Project Management for Future Leaders

Living on the Edge

by Mike Frenette, PMP

So you have a daughter or son who is interested in learning more about project management. You decide you want to help them learn more about it, so you dutifully procure a copy of the latest PMBOK with its Agile attachment and hand it to them. Does it fall to the floor in the transition and break their toe? No - they accept it gratefully and get through the first few pages when their mobile beeps and they put it on a shelf in their bedroom. You find it there a year later, layered with dust, with a bunch of unrecognizable cables and cords twisted in a ball on top of them, and a few unmatched pairs of socks.

Have you ever experienced this sort of thing with an offspring, or a niece, nephew, neighbour's kid, or a really smart pet? OK... scratch that last bit. It was my lame attempt at a joke - just like the broken toe one above.

Seriously, though, most people under the age of 20 these days are so used to picking up their mobile device to find all the information they need, that giving them a 756 Page tome with a 167 Page companion document is just not going to cut it. Worse, it might just turn them off learning about project management altogether!

So what is the solution? There are probably many, but PMI has one at least that might just help carry the day. Yay, PMI! Does it involve mobile devices? YES! Does it serve up project management knowledge in bite-size pieces? YES! Does it look like something young people might like it? YES! Could it break your toe? NO! 

"So, cut to the chase, Mike!", you say. l hear you.

Have a look at edge.pmi.org, try it for a bit, so you know what you are talking about and then spread it around to any young person you know, or even some you don't know. Why not? Be clandestine about it. If you see random devices around, stick it in their favourites or on their Homepage. Pass out certificates for free ice cream. Whatever it takes! Use your imagination! 

Kudos to PMI for having the foresight to create an Agile project push this app out in very little time. They are looking for feedback. Make sure you give it!

The Best Code of Ethics From a Masterpiece of Italian Literature

By Walter Ginevri, PMI Fellow

Over a period of almost 20 years, thanks to PMI and PMIEF, I have had the opportunity to live an exciting and unique experiential journey. And the most surprising thing is that this enthusiasm grows more and more each day.

Why? In my opinion, for one simple reason: Every day our professional community makes it possible to transfer our enthusiasm to other people and, in some cases, to change their professional life and even beyond.

What follows is a short story I am sharing with you as a project manager, seasoned volunteer, and passionate lover of the literature of my country, Italy. I am not speaking on behalf of the PMIEF Board, of which I am a member.

Having said that, my only objective is to increase your enthusiasm and your will to share this story with your friends and colleagues. Basically, in response to a worrying phenomenon that Pope Francis has named “the globalization of indifference”, I am inviting you to “globalize enthusiasm”.

A few months ago, while I was holding a project management workshop, a young participant asked me to suggest a good book about the project management profession and its main duties. I provided a twofold response.

First, I suggested that she read the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

Second, assuming that she would contact me again after reading that document, I promised I would suggest a second text that I consider my first source of inspiration about ethical aspects related to my profession.

After few weeks, I was contacted by that young project manager again and was pleasantly surprised to discover that her reading hadn’t been superficial. In fact, when I asked her to point out the most convincing section or statement, she mentioned the section dedicated to responsibility in which it’s specified that “responsibility is our duty to take ownership, not only for the decisions we make, but also for the decisions we fail to make”.

Thanks to her answer, it was really easy to keep my promise and suggest that she read and reflect upon some verses of the greatest masterpiece of Italian literature: The Divine Comedy written by Dante Alighieri more than seven centuries ago.

Would you like to know why I consider this poem a peerless source of inspiration about ethics?

Because, in my opinion, it’s the best way for integrating the four core values of the PMI Code of Ethics: responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty. 

As far as responsibility is concerned, we can refer to Dante’s opinion concerning slothful people, the persons who avoid taking any responsibility and prefer to follow the ideas of someone else. In fact, it’s interesting to know that Dante places these damned people in the so-called “anti-Inferno”, the area outside the famous door of the Inferno.

