TWO GLASSES OF WINE

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 glasses of wine...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.


The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two glasses of wine from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed."

Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things; your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions; things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full."

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else; the small stuff."If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you."

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. Do one more run down the ski slope. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first; the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

"One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the wine represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of glasses of wine with a friend."

author unkown

Curiosity is Good

Curiosity. By definition: " the desire to learn or know about anything; inquisitiveness" (dictionary.com)

Why is it a good thing? Understanding, innovation, motivation, additional and continual learning.

The lack of curiosity generates boredom, indifference, lack of growth, and even apathy.

What are we doing to ensure curiousity with ourselves and our teams?

Many hats, too many hats

Often we wear many hats, that is, we have many roles. At times it may seem that we have too many. However, it may be that we may need to clarify what hat we are wearing at the present moment. Often we are placed in situations where multiple roles appear to need to be present. What we must do is clarify what role we are in, or need to be in. We must do that for our audience, as well as for ourselves. Let me repeat that last statement with emphasis -- we must do that for our audience, as well as for ourselves. If you are conversing to a subordinate, are you the boss, an advisor, or just a listening ear? If you are discussing a piece of work to be accomplished, are you the do-er, an advisor, a business analyst, an end-user, a decision maker, or etc...

Transistioning this thought to real life in the business world, ensure that role changes are justified and also not premature. If you are discussing a business issue or business challenge, ensure that you stay in a business problem definition role. Don't switch to a role of solving the problem before you have ensured the problem is fully defined. Human nature will often cause us to solve the problem before we know what the real problem is.

Definition of Success

Throughout our life we are driven towards success. In our childhood, our schools, sports, work, play, success is key. Sometimes it is classified as money, sometimes cars / homes / or other worldly things. Sometimes it is job title.

BUT there are other ways to define that achievement. Maybe it isn't the finish line, but rather the methods and accomplishments along the way to get there. Are they more important?

I often use the following as my personal email signature. Seeing it as I send emails allows me to keep a healthy perspective.

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." -- Albert Einstein

Business Analysis

How much time do you spend on your projects in the business analysis phase? Have you taken the time to research and record your business requirements? OR, do you hastily jump right into the design and solutions?

A just published survey from IAG notes " Almost 70% of companies surveyed set themselves up for both failure and significantly higher cost in their use of poor requirements practices."

Leadership -- plain and simple

I heard a good speaker today at a luncheon meeting. Her topic was leadership in Project Mangement.

While there are many, many good books out on leadership, and I have read quite a few including several articles lately, here are some key points to keep in mind.

A good leader is .....

* Not the same as a manager
* Asks inquisitive questions, sometime challenging questions
* Not the answer guy. S/he challenges others to do thinking and have or develop answers
* A motivator
* Exciting, excited and excitable. Encourages others to be the same
* Promoter of people, of thinking, of outside the box thinking when needed
* Yet, keeps focused to the point when necessary. i.e., keeps the main thing --- the main thing
* Has style
* Has respect for others
* Actively solicits input
* Not controlling, that is, willing to flex rules where appropriate.

Where are your weaknesses as a leader? Do you know them? Are you constantly attempting to improve yourself? Do you solicit feedback about both your known and unknown weaknesses? Are you open to honest feedback?

One must always have a mission to grow !! To grow, is to live !!

How much techie is needed to do your job, OR....

If you have been in the business and tech world, how many times have you been present in a meeting where the "techies" start the techie talk jargon, and soon everyone must be at that same level or lose out?

Ever been present in a conversation or situation where someone, not necessarily a traditional techie by profession, thinks he/she must talk techie? Maybe has a family member who has taken a training class, lets say in Microsoft Access? And now they both think they are database experts? Or worse --- they have worked with a leading database vendor, written several dozen SQLs and now think they should be designers?

Why? Why? Is it that being "techie" or knowing how to speak "techie" gives one more value and / or credibility?

I used to be a techie many, many moons ago. (back before it became "I/T", and even before it was commonly known as M.I.S.) I gave up tryinging to keep up with the industry because the I/T industry is changing too fast. Current techie knowledge will be obsolete before the day is over.

And guess what? I still have a challenging career without that knowledge. I found out that it is best to let that level of detail to those others who want to stay with that level of activity. I can direct, manage, and lead those folks, and simply depend upon them to make the best decision. I don't need to know......

That last thought is a hard one for many people. There is an apparent belief that you must know the details in order to understand. Is that important? If others have that responsibility of knowledge, do you have to also? Redundancy and duplication of effort? Does my detailed knowledge significantly contribute to the solution at hand, especially if they have the stronger skill set? For illustration purposes, think of that car you drive every day. Do you personally know the details of how that enginre purrs, the electronic window opener that opens the right rear window as you drive, the heat that pours into the back seat as you turn the switch on the dash, the sound that changes from front to back by the push of a button?

Back to the original issue: How much techie is needed to do your job? If you are an I/T professional, with a speciality, stay with it, ensure growth, but always remember there are other technical specialities that supercede yours. (it never ends....)

And if you are a business professional, by all means, strive to learn and understand more about the technical world. Abuse that knowledge growth by searching out those with more expertise. AND.... guide them with your business knowledge towards a solution. The biggest factor of that last message is this ----- business, business problems, business solutions, are what it is all about!!!!!! Business gives us our paychecks, business is about customers and clients, business is about growth and prosperity. Technology is just a tool to support business. Perspective!!

Think before Do

The message of the last post may have have lost its impact. This may have been because of my attempt to make a point about a specific instance.

It is often human nature to resolve problems that face us. Unfortunately sometimes we jump right to creating a solution.

THINK about it. And then even think about thinking. Guess what results -- deeper review may find options, alternatives, and event the ROOT cause, not just symptions.

THEN --- DO and ACT. This will likely result in better results.

What vs. How

In the business world, there is always some challenges in front of us. Maybe, its a new product, maybe it is a problem needing to be solved. Sometimes maybe its not a problem to be solved but a symptom being encountered.

Clarifying the true problem or challenge needs to be clarified (that sounds like another story for another blog entry) We are always in haste to solve it.

Therein is a major concern. The business factors, that is, the business requirements *needs* should be clarified. That is, the WHATS.

Once that is clarified, then you can pursue the HOW to solve it, i.e., the design and the actual solution.

If you try to address HOW, before WHAT, are you sure you are in agreement of what you are trying to solve? are you sure you are pursuing the right problem? Are your peers, superiors, and subordinates necessarily in alignment? OR are you just assuming? (don't forget the old expression about when you assume, there is an a.. between u and me....). Hasty decisions generate mistakes, costs, and rework .......

critter pictures

This is a posting to validate I can incorporate pictures into a blog

Almost all of these are in my own back yard.

Just beginning

As I start this journey, the journey of blogging, I am searching for the path, that is, what shall be my destination. I think initially it may be opening my soul to the topics that define me. While I am tempted, I may want to comment about relationships (friends and family) or even politics. However, those maybe should be protected and preserved. I may want to comment upon my profession. A seasoned project manager and I/T professional, there is much to share. However, ethics drive me to be cautious, so that my comments do not conflict with with those who ensure my continued paycheck. By the way, did anyone realize how many people have a blogging opinion about the project management profession? I guess one more won't hurt --- besides my humble opinion is just as worthy as their's.