People And Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast

Our Culture Series Continues Your company culture? Yeah, it probably has some problems, right? And our guest Mike Rognlien has a message for you and for me. If your company culture sucks, it's at least in part because you’re part of it. And since you’re part of it, it’s at least partly your responsibility to help make it better. Mike is the author of a book entitled This Is Now Your Company: A Culture Carrier's Manifesto. It's a provocative, in-your-face look at organizational culture and what you can do about it.   Let's Stay In Touch! I hear from listeners almost every day, and I love it! How about you and I connect on LinkedIn? Go to https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/LinkedIn and send me an invite! Also, if you know of a group at your organization that has an upcoming large group gathering and uses outside speakers, let them know about the podcast! I'd love to work with them to help improve their ability to lead and deliver. Learn more at https://i-leadonline.com/keynotes. Thanks! Thank you for joining

Could it be that you are one Yes away from a significant opportunity? 25 years ago today, I had every reason to say No to an opportunity. There was almost no reason to say Yes. And yet that one Yes has provided a career path that I can't imagine being more fulfilling. If you don't have a compelling reason to say No to the next opportunity that comes your way, consider a Yes. You never know where it will take you. Let Me Hear From You! How about you? What's an example of when you said Yes and it provided an opportunity for you? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener Survey at https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/ListenerSurvey. Thank you! Thank you for joining me for this ep

We Would Never Design Work Like This "What is keeping you from doing the best work of your life?" That's a question we're going to tackle in this episode. It's critical because the way we're doing work--at most organizations--is keeping us from doing our best work. We're joined in episode 249 by Aaron Dignan, author of a new book entitled Brave New Work. I put this book in the "must read" category for anyone interested in organizational culture. Learn more about Aaron and his book at http://www.aarondignan.com/.   Check Out Backlog Backlog is project management software trusted by over 9,000 companies worldwide. Learn more about our sponsor at Backlog.com/projects.   Let's Stay In Touch! I hear from listeners almost every day, and I love it! How about you and I connect on LinkedIn? Go to https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/LinkedIn and send me an invite! Also, if you know of a group at your organization that has an upcoming large group gathering and uses outside speakers, let them know about the podcast! I'd

I know. I know. What I talk about in this video episode will sound crazy at first. But the next time you face a ranting stakeholder, I share one thing to avoid and one thing to try. Special thanks to Dr. Mark Goulston in episode 143 for these ideas. There are definitely more things to keep in mind than just these things when we face difficult people and situations. But if nothing else, these ideas can help you avoid making things worse--and maybe help make 'em better! Let Me Hear From You! How about you? What advice do you have to share? When you're facing someone who is emotionally charged and starting in on a rant, what can we do to make things worse? What do you do to try to make things better? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us fe

Have a decision to make, whether on your projects, about your team, maybe outside of work? There are some predictable reasons why we don't make better decisions. I'm giving a keynote today in Anaheim, California on the topic, and in this video I share a couple ideas from the session. In the video, I mention two books that I recommend you get on your reading list when they come out: Aaron Dignan's book Brave New Work Marcus Buckingham's book Nine Lies About Work Let Me Hear From You! What are some traps you've seen people fall into when it comes to making bad decisions? What are some lessons you've learned about making better decisions? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listen

The Science of Meetings We too easily tolerate bad meetings. We begin to settle. We eventually resign ourselves to the fact that meetings are a necessary evil that will never change. We don't drift towards good meetings. To the contrary, it's like entropy. On its own, we drift to dysfunction and waste. Part of our role as leaders is to steward our own time and the time of those we lead, and if we can make even small improvements to how we gather, there’s a big payoff for all of us. That's why we're investing another episode on the topic, to arm you with insights to help set you and your teams up for better meetings. We're joined in episode 246 by Steven G. Rogelberg, author of a new book entitled The Surprising Science of Meetings. The Washington Post has it as their number one leadership book for this year and it shows up on many other recommended lists, and I'm excited to introduce you to some ideas in the book. Learn more about Steven and his book at https://www.stevenrogelberg.com/   Let's Stay In Touch!

