Lonnie Pacelli's Blog, page 18

Capturing Lessons Learned That Actually Get Used

Dean, a project manager, was conducting a project post-mortem with Tania, his VP.
“Why the month slip, Dean?” Tania asked.
“Well,” Dean started, “we didn’t get on the vendor’s calendar early enough for integration testing. They couldn’t schedule us in when they needed us, so we had to slip.”
Tania shook her head. “Hold on, Dean. The vendor is Conset, right?”
“That’s right.”
“If I remember correctly, we did a project with them last year and the same thing happened; we didn’t get on their calendar early enough and it caused a slip. Were you aware of that?”
“I wasn’t.”
“I specifically asked the project team to include that in the lessons learned. If I recall, Tarun was the PM. Did you talk with Tarun or look at his lessons learned?”
Dean looked down. “Um, no.”
Tania kept her gaze. “Honestly, what good are lessons learned if we don’t bother to use them? This was clearly avoidable.”
“I’ll make sure to document this for the next time, Tania,” Dean said.
“Do you look at lessons learned from other projects?” Tania asked.
“Well, not really, they’re all over the place and in different formats. It’s kind of like finding a needle in a haystack.”
“Unbelievable. We’re willing to make the same mistake over and over and not bother to learn from past mistakes. What a waste.”

Read more at ProjectManagement.com.

OMG another TLA!

Years back a required skill for administrative assistants was shorthand.  There are a number of shorthand systems including Gregg Shorthand, Pitman Shorthand, and Handywrite Shorthand.  With the advent of technology, texting, and 140-character tweets the Mad Men-era shorthand has been replaced by a world of abbreviations and phonetic acronyms which describe the most popular thoughts, feelings, and reactions that we use in our daily speech.  Most acronyms are easily decipherable, some  take a bit of noodling to understand, while still others require a quick web search to translate. 
My quest to better understand today's shorthand led me to netlingo.com; a handy website chock full of business, marketing, software, and text messaging jargon.  I was amazed at how sheltered I've been when it comes to tech shorthand.  Sure most everyone knows the LOL's and OMG's, but there's a whole world of acronyms that I didn't even know existed.  What follows are some of the less popular but no less interesting acronyms that will dazzle your BFF's:

?^ - Hook Up
*$ - Starbucks
,!!!! - Talk to the Hand
::poof:: - I'm Gone (or Goodbye)
@TEOTD - At the End of the Day
AAK - Asleep at the Keyboard
AYV - Are You Vertical?
AIAMU - And I'm a Monkey's Uncle
BSF - But Seriously Folks
BI5 - Back in 5
BBIAB - Be Back in a Bit
CF - Coffee Freak
CMU - Crack Me Up
DBD - Don't be Dumb
dewd - Dude
EMFJI - Excuse Me for Jumping In
FE - Fatal Error
G1 - Good One
GAS - Got a Second?
HAND - Have a Nice Day
HBB - Hip Beyond Belief
IAE - In Any Event
IANAC - I am Not a Crook
IME - In My Experience
J/C - Just Checking
J5M - Just Five Minutes
KB - Kick Butt
KMP - Keep Me Posted
LDTTWA - Let's Do the Time Warp Again
LORE - Learn Once, Repeat Everywhere
Luser - Loser
M4C - Meet for Coffee
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

Here Comes the Spiderman!

My wife, son and I went to New York City some time back to celebrate my son's graduation from high school.  We stayed in a great hotel that my wife scored right in Times Square.  While in NYC we took the opportunity to take in a couple of Broadway shows.  One that we were all very excited about seeing was Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark.  The music, acting, and effects were all terrific and were executed flawlessly....with one exception.During the in-mid-air final fight scene between Spiderman and his arch-enemy The Green Goblin, one of Goblin's guide wires got caught in the stage version of the Chrysler Building.  The once powerful and nimble Green Goblin was now dangling helplessly over the audience.  Had this been a real fight Spidey could have easily lobbed a couple of web-balls at Goblin and he would have been spider-food.  Once the stage manager realized the tangled web that the production was in he stopped the show, announced that Goblin's guide wires were caught in the Chrysler Building, and that a couple of stage hands would help Goblin get his flying powers back.
Since Spiderman was not part of the entanglement he was lowered to the ground and got to take a bio break while Goblin drifted and spun helplessly over the audience.  For several minutes the stage hands worked with long hooked poles to untangle the guide wires.  Once the guide wires were freed, Goblin was lowered into the orchestra pit while the stage manager narrated, "OK so Goblin and Spiderman fight in the air, then they fall in the orchestra pit, and that's where we pick back up."  When the performance resumed, Goblin arose from the orchestra pit and declared, "Spiderman, you and your technical difficulties can't stop me!!!"  The audience gave a chuckle and the performance then completed without incident.  Given how the situation was rectified I'm pretty certain this wasn't the first time something like this happened.

