

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP

I have said this time and time again, we all soar and sink together.   To help unemployed PMPs create new opportunities, we created a 40 hour PDU course that we offer free for unemployed PMPs.   If you are an unemployed (or underemployed) PMP who needs to maintain your credential and wants to discover how to create more opportunities, send an email to pam.gieras@cheetahlearning.com. We ask that if you want to participate in this, that you refer people to Cheetah Learning for Project Management training when you run into someone who could use our courses.

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP

Okay I must admit, broccoli is not my favorite vegetable, but my gosh does it grow well in my alaskan square foot garden. My daughter encouraged me to enter one of the heads into the Southeast Alaska State Fair. So, the morning of the competition, I took knife to plant, and beheaded it. Yes, whacked it there on the spot. Then with lovely broccoli bouquet in hand, went to the exhibit hall at the state fair grounds and entered it into the competition. They even supplied the lovely vase. I’m not sure what division it was in or why it won best in division - but here it is in all it’s glory. The first of the bounty from my first alaskan square foot garden.

Was it the automatic watering system, the extensive wind protection, the uncharacteristically warm summer, the thousands of worms from Uncle Jim’s worm farm, the seaweed I mixed in with the vermeculite, composite, manure planting mix? It certainly wasn’t my attention as I was not even here all summer. I am more inclined to think it might be the lack of other competitors. No one else entered broccoli. I’m not sure if this town has many broccoli fans as the main reason I grew broccoli was because it was one of the few starts left at the nursery. Late to the party and what happens - I WIN!!!!!!! YEAH. I am so proud of my head of broccoli. I might even start to like this vegetable.

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP

My friends, family, and I have been working on building a garden in Alaska the past several weeks. Last year my friend Mandy told me about the square foot gardening concept so I purchased the Square Foot Gardening book. I designed my first one in Nevada last year and wanted to try my hand at gardening in Alaska (you need a very large fence that includes an electric fence to keep the moose out.) Several people wanted my plans for what I was doing so those are attached.

My Cheetah Learning team wanted me to create a special promotion for people who wanted to earn Project Management professional development credits by creating their own garden. We have a 60 hour (and 60 PDU) online course called Cheetah Action Project (CHAP). Check out all the great projects people have done with this class. You can get a $50 discount on this course by using the promotion code “silverbells.” Click here for more information.

1. Project Plan Square Foot Garden - squarefootgardenalaskaprojectplan

2. Design Plan Square Foot Garden - sqfgardenbeachcomber1

3. Planting Calendar Square Foot Garden. planting-calendar-2009. I just picked out the seed packets for the vegetables I wanted to grow. Put the date I wanted to harvest them, and then the amount of days it would take for them to get to maturity. And subtracted that to find the date I needed to plant the seeds. My main constraint is that I have to be away for June and July for business.

Lessons Learned May 14, 2009

1. We didn’t know that the garden would be so hammered from north winds so we had my cousin Bill, the mason, who was visiting from Rhode Island, build a 4 foot rock wall on the north side to protect from the wind. A large stand of evergreens about 40 feet from the south side of the garden protects it from the south winds.

2. We had expanded the garden width by two feet - because we had extra 14 foot 2 x 12’s.

3. When I shared my planting calendar with my neighbor who has been gardening in Alaska for 25 years, she told me a great book to get on gardening in Southeast Alaska and said that I would need to start with plant starts if I expected any produce by August. So I purchased the starts that I could, got extra starts from some neighbors who planted more than they could use and revised my planting layout and tossed the calendar - all the plants are going in at the same time this weekend.

4. For the most part the garden has come out like I expected and I’m very happy with the outcome of this project.

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP

I am considering using cooking to help people develop project management as a habit. I’ve often wondered if you become a good cook because you’re good at project management or if you become a good project manager because you’re good at cooking?

There are five phases to every project - initiation, planning, execution, control and closeout. Every meal or dish you create is itself a project - you get an idea for what you want to make (you initiate it), you have to figure out the ingredients and equipment, go procure anything you need to prepare the meal, and figure out when and where you’re going to make it (this is planning), then you have to prepare the meal (this is project execution), then you have to make sure it tastes like you wanted it to (project control), then you assess how you can make it better the next time (project close out).

