Author Archives: Craig Bailey

May 30 2014
2 Comments
Inspirational

Famous Failures

In a prior post (NEVER Ring The Bell) we heard from the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command sharing advice with recent college graduates. One of the things he emphasized was the reality that we will all fail at some point in our lives. And, the importance of taking it in stride, getting back up, dusting ourselves off and trying again and again and again…

In browsing Nightingale Conant’s site (containing tons of motivational, inspirational and educational materials) I found a short video (less than 2 minutes long) titled “Famous Failures.” It is absolutely amazing to hear these “crash and burns” and who/what they became. That is, they didn’t let failure stop them.

Think about this…How did we learn to walk. We tried standing up only to fall down. We tried again and fell down, yet again. Most of us acquired a few bumps and bruises in the process. That was ok! We still got up again, took a few proud steps and crashed again. We tried over and over and over again — until!

What if we had let the fear of failure get the best of us? We’d still be crawling. While we were good at this (not giving up) as young, toothless lads or lasses, at some point along the way we developed a fear of failure. We can continue to live with this (and not achieve our goals and dreams) or do something about it.

Watch “Famous Failures” and you’ll be inspired to achieve greatness in your own life.

In closing, don’t let failure (or worse, fear of failure) keep you from achieving your goals and dreams!

May 28 2014
2 Comments
For Fun!

Snail Mail Bounces Too!

Building on a prior post “Just Say No To Paper” I’m continuing to identify and promote ways to curb the senseless use of paper. In response to an earlier post on this topic the youngest of my 2 brothers let me know what he and his wife do with junk mail they receive.

Upon opening junk mail that includes a postage paid return envelope they stuff it with pizza coupons and send it back to the “marketer.” Nice gesture, especially if the recipient is a pizza lover!

Building on this idea, I now do something similar. I can’t say “we” because my wife thinks I’m a whack-o on this.

After opening useless snail mail and finding a postage paid return envelope I now simply take all the paper they sent me (the original envelope and all the marketing collateral), pack it into their return envelope and send it straight back to them. This is much better than filling up my recycle bin with THEIR paper. This way they can pay for the cost of shipping the junk mail back to them, and for its disposal. In addition, this supports the US Postal Service’s cause by generating additional revenue 🙂

I realize that if there are only 2 of us doing this (my brother and I) it will probably not make a big difference. But, just think what would happen if thousands upon thousands of people did this. I believe that the marketers would “wake up” and “cut down” on the use of paper as it would become an increasingly expensive proposition yielding decreasing results…

Please feel free to leave a comment sharing steps you are taking to curb the senseless use of paper and the killing of trees.

May 26 2014
3 Comments
Leadership

The Powerhouse PM – A Driver With an Edge

The key role of a Project Manager (PM) is driving things to conclusion. The Powerhouse PM must go far beyond simply asking for and managing to dates. It involves driving details of EVERY “critical path” conversation, and not leaving anything up to chance.

Case study example – I was recently on a con-call with a project team in which we were discussing a critical path issue that was STILL not resolved. What remained was one of the team members on the call (Team Member A) needed to answer a few questions for Team Member B (who was not on the call), so that he (Team Member B) could complete his work “today” in order to remain on plan.

Team Member A indicated that he would get with Team Member B by the end of the day to answer his questions.

Some may think “ok, that issue is behind us: next item.” Wrong!

First, we must consider the fact that Team Member A is in California and Team Member B is in Massachusetts. So, this end of day commitment would be too late for Team Member B to be able to complete their work “today.” So, I asked “is there any reason why you can’t book time on this person’s calendar, right now, such that you could meet with him immediately following our call?” He was more than happy to oblige. I just needed to ask…

To some, this may seem like a “nit.” However, the Powerhouse PM has a different mind set which includes “shepherding” things to conclusion, ensuring “silly little delays” don’t occur which could impact the project. That is, we must DRIVE these items and not leave it up to chance. Otherwise, the (non-surprising) outcome would have been finding out on Monday that the 2 people didn’t sync up and the issue remained unresolved. Hence, a delay. I hate that 🙂

In closing, Powerhouse PM’s must be a “driver with an edge.” They intently listen for little details that could signal a risk of delay or miscommunication. And, they shepherd things along to conclusion! If this doesn’t occur, you will merely be a project “reporter” (in our case study example) letting the team know on Monday that there is a delay on completing a critical path item.

A Powerhouse PM doesn’t just report the news, they MAKE the news!!!

Click here to view the next article in the series.

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