Why? Because, in the opinion of Dante, they are so miserable, they don’t deserve even the damnation of the real Inferno, where there are people who at least took responsibility of shameful acts. In fact, when Dante meets these people, his companion Virgilio expresses his disgust with the following sentence.

It’s a sentence full of disdain, but it underlines the concept of responsibility expressed in the PMI Code of Ethics and appreciated by the young project manager. In fact, I’m convinced that the most frequent violations of the principle of responsibility are related to the decisions we fail to make because of guilty silence.

Let’s go now to another inspiring example of fairness and honesty.

You should know that the criteria for putting damned people in the Dante’s Inferno is very simple: the more serious the sin or guilt, the deeper the position and the lower the distance from Satan, the Devil. In fact, below the seventh circle, reserved for violent people such as murderers or suicide victims, we reach the eighth circle that is reserved for fraudulent and dishonest people, such as hypocrites or flatterers.

Now, the question is: why does Dante consider hypocrites worse than murderers? The answer, again, is very simple: because hypocrites killed the truth and without any doubt, Dante thought that more serious than murder.

As was the case for responsibility, the truth cannot be measured in percentages. There’s no difference between lying and telling a partial truth, as rightly specified in the PMI Code of Ethics.

With regard to the remaining core value (respect), I very much like the point where the PMI Code of Ethics stresses the importance of creating “an environment where diverse perspectives and views are encouraged and valued”. In my opinion, this is one the distinctive skills of a knowledge leader, a person who is able to lead people with generosity and selflessness.

Now, do you know where to find the best definition of a knowledge leader?

Of course, in the Divine Comedy! If you doubt me, look at the following verses.

Last but not least, I have another beautiful story to share with you.

In 2012, during the PMI NA Congress in Vancouver, I had the opportunity to have dinner with Jim Snyder, one of the five PMI founders.

It was a great feeling when I discovered not only that Jim knew the Divine Comedy very well, but that he was also fully aware of its value as an inspiring code of ethics.

After that lucky dinner, I have had many opportunities to meet Jim, to be inspired by his servant leadership, and to appoint him as my first mentor within the PMI’s community. As ambassador of the PMIEF mission, he also provided the foreword of the book I recently wrote with Bernie Trilling (https://pmief.org/library/project-management-for-education).

Again, do you know where I have found the best words to express my gratitude to Jim, my beloved mentor?

At this point, I’m sure you know the answer and so I’m happy to close my post with the following verses.

I was privileged to attend PMI Seminars World 2018 in Orlando this week. I was very pleased with Jack Duggal's Next Generation PMO course, which covered much in 3 days. I look forward to attending his Next Generation Leadership course tomorrow. 

But what I was most pleased with is that the Next Generation PMO course attracted ... well... people from generations other than the one to which I belong. In fact, not only were there a few of these delightful individuals attending, but there was also an actual presentation that prompted me to write this blog. It was "Mixing and Matching Generations" by Carlene Szostak of C Squared Inc.

I found out that I am still in the Baby Boomer generation (no surprise there, even though a survey I filled in recently said I was a millenniel, probably because I "cut the cable" years ago and do a lot of texting, Whatsapping, and social media). 

I also found that there is now a Generation Z (pronounced Zed if you are from Canada or the UK, Zee if you are from the U.S.) Generation Z is apparently the newest generation. Suddenly those who try to put people into boxes had discovered that the world will continue, and we will have many future generations. I expect the next one will be called Generation AA, or Z1, or Z+, or some other arbitrary name. 

I found myself wondering why we have this urge to place people into categories, boxes, named generations. Does this help? Ostensibly, we will be able to understand one another better once we find out which box we are in, compared to the box into which one of our fellow human beings has been thrust,

Okay, call me old school. You would have every right to do so, given the generation that bears the name of my group of trusty old people. But really, does it actually serve a useful purpose? I have to say I was very happy to see that our course had a mix of generations. And do you know what? We all communicated with one another perfectly well. There was no texting between group members at the same table, and there was no domination by stodgy old Baby Boomers who were overpowering the tender Millenniels, Gen Xers or Gen Yers (Gen Zers are too young).  We all got along perfectly well. No one got up and left at exactly the start of lunch hour, or exactly at the end of the day as some other generations are alleged to do.