I have found time and time again, that the more successful people are with the smaller projects of their life, the more likely they will be successful with the larger projects of life. So it just makes sense to teach people how to be more successful with the smaller projects of their life - like cooking.

For the first attempt to teach project management with cooking, I am going to revisit a concept I posted several days ago on flu remedies, my recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup.

Project Initiation is the first phase of the Chicken Noodle Soup Project.

In initiating the Chicken Soup Project, I wanted to do a bit of research as to just why Chicken Noodle Soup has been a cold and flu cureall for centuries. I had my trusty intern - Erica research this. Here is what she found:

We have all heard that when we are ill, a bowl of chicken noodle soup is a comforting remedy. Chicken noodle soup has a long history of relieving symptoms associated with various illnesses. During the 12th century, healers began recommending ‘the broth of fowl’ to their patients. Also around this time, Rabbi Mosche ben Maimonides, an Egyptian Jewish physician and philosopher, wrote about the many benefits of chicken noodle soup. He used chicken soup to treat a variety of illnesses including respiratory problems like the common cold.

Present day researchers have set out to determine whether or not chicken noodle soup actually does have medicinal uses. One pulmonary specialist, Irwin Ziment, M.D., who is also a professor at the UCLA School for Medicine, found that chicken soup contains contains an amino acid that is similar to a drug called acetylcysteine that is prescribed for respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis. This amino acid is released from the chicken when it is cooked and heated. Another pulmonary specialist who has spent time studying the benefits of chicken noodle soup is Stephen Rennard, M.D. He is the chief of pulmonary medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Rennard found that chicken soup has anti-inflammatory properties. Colds and respiratory illnesses are many times caused by inflammation from neutrophils (inflammatory white blood cells) that travel to the bronchial tubes. Rennard used a chicken noodle soup recipe from his wife’s grandmother to show that neutrophils were less likely to accumulate when chicken soup was added.

Chicken noodle soup is also a useful cold remedy because it contains bacteria and virus fighting ingredients including garlic and onions. Garlic is a natural antibiotic for which the body does not develop resistance. Onions contain an anti-oxidant called quercetin that also acts as an anti-inflammatory.

Even though chicken noodle soup is not a cure for a common cold, it has been proven to alleviate many symptoms that come along with a cold. It keeps you hydrated, can clear your nasal passageways, and acts as an anti-inflammatory.

To read more about the research conducted by Rennard, you can read the entire study at http://www.chestjournal.org/content/118/4/1150.full

To learn more about the health benefits of chicken noodle soup, you can go to the following websites:

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/12/14/does_chicken_soup_have_healing_powers_004.htm

http://chetday.com/coldfluremedy.htm

After I had my curiousity sufficiently satisfied that Chicken Noodle Soup was a good thing to make and a good recipe to share with others, I got about planning how I would make it.

Project Planning - to make the chicken noodle soup I had to do a number of preparations - like I would for any other project.

Make sure I had all the ingredients:

Whole Chicken
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 quarts of water
2 tsp iodized salt
2 tbs whole peppercorns
2 tbs butter
1 bunch of celery
1 large onion
5 cloves of garlic
1 cup dry whole wheat egg noodles

Use the correct tools to reduce risk and improve the quality of the final product

1 roasting pan
2 pot holders
Oven pre-heated to 450 degrees
Apron
Cooking safety glasses
4 quart stock pot
Clean cutting board and sharp carving knife

Set my schedule and budget. Usually I make chicken noodle soup from the leftovers from a roast chicken meal so the cost of the extra ingredients are minimal. The most important thing though is the schedule as to develop the most savory broth. I usually let the chicken carcass simmer on very low heat overnight. So making chicken noodle soup definitely is a “project.”

Project Execution - here are the steps I take to make Chicken Noodle soup:

1. Roast the chicken - clean and dry one whole chicken, sprinkle it with pepper and place it in the roasting dish. Put roasting dish in the pre-heated 450 degree F oven. Cook at that temperature for 15 minutes then turn temp down to 350 degrees F. This sears the skin keeping the interior meat moist. The chicken is done when you can easily pull the drumstick off the chicken.

