Lonnie Pacelli's Blog, page 60

Growing Up Autistic One Minute Autism Lesson - They May Have Very Obsessive Interests

I am starting a new video series of one-minute lessons for families affected by Autism.  Would love to hear your feedback to help me make the series better!

Lesson 30 - Will he ever have a job?

Six-Word Lessons for Dads with Autistic Kids on Amazon, kindle, iTunes, Nook and moreHaving ASD doesn't mean your child will be forever unable to work. Trevor got his first job after high school working at a summer camp. He subsequently worked at our church doing maintenance work while in college. We were amazed at what he was able to do and his employers loved his promptness, willingness to do any job, and his being "all business" when at work.

See all 100 lessons at GrowingUpAutistic.com.

Low-overhead Project Audits

A lot of what I do is run alongside of projects and help guide and coach them to success.  In doing so, I am a huge fan of keeping the project team focused on delivering the project and want to keep overhead activities to a minimum.  When it comes to project audits, I've seen some pretty good audits that minimize overhead and provide good advice.  I've also seen some horrendous audits that take project teams away from direct activities conducted by inexperienced auditors that in the end provide absolutely no value to the project team. 
I recently viewed a youtube video put out by projectmanager.com on how to conduct a project audit.   The video outlines a low-overhead way to conduct audits that, when done by an experienced project manager, can be effective in helping flush out issues that could derail the project.  The one item that the video doesn't discuss that I always look for is management of the critical path in the project workplan.  Nine times out of ten I can stump a project manager when I ask the question "How many total slack days are there in your resource-leveled project plan's critical path?"  Remember to include critical path inspection in any audit you might do, or better still if someone has been assigned to audit your project, ask them if they know what the above statement means to determine if the auditor is worth his/her weight in salt.

Check out the video and see what you think. 

Lesson 19 - Know functional, geographical, and organizational scope.

Six-Word Lessons for Project Managers on Amazon, kindle, iTunes and NookProject scope often gets micro-focused on the functional guidelines and less so on geography and organizations.

Paint clear project base-paths and outline the functional, geographic and organizational scope of the project.

See all 100 lessons at 6WordLessons.com.

Lesson 32 - One knows more than the other.

Six-Word Lessons for Dads with Autistic Kids on Amazon, kindle, iTunes, Nook and moreIt's likely that one of you will have done more research on ASDs and techniques to use in parenting your child. It's super important you both get well versed on the basics of ASDs (this book is a good start), that you do some of your own research, and you recommend reading to each other to help you get up to speed.

​See all 100 lessons at GrowingUpAutistic.com.

Lesson 16 - Misinterpreted requirements: I didn't expect that!

Six-Word Lessons for Project Managers on Amazon, kindle, iTunes, Nook and moreThe best written requirements could get lost in translation when it comes to developing a solution.

Keep the communication open with stakeholders and avoid assuming too much when interpreting requirements.

​See all 100 lessons at 6WordLessons.com.

Not All Thought Leaders Are Great People Leaders

Bud was one of the most brilliant people in his organization.  Only in his mid-thirties, Bud amazed his senior managers with his ability to grasp problems and develop innovative and effective solutions to those problems.  He was highly sought after as a "go-to" guy and would consistently come up with creative approaches.  His management decided to give him a thorny project with a team of over 100 professionals.  "This is my chance to really prove I can deliver", Bud thought as he willingly accepted the project.

Bud wasted no time in coming up with some great solutions which his management thought were brilliant.  Expectations were sky-high and Bud was on a project high.  Then the problems started.
Though Bud did a great job of defining solutions, he had extreme difficulty articulating the work required to get from the current state to the desired solution.  He frequently lost patience with project team members when they brought up problems or issues and accused them of "stonewalling" the project.  Project risks were ignored and dismissed as trivial.  The team grew increasingly frustrated with Bud, the project schedule was in chronic slippage, and management grew increasingly concerned about Bud's ability to deliver.  Bud ultimately was removed as project lead.
Thought Leaders Aren't Necessarily Good People Leaders
In my years I've seen many great thought leaders crash and burn when they had to implement one of their creations.  In most cases someone in management made the assumption that because the thought leader came up with a great idea, that they could -- and should -- actually implement the idea.  This if-then relationship simply doesn't always hold water.  Unfortunately this lesson typically is learned the hard way; with the thought leader being thrust into the people leader role only to crash and burn. 

Now don't get me wrong; the world desperately needs thought leaders regardless of their ability to lead people.  What does need to occur, though, is a conscious recognition of whether a leader is a thought leader, people leader, or can do both.  For those leaders who are great thought leaders and not people leaders, don't expect them to implement large-scale solutions.  For those who are great people leaders and not thought leaders, don't expect them to design innovative solutions.  For those who do both well then enjoy the versatility and leverage it to the fullest.

