Talent Pool: 6 PM Lessons From a Swimming Official
Paul has run a plethora of projects in multiple industries throughout his 20-year career, ranging from process improvement to agile to most recently cyber-security. Paul is also a reputable speaker, drawing practical and humorous conclusions from the "trenches" of his employers. Paul's dedication as a PM practitioner started decades ago, when he became one of the first 10,000 people to earn the PMP.
As the cooler days and nights of autumn descend upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere, it feels like we become over-stimulated with sports of all sorts. In the United States, we have baseball teams entertaining post-season play, American football teams (professional and college) with seasons in full swing, and basketball and hockey teams announcing key matches on their winter schedules.
Busy parents live the sports craze at home when they enroll their children in volleyball, cross country and soccer (yes, that’s what we call kicking that round ball in the U.S.). Whatever you call it, sports abound now, and there’s not even an Olympic Games this year!
Much of my parenting life was dedicated to supporting my children as competitive swimmers. Since my kids were serious about it, my wife and I as parents had to undergo the year-round sacrifice of time, commitment and playing taxi driver to the point where my nerves were frayed.
At swim meets, I would spend up to 12 hours sitting in a high school or YMCA gymnasium in exchange for seeing my child compete for a total of 10 minutes in the water. It wasn’t the best experience: It was always noisy and crowded, you were trapped in a confined space, you didn’t know when you’d get out, and you had to eat whatever was available.
Your ticket “out” was a volunteer job at the swim meet&…
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