2. Remove most of the meat off the chicken carcass. Either serve the meat for dinner, or cover and put into the refrigerator - you will use it later for the soup. Toss the chicken carcass and the roasted skin into the 4 quart stock pot. Fill enough water to cover the chicken carcass.

3. Put the whole peppercorns, the salt and three whole stalks of celery into the stock pot with the chicken carcass. Cover and put on low heat overnight or for at least 5 hours.

4. In the morning or after 5 hours or so, strain the chicken broth, Keep the liquid and discard the bones, peppercorns and celery stalks.

5. Put in the refrigerator until you return home from work or after 5 or 6 hours. The chilling allows the fat to rise to the surface where it’s easier to skim off to make a lighter soup.

6. Chop the celery and onion into small 1/4 inch pieces. Saute in 2 tbs butter until the onions are translucent.

7. Put in the chicken broth. Crush the cloves of garlic and add them in the chicken broth.

8. Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add the noodles. Cook until the noodles are done.

9. Dice up the remaining chicken to 1/2 inch bite size pieces. (this is the chicken you pulled off the chicken before making the broth that you refrigerated). Put at least 1 cup of it into the soup.

Project Control

Salt to Taste - everyone’s taste for salt varies so it’s better to let people spice up their soup on their own. Tabasco sauce in the soup is also good.

A big part of cooking (and project management) is quality control. It starts with getting high quality ingredients, having the caliber of tools that help you create better results and using techniques that provide a higher quality outcome. The more you do both project management and cooking, the higher quality output you create. And when you combine the two, in the spirit of creating a high quality product, you get better at both.

Project Closeout

At the end of a meal, I review how I did and if I should do anything different the next time. One time, I put yams in my chicken noodle soup - they were an over powering presence. I have found the same with carrots. This is why I just stick with onions, celery, garlic and noodles.

For this go round with my chicken noodle soup - I was just showing my intern how to make it and we were testing out the idea of creating a video around this as well. I learned, that usually I make chicken noodle soup more as just part of making a roasted chicken dinner and doing it as a demonstration project - I ended up with a LOT of left over chicken. I am going to use it to make chicken salad for lunch tomorrow.

The soup came out GREAT - we served it with whole wheat saltines.

In 2001, I created a way for people to pass exams very fast. The first part of the four part process to passing exams fast, is to put your mind in peak performing condition. You do that with various diet, exercise, and lifestyle practices (most are the same that are identified in the Anti-Cancer book referenced in my past couple of posts). To date, approximately 30,000 people have used my accelerated exam prep technique to pass the Project Management Professional (PMP ) exam after one week in the Cheetah Exam Prep program. Cheetah Learning just was awarded the Project Management Institute Global Provider of the Year for a significant contribution to the profession because of this program. I wrote a book on how to accelerate exam prep (and improve performance) for any exam - called The Accelerated Exam Prep Workbook

Throughout the course we serve our students foods that are high protein with complex carbohydrates. This helps regulate blood sugar levels that in turn keeps their brain chemistry operating in a low beta state - one that is optimal for staying relaxed and focused which dramatically aids in retention and instant recall.

Here is a recipe that for “eggs in a bowl” that is a fantastic exam day breakfast. The team at Cheetah Learning uses the exam prep diet practices with their own families when they have big exams.

Eggs In A Bowl

Two eggs (best if you use organic with chickens who were fed a diet that boosts the omega 3 of the eggs).

1/2 cup black beans (if you used canned beans- rinse well)

1/4 green pepper

1/4 small onion or shallot

2 tbs of shredded cheese.

1/4 cup milk

Mix it all together in the bowl and pop in the microwave for two minutes. Stir, and let sit for a minute. If it still looks a bit runny - pop back in the microwave for 30 seconds.

I met Jean Binder, PMP at the PMI Global Congress 2008 Awards Ceremony. Jean was the recipient of the PMI Literature Award for his book Global Project Management.

Jean agreed to answer a several questions I had about his book:

1. What inspired you to write Global Project Management?

Back in 2003 I accepted a project management assignment in a small English town, without knowing about the project teams I would be leading. I was expecting to meet them during my first day of work, when I discovered that 90% of my team was based in Switzerland, and the key customers were in London, a 3-hours drive (at best) from my office. My first reaction was to panic, thinking about all the hours I would spend on the road and away from my family. My second reaction was even worse, after I discovered that my mission was to reduce travel to a minimum and make use of the audio and videoconferencing services. I will never forget the sentence from one of the company directors: “You have a modern video-conferencing room, good audio-conferencing bridges, face-to-face meetings are not really important”.