The nugget here is simple:  decide if you are a thought leader, people leader, or you excel at both.  Then seek out assignments that best leverage your strength and provide the greatest value to your organization. 
Thought Leaders Design Innovative Solutions
People Leaders Implement Innovative Solutions

Lesson 33 - Didn't include that in budget. Yikes!

Six-Word Lessons for Project Managers on Amazon, kindle, iTunes, Nook and moreIt's easy for a PM to think best case when constructing a budget...then get burned when it doesn't happen.

Be realistic about estimating the budget but don't pad the numbers to a point where credibility is questioned.

​See all 100 lessons at 6WordLessons.com.

Lesson 20 - Trying new things isn't very fun.

Six-Word Lessons for Dads with Autistic Kids on Amazon, kindle, iTunes, Nook and moreWhether it be new foods, new activities, or different clothes, doing something new takes the person with ASD out of his familiar routine and disrupts his plans. With food, we had an agreement with Trevor that he had to try something ten times before he decided he didn't like it. Had we not done this, he might still be eating hot dogs, grilled cheese or macaroni and cheese for nearly every meal.

See all 100 lessons at GrowingUpAutistic.com.

When Are You Coming Home? Five Practical Tips To Realizing Work/Life Balance

So let’s talk about over-used terms for a minute. 

If you’ve been in the business world since the mid 1990s you’ve likely heard your management espouse the desire for employees to achieve greater work/life balance.  Many U.S. companies have adopted programs to help employees strike a better life balance by providing health club benefits, entertainment discount programs, and additional time off for events such as the birth of a child.  Despite all this, Americans are of the most overworked and flat-out busy people on earth, recently surpassing the Japanese and long surpassing the Europeans. With all this discussion of work/life balance, how can we in the U.S. also be of the most overworked people in the world?  The answer is pretty simple; many of us talk work/life balance, but don’t live work/life balance primarily because we don’t know how to do it. 
First let’s get clear on the primary purpose of achieving work/life balance.  It’s about minimizing stress in your life.  Much of the stress in a typical person’s life is derived from work.  Stress also comes from non-work activities as well.  You can say you’ve got work/life balance, but in addition to working full-time, you might participate in many activities with the kids, volunteer at the local homeless shelter, and exercise five days a week. If you’re feeling stressed and tired, you haven’t achieved the primary intent of work/life balance, which is to reduce stress. All you have done is balanced the degree of stress you have in your work life with the stress you have in your non-work life.  But at least the stress is balanced... 
To realize a practical work/life balance, consider the following tips:Consciously (and honestly) decide what is really important - Saying that work/life balance is important is one thing; truly meaning it is a different game altogether.  You may want to believe you place other things above work, but wanting to believe it simply doesn’t mean it’s so.  Make a conscious, realistic declaration on where your priorities lie, then examine your behaviors or ask a friend, relative, significant other, or spouse.  Taking the first step toward the quest for work/life balance means eliminating the gap between what you desire and what you do.Make your calendar a life thing, not just a work thing - Integrate important personal activities into your calendar.  Examples of things to schedule include exercise, being home at a specific time for dinner, and kids’ activities.  Also include items such as important meetings that your spouse or significant other needs to attend which require you to be at home with the kids or to take junior to the dentist.Measure success in results, not hours - Those who measure success based on hours worked will prioritize hours over results and tend to be less motivated to figure out how to get more work done in less time.  Those who measure success based on results are more likely to figure out better ways to do things, prioritize their work, and get home in time for dinner.  Don’t use the clock as your gauge of success; use the results you deliver as your success yardstick.Don’t succumb to peer pressure - From our earliest years, we are exposed to peer pressure.  The “I dare you’s” from our youth become “Who’s got a bigger house” or “Who drives a nicer car” as adults.  Look, just because a peer works 18 hours a day doesn’t mean he or she gets more done or is more effective.  It just means that your peer chooses to run the hours race because he or she feels it is the best means to get ahead.  Don’t let your peers’ actions pressure you to run the wrong race.  Just stay focused on providing meaningful results that provide value to the organization.Don’t take on too much “life” in work/life balance - Achieving work/life balance doesn’t mean you cram more and more stuff into the life side of the equation to balance out a high-octane work life.  Achieving good work/life balance means doing both in moderation and minimizing the  stress  in your life.   You could be working a 40-hour work week and still be stressed out because of the non-work activities you’ve committed to.  Doing too much life can be just as stressful to you and your loved ones as doing too much work.  Don’t feel obligated or pressured to fill up every hour of your week with life activities.  Doing both in moderation helps you attain the key benefit of work/life balance; a low-stress life. 
Realizing the quest for work/life balance means first doing some serious soul searching and coming to grips with your true life priorities.  If you acknowledge you are a workaholic and don’t want to change, then by all means work 18-hour days.  If you do want to change, though, you need to accept the challenge head-on and get on the road to a more balanced lifestyle.  You may be surprised at how your quality of life increases and how little it truly impacts your career aspirations. 

Want more?  Check out my self-study seminar to help you get better work-life balance.