The Post Modern PM
From the Drunken PM Blog
by Dave Prior
Drunken Boxing for Project Managers
“The main feature of the drunkard boxing is to hide combative hits in drunkard-like, unsteady movements and actions so as to confuse the opponent. The secret of this style of boxing is maintaining a clear mind while giving a drunken appearance.”
Yeah... just like that… but with network diagrams and burndown charts… and a wee bit less vodka.
Recent Posts
Certified Agile Leadership Training with Olaf
Don Kim - I Think, Therefore I Plan
Agile Coach to Agile Gamer - Peter Saddington
Scrum in School - A Case Study of Grandview Prep's Transformation
Forecasting Tools Based on Team Performance with Troy Magennis
Categories
20 Hour,
211,
4-Hour Body,
4-Hour Chef,
4-Hour Work Week,
Aakash Srinivasan,
Aaron Smith,
Adam Weisbart,
Adrian Howard,
Agile,
agile digitalpm,
Agile 2010,
agile 2015,
Agile Alliance,
Agile Classroom,
Agile Enterprise,
Agile Mindset,
agile reporting,
agile transformation,
Agile Tribes,
agile2015,
AgileClassroom,
AgileCraft,
AgileScout,
AgileThinking,
Ainsley Nies,
Al Goernor,
Al Shalloway,
Alistair Cockburn,
Angela Harms,
Anna Beatrice Scott,
Ansley Nies,
AOW4PM,
apocalypse now,
apple,
art of war,
Bas De Baar,
Bas Vodde,
Beyond Legacy Code,
Big Visible,
BigVIsible,
bimodal,
Blackie,
Bob Sarni,
body language,
book review,
braintrust,
branding,
breaking gantt,
Brent Beer,
Brett Pohlman,
Brian Bozzuto,
brian flatow,
brian rabon,
business agility,
Business Model Canvas,
CAL,
Canvas,
capacity,
carson pierce,
Catherine Louis,
Center for Non-Violent Communication,
Certification,
Certified Agile Leadership,
certified scrum trainer,
Charter,
Chet Hendrickson,
Chris Li,
Chris Spagnuolo,
Christine Neidhardt,
cloud,
cloud worker,
co-working,
Coach's Clinic,
Coaching,
cochlear,
commitment,
conteneo,
Corkulous,
coworking,
Craig Larman,
Crystal,
CSM for PMP,
cst,
DAD,
Dan Brown,
Dan Greening,
dan markovitz,
data,
Dave Prior,
David Anderson,
David Bernstein,
David Bland,
David J Anderson,
Dean Leffingwell,
Dean Stevens,
Declan Whelan,
Denise Jacobs,
Dennis Stevens,
Designing Together Design,
Dhaval Panchal,
diana larsen,
Digital Pm Summit,
Digital Project Management,
digitalpm,
Disciplined Agile Delivery,
Distributed Teams,
Docs to Go,
Don Kim,
dpm,
dpm2013,
drunkenpm,
drunkenpm radio,
eduscrum,
Eight Shapes,
Elizabeth Harrin,
Elizabeth Hendrickson,
Elizabeth McClellan,
EMEA,
emotional intelligence,
Enterprise Scrum,
Essential Scrum,
esther derby,
EVEF,
Evernote,
Every Voice Engaged,
Experience,
Explore It!,
facebook,
field guide,
FIRM REPORT,
First 20 Hours,
Flight Levels,
Flipboard,
FocusedObjective,
forecast,
Forecasting,
Frank Illenberger,
Fred George,
fred kluth,
funny garbage,
Gil Broza,
Github,
Global Economics,
Grandview Prep,
Greg Balestrero,
GTD,
Happy Cog,
Heartline,
Howard Sublett,
hybrid,
I Think Therefore I Plan,
Iain Frasier,
ICAgile,
Idea Wallets,
improvisation,
InfoQ,
InspireMe!,
International Consortium for Agi,
IOS4,
iPad,
iPad 2,
iPad2,
iPhone,
IT&T SIG,
J.B. Rainsberger,
James Tamm,
Jason LIttle,
Jean Tabaka,
Jeff Patton,
Jesse Fewell,
Jessica Kerr,
Jessie Shternshus,
jim benson,
Jim Tamm,
johanna rothman,
John D Cook,
john miller,
Judith Lasater,
Jutta Eckstein,
kamal manglani,
kanban,
kanbanfor1,
kanbanpad,
Kate Sullivan,
Kathy Compton,
Ken Rubin,
Ken Schwaber,
Kenny Rubin,
Keynote,
Kuala Lumpur,
lacey,
Large Scale Scrum,
Larman,
Larry Maccherone,
Larsen,
Lasater,
Leadership Meeting,
LeadingAgile,
lean,
Lean Kanban University,
Lean Systems Engineering,
LeanKit,
Leffingwell,
LESS,
Liftoff,
Linda Rising,
Lithespeed,
Livescribe,
Livescribe Pulse,
LSE,
Luis Garcia,
luke hohmann,
lyssa adkins,
Mac,
MacWorld,
Macworld 2011,
Magennis,
Malaysia,
Malaysia Scrum User Group,
Management,
Managing the Unmanagable,
Manny Gonzalez,
Marc Johnson,
Marshall Rosenberg,
Martin Rosenqvist,
mashup,
matt barcomb,
MDEC,
Merlin,
metrics,
Michael Sahota,
Michele Sliger,
Mickey W. Mantle,
Mike Cohn,
Mike Cottmeyer,
Mike Sutton,
Mike Vizdos,
mitch lacey,
MITPM,
Mode 1,
Mode 2,
modus cooperandi,
Modus Institute,
Nanette Brown,
Natalie Warnert,
Nic Sementa,
NLP,
Non Violent Communication,
Non-violent communication,
Notes Plus,
NVC,
off shore,
Offshore,
Olaf Lewitz,
Open Space,
Oredev,
Øredev,
oredev 2013,
organizational agility,
Organizational Change,
overcommitment,
pag,
Panda Transport,
Panel Picker,
Papershow,
Paul Hammond,
personal agility canvas,
personal branding,
personal kanban,
personal productivity,
personal project management,
personal projectmanagement,
Peter Saddington First15,
Petra Goltz,
Philamade,
pk,
Planning,
PM4Girls,
PMI,
PMI Portugal,
PMP,
podcast,
Product Owner,
Product Ownership,
productivity,
Project,
project management,
project manaqement,
project planning,
Project Potion,
Projects At Work,
projectshrink,
ProjectWizards,
Projet Chartering,
pulse,
rachel howard,
Radical Collaboration,
reach the peak,
Rebecca Wirfs-Brock,
review,
riaan rottier,
Ricardo Vargas,
Robyn Meredith,
Ron Jeffries,