After I calmed down, I tried to look for research and books in the area, and I discovered several disconnected pieces of information, with recommendations that were more applicable to virtual teams (when the manager has the hierarchical power). I then realized a big gap in the project management knowledge and decided to create a holistic framework, at first by academic research, and then by writing a textbook.

2. How have your approaches to doing project management changed because of what you learned writing the book?

I am much more optimistic. Besides knowing the challenges of global projects, now I also understand how to make use of global teams to increase the levels of creativity and collaboration. I also use many techniques that avoid misunderstanding and reduce the time I spend on the communication and administrative tasks. I learned to focus more on the project objectives and use only the tools and templates that really add value to the project management activities.

3. What is the biggest contribution your book has made to the field of project management according to the people who have read it?

The book provides a comprehensive framework that covers most of the challenges people face in real projects, and the key recommendations from academic studies, textbooks and practitioners. Using the book you don’t need to spend time surfing the web and online bookstores to find different pieces of information. The framework provides the main recommendations, and also references to other sources of information, for the readers that want to have a deep understanding of selected topics.

4. What are the top three things people need to do to improve the way they manage projects globally?

Based on my personal experience, I believe that the first step is to not despair and realize that global projects require a different skill set and a very strong understanding of communication and collaboration techniques. The second step is to understand which modules from the framework are relevant to your own situation, as each project is different. The third step is to use the knowledge in each selected module to build solid skills on cross-cultural project management across time zones, using collaborative tools and techniques, and to organize frequent lessons learned sessions to collect feedback from your project team, continuously improving your skills and the tools, processes, techniques and templates available.

5. What are your plans on updating techniques that are technology driven (which changes very rapidly)?

In the book I only discuss the overall concepts and general techniques, talking very briefly about software and hardware tools. I created a website (www.GlobalProjectManagement.org) to capture a more detailed list of tools and services, which can be easily kept up-to-date. This site also collects standpoints from other authors that are of interest to global project managers, allowing a continuous improvement of the framework and the knowledge within.

6. How do you think that world is improving because of this fantastic body of knowledge you have assembled?

The modest side of me thinks that this book is like a wave to the ocean of the project management body of knowledge, having a very limited influence on the “world”… the other side believes that global project managers can learn to see the positive side of the challenges from cross-cultural and virtual teams, and use innovative techniques to improve their work-life balance and reduce the level of conflict and stress in their projects. If a handful of people provide me such a feedback, I believe that my mission to improve the world is well accomplished!

Jean Binder, PMP is also an alumni of Cheetah Learning’s Accelerated PMP Program.

Quoting Alexander Hall (Cheetah Action Project)- “ In my opinion the most valuable part of the course is applying a complete, concise and easy to use project management methodology (via the templates) to a personal project. Many times in professional endeavors a reduced set of documentation is used, and thus only a partial project management methodology is implemented. This course was a nice reminder of using a complete methodology and how to document as such.

Jean is a very smart, personable, and supportive instructor. Considering how much I have going in my life and that my original schedule for this class was compromised due to a few unforseen “curveballs”, I really appreciated Jeans positive attitude, understanding, and support in keeping me moving until I completed the course. Jean is awesome! ”

Alex used his Cheetah Action Project Class to complete a project that hit him very close to home- organizing his childrens’ closets. Well done Alex! (see what other have done at http://www.cheetahlearning.com/events/online/CHAP/examples.asp)

Quoting C Ackerman (Cheetah Action Project)-  ” …. I love this class, Loved the setup, love the concept….. This has been the most useful class I’ve had in a while, and for sure for the Project Management Courses.   Very Practical and easy to follow.  I’m glad I tried taking one on line at least this once.  Thanks   c.      “       

 

Quoting Sarah E Franklin (Cheetah PM of Weight Loss)- ” Using a real life situation for the project was great and helped me toward achieving a personal goal.

My instructor, Jean, was very helpful - I hope to have her as an instructor again!  I will definitely sign up for more Cheetah courses.

Some others similar to this would be great. “