Sharon CurtisSenior Project Manager | World Archipelago London, United Kingdom
Hey,
Many people who know me know that when I am not working on projects I (almost) always have my head in some book or other, reading a blog or two watching a webcast, listening to a podcast etc. looking for something I can use on one of my projects. So here are some of the things I have been reading, watching, listening and talking about this last couple of weeks.
This is my favorite blog at the moment about web analytics I find it very insightful - from a web project managers perspective it talks about getting the most from the quantative and qualitative data we can collect online to enable us to make better business/ project decisions based on business facts.
This is the book I am reading at the moment "Agile principles and practices in C++" by Robert C Martin - I am finding it especially useful - as I am working on making things more agile where I work and I think its important to understand the development side of agile as well as the project management side. My favorite chapter so far has been on why designs rot. And I have been able to pick up a number of XP techniques that I am going to implement on my new project which is going to be starting soon here.
I have been listening to the road to agile web series (in the coming events section) on Ganthead (I am haft way through at the moment and I have found it very handy.)
It would be interesting to know if there are any like minded researchers out there? And what you are reading, listening to and watching and whether it’s worth a good read.
Senior Advisor to the CEO| PMISterling, Va, United States
I've blogged a bit about Reinventing Project Management, by Aaron Shenhar. It's great book that takes a fresh look at how different types of projects should be managed.
I've also been recommending Rita Mulcahy's PM Crash Course pretty often to new project managers. It does a much better job of "teaching" the basics than most of the books out there.
Saving Changes...
Deborah BollesPMO Manager| HealthesystemsTarpon Springs, Fl, United States
I am managing two projects using Scrum methods (a new experience for me and the teams involved), so much of my reading relates to that. I am going for my ScrumMaster certification with Michael Vizdos via ASPE Tech in June.
I found some great guidance on using Planning Poker for estimating at www.mountaingoatsoftware.com I am using regular playing cards, but they sell special cards there.
I have Dean Leffingwell's book on Scaling Software Agility on my desk. My telepathic reading skills are not well developed, so I need to make time to actually open the cover and look at the pages. LOL
I am a big fan of www.ITToolbox.com and follow the community there. I post questions to the agile project management discussion group there pretty often. My hope is that our collective participation in the Gantthead community will grow it into a similar experience.
When I am not scrumming, I am playing Pokemon Diamond and Pearl for Nintendo DS with my 6 year old son. We spend a fair amount of time sketching pokemon too. Saving Changes...
I'm currently reading "The Pursuit of Attention" by Derber. It outlines the way people seek attention in formal and informal situations. Though more Sociology than Project Management some of it applies, particularly in "formal" settings with established authority (though I'd happily enjoy more situations where my authority is firmly established). Saving Changes...
Jennifer MaySr. Project Manager| Alltel CommunicationsTwinsburg, Oh, United States
Thanks for sharing!! I am taking notes!
I subscribe to a couple of blogs:
In my inbox each week is Keep the Joint Running . I love Bob's spin on how IT businesses are and should be run. The weekly commentary is always timely, fresh, and insightful. Oh, and I've purchased his ManagementSpeak books for co-workers as holiday gifts too. Very funny stuff.
I also subscribe to Joel on Software . Joel runs what looks to be a fun software development shop. If I were going to put on a motivational training for an IT organization (remember FISH! that wanted organizations to adopt the culture of a fish market in Seattle?), I would use Joel's company as an example. And his rant/praise on the tech and gadget world is spot-on and entertaining.
A year or two ago, I decided to start reading about things that I knew little about, but wanted to know more about. I used to read a lot of IT and software development books, but now I tend to go for marketing, sales, and organizational strategy.
Here are a few of the titles I am either planning to read soon, or have just read:
* Strategy Safari
* Gemba Kaizen
* The Experience Economy
* Unleashing the Ideavirus
* Simplicity (Jensen)
I also wind up going back to project management books. "Reinventing Project Management" was an interesting read; I agree with Dave that it has some fresh ideas. I do not agree with everything in there, though. I think Aaron paints the current practices in project management as being a little too rigid and simplistic, in order to make his ideas seem more different and "breakthrough".
Project Management Maturity Models also have been a topic of interest for me. Unfortunately I cannot find people actually using them, so I am using books as a way to figure out whether I could use them successfully at any of the companies where I am working!
I also recently requested a print subscription to the Project Management Journal from PMI. Any member can get that in print, but they do not send it to you unless you request it. I am not an academic, but each issue has one or two articles that are really thought-provoking.
I get the PM Network and various magazines from IEEE, ACM, and IEEE Computer, but I mostly just skim those. A lot of the material there is very basic, and it is information I have heard or read about before -- or information that does not apply to me and my work.
I would also humbly offer my own newsletter to anyone who is looking for more to read. Go over to alexsbrown.com to sign up. You get a monthly notice about any new articles published to my site.
I also spend a lot of time on the project management Q&A areas of a few web sites -- SdB+PM Forum, Gantthead, LinkedIn, and various PMI SIGs with e-mail discussion forums. I learn a ton from answering people's questions there.
One pet peeve -- I hate when I go looking for new material to read, only to assaulted by articles that are thinly-veiled marketing pitches for a particular piece of software. So many "informational" articles are really just extended advertisements these days. My advice to vendors -- provide real advice, real case-studies, and provide a link at the bottom to your sales and marketing pages. If I get to the end of the article and I am interested, I will click through to learn about your products. Saving Changes...
Warwick KowalczykEngineering Manager| Scentre GroupNorth Ryde, Nsw, Australia
I'm reading The Goal at the moment which is a pretty thought provoking look at Constraint Theory:
Brian M GielbedaProgram Director, Sales Product & Marketing| HealthfristNew York, Ny, United States
Dave Prior recommends reading "The Art of War" and I must agree; written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. The book is Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. The tatics of military strategey easily relate to the business world and amazingly seem to transend time making its way perfectly into the 21st century and business world.
One of my favorite quotes from the book:
"The commander stands for the virtues of wisdom sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness." Saving Changes...
I just finished a short book on the 18th century Irish philosopher George Berkeley. He asked a friend to hang him, but not to the death, so he could have what we call today a "near death experience." Apparently he didn't learn much from this experience, but talk about going all the way for knowledge. Yikes... Saving Changes...
I have been enjoying listening to The PMO Podcast. I subscribed to it via Apple iTunes over a year ago and I listen to the PMO Podcast episodes on my iPod. Below is a link to the PMO Podcast website.
From time to time, we play a few of these episodes in our PMO Staff meetings from the PMO Podcast website. Each episode is about 15 to 20 minutes long and has a featured story which is often an interview, a talking points memo, and a listener question and answer. The PMO Podcast has well over 100 episodes, I beleive this week's episode is #133. I have enjoyed all of these episodes and below are a few of my favorites:
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
PMI Team Member
