PM Point of View

By Final Milestone Productions & M Powered StrategiesBusiness Management

PM Point of View episodes

July 19, 2022 Unleash Flow by Taming It…
Episode 100, where a theory based in manufacturing collides with the world of Knowledge Work (yeah, I'm talking about you, PMs) and we find a way to think about Critical Change Project Management. We consider how to get to a pattern of "Unity of Purpose" a key pattern for success, and incidentally, a way of clearing barriers for leaders to have the bandwidth to stay focused. Mirrors and signals, autonomy and spooky action (decisions) at a distance, in the end we need teams to understand what matters around here and have the independence to organize their own work for success. Check out our guest, Steve Tendon's community of information sharing and learning at https://circle.tameflow.com.

Steve Tendon. MD, TameFlow Consulting Limited; author, consultant, and adviser on organizational performance and emerging technologies. Steve is the creator of the TameFlow Approach, a management approach that helps businesses focus on the fewest things that make the greatest impact on people, performance and profit in collaborative knowledge-work, without compromising sustainability, quality or humanity. Steve holds a MSc in Lean & Agile Software Project Management with the University of Aberdeen.
1 hr
June 22, 2022 PM Pessimist Optimist Synthesis
[6/10 1:30 PM] Kendall Lott "PM is BS!" says Ben Damman, our (highly successful) guest today. Well, maybe...the concern is we have become ceremonial or process-centric over effectiveness. WE HAVE SO MUCH POTENTIAL, but WE ARE STUCK . And that of course, takes us back to a question of value. Products or projects, where is value is driven? Is this about general practices or specific adaptations. Today we have the pessimist view, the optimist view, and surprisingly, we landed at some learning through a synthetic view. Listen in, ponder...then grab a PDU Edited
54 min
May 16, 2022 Ecosystem Designer
PMs as leaders you own understanding the design of the org, the ecosystem you sit in. But to what purpose? Join me and cohost Mike Hannan as we hear from Matt Barcomb who highlights understanding the organization as a system so that Product Management can actually be effective. From strategy to structure (value streams, teams, roles, constraints) to rewards, we have to get this right to get effective work, and it requires a design. But not design for design's sake, Mike reminds us "to what end?" The ecosystem gives us the underpinnings of motivation and production in the organization, and we can chose to make it valuable. As always, its the PMPOV elevating the conversation, with a touch of snarkiness!
1 hr 2 min
April 21, 2022 PM under Duress
PMs how about we get to look at our discipline in action? From the western border of Ukraine, Sergiy Potapov tells us how he chose to have impact by being a PM to deliver humanitarian aid, and what lessons from Critical Chain theory and PM he has applied…really. Touching on the Cynefin decision-model, Critical Chain, risk and stakeholders, the conversation highlights that we PMs can make a difference in the community around us. Listen in and hear current example that gives us insight into what we see on the news, and how project management works under duress. Sergiy Potapov Biography Sergiy Potapov develops his managerial skills for more than 20 years. Since 2015 Sergiy has been sharing knowledge and experience in project management with different auditoriums in UCU Business School, DTEK Academy (and others) as a lecturer, and in dozens of Ukrainian companies and NPOs as a consultant.
1 hr
March 23, 2022 Design Thinking
Design mindset, before you even get to design thinking, let's figure out the problem and check assumptions. Guest Charles Lambdin describes the need and method of creating a frame of thought that has us testing hypotheses of what we need, and making faster smarter bets on the direction we should follow. A key takeaway: the first thing you design shouldn't be over designed and should be wrong…our goal is learning what is needed. The evidence is it saves overall design cycle time. Ultimately, we are after a bi-directional value exchange with our customers…that's how we get use from the products we design and deliver.
Co-hosts Mike Hannan and Kendall Lott challenge the concepts, take notes and discover their own stories that match the lessons that Charles has to share. Charles is a Program Manager at Intel, co-author of the book Presumptive Design, and writer of the blog, "The Lateral Lens: Strategy, Quality and Coaching. He holds a PhD in Human Factors Engineering/Cognitive Science from Wichita State University.
1 hr 3 min
February 22, 2022 Change Management and TOC
"I will do what I can, with what I have, where I'm at." This is a different take on change management; we break down what people say about change but linking it to the underlying framework from the Theory of Constraints. We should recognize that our organizations are fragile systems, and may be running on consequences and not on relationships. The organization has a sort of physics, and what we see in a lot of change environments is directive, not engagement, and we overcomplicate it--and even when we get it, we don't see it sustained. TOC suggests that we starts with inherent simplicity, inherent potential, and helps us realize April's adage, "Don't drive people, drive change." It has a business imperative.
Co-hosts Mike Hannan and Kendall Lott uncork the effervescence of April K Mills, an international consultant and author of Everyone is a Change Agent and Change Tactics. She was a civilian U.S. Navy nuclear engineer and founded Engine-for-Change LLC. She has consulted with technology, transportation, and energy companies and is a keynote speaker at Agile, Lean, Theory of Constraints, and program and change management events.
1 hr 1 min
February 22, 2022 Scoping and Recording with April Mills
"I will do what I can, with what I have, where I'm at." This is a different take on change management; we break down what people say about change but linking it to the underlying framework from the Theory of Constraints. We should recognize that our organizations are fragile systems, and may be running on consequences and not on relationships. The organization has a sort of physics, and what we see in a lot of change environments is directive, not engagement, and we overcomplicate it--and even when we get it, we don’t see it sustained. TOC suggests that we starts with inherent simplicity, inherent potential, and helps us realize April's adage, "Don’t drive people, drive change." It has a business imperative. Co-hosts Mike Hannan and Kendall Lott uncork the effervescence of April K Mills, an international consultant and author of Everyone is a Change Agent and Change Tactics. She was a civilian U.S. Navy nuclear engineer and founded Engine-for-Change LLC. She has consulted with technology, transportation, and energy companies and is a keynote speaker at Agile, Lean, Theory of Constraints, and program and change management events.
1 hr 1 min
January 29, 2022 Cognitive Behavior
"Do all the humans on your team have brains?" Not a comment on ability but on cognition and hardwired biases; if they have brains, they make mistakes in regular patterns. PMs follow the same logical paths of cognition and shortcuts that all humans do, some of which lead us to wrong conclusions and unhelpful behaviors. As planners and forecasters, our decisions have consequences for others, from executives wanting "the right answer" to colleagues whose performance reviews rely on work, schedules and quality metrics we define. And, the bad news is, we get it wrong. Through the filters of how we perceive to how we process to how we chose to communicate, there are common and sadly reliable ways that we set ourselves and others up to have make the unknown future look precise, even as it we are less accurate. The good news is, there is things we can do about it. Join co-host Mike Hannan and Kendall Lott as they explore the new frontier of PM upskilling from guest, Dr. Josh Ramirez, and we learn some tricks and interventions that help us manage projects better. Dr. Josh Ramirez is founder and CEO of the Institute for Neuro & Behavioral Project Management. He is currently building an organization (www.nbpmi.com) that is working on redesigning project management with behavioral, social, cognitive, and neuroscience, in an emerging field of Behavioral Project Management. In addition, he is currently researching application of science to project management to build a foundation of project science under existing practices. The future of project management is in redesigning around the beings that predict and deliver projects: humans.
Josh is co-author of NeuralPlan with Dr. Shari De Baets, and an adjunct professor of project management, with experience that includes business operations management, project management, and project controls, including work at several national laboratories and other projects throughout the U.S. Department of Energy complex, as well as private sector project work.

