Project Management

Project Management Advice From the Top of the World

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Date



Stacy Allison on stage at congress in Orlando, Florida, USA on Tuesday.

By Cyndee Miller

I will never be a mountain climber. If forced, I will do some time on the rowing machine at the gym — but that’s usually followed by a big glass of wine and a Netflix binge. Still, I have the utmost respect for Stacy Allison, the first U.S. woman to summit Mt. Everest. And I’m not alone. She managed to keep a roomful of project practitioners riveted at this year’s closing congress keynote.

What a story. On her first attempt, she and her team spent days huddling in a tiny snow cave to escape a brutal storm, only to be forced back not far from the summit. Now, that’s got to be tough to accept. But it’s something most project or program managers can certainly understand.

“How many of you hold onto a project that’s no longer serving the strategic purpose  of your organization? Because you have so much invested you can’t let go. … At some point you have to cut your losses and move forward,” she said.

The following year, Allison doubled down on her goal and came back with her team, this time via Nepal rather than Tibet. Again, that kind of laser focus — even in the face of naysayers — is something congress-goers know a thing or two about.

“If you don’t have a personal vision, if you don’t believe in your project and the transformational change that it will bring to your organization,” she said, then negativity will bring you down every single time.

As with most projects, there were complications and unexpected events. But after adopting a team-first, solution-focused mentality, Allison made it to the top.

“When you’re not worried about your own success, it frees you up to do the job you need to do at any given time.”

Her bottom line was all about risk — a risk-benefit analysis, actually.

“No matter what our objectives are in this life, personally and professionally, they boil down to what we’re willing to risk. What are you willing to risk, and what’s the benefit to that risk?”

I still have absolutely zero intention of taking up mountain climbing, but Allison has good advice. Everyone needs to take risks. Just make sure you get something out of it.

And she seemed confident project managers would do just that: “The world is going to be changed by each and every one of you.”

I for one can’t wait to hear all about it. See you at next year’s North American congress in San Diego, California, USA.

Posted by cyndee miller on: October 14, 2015 04:22 PM | Permalink

Comments (5)

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Bibhu Panda Senior Project Manager| Arisglobal pvt ltd Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Thanks. Can we get access to the recording of this Keynote somewhere? It would be wonderful.

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Manas De Amin Director| Computer Technology Group Kolkata Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Great. Kudos to Stacy not only for her reaching the top most place in the world, but for her insights also. Great points made by her for us, project professionals.

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fosco frongia Senior project manager| ENTE PATRIMONIALE CHIESA GESU' CRISTO SUG Fino Mornasco, Como, Italy
very interesting article. the risk is always there, if we don't face it ......it will face ourselves

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Michael Adams Solutions Architect| Lanl Los Alamos, Nm, USA
This was one of the very best presentations I've ever seen. Stacy really took her experiences in working to reach the summit of Everest and made them available to anyone working in the field of project management. She did an amazing job and gave a talk that I will be contemplating for months to come.

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Paul Rapoza Project Manager| Genesys Cloud Services, Inc. Monroe, Mi, USA
I agree. Stacy Allison''''s keynote was truly inspirational. Her retelling of both climbs interspersed with valuable project management lessons was fantastic. She had me fully immersed; I can still feel the rumbling of the avalanche and how it made my heart race just while sitting in the audience.

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