Do Your Meetings Suck? When you think of meetings, what thoughts come to mind? Words like productivity, efficiency, and great use of time isn’t what I normally hear. But if you look over your last week, you’ve likely spent a significant amount of your time in meetings so in the next couple full-length episodes, we’re going to be talking about how we gather to help you and your teams maximize that time together. In this episode, we talk with the J. Elise Keith, author of the new book Where the Action Is, and I'm excited to introduce you to some ideas in the book. Learn more about Elise and her book at https://www.lucidmeetings.com/book.   Check Out Backlog Backlog is project management software trusted by over 9,000 companies worldwide. Learn more about our sponsor at Backlog.com/projects.   Let's Stay In Touch! I hear from listeners almost every day, and I love it! How about you and I connect on LinkedIn? Go to https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/LinkedIn and send me an invite! Also, if you know of a group a

How do you deal with endings? This was a week of endings for me. We moved my dad into assisted living. He's excited about the change. For anyone who has had to go through this with an unwilling parent, I can only imagine how much more trying that is. But endings are not easy, right? He moved out of the house he built. He lived in it for over 50 years. It's the home we grew up in, soon to be refurbished and lived in by someone we've never met. They'll never know the memories that were made in that home. Whether with a home, with a parent, a relationship, a job, a project, and in so many other ways, we have to navigate endings. Some are easier than others, but endings offer up challenges as well as opportunities. In this brief video, I share some important lessons about dealing with the endings we face. For my LinkedIn article on the topic, see https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-do-you-deal-endings-andy-kaufman-pmp-pmi-acp/ Let Me Hear From You! What do you think about these ideas on endings? How do you try to

I was never a proponent of throwing one of our young kids into the deep end and saying, "OK, swim!" But could it be that the best way to learn how to lead is to, well, have to lead? We continue our series of short videos to share something that I've recently taught or learned, and in this episode, I share an important lesson learned from our discussion with Marc Effron back in episode 226 regarding his book 8 Steps to High Performance. Let Me Hear From You! What's your take on the 70/20/10 idea? What's an example of how you've learned by doing or by spending time with people who are doing it? What questions do you have about the idea? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener

How to Create Better Outcomes This Year One of the most powerful ideas I've learned in the last year is the relationship between habits and outcomes. If you're not happy with your outcomes—look to your habits. Outcomes are lagging measures of your habits. Change your habits and you will, eventually, change your outcomes. In this episode, we talk with the guy I learned that idea from. James Clear is the author of the powerful new book Atomic Habits, and I'm excited to introduce you to some ideas in the book. Learn more about James and his book at https://jamesclear.com/, where you can download the first chapter for free.   Let's Stay In Touch! I hear from listeners almost every day, and I love it! How about you and I connect on LinkedIn? Go to https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/LinkedIn and send me an invite! Also, if you know of a group at your organization that has an upcoming large group gathering and uses outside speakers, let them know about the podcast! I'd love to work with them to help improve their

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" Though the Christmas songs may say that, your experience as we end the year may not exactly line up with the sentiment. In this short video, I share a lesson that I've learned in the last couple of weeks when it comes to disappointment. Let Me Hear From You! What do you think about this idea of disappointment being a function of what we put our hope in? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener Survey at https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/ListenerSurvey. Thank you! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 2:45 Download episode 241

Speaking Up When It's Risky How do you speak truth to power? In episode 236 we talked with Harvard's Amy Edmondson, who made the evidence-based case for how important it is to foster psychologically safe environments for those we lead. But most of us don't work in such environments. What do we do then? How do you speak truth to power when it's not a psychologically safe environment? In this video episode, we're joined by Jim Detert from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia. Jim shares four principles to improve your ability to affect positive change when speaking truth to power. Click here to read Jim's HBR article entitled "Cultivating Everyday Courage." Also, click here to take the assessment survey that Jim talks about in the interview.   Let Me Hear From You! What have you learned about speaking up, even when your point could be considered controversial? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading

What I Taught Today The last time you said "I love meetings!" was probably, when? Never? Hah! To the contrary, meetings seem like an enormous waste of time in too many situations, right? I recently interviewed Elise Keith about her new book Where The Action Is. The full interview will be published in January, but in this 3-minute episode, I share two ideas from the book and a challenge for you to consider while in meetings in the next couple weeks. Let Me Hear From You! What do you think about the idea of meetings as anthropology and the "game changer" discussed in this episode? How would things change if every meeting was optional? What's something you do to make your meetings more valuable? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedbac

