Project Junction

Are you a project manager or ScrumMaster? During your daily scrums to assess project status, you ask your team three basic questions:

What did you do for the project yesterday?
What are you planning to do today?
Do you have any obstacles preventing you from accomplishing your goal?

Given that the goal is to get in and get out […]

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CYNTHIA DANAHER divides the people she has worked with over the years into three types:

There are those who say, “There’s a rat in this room, and I’m going to kill it,”
A second group says, “There’s a rat in this room; let’s figure out a plan to kill it.”
And a third group asks, “Did anyone notice […]

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I am going to call out a team member in this post. To protect his identity, I won’t tell you his middle name. Anywhoo … Chuck [?] Bryan exhibits behaviors that deserve recognition:

He calls people directly on the phone to discuss complex topics.
Even when he disagrees with me, I feel like buying him […]

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My daughter Katie married Jamie Ives yesterday. I can live with that. He’s the guy every parent wants their daughter to meet.
At a time like this, you can’t help but look back at the years and wonder if you met your responsibilities as a parent. I made quite a few mistakes […]

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A respected IBMer named Gia Lyons left our company to work for a smaller firm jive software. It takes nerve to leave the IBM safety net. I applaud her moxie.
The Newcomer Advantage
Should we worry that Gia is no longer an insider? After all, she’s knows our strategy and she’s could attack us in […]

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I watched a TV commercial this morning that stated that 1 in 3 men will have prostate problems. What a way to start the day! Fortunately, the commercial promised that their multivitamin can help. The small print stated … and I’m not making this up:
“A Harvard study suggests that vitamins may protect against prostate cancer.”
Check […]

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I read the book 175 Ways to Get More Done in Less Time! by David Cottrell and Mark Layton this weekend and found it chock full of useful tips. Here’s just a sampling of tips that relate to how you maintain your desk. Look around. Be honest. How organized and efficient is your workspace?

When you […]

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I live in an IBM world enamored by pointless presentations. PowerPoint decks choke our mailboxes with pointless data. Meetings present these decks in a variety of formats delivered by emotionless wonks.
My personal growth mission over the last six months has been to improve my own presentation skills so that I don’t contribute to the wasted […]

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