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What do you wish someone had told you early in your PM career?

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John Duncan Retired| Retired Lebanon, Tn, United States
What good advice did you receive early in your PM career?

Or what do you wish someone had told you, that you learned only later?

(I'm gathering ideas to use for mentoring someone...)

Thanks for any input! :-)
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Brigitte Fortin Deputy Director for Business Systems| ICF Myersville, Md, United States
Apr 12, 2018 12:23 AM
Replying to Karan Shah
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I really like the duck analogy to explain this.

On the surface of the pond, the duck seems calm and still - floating around as is its wont.

Beneath the surface, however, its legs are paddling away a mile a minute.
Beautiful... I keep ducks so, it's an apt metaphor... hope you don't mind if I use it :)
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Dr. Deepa Bhide Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Focus on identifying stakeholders and an appropriate communication methodology. I agree on focus on people as stated by Kiron.
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Deepesh Rammoorthy ICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood Service Tarneit, Vic, Australia
That in Project Management , you get paid to make people do what they already know.
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Lesith Dissanayaka Project Manager and Lead Business Analyst| Tryonics Private Limited Kandy, Central Province, Sri Lanka
That as a PM you cannot please everyone, and you are not supposed to either. Knowing what cannot be done is as important (in some cases even more important) than knowing what can be done. And it's especially important to know when to draw the line when it comes to a project that is a lost cause. Sometimes, projects do fail. And you learn from your mistakes and move on.
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Bob Thomas Retired Brentwood, Tn, United States
Apr 11, 2018 5:02 PM
Replying to John Duncan
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Thank you all for the feedback on this topic.

I would add something along the lines of
"Perception is reality" or "It's all in the presentation"

Meaning that a project manager is expected to "have it under control", and should exude that quality to the outside world. Calm and in control, not panicked or uncertain.

And then go figure out how to get it under control, if it's not... :-)
That's very close to the saying I use, an NLP presupposition: "The meaning of the message is the response you get."
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Chinmoyjit Sen Joint Commissioner cum General Manager| MINISTRY OF Fisheries Animal husbandry & Dairying, GoI New Delhi, Delhi, India
It's interesting.
In PgM, at times we need to manage the managers of key stakeholding agencies.
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Annie Irizari CEO/Founder,Entrepreneur, Investor, Consultant| Core Community Housing, CS Professional Services Rio Rancho, Nm, United States
1. PM is an art and a science
2. What's your why ? is the answer a why or is it a reason? Not just once but 7-10x over. Where and how you start and end up just might surprise you, but oh what a powerful eye opener.
3. Go into this eyes wide open.
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Larry Miner Founder and Sr. Project Management of Decision Memory Systems| Decision Memory Systems Bath, Oh, United States
Figure out who you are and what you have to offer. Do not get caught up in other people's expectation of who you are or what you can and can't do. Otherwise, you're going to be run into the ground trying to satisfy everyone. Listen to your own advice.
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1 reply by Carole Swift
Mar 19, 2019 12:35 PM
Carole Swift
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Great advice!
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Chinmoyjit Sen Joint Commissioner cum General Manager| MINISTRY OF Fisheries Animal husbandry & Dairying, GoI New Delhi, Delhi, India
In PgM/PM, it's about objectives, deliverables, process and getting desired outcome at the end.
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Amit Sharma Project Manager| IT Major Delhi, Delhi, India
Plenty of it actually, but what comes to my mind right now is BE BOLD!
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