What I Taught Today You're likely making this mistake when building your network. Whether it's your connections social media or how you build relationships at work or with your projects, left to our own devices we fall into the trap that I learned from Herminia Ibarra when discussing her book Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader back in episode 130. Let Me Hear From You! What do you think about Herminia's point? What do you do specifically to not fall into the trap? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener Survey at https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/ListenerSurvey. Thank you! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!

Hello? Can You Hear Me? Project teams are increasingly made up of team members that are not co-located. Even if that's not your situation now, it likely will be in the future. How do you connect with people in a virtual world? That's what Dr. Nick Morgan's new book Can You Hear Me? is all about. Join us for the "virtual" discussion with Nick about the book, and let me know what you think! What did you like about what he said? What concerns or questions do you have? Learn more about Nick at https://www.publicwords.com/. I highly recommend his blog for anyone who has to make presentations. Let Me Hear From You! What have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener Survey at https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/ListenerSurvey. Thank you! Thank you for joining me for

Would You Speak Up? Let's say your manager's boss is proposing an idea. It's not a terrible idea, but you have some concerns. Some questions. You're in a meeting, hearing about that idea, along with your peers, your boss, and other leaders of the company. Do you speak up? Do you keep quiet? What would you do? In this episode, we talk about one of the most important concepts I've learned this year: psychological safety. We're joined by Harvard Professor of Leadership Amy C. Edmondson to talk about her new book The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, and I'm excited to introduce you to some ideas in the book. Learn more about Amy and her book at https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6451.   Let's Stay In Touch! I hear from listeners almost every day, and I love it! How about you and I connect on LinkedIn? Go to https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/LinkedIn and send me an invite! Also, if you know of a group at your organizati

What I Taught Today On my way to teach an MBA class this morning, I tried and tried to give away a free donut. And I couldn't get a taker. OK, I admit, maybe it's a little creepy to have someone you don't know offer a donut. But in this 2.5 minute video, I share a quick thought that can help accelerate your learning. Let Me Hear From You! What's an example of how you've engaged on platforms like LinkedIn to help you with your projects or career? Who is someone you follow that you'd recommend to others? Let's connect on LinkedIn and discuss! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, what have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener Survey at https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/ListenerSurvey. Thank you! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and P

What I Taught Today Recently I heard a presenter talk about what he referred to as "the happiness formula". In this 4-minute video, I talk about what I like and don't like about the formula as we seek to apply it to our projects. Let Me Hear From You! What do you like about this happiness formula? What concerns do you have? I'd love to hear your thoughts! What have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener Survey at https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/ListenerSurvey. Thank you! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 4:27 Download episode 234

What I Taught Today We continue our series of brief videos about something I've recently taught or learned. While prepping for an interview with James Clear about his book Atomic Habits, I came across some ideas that apply to our ability to lead teams and deliver projects. In this 3-minute video, we discuss the relationship between outcomes and habits, and what goals that are not supported by habits and systems are less likely to be achieved. Let Me Hear From You! What do you think about this idea of outcomes and habits? What are some specific habits that help you be successful with your career and projects? I'd love to hear your thoughts! What have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener Survey at https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/ListenerSurvey. Thank you

What I Taught Today We continue our series of brief videos about something I've recently taught or learned. Could it be that when things go great, leaders get too much credit (and too much blame when things go poorly)? In this 3-minute video I talk about the leader attribution error, which you should keep in mind the next time your project goes perfectly (or poorly). Let Me Hear From You! What do you think about the leader attribution error? How have you seen it play out in business? I'd love to hear your thoughts! What have you been learning lately? What are you reading? Please e-mail me (show [AT] PeopleAndProjectsPodcast [DOT] com) or leave a message on our Listener Feedback Line (847-550-3747). I look forward to hearing from you! Please give us feedback about The People and Projects Podcast! Take our Listener Survey at https://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com/ListenerSurvey. Thank you! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 3:00 Downloa