You can visit the website for the Institute for Neuro & Behavioral Project Management at www.nbpmi.com, become a member of the institute at www.behavioralpm.com, or take a look at their NPPQ planning certification at www.neural-plan.com.
1 hr 6 min
December 21, 2021 Heretical Agile
In this episode, organizational change consultant and expert Agilista Leila Rao grounds us in the reality that investing in people is central to successful Agile transformation. While we're often distracted by the allure of "Agile theater," genuine system improvements are generated through transparency and awareness. Rao articulates that Agile is how we make human truths and values—such as openness, empowerment, trust and courage—viable in the workplace. Optimizing the customer experience as a whole by playing to the strengths of each individual part roots us in addressing how we each connect to the bigger purpose at hand.
1 hr 1 min
November 22, 2021Project Management Forward from the 2021 UMD Symposium
We know change is constant. So as business practices evolve and new systems & tools are developed, the role of Project Managers and the skills they rely on must change to meet the new demands. PMs who don't move forward risk being left behind.

In the third episode from our 2021 UMD PM Symposium series, we discuss the role of "Innovation PMs," and how they can effectively manage open-ended, amorphous innovation projects. And Data: how to collect and leverage meaningful data to make better, faster, informed decisions.

Check out more presentations from the UMD Symposium at https://pmsymposium.umd.edu/pm2021/

Listen, learn, and get a free PDU!
PDU Information
Use the following information in PMI's CCRS system to register the PDUs for this podcast:

PDU Category: Online or Digital Media

Provider Number: 4634

Talent Triangle: Leadership

Activity Number: PMPOV0092

PDUs for this episode: 1

About the Speakers

Marcus Glowasz is a Co-Founder and Product Lead at Fortean, a Swiss technology startup that leverages data analytics and artificial intelligence technology to innovate and redefine the project management practice, addressing the growing challenges of project professionals to effectively and successfully deliver projects.

Dr. Michael O'Connor is the Director of Strategy & Project Management with Medtronic. He has over 29 years of professional experience in the Medical Device Industry. He is currently a Director at Large for the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA).
1 hr 1 min