 Reforming Project Management |
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Thursday, March 13, 2003
Notes on Obsolete Theory
People have written me in the last two weeks asking about my comments on Lauri Koskela's and Greg Howell's paper The Underlying Theory of Project Management is Obsolete. This is the paper they wrote and presented at the PMI 2002 Research Conference. Back in October I made a series of postings on the subject. I compiled those postings into a paper Notes on The Underlying Theory of Project Management is Obsolete.
People have also wondered do I say the PMI is obsolete? Absolutely not! The organization continues to attract project management practitioners for the educational opportunities and the professional affiliation. Enjoy the paper. I made a PDF file for you as well. Project Firms Need Radical Change
I've been thinking about Mark Zweig's ZweigWhite presentation at Construction Summit 2003 that I called platitudes in an earlier posting. First the definition of platitude from Merriam Webster Online
Here are some highlights from the presentation:
So let's say there's something for everyone on the list. Let's also say that the people in the room were at the top tier of their firms. They are in a position to take action. And like me, participants were taking good notes. What gets in the way of taking action? Is it resignation? Is there just already so much that needs their attention that they can't see their way to initiating one (or two) more actions? Or might it be confidence? Perhaps the actions they've taken in the past have not been well-received. I don't think it's any of that. Consider this...there's so much inertia in the market, in the industry, and in the company that the maybe above actions don't appear to make a difference. Leaders look for ways to guide (steer) their businesses. Maybe that's the real issue. Read the recommendations again. The recommendations don't have steering qualities. Mark Zweig is saying manage the business from the bottom up. When he said radical change he meant it. He just didn't share what was behind his prescriptions. Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Report from Construction Summit 2003 -- Day Three
The Construction Summit finished like it started. There was a hodge-podge of presentations. The one that kept my attention was on architectural engineering quality assurance. The presenter was from Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, SOM. (Skip the website; it is an annoying flash animation that is very difficult to navigate). The approach recommended harkens of the days of old fashioned after-the-fact quality control. Once the drawings or specifications have been completed then a group of experts check the work. I used to think that some QA was better than none, but no longer. Architectural engineering can learn from the agile software community. Pair programming could be a very useful model for pair engineering and pair architecture. It's bound to improve the quality of the work.
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Report from Construction Summit 2003 -- Day Two
The construction summit opened with the first of two presentations on the Dig Big . Dan McNichol, author of The Big Dig, facilitated the presentation with Dan Wood, Federal Highway Adminsitration. While the project is notorious for cost overruns, it will become known for its technical achievements, community responsiveness, and partnership among project participants.
Take note of this bigger than big project:
Lean Construction -- Challenging Current Project Management As moderator it's difficult for me to say how well the panel came off. I can say the panelists did a wonderful job of answering my questions and those from the audience. They offered these lessons:
There were two other presentations. Tod Rittenhouse, Weidinger Associates, briefed us on how buildings are being designed to withstand the threats of terror. Great presentation by one of the leaders in the field. The final presentation was by Mark Zweig an authority on construction industry management practices. While he exhorted us with platitudes of good corporate management practices, I can't say he was wrong. In short, he advised to take care of your customers, take care of your employees, invest in systems to separate you from your competitors, and share information throughout your organization. Good advice, except people are likely to walk away without taking action. That is a shame. More tomorrow! Sunday, March 09, 2003
Report from Construction Summit 2003 -- Day One
Construction Summit 2003 has begun. It's been raining here in Jacksonville, FL. (Read: no golf...yet.)
The program today was dominated by four sessions on using the internet for managing construction projects. The presentations were basic. Here's the presenters' best advice:
Monday's agenda is more exciting: two presentations on the Big Dig, designing terror-resistant structures, and lean construction. Stay tuned. Visit the Archives for more postings |
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