"So what is the purpose of this rant?", you might ask, if you have suffered through this blog post so far.

I have to confess it has something to do with the fact that people are people. Some are experienced by putting in many years of work. Others are experienced by putting in many varied hours of intelligent work, but far fewer years. We must recognize that what is important are the outputs and outcomes of what a person does, not how long they have been working. That some with 40 years of experience have 40 years of experience, while others who have 40 years of experience doing the same thing their entire career have maybe 10 years worth of experience. That there are those with 5 years of experience who have the equivalent of those 40 years, because they "get it". I expect Malcolm Gladwell would have something to say about the diminishing value of work experience after the fabled 10,000 hours of experience has been attained.

So let us recognize what people contribute to an organization, not how long their posterior has been forming a shallow hollow in a comfortable seat.

All the more reason for Gen X, Y, Millenniels (and Zs) to get with the program. Invest in learning about Project Management, seek the mentorship and coaching of a person from a previous generation and get those 40 years of experience in 5 years, which happens to just about line up with 10,000 hours. 

If you are a member of one of these generations, get yourself to PMIEF.org and look for university, college and  professional development scholarships. Maybe you will be fortunate enough to attend a fabulous Jack Duggal course at a PMI Seminars World, courtesy of PMIEF. 

Succeed, grow and prosper, my young friends. You can do anything and be anyone. The world is yours for the taking because, well, who else is there?

Dear Project Management for Future Leaders blog readers,

We are honoured to have Walter Ginevri write about his experiences with PMI and the passion he has for bringing the world of project management to young people.  Walter is a PMI Fellow, Past-President of the Northern Italy Chapter,  current member of the PMIEF Board and father of a fantastic toolkit for primary school students.

I am certain you will thoroughly enjoy Walter’s article and the items to which he has provided links. Many thanks to Walter for taking the time and effort to submit it for our reading pleasure.

Grazie Mille, Walter!

Mike Frenette

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My professional story before and after volunteering for PMI & PMIEF

by Walter Ginevri, PMI Fellow

If I think about history books, the most recurrent time boundary is related to the birth of Jesus, in relation to which events are divided through the suffix B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini).

However, if I think about my professional history, the time boundary I can use to go from “before” to “after” is 2006, the year I started volunteering for PMI and PMIEF.

Why?

Because, thanks to that decision, I’ve been able to understand the deep essence of project management, to change progressively many of my convictions, to make my profession more exciting and motivating, to become a better professional and an open-minded citizen of the global world.

With regard to my PMI volunteering, in January 2006 I joined the Board of the PMI Northern Italy Chapter, a professional community of almost 400 members. After ten years of exciting experiences, including a research project about complexity theory applied to projects, I left a chapter with almost 2000 members and a retention rate amongst the highest worldwide.

With regard to my PMIEF volunteering, from 2006 onward, I’ve devoted myself to the dissemination of the project language within primary schools. Here again, it has been an inspiring experience that allowed me not only to spread a toolkit currently available in 14 languages (https://pmief.org/library/resources/projects-from-the-future-kit-for-primary-school), but also to share my storytelling with Bernie Trilling in a book focused on the link between project management and education (https://pmief.org/library/project-management-for-education).

Now, what I’d like to share with you is the following list of statements in which I’ve tried summarize the progressive evolution of my way of being a project management professional before volunteering (B.V.) and after volunteering (A.V.) for PMI and PMIEF. In particular, the following reflections are the outcomes of my collaboration with dozens of primary school teachers, passionate people who taught me how to live my profession, wonderful people who have the delicate mission of preparing new generations for a bright future.

B.V. #1: Project management is a technical discipline constituted by a wide set of best practices to be adapted by a professional and applied to a specific business context.

