PMI Global Congress - Day III (Last Day: Climbing to the Summit & Goodbyes)

 

By Mike Adams, PMP® 
President Elect - PMI Otowi Bridge 
@MichaelAdamsPMP

Holy smoke, the closing speaker was incredible! She earned her standing ovation, and gave us all something to think about as we head out into our respective jobs back home.

However, before the closing speaker, we had one final day of PMI X-change, where I met with two folks who discussed innovation from the context of working within the confines of forwarding a specific strategy. One of the most interesting ideas put forth was that innovation can be encouraged by simplifying complexity into categories, which allows people to spend less time sorting out the complexity and more time imagining how to apply what is already there in new ways. Aside from that, a safe environment is essential, and the willingness to take a chance and fail.

After breakfast, I checked in at the PMI Community Area for "Ask an Expert Sessions." The experts were busy, and discussions for me ranged from working with unwilling team members to exploring scheduling software options with the manager of a PMO. I always pause when someone asks for a software solution to their problem, because so often, process can fix what software will never touch. This situation may have had some of that, but our PMO director is also in need of some robust software. At the close of the hall, and the last "Ask an Expert" session, we got a group picture of the experts, this is no small feat. Experts like to wander around and are easily distracted, so getting them all together to take a photo is challenging, but being project managers, we were able after much effort to accomplished even that task!

Then a few of us experts attended "Scaling Agile" by NK Shrivastava. He discussed some implementations of Agile in huge organizations, which require more structure than most Agile teams appreciate, but when you scale that stuff big, you need controls. I asked a few questions about risk management and planning for mitigation, but decided to leave him alone, as I don't have experience with agile. After the presentation, I asked about Agile in my workplace, particularly with regards to running a software implementation on a fixed budget. He paused, and then said he wouldn't typically employ agile for that sort of project, unless there were a great many unknowns. We all discussed his presentation, along with various ways to scale agile, and somewhere in the back and forth, he let us know that it is a requirement for every person presenting at PMI Congress to have published a white paper on their topic. This prompted me to ask if it is easier to write a white paper than it is to read one...appropriate laughter ensued and we parted ways.

There was time yet in the day for one more session, so I stopped in on "The Promotable Project Manager," by Richard Heaslip, author of "Managing Complex Projects and Programs." His presentation was great. He the findings of studies into the expectations of leadership from project managers in varied organizations. The studies presented the hypothetical situation of an executive encountering a project manager in the hall and saying something like, "I am worried about a specific aspect of your project, and think that this ...may be a solution."

The question being studies was how most PMs respond:

1. Arrange a meeting between the executive and the project's SME accountable for that specific area
2. Listen carefully and communicate the executive's suggestion to the SME
3. In addition to #1 or #2, discuss how the SME might react to the suggestion
4. In addition to #1-#3, the PM discusses their own perspective on the issue
5. In addition to #1 - #4, the PM explores the team or organization's perspective on the issue.

Given those options, most PMs elected to arrange a meeting or relate the executive's comments to the SME. There were some who might also discuss the SME's perspective, but very few who would discuss their own point of view, much less the team's or organization's perspective. It turns out 50% of executives in the same organization want their PMs to respond using #5, while 50% believe this is overstepping their appropriate bounds. The suggestion was for organizations to meet and discuss the level at which they want their PMs to operate, and then communicate that to their PMs and hold each other accountable to it. In terms of a PM, his suggestion is to develop the ability to contextualize your projects from an organizational perspective, but be prepared to craft your answer, based on the audience, and their expectations.

At the close of the congress, we were treated to a presentation by Stacy Allison, author of "Beyond the Limits: A Woman's Triumph on Everest," who gave an incredible presentation about her adventure and lessons in becoming the first American woman ever to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. Stacy did a masterful job of contextualizing every aspect of her journey within the framework of building a team, or making important decisions. Her's may have been one of the best presentations I've ever seen. It wasn't the most funny, or entertaining, but it was real, and pertinent and applicable. I will be thinking about her presentation for months to come. Click here for a short video of her speaking at another event.

After that, we team of PMI experts went to Disney Springs and treated ourselves to Cuban food, and then we wandered around and I found this fifteen foot tall statue built with LEGOs.

This was my first trip to PMI Global congress, and it was great. I enjoyed everyone I met, I loved the speakers and the breakout sessions. I especially enjoyed being a member of ProjectManagement.com's expert brigade. We all expressed the hope that we'll have the opportunity to attend future PMI Congress events as experts.

Thanks for the memories, for the friendships, for the wisdom and for the experiences. The 2015 PMI Global Congress was spectacular!

In the upcoming weeks, the experts will convene to figure out what we'll propose for next year. We'd like to host a panel discussion on Saturday morning, followed by an invitation to book a fifteen minute consulting session with one of us. I'm curious what sorts of sessions would you be interested in from us? We considered exploring how business material is presented. Currently, we all agree that it is generally rather *BORING*

Would you be interested in attending a session, where we explore ways of presenting business and project management material in a more entertaining fashion? Leave your comments and let me know. We will have to write a white paper on it...which I promise won't be boring!