Leadership

We don’t like to talk about failure. Failure is the dark secret hidden in the back of our subconscious. It is the unwanted guest lurking behind the door. The ever-growing pile of detritus swept under the rug. Failure, for most of us, represents the things in our past that we would much rather forget than actually deal with. And yet… failure is how we learn. If we can embrace failure, we can grow and improve.

Few of us set out to become project managers. Where formally developed skills are earned, they generally take the shape of process-based training. Taken as a whole, however, they don’t make up the full set of tools, skills and abilities that a project manager needs to survive–and thrive–in the long term. Thankfully, this well-considered guide to life skills for project managers is here to help.

Risk management tends to focus on the downside of things. ‘Risk’ is viewed as ‘what can go wrong’, and our risk management strategies are all focussed primarily on attempting to avert disaster. But what might go right? And what might we need to do differently if we want things to go right? A different perspective on how we think about risk.

One of the most overused terms in business is ‘best practice’. Just calling something ‘best’, doesn’t make it so. In fact, there is no one ‘best’ way to do anything — there are only better ways in specific situations and contexts. How to think about better practices, rather than best.

Projects are all about people. And yet, we often approach dealing with people as if they will all approach situations in a consistent, rational manner. Evidence amply demonstrates that people are far from rational at times, and ignoring this makes for some major management challenge. How to rethink thinking about people and teams.