A.V. #1: Project management is a universal language that can be practiced by everybody because it makes available a wide set of intuitive tools for “thinking & doing”. The fact that “Project-Based Learning” is the most popular trend within school systems represents a further evidence of this statement.

B.V. #2: A project manager is constantly looking for the “optimum”, even if the context is characterized by a high level of complexity and uncertainty.

A.V. #2: A project manager is constantly moving through different domains that can be: simple, complicated, complex and chaotic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework). So, a project manager must be able to combine different strategies (e.g. “design & implementation” versus “exploration & exploitation”) and, sometimes, to search and accept “sub-optimal” solutions (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/330323.A_Treatise_on_Efficacy).

B.V. #3: The most important part of a project journey is the destination, that is, the set of deliverables agreed with the customer.

A.V. #3: Since a project is a collective experience, the delivery is just as important as the experiential journey through which each team member has the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally.

B.V. #4: The ability to manage chronological time is essential in order to meet project deadlines and set the pace of the project team.

A.V. #4: Besides “quantitative time”, a project practitioner must be able to manage “qualitative time”, the time not measurable in minutes, hours or days because it’s the time spent to engage a critical stakeholder, to catch emerging issues and weak signals, to practice active listening and provide feedback, to empower the project team and, in general, to stimulate the most powerful intrinsic motivators of people: autonomy, mastery and purpose (https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation).

B.V. #5: Project management books are the best way to enrich the knowledge of a professional who works in complex environments.

A.V. #5: In addition to specialists’ books, it’s essential to continue to explore the multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural dimension of project management. For example, a book about ethnography contains many ideas and best practices that can be used to manage project stakeholders. As further examples, some masterworks of literature such as Don Quixote or Pinocchio can help us to comprehend the essence of leadership much better than many books that promise to transform everybody into a leader. In general, every effort to enrich both scientific and humanistic knowledge is the best investment for a practitioner who wants to “make project management indispensable for business results”.

B.V. #6: Project management should be taught in secondary schools and universities so that students can be more prepared to enter the labour market.

A.V. #6: Primary school is the ideal place to start the dissemination of project language because of its extraordinary effects on students’ learning processes and life skills, such as: creative and critical thinking, communication and collaboration (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Cs_of_21st_century_learning).

B.V. #7: The PMI Talent Triangle is a very effective framework to represent the ideal skill mix of a project management practitioner and the way to strengthen it.

A.V. #7: In addition to strategic business management, technical project management, and leadership, there is a fourth dimension corresponding to the transformative aspect of volunteering, an experience that, not only transforms you as an individual, but it even changes the talent triangle to a 3-dimensional pyramid.

This is my personal view of project management before and after PMI & PMIEF volunteering. So, I'm not speaking on behalf of the PMIEF Board, but more as a seasoned volunteer and project manager.  

I hope it will be helpful for all those who agree with this quote of Alvin Toffler, an American futurist:

“'The illiterate of the 21^st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

A New Collaborative Blog

Welcome to our newly minted Blog, Project Management for Future Leaders. It was created because of some enthusiastic discussions among several graduates of the PMI LIMC (Leadership Institute Master Class).

It all came about late last year in November. Titi Park asked, “Can anyone recommend any material/books for teaching kids project management?” Several people responded, citing the PMI Educational Foundation as a great source. As it turned out, Titi is the PMIEF Liaison for her PMI chapter, so already knew all about PMIEF, PMI’s foundation for spreading ideas and materials about project management to students in schools, non-for-profit agencies and for providing scholarships to students of project management.

The Whatsapp group chat we use as LIMC grads lit up with suggestions.

Rochelle suggested contacting the Turkish chapters about a presentation at a Region meeting where they showed how they taught project management to young kids. The Work Breakdown Structure was shown as a tree, with branches, the schedule as a calendar and reporting based on red, orange, green using coloured paper on cd envelopes with a circular window. These simple ideas made it easy for primary school kids to understand and use the concepts. Ideas for teacher engagement and selling the concept to school boards were also cited as being very useful.