In thinking about the technical malfunction and how it was handled by the performers and stage hands, I drew a strong parallel to how we as leaders deal with the unexpected.  During the malfunction, the stage manager took control of the situation, directed the stage hands to unhook the guide wires, and calmly kept the audience informed of what was going on throughout the situation.  Even though I'm sure everyone in the performance was embarrassed and frustrated with the situation, they kept a game face and worked to resolve the situation effectively.  The stage manager always portrayed a "we've got it under control" demeanor and was very honest with the audience.  As leaders we routinely encounter situations like that in Spiderman where the unexpected occurs.  Our job as leaders is to follow five "C's":  collaborative, communicative, certain, concise, and calm until the issue is resolved.  Neglect to do any one of the the five C's and you're likely to instill FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) in those who follow you.  The end result is prolonged issue resolution and marginalization of your effectiveness as a leader.

Next time you find yourself tangled up in an issue, remember the five "C's".  Those who follow you don't want to be left dangling in the air because of a weak leader.
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

Look for Trends when Getting Advice

As a small business owner I’ve had many many discussions with colleagues about my products and services.  Throughout these discussions I have gleaned some outstanding pieces of advice  about things I should be focusing on and ideas that I should be pursuing.  I also have been on the receiving end of some pretty random ideas which may have had some merit in the eyes of the beholder but just didn't seem to fit well with the direction that I want to take the business.  One colleague of mine got pretty peeved with me because I wasn't executing upon his advice.  The truth is, his advice just didn't align with the other advice I was getting and didn't fit well with the direction that I want to go.  I stuck with my spider-senses and didn't execute upon his advice.As a leader it is imperative that you solicit advice from credible colleagues, mentors, employees, customers or suppliers to help you set direction and execute.  What is not imperative, though, is that you  implement  every piece of advice you receive.  You need to retain control and ultimate decision authority over what advice you choose to implement and what advice you choose to ignore.  I've seen some leaders blindly execute on some faulty advice and then when things went sour blame things on the person that gave him or her the advice.  Acting upon someone's advice is not an opportunity to shift blame or allow yourself a "get out of jail free card" when the advice turns out to be ill-advised. 
Get multiple opinions, test questionable advice with other colleagues, then make the best decision based upon the feedback trends.  At the end of the day, it is still you that is accountable for execution regardless of the advice and counsel you receive. 
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

Becoming a Sustainable Project Manager

I always want to ensure I am putting my four decades of experience to good use by helping others grow—and helping them avoid some of the (many) mistakes I made as a project manager, leader and human being.

In thinking through my responsibility as a steward, it occurred to me that being effective as a project manager is much more than honing skills—it’s about guiding project managers in not only work skills, but also life experiences. It’s about positioning project managers for long-term success. It’s about helping PMs bounce back from failure, learn from it, and then help others avoid the same failure. It’s about what I call building sustainability, which will be the underlying theme of my content: the Sustainable PM.

Read more on my column at ProjectManagement.com.

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George Bailey and Leadership

In the movie  It's a Wonderful Life , George Bailey contemplates suicide after his uncle misplaces a deposit which threatens the closure of his bank.  Just as George is about to jump off a bridge, his guardian angel Clarence jumps in the water prompting George to jump into the water to rescue him. After the rescue, Clarence takes George on a journey to show him what life would have been like had George never been born.  George got to see first-hand how person after person was worse off because each of them didn't have the opportunity to be touched by George in some way.  Even George's wife Mary met the politically incorrect fate of being an old maid working in the city library. After George's alternate reality journey, he emerged with a wonderful appreciation for all of the good he did in his life and how he impacted so many people with his kindness, generosity, and empathy.