Ron Lichty,
Rosenberg,
SAFE,
Safety,
Sam Barnes,
Sanjiv Augustine,
Scaled Agile Framework,
Schneider and Associates,
School of Rock,
Scott Ambler,
Scrum,
Scrum Alliance,
scrum but,
scrum field guide,
Scrum Gathering,
Scrum in Education,
Scrum in Schools,
scrum in waterfall,
ScrumFest,
Shane Hastie,
Showing Up,
SK Khor,
social media,
SolutionsIQ,
sprint planning,
Steffan Surdek,
stephen denning,
Steve Elliott,
Stewart Copeland,
Story Mapping,
Sun Tzu,
Swarming,
SXSW,
SXSW2012,
Tabaka,
Team Performance,
Teams,
Telecommunications,
Telepresence,
Temenos,
Test Obsessed,
the adstore,
The Ron,
theStrayMuse Louder than Ten,
Thierry Holoweck,
Things,
Thushara,
Tim Ferriss,
Tim Ferriss Experiment,
To Be Agile,
Tobias Mayer,
Tom Kealey,
Tom Mellor,
Tom Perry,
Tom Smallwood,
Tribes,
Tricia Broderick,
troy magennis,
TrustTemenos,
twitter,
Unicat,
User Stories,
value,
VCP,
video conferencing,
Virgin Digital,
Vivek Angiras,
VLC,
vocal technique,
waste,
Weisbart,
What We Say Matters,
Wijewardena,
WIzewerks,
Woody Zuill,
WWDC,
yellowpencil,
Zeldman
Date
During MITPM in Kuala Lumpur I got to listen to Dr. David Frame give a talk in which he explored a number of PM methodologies and how none of them served every purpose. The general gist of it was that there are lots of methodologies/tools available and that you need more than just one.
This is something that I consider to be a big deal in the evolution of a project manager. Getting past the point where you consider one approach to be the “one true way”, and on to a place where you see each approach as viable and important is a huge leap. It is also where the creative part comes in and when being a PM gets to be an actually fun job.
In his talk, Dr. Frame used the phrase “post project management”. It seemed to fit, but at the same time, to beg for just a bit more. It started rolling around in my head as post-modern project management. If the post modern movement was a reaction against what had become standardized forms and something which achieved success by the ironic blending of the dissimilar, then wouldn’t the blending of things like Scrum and PMBOK fit that same bill? (Yes, I took just enough postmodern film classes in college to make me dangerous.) If so, then I’d argue that for a PM to success in today’s’ job market, a PM has to evolve to this post modern state in which all tools hold equal weight and are only as good (or bad) as the way in which they are implemented.
Posted on: May 27, 2008 05:59 PM |
Permalink
Comments (5)
Please login or join to subscribe to this item
John Reiling
Seeking new opportunities | AcroVision Business Systems, Inc.
Mendham, Nj, United States
I also heard a talk by Dr. Frame last year at a PMI NJ chapter meeting, where he discussed the differences and simlarities between the PMBOK and Agile approaches. This really was very similar to the one you described in many ways. I was impressed with the ideas, and walked away believing that these 2 approaches are in no way in conflict with each other, but that issues would only really exist if a practitiioner were to misunderstand or misapply a concept.
So, I am in total agreement with you about tools and toolsets of the project manager. Like a carpenter, we must know when to use a screw driver, and when to use a hammer.
Jennifer May
Sr. Project Manager| Alltel Communications
Twinsburg, Oh, United States
I think Project Management maturity (both as a discipline and at the individual level) requires you to expand your tool kit. The rapidly changing world necessitates it. Does PMBOK offer me any guidance on how to address running an eco-friendly or "green" project? Not really. Agile doesn't help me address a project that is an organization's first foray into the international market.
You know what we need is a place to house the ever changing and evolving tools for project management, like in a
wiki.
I like the analogy to post modern film. :) I also agree, that getting to creatively solve the project's needs is the fun part of the job.
I agree...I think Project Management is not about following an approach, its about defining your goal and the approach which will get you there. In this ever changing world, we cannot rely on one tool or approach. We need a mix of things to achieve the best results. Clearly one tool is not fit for all.
But the question is: How soon in the project we can define an approach and thats the most fun part.
Paul Parker
ScrumMaster (CSM)| PricewaterhouseCoopers (formally BearingPoint)
Tampa, Fl, United States
There is no "Silver Bullet" for methodologies. I subscribe to pick one, try it if it works for you keep it in your hip pocket. Every project has unique requirements, needs, problems and issues. Sometimes one size doesn't fit all, use the best tool for the situation presented. Although I find Scrum has helped me in several large implementations.
Please Login/Register to leave a comment.
|
"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
- Woody Allen
|
