Flip a coin, heads, or tails. The probability that it will come up heads is 50%; there are only two sides.  Flip that same coin again, the same probability, 50%.  However, if we say that success is two successive heads (or tails) that is different. The probability of two consecutive heads is the product of […]

Taxonomy of Project Failure – Risks Experience suggests there are many ways to project failure due to our project management actions, this does not include the riskiness of the effort in general that comes with the uncertainty associated with projects – these are not operations.  Projects by definition have uncertain components, this is especially true […]

Recently, I was in a conversation with a project manager whose organization had just made a radical alteration to their manner of handling work breakdown structure. There is a connection between the work breakdown structure and the financial tracking for the project. Ideally, there is an immediate connection between the WBS and the expenditures for […]

We have been exploring the connection between the learning organization, organization development and project management, in fact, if you visit the Learning Organization training area https://valuetransform.com/lo-od/ you will find the class that ties these concepts together with project management.   In this exploration we have reviewed some of our favorite works by Peter Senge, The […]

Verification and Validation The definition for verification and validation can be found at[1]:   We must express some disagreement with the activities associated with the individual areas. For example, testing is not limited to Validation. Testing is also a function of verification as we will use these techniques to understand if the instantiation of the […]

Having the plan is only partially helpful.  The list of test cases and the expected rate of accomplishment allows us to refine our estimates as we progress through the testing.  We will be in a position to provide the project manager and stakeholders with a better “ETA” (Estimated Time of Arrival) just like the GPS […]

In the development phase of the product development life cycle, we are generating ideas for the product. We see opportunities in the market place and wish to explore if we can capitalize (not a vulgar word) upon these opportunities.  Perhaps a new technology has become available to us.  Our organization will want to investigate the […]

Schedule pressures can keep project managers up at night. Frequently the project schedule is not entirely driven by logistics from within the projects but by external pressures such as market or executive pressure.  There are metrics that can be used to help predict, sometimes these are not created, gathered, maintained or have the appropriate follow […]

Many of you who have read our blog know we are fans of the show Aircraft Disaster on the Smithsonian Channel.  We do not like the show for the disaster part, but the root-cause analysis aspects.  These things are intriguing for engineers.  Root cause analysis is an important skill for design engineers, process engineers, and […]

Not all television is not mind numbing.  I enjoy The History Channel and many other similar channels as these are not exactly learning opportunities but close.  However, my son turned us on to a show called House on Netflix[1] and it is very interesting. House (also called House, M.D.) is an American television medical drama that […]