News for the ‘Inspiration and Motivation’ Category

Step Away from the Computer & Get Out Your Post-It Notes!

A while back I was teaching an introductory PM class for some high-achieving tech folks.  My overall goal was to begin to convert these perfectionists into project managers.  Mid-way through the first morning, I divided the class into several small groups of 4 or 5 people and assigned a series of planning exercises.  They had brought their own real world project ideas to class and the object of the game was to take a few of these from rough concept to full-blown, high-resolution project plans.  Each team had been given large Post-It notes, blank flip charts, and markers. There were also a couple of white boards available.

As the teams were working through the guided planning exercises, I could hear the familiar jumble of voices as ideas were bounced around, discussed, discarded, and revised.  One team, however, was strangely silent. Unlike the others who were up and moving about, they were seated around a table and looking at the back of one guy’s computer screen. I walked over to see what was going on. (more…)

Edited: April 25th, 2013

June/July Issue of PM Minimalist Update Is Now Available

I just emailed my latest PM Minimalist Update to subscribers.  It’s loaded with articles, links, and more. Check it out here:

Highlights from this issue include:

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Edited: July 31st, 2012

A New Mindfulness Meditation Video

Confession:  This month my wife and I have been going through the process of preparing our summer home for sale. In the 20+ years that we’ve owned it, we have accumulated a huge collection of stuff that must be sorted, donated, sold, or simply thrown away. So for the past several weeks I’ve been doing “real work,” as my wife would say. (And I’ve got the sore muscles and callouses to prove it.) The result: There will be no newsletter or no new blog posts here this month.

In the meantime, however, I am pleased to share with you a new blog post/video from my Inspired Project Teams website.

Take a Break: A Mindfulness Meditation in the PA Countryside

As part of preparing to say “good-bye” to this summer house, I’ve been recording some video of the nearby places that I’ve especially enjoyed over the years. I decided to collect some of these together into a 6-minute video titled “Take a Break: A Mindfulness Meditation in the PA Countryside.”  You can check it out here:

Take a Break: A Mindfulness Meditation in the PA Countryside from PM Minimalist.

I hope you enjoy this video. And, more importantly, I hope you take the time to practice mindfulness meditation to manage stress and generally help you endure your “life in the projects.” Your project team will thank you!

Related Links

Edited: June 29th, 2012

May Issue of PM Minimalist Update Is Now Available

I just emailed my latest PM Minimalist Update to subscribers.  It’s loaded with articles, links, and more. Check it out here:

Highlights from this issue include:

  • Best Practice: Identify Your Signature Strengths and Use Them Whenever You Can
  • New Franklin University PM Course for Instructional Designers/Developers & Performance Analysts
  • Is There Someone You Should You Be Nudging Toward the Spotlight?
  • Free E-Book: One Simple Thing to Improve Projects or PM (An Anthology)
  • PM Minimalist Quick Start Guide for Your Kindle, NOOK, iPad or Other Tablet / E-Reader
  • Three New Project Management FREEBIES
  • Plus links to lots more free eBooks, media downloads, and more

Subscribe today & get a Bonus zip file containing 15 PM articles or tools in PDF format (88-pages total!) plus a 37-minute PM podcast!

<<-- Read previous issues online!

Edited: May 31st, 2012

Best Practice: Identify Your Signature Strengths & Use Them Whenever You Can.

[Link image: This is a sample from PM Minimalist]

[This book excerpt is from "Taking Care of Yourself:  Managing Your Priorities, Time, & Energy" in The Project Management Minimalist]

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Edited: May 30th, 2012

April Issue of PM Minimalist Update Is Now Available

I just emailed my latest PM Minimalist Update to subscribers.  It’s loaded with articles, links, and more. Check it out here:

Highlights from this issue include:

  • Best Practice: Understand & Deal with Procrastination
  • “Would I Have Them Over for Dinner?” & Other Questions to Ask of Your Movie Choices
  • PM Minimalist Videos Now at Vimeo
  • Under Construction: Franklin University’s IDPT PM Course
  • Three New Project Management FREEBIES
  • Plus links to lots more free eBooks, media downloads, and more

Subscribe today & get a Bonus zip file containing 15 PM articles or tools in PDF format (88-pages total!) plus a 37-minute PM podcast!

<<-- Read previous issues online!

Edited: April 30th, 2012

Best Practice: Understand and Deal with Procrastination

[Link image: This is a sample from PM Minimalist]

[This book excerpt is from "Taking Care of Yourself:  Managing Your Priorities, Time, & Energy" in The Project Management Minimalist]

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Edited: April 12th, 2012

March Issue of PM Minimalist Update Is Now Available

I just emailed my latest PM Minimalist Update to subscribers.  It’s loaded with articles, links, and more. Check it out here:

Subscribe today & get a Bonus zip file containing 15 PM articles or tools in PDFform (88-pages total!) plus a 37-minute PM podcast!

View Previous Issues of the PM Minimalist Update Online:

Edited: March 30th, 2012

Why You Should Trust Your Judgment (… Your “Inner Wisdom Filter”)

[Link image: This is a sample from PM Minimalist]

[This book excerpt is from "The People Stuff: 10 Sets of Challenges to Inspire Teams" in The Project Management Minimalist]

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“A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages… Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self-Reliance

“… the best in every business do what they have learned to do without questioning their abilities — they flat out trust their skills, which is why we call this high-performance state of mind the ‘Trusting Mindset.’ Routine access to the Trusting Mindset is what separates great performers from the rest of the pack.” – John Eliot in Overachievement

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Edited: March 14th, 2012

Are You Causing Suffering for Your Project Team?

[Link image: This is a sample from PM Minimalist]

[book excerpt…]

Best Practice: Consciously choose your attitude.

“We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.”  — Epictetus in The Enchiridion

“From the most simple task to the most complex, if you are not in a state of either acceptance, enjoyment, or enthusiasm, look closely and you will find that you are creating suffering for yourself and others.”   — Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth

Take another look at the Tolle quote above. The selection in bold tells the whole story. The graphic below illustrates how one man’s thrashing against reality – his self-chosen misery – is creating suffering for himself and others!

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Edited: February 15th, 2012