This week I’m loving
Since we’ve been talking a lot about products vs projects lately, I wanted to revisit a concept near and dear to my heart that underpins the success of both product and project execution. User Stories…and how to Organize Them.
And my love goes out to this great little explanatory article that essentially frames out exactly how I teach this to organizations when I am implementing product execution.
Got questions or disagree with this approach? I hope you’ll drop me a line and I look forward to discussing!
From the Practice
We talk a lot about the importance of the connection between strategy and projects.
We don’t involve project managers in strategy development, often they only find out about strategy as they plan for execution.
We don’t help project managers with simple tools that aid them in uncovering the connections between their projects and strategy.
Truthfully, these gaps contribute directly to organizational strategy execution failure.
So this week I’m highlighting a cool tool, simple enough to be used without any strategy training; fast enough to be used by every project to assess connections to and linkage with strategy; and comprehensive enough not to shortchange the effort compared to more strategic involvement.
Jeroen Kraaijenbrink’s 6 M Framework.
I love this for its simplicity.
I love this for its approachability.
I love that it fits into strategic thinking that is operational and not in the executive layer.
I hope you find it helpful!
Image credit: Jeroen Kraaijenbrink - “The One Hour Strategy”
An interesting read
We’ve been talking a bit about the project vs product debate. And I’ve found one more great reference for you if you are thinking this over in your organization right now. This week’s interesting read comes from PMO and Strategic Execution guru Laura Barnard (who also, BTW, runs one of the best free project management conferences around the world).
Laura shows us a clear pathway to success for organizations facing the project vs product debate. I especially liked this metaphor as a real reminder of our role in helping execution achieve the right projects.
Strategy execution is like chess. Every piece has a role, and every move matters. If there isn’t focus on achieving the business goals, you won’t win — you’ll just move pieces around until you lose.
A tip
Want to know the real secret that Project Managers bring to an organization?
Teamwork.
Image credit: Seen on LinkedIn. Quote is from the Book: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni
So if you find yourself at loose ends and wondering what to do, or you aren’t sure what project manager move to make next, remember, that your most important job is making sure the team is working well together and start there.
A lesson
I’m a big Stephen Colbert fan and last night he had a great start to his interview with Mark Hamill discussing an incident that I hadn’t even heard about.
Every project manager has had an experience at some point in their career that Mark’s story will remind you of. The moment you got caught unprepared for something, surprised by something unexpected, a moment where you felt like the world was staring at you with expectation and you weren’t fulfilling it.
The secret to this moment is - you need to bounce back from it. Like the chefs in Hell’s Kitchen, the failure isn’t in getting in the weeds, it is in failing to come back from the weeds.
So take it in stride, be kind to yourself in the moment, and soon you’ll find that it becomes a lesson you look back on with a chuckle. A mistake you won’t make ever again. Experience is a good teacher, even if sometimes it is a little embarrassing along the way.