Time travel with IPMA’s young crew

One way to get attention is to say to your audience that the world is changing and that they should listen to your message. This is not what I will do in this short preview of the time travel workshop during IPMA’s young crew event.

During this workshop, that will take more than one and a half hour, the participants will embark on a journey into the future they themselves want to create. It is about the competences a time traveling project manager needs to develop to create that magnificent future.

Now don’t misunderstand me, it is not woolly, it is a down to earth exercise in which we develop a more effective vocabulary  to describe the developments in the project management body of knowledge and experience. It is a journey for the brave. For those that are willing to postpone their conviction and their current self-image, and for those project managers that are ready to work for the common future instead of their individual future.

Together we can shape the future we desire. Hope to see you on day two of the young crew event, on September 27th at 9.30 in Rotterdam (more>>).

 

The triple dialogue – part 3

In the second dimension of this triple dialogue it is all about learning as a team.

Recently I read about research done in task performance, scientists noticed that when a team focusses on learning the performance will be better than when they focus on the task performance. At first this seems to me a paradox. A focus on the learning process instead of on the result itself, it is as if we have to rewrite the project management theory that we have develop during the last century.

But if you take time to digest this, it isn’t that paradoxical at all. We all want challenging  jobs, our team members too. And why is it that so often we are more confident  than we should be? Why do we take on complex projects? I think that is because we humans want to develop, want to learn, and you don’t learn anything from projects with all risks mitigated. We take the risk because of the benefit of learning that lies behind. It is just in the human nature.

Now what if, we could rearrange the way we would do projects and turn them into huge compelling learning experiences? If the scientist is right we would perform better than focusing on the task performance itself. This requires an unprecedented paradigm shift in our community. One worthwhile to investigate. Something, that I will do during my lecture.

Hope to meet you on the web, or on the second day of the conference on 14:45hr, September 30th in Diamond Room 2.  More info>>

The triple dialogue – part 2

In my previous blog I told you about the first dimension of the triple dialogue, and I teased you to join my lecture for the secret that I will reveal during the congress. You will learn about one fundamental value that you need as a foundation on which you can effectively build your professional development.

I still keep this a secret, but I will tell you how to determine if someone is not building on that foundation.

Do you know people that are not willing to accept feedback, people that always point towards their environment? Probably you do. These are project managers that have finalized their personal story. Senior ladies or gentlemen that act as if they are experienced, but are deaf to any feedback at all. That become agitated when you try to break their shells of ignorance. Do you know them, or do you recognize yourself in this description? Than you need to know about this fundamental value that is not present at all.

When I came in to contact with it, I was about 45 years of age, and it revolutionized my life. It slowly made me more open to feedback, it gave me more balance and above all it triggered a professional development I couldn’t imagine. Without this foundation, this personal dialogue I told you about wouldn’t be possible at all.

When you start this dialogue you will prepare the ground for an effective one in the second dimension, that of sharing experience with your colleagues. This is about giving but also accepting the lessons learned by others, something different that trying to have the loudest voice in order to become the top dog. This is about building a community of collaborative learning. But more about that in my next blog.

Hope to meet you on the web, or on the second day of the conference on 14:45hr, September 30th in Diamond Room 2.  More info>>