Others recommended the PMI Mile Hi Chapter in Denver since they initiate projects at inner city schools, offer scholarship for students to progress in project management, and even mentor and coach students through school and into university.

Sarina recommended contacting Stefano and Walter at the Northern Italy Chapter. This chapter, and Walter in particular, have been very involved with PMIEF and the creation of a PM handbook and unique tools for students. Walter has also co-written a book published by PMIEF called “Project Management for Education - The Bridge to 21st Century Learning”.

Allan Mills, has  just finished a 6-year term on the PMIEF Board of Directors, including a year as Chair. Allan has enjoyed being involved in the rapid expansion of PMIEF to enable teachers and students achieve more through project management. He is looking forward to sharing his personal first-hand experiences and describing how PMIEF has impacted lives around the world.

Andres let us know that the Argentine government added a Social Community Project to the high school curriculum for 17/18 year olds: a mandatory program starting in 2017. He was invited to teach for the Colegio ICEI school and accepted. This is the only school in Argentina using PM-based teaching and will soon be the first Spanish-speaking school to take the PMIEF Badging exam. Andres has been using PMIEF materials to supplement his own experiences along with some books and videos on using PM for social good. He also mentioned that two past presidents of PMI Nuevo Cuyo chapter did a lot of work with the school CEO and principal including meetings, workshop with teachers (Pablo former student of the school) and Gustavo (his daughters study there). They have been engaged in almost four years of “ant” work (trabajo de hormiga, meaning little by little).

Paulo said that in Calgary, Canada they are using PMIEF Skills for Life and Tower Challenges along with a planning tool called the Project Management Canvas. Several LIMCers expressed interest in seeing a presentation on this simple yet useful tool for kids and non for profit organizations.

Agnieszka Krogulec from the PMI Poland Chapter offered to share lessons learned on project management kids camp and pm@schools, as did Titi Park.

Stefano let us know that a Primary School Kit was created in Italy, and that the Northern Italy Chapter Past President and PMI Fellow, Walter Ginevri is the “father of the kit”, which is now owned by PMIEF and is being used by children all over the world. For over ten years, PMI-NIC conduct a Projects in Bloom Festival with hundreds of children, parents and teachers, demonstrating the light part of project management. Stefano offered support and directions to mentor and highly recommends Walter’s Primary School Kit.

I read with great interest all the fabulous discussion about PMIEF and how project management can be such a valuable tool for kids. I suggested there might be benefit to blogging about this on projectmanagement.com in a collaborative blog format. Several people raised their [virtual] hands! And here we are, just starting up our new blog where we will post items every few weeks.

Please allow me to introduce you to our international collaborative blog team, listed in random order:

• Naeem Iqbal (LIMC 2015)

Naeem is from Islamabad, Pakistan. He is a passionate Project Management Professional with 20 years of experience who truly believes in enabling people to achieve common objectives. He wanted to blog here to help youth optimally utilize their potential, organise their lives, lead a happy life and be better citizens.

Naeem plans to blog about why kids should be interested in project management, the tools that are available to youth, how to excel in school and how to better manage time.

• Allan Mills (LIMC 2005)

Allan is from Maryland, USA. He has worked in the Project Management field for over twenty seven years in Government, IT, Entertainment and Banking. His most current passion, and recent certification acquired, is Scaled Agile, and he coaches organizations implementing the Scaled Agile framework (SAFe). Allan was the 2015 Chair of the PMI – Educational Foundation (PMIEF) Board of Directors and was on the board since 2012. His other PMI experience includes PMI Region 5 Mentor and President of the North Carolina Chapter in 2003. Allan has been married for 22 years to Jeanne and has a daughter Eva 21 and son Arran 18, both in college. He loves the idea of partnering with experts in project based learning such as the Buck Institute, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Destination Imagination, and Junior Achievement. He looks forward to sharing stories about the impact on children and the teachers and hopes to inspire sharing and implementation of these programs.