I used this story to open up my sister Lori's eulogy. 
Lori died on February 13, 2012 after a courageous battle with lung cancer.  In her eulogy I recounted how, 24 years earlier, Lori had a brain aneurysm and was given less than a ten percent chance of survival.  Lori not only survived the brain aneurysm but made a full recovery with the only side effect being a bit of short-term memory loss.  Lori was given 24 more years on earth to impact those around her.  She absolutely made the most of those 24 years.  She raised a beautiful daughter, started a business, encouraged and loved many family and friends, and was a loving partner to her fiancé.  Had she died 24 years ago she would have never touched the people she touched, myself included.
I tell you this for one simple reason.  We as leaders need to make the most of our relationships with others and do our bit to grow those who are coming up the ranks behind us.  Being a leader is more than driving for results; it's about nurturing and cultivating others to help them be better leaders.  Some leaders take the responsibility of growing others very seriously while others have a cultivating others blind spot as big as Texas.  If you as a leader have a blind spot when it comes to cultivating others, then you're not doing all you should be doing as a leader.

George Bailey had a wonderful experience with his angel Clarence where he got to see what life was like had he never been born.  Are you as a leader making the most of how you cultivate others? If you have to think about this for more than a few seconds, you already know the answer. 
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

Keeping the Trains Running isn't Good Enough

When I was a kid one Christmas I got a Lionel train set from my parents.  It was really cool.  The locomotive had a smoke stack that actually "smoked" when you put a drop of oil into it.  I can still remember the burning oil smell the locomotive would emit as it raced around the tracks.  The transformer which governed the speed of the train went all the way up to "90" (I still believe it was in "miles per hour!") and had three rail cars that were all different colors and a caboose.  The train set also came with enough track to form a figure-8 that I  would push the tracks together using special pins that fit into the ends of the tracks. As I played with this train, I found that I could only do three track configurations; that of a figure-8, an oval, and a circle.  The first time I assembled the track in a circle and tried out the train, I realized that the only excitement I would get would be when I pegged the transformer at "90" and ran the train off the tracks.  Got pretty boring as I realized the futility of watching a train go round and round in circles.
As I think about my train set in the context of our lob as leaders, I can't help but ponder how many of us take a "keep the trains running" approach to our careers.  The focus of the job isn't about doing something better, faster, or cheaper, it is just about doing the job the same way as it has been done before.  Allowing this level of complacency to creep into your job is a dangerous thing.  Without a burning desire to improve, get better, and be more competitive you run the risk of becoming obsolete.  Go through the phone book today and look for "horse and buggy repair". You won't find it because innovation ensued to create the automobile.  Yet many leaders treat their jobs and careers as if they will be there forever and their value will never diminish.
If you're in the mode of "keeping the trains running" with your job then do some serious introspection about how you're going to shake yourself loose of the grip of complacency.  If you don't you just may find that your career has just passed you by and you've gone the way of the Do-Do Bird.
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

Move Fast, but don't Leave the Team at the Train Station

When I was a kid in Connecticut I went with my Father to take my sister and her infant son to the train station.  My sister had a lot of bags so my Father helped her carry her things on to the train.  I was standing on the platform waiting for my Father to get off the train so we could go home.  Then all of a sudden the train started moving with my Father still on the train!  Here I am, an 8-year-old boy standing on the train platform all by myself while my Father is on the train heading to Washington DC. I remember seeing the train start to pull away, and my Father waving at me through the window to go to the ticketing office so I can tell them what happened.   This was in the days where there were no cell phones, so my Father couldn't communicate with me to let me know what was happening.  I went into the ticketing office and through sobs told the ticket agent that my Father got stuck on the train and I got left on the platform all by myself.  The ticket agent was very reassuring and told me that everything was going to be OK.  Fortunately the next stop was only about 30 minutes away so I was reunited with my Father in an couple of hours.  It was one of the scariest times of my entire childhood, being left on the train platform all by myself. There is a real correlation here to leading teams.  If the leader is moving too fast and doesn't have the team's buy-in and support, it is as if the team is being left at the train station wide-eyed and panicked while the leader drives the train full-steam-ahead.  The end result is a team that isn't truly behind its leader and is not going to perform at its fullest potential.

Leaders, take note:  Your job in leading a team is to ensure that the team understands what needs to be done, understands why it is important, and understands how he or she fits into getting the work done. When any one of these factors are left off it is as if you are leaving your team at the train station while you are taking a trip on a runaway train.
Take time to understand if your team is on the train or if they are standing at the station.  If they're at the station, go back and pick them up by securing their buy-in through helping them understand what, why, and how.
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

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