TRI - PMI SNEC

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www.ThePersimmonGroup.com

Real Solutions. Lasting Results.

www.ThePersimmonGroup.com

RISK&INNOVATION

www.ThePersimmonGroup.comPage 2

Consultant, The Persimmon Group

Prior: Program Manager (Education Industry)

Director of Publicity, PMI-Tulsa

Facilitator, PM for Youth

Blogger (blogging4jobs, gearsandshifts)

SARA GALLAGHER

About the Facilitator

THE VENDING MACHINE PRINCIPLE

Part 1People are hardwired to solve problems.

THE VENDING MACHINE PRINCIPLE

If people aren’t entrusted to solve meaningful problems, they will solve meaningless ones instead.

Part 2

Don’t Let “Vending Machine Problems”

EAT YOUR CHANGEWorkshop Activity:Work with your table to list the major “vending machine problems” you’re facing daily that take away from your ability to innovate real solutions to real problems? (Vegas Rules apply!)

How many problems are caused by an aversion to risk?How many problems are caused by poor innovation?How many problems are caused by lack of time?

What Is Innovation?

INNOVATIONGenerating and Implementing Ideas that Add

Value to Your Organization

Creativity Innovation Improvement

A “Classic” Project Model

Why Do Project ManagersNeed to Innovate?

Customer

Requirements PM Deliverable(Product or

Service)

Gold Plating or “Unnecessary

Change Orders”

Quality Standard:

Does it match the

requirements?

An “Expanded Classic” Project Model

Customer

Requirements PM Deliverable(Product or

Service)

Quality Standard:

Does it match the

requirements, and is it “fit for

use?”

Gold Plating or “Unnecessary

Change Orders”

Projects of Tomorrow: Result-Oriented

DesiredResult

Partnership

AchievedResult

OFIOFI

Beyond the Triple Constraint…

Scope What Strategic Result Are We Trying to

Achieve?Are our Competitors Doing Something Like

This Too?

Schedule Is the deliverable still relevant?

Cost What are the lifecycle costs/gains of this

project?

The “New” PM

• Execution of deliverables AND strategic value

• Renewed focus on business analysis

• Leaders, not just managers

• “Graduation” to C-level representation

• New skills needed

Innovation Examples

These companies focused on an

innovative approach, rather

than an innovative product.

TIMEa scarce resource that must be invested

for innovation to occur

Time and Innovation

Too Many Projects

the possibility of a negative outcomeRISK

Risk and Innovation

(of not innovating)RISK(of innovating)

The Risks of Innovating

Damage to Reputation

Loss of Time

Loss of Money

Loss of Morale

The Risks of Suppressed Innovation

Loss of Time

Loss of Money

Loss of Morale

The Vicious Cycle

INNOVATION ATTEMPT

Loss of Time

Loss of Money

Loss of Morale

Loss of Time

Loss of Money

Loss of Morale

RADICAL COURSE CORRECT

The Innovation Graveyard

RISK AND INNOVATION(Thinking Creatively and CautiouslyTo Achieve Better Results)

Innovation on a Project

Working with Customer to Gather Requirements

Risk Identification

Risk Response Planning

Change Order Evaluation

Status Reporting

Meetings

Personal Productivity System

Today’s Projects Tomorrow’s ProjectsWorking with Customer to

Gather Ideas

Anticipating Consumer Reaction to Your Project’s

Product

Applying New Technology to Your Project

Applying New PM Methodologies to Your Project

Meeting Constraints Other than Time, Scope, Cost

Innovation Basics

A roomful of highly creative people is less effective than a roomful of mildly creative people. (The Innovator’s DNA, Harvard Business Review)

Innovation Basics

Innovation works better when done in a structured, disciplined manner. Constraints actually help us be more creative.(Dr. Janina Marguc, University of Amsterdam)

Innovation Basics

Low Stress High Stress

…unless the constraint is time + pressure. People believe they are most creative when working under severe deadline pressure. But studies show the opposite. People are least creative when they were fighting a high-stakes deadline.(Dr. Teresa M. Amabile, Harvard Business School)

Two Types of Creative Constraints

Monuments• Must be worked around• Know where they are, and

where they aren’t

Commandments• Must be part of the solution Example: Wedding Photographer

A Few More…

People who are extrinsically motivated are not good innovators. Intrinsic employees (motivated by the thrill of success, doing their job well, opportunities to collaborate) are superb innovators if they are given opportunities to practice.(Dr. Teresa M. Amabile, Harvard Business School)

Cultural diversity generates better ideas. (This also applies to culture differences between departments.)(Dr. Teresa M. Amabile, Harvard Business School)

Brainstorming works.(Says No Research Ever.)

Brainstorming Doesn’t Work

Brainstorming As We Know It

What’s Wrong with Brainstorming?

MechanicalBread slicerCardboard Tray

Sliced Bread

What’s (Else) Is Wrong With Brainstorming?It Assumes All Brainstorming Must

Be Social.

What’s (Else) Is Wrong With Brainstorming?It’s Freeloader-Friendly.

What’s (Else) Is Wrong With Brainstorming?It Promotes Production Blocking.

What’s (Else) Is Wrong With Brainstorming?Our Brain Craves Boundaries.

What’s (Else) Is Wrong With Brainstorming?Our Brain Links

Creativity with Fun. Brainstorming is Rarely Fun.

What’s (Else) Is Wrong With Brainstorming?It Prioritizes Ideas Over Insights.

Ideas vs. Insights

The Brain Needs Time To Think Alone

Remember the Future?

The year is 2017. Over the last few years, you have developed a reputation as the most innovative, solution-focused project manager at your company. You are often called upon to mentor younger project managers because of your ability to execute strategically vital projects in a way that excites and delights your customers. Your peers often ask you: “What is your secret?” You smile, because over the past few years you’ve tried some pretty off-the-wall techniques to improve your performance—the list includes:

Brainwriting

CHOOSINGIDEAS

Choosing Ideas

TIME(Why Its Hard to Work at Work)

TIME IS MONEY

MORE RESPONSIBILITY =LESS TIME

FIXES PRIORITIZED OVER SOLUTIONS

Fixing Vs. Solving

FIXING SOLVINGResolving Today’s Problems

Reactive

“How can I quickly resolve the issue?”

Resolving Tomorrow’s Problems

Proactive

“How can I effectively meet the challenge?”

Hesitation Inflation

156 oz. Coke

194096 oz. Coke

197016 oz. Coke

= Your Fix

The Brain:Our Time Management Frenemy

BrainSooooo tired. Refuse to do work until I am sufficiently interested.

BrainYeah…about that TPS report. Not gonna happen.

BrainShiny object….shiny object…shiny object…

OUR BRAINS HAVE LIMITATIONS

• Using the prefrontal cortex (the part that makes decisions, prioritizes, and solves problems) chews up a ton of metabolic fuel

• The more decisions we are forced to make, the less likely we are to keep making them consciously (Israeli prison study)

• The more decisions we are forced to make, the worse our decisions become and the less self-control we demonstrate.

• The ability to make trade-offs is a uniquely human ability, and the first to go when we get tired.

LIMITATION #1: Decision Fatigue

First 15 Minutes of the Day

List every decision you make in the first fifteen minutes of your day. Think in specific terms:

ie (“should I read this email?” vs. “should I read my email