Allan wants to blog about enabling skills through project-based learning, how PMIEF is working with the Buck Institute, how students are more engaged in school through Project Management and how a PMI chapter can increase their programs for the good of society..

• Adilson Pize  (LIMC 2013)

Adilson Pize lives in Caxias do Sul, Brazil. An enthusiast of project management, he is a consultant, teacher, writer and speaker. He created the SPCanvas (Strategic Planning Canvas) and PSACanvas (Project Strategic Alignment Canvas) methods. He loves volunteering and has done so for PMI since 2003 in several chapter and PMI Global roles. He feels everyone has the power to be what they desire to be and to achieve their dreams. He wants to help young people realize their dreams and goals through projects and project management. He feels as agents of change, young people  can understand how they can transform their future and the future of others for the better. Adilson is passionate about sports, movies and books. His parents, younger sister and girlfriend are all supporters in his life.

Adilson wishes to blog about the power young people have to transform their lives, careers, organizations and nations through project management.

• Titi Park (LIMC 2015)

Titi Park is from Lagos, Nigeria. She has a passion for empowering young women especially, and  youths in general, through project management. She wants to blog about her experiences and perspectives in the area of youth empowerment through Project Management. Her goal is to  inspire others and, in particular, Africans, as she feels the continent has many things that are different from area of the world that can be improved through project management. She hopes that others will start with little activities to immediately influence their communities through project management.

She is happily married to Gordon, her biggest cheerleader, for 16 years and counting.

Titi is looking forward to blogging on “The Project Manager in the Mirror” and “Project Management as a life skill”.

• Agnieszka Krogulec (LIMC 2017)

Agnieszka lives in Poland. She has over 15 years of experience in financial, gas and oil, telecom and real estate. Her projects have included organizational and human-capital development. Her experience in training delivery makes her a great candidate to mentor and coach and mentor young people in the use of project management to improve their lives.  Agnieszka is an  active member of the PMI Poland Chapter and is passionate about social leadership to change the world for the better.

• Sanjay Kumar  (LIMC 2017)

Sanjay lives in Tampa/St. Petersburg, USA. He is an IT Project Manager, Architect and PMP, and has worked for over 15 years with Fortune 500 companies. He is VP of Strategic Projects for his PMI chapter and has responsibilities for outreach programs. He enjoys working in highly highly complex projects being run in multiple countries. Multicultural, multi-vendor onshore and offshore are the order of the day for Sanjay.

Agnieszka and Sanjay were not able to provide as much detail as the other members of our team did due to work commitments, but we will introduce them more fully in a future article.

• Mike Frenette (LIMC 2015)

That’s me: the author of this first post. I’ll use the first person since talking about myself in the third person will just feel weird. I live in Halifax, Canada with my wife, Sue. Our kids (well, they used to be kids) are also geographically dispersed. Marie (Seoul), Mike Jr. (Vancouver) and Liam (Halifax). Some aspects of project management are infiltrating their lives for some reason.

For my paid work, I manage the PMO in the Engineering and IS department of a water utility and worked prior to that as an PM/IT consultant for many years. I have volunteered with PMI pretty much continuously since 1999 in both local and global roles. I always say that volunteering gets in your blood.

I suggested this blog when I witnessed all the enthusiasm in the LIMC Alumni Whatsapp group that brings together almost a hundred LIMC graduates from many areas around the world. I have enjoyed being a mentor and coach for decades, and feel that working with young people to help them understand project management is a natural extension of this predilection. But work of this nature cannot be done by a few individuals. It can be accomplished only by many geographically dispersed groups of avidly passionate people, of which this group of bloggers is only a very small part. We hope we can help PMIEF and similar organizations spread the word and feel this blog will encourage others to dive in and take part.

Like my blogging colleagues, my plan is to write about empowering youth through project management and to shine a light on the great work done by organizations like PMI Chapters and PMIEF.

We are all very excited to get started, and have already planned some topics. But please feel free to make suggestions in the comments area below about how to encourage youths to learn about project management and we will add them to our list of possible blog topics.

Onward and upward!