Learning in the Project System While learning is associated with making errors in most situations learning from successes is commonly forgotten. Let us think about B.F. Skinner and positive reinforcement. Incremental and post-job reviews usually focus on the shortcomings of an activity and project. Instead, we must ask ourselves why we did better at the […]

People are Human I realize this piece is likely, nearly certainly, to ruffle some feathers. That is not my intention for sure.  We have written on the impediments to us seeing things truly as it is.  There are many cognitive biases that may plague us. In fact, we dedicated an entire section in our latest […]

Once Upon a Time I worked while I was acquiring my undergraduate engineering degree, hell, I worked while getting all three of my degrees. My undergraduate was especially interesting, in that I did not have a mass of skills so my work was not a high-paying gig.  I am grateful for the job, but there […]

Sergeant York – and Old Homesteads Gatlinburg Area Recently, over the Memorial Holiday, Sergeant York, well, more like rewatched it.  I recall it from when I was a kid on the old movies channel.  Not when it first hit the big (or little) screen mind you.  However, I have since then had some experiences that […]

It was a wonderful learning event at the Manufacturing X.0 Southeast event.  I want to thank Lacy Ashton and Boni Quatroche for making the even and my involvement possible.  There was much to learn from the confluence of topics from AI to Big Data, from the individual to team learning and retrieval.  All of these […]

Failure: The Option Media I was once in an engineering team meeting, where the snippet from the movie Apollo 13 was played.  The scene demonstrated that famous saying, failure is not an option. I have heard this many times since then, not in business, but on other television shows and competitive events.  The thing is, […]

Risk Management from Front and Back Recently I spoke at a Metrolina PMI Chapter on Risk Management. If we have been managing projects, we know that risk management is significant to ensuring project success. Risk management starts from the very beginning of the project, the scope, and our strategy selection will all impact the risks […]

To Learn, or Not to Learn- There is Really No Question. I have spent time in a variety of roles in product development, from engineer to manager and process manager.  In the latter, as project and process manager, even in early 2000, there were organization processes and structures in place to encourage and record learning […]

How we change. I shared this with those that I usually have to review my writing. They said I should not share this as it seemed very personal.  They said it seemed like it was something somebody would not share. After a short rumination, I decided to share this, writing. It amazes me where I […]

What a day.  Sunday we were spending some time with our kid.  They are a 21-year-old college student, and we seldom get the opportunity to do things with them.   They have largely been out of our house since going to the North Carolina School of Science and Math, essentially since they were a Junior in […]