•Misinterpretation of General Patton as a leader – He was a leader by title, but “he was not the active intelligence of the battle” (p63). (Have you ever had that moment where you know your knowledge and skills are not valued?)
•“What there isn’t in most organizations is a clean way to send a truly anonymous message to your boss. So, bad news that everybody wants to tell and every good boss wants to know never gets through until it’s too late” (p67). Did you know that EIS has (or used to have) a comment and suggestion box? Is it still available? Would anyone use it to convey important messages to project managers?
Chapter 8- The Eminent Dr. Rizzoli
•This chapter has another kidnapping scene. Rizzoli is flown into Morovia under the guise of another country. What’s interesting about his consultation to the projects is that his advice and consultation are provided in a vacuum. Meaning, he’s not aware of the whole picture and some variables are hidden from him. How does consultation like this help when systems need to be integrated and the human factors are not addressed?
•Two very important statements about managing projects came out of Rizzoli’s visit:
1.There is no such thing as a short-term fix. Short-term fixes are a waste of money, time, and do not benefit or invest in successors.
2.Manage each project by managing the risks; there is always some early indication that a risk is actually in transition. Appoint a person to be the “hawk.” This connects to the need to have true anonymous messaging. Rizzoli states, “I think it would be very damaging in court if the prosecution could prove that you had not set up mechanisms for people to tell you when bad news was happening. Or worse, that you inhibited the flow of bad news by establishing a culture of fear, where people were afraid to tell you whatever you so plainly didn’t want to hear” (p82).
Chapter 9 – Ex-General Markov
•“Respect for the team is always a good sign in a manager” (p.85).
•Don’t break up good teams
•Be aggressive about cancelling failed efforts early
Chapter 10 – Abdul Jamid
•There is a trade-off between people, time and productivity; the more people on a team, the more interaction, the more lost time
•Thompkins had to answer this question, “How many people is a good number on a team?”
•The Total Production Rate Model (p 113) is worth reviewing if you are interested in seeing how teams jell and how the transition of people on and off of teams can affect the gain and loss of time and productivity.
Chapter 11 – The Sinister Minister Belok
•We have another tyrant! He’s after revenue and has cut the project timelines in half, doubled the number of people on teams (thinking more people = more productivity), and infused pathological politics. What do you think about office politics? Belinda establishes politics as one of Aristotle’s branch of philosophy. See page 127.
Chapter 12 – The Numbers Man
•This chapter was totally devoted to calculations; people, productivity, function points, etc.
•Leslie highlighted this quote about Waldo’s promotion, “Apply people where their skills and talent can really shine. That’s what management is all about” (p143).
We will discuss Chapters 13 thru 18 on June 22nd during the noon lunch hour. Thanks to those who let us know in advance they would not be able to join our discussion. We are looking forward to reading your blog entries which remember, comments on the blog can be anonymous!
NOTE: Due to the number of available people, we do not have to separate managers and employees. We will all meet in the Large Scrum Room.
I’m participating in this book club because I like learning which is fun and sometimes very challenging. I’m a newcomer to project management and I have a desire to learn more about it. I’m not a newcomer to the concept of meet and beat deadlines. As I continue to read The Deadline by DeMarco, I have learned it is very important for a project manager and team to have the same goals in mind in order to produce an excellent product before or on the deadline. All the managers involved on a project (from the least to the greatest) must:
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2. TAKE RISK (only when it is absolutely necessary) such as, when you have to make changes in staffing, training, cross training, process improvement and purchasing materials which means spending $$$$ to keep the project going until its completion.
3. DELEGATE Authority to team members who have zeal to work with management and other team members to get the job done.
Trusting and Believing “WE” as a team (from the least to the greatest) can successfully produce a quality product by THE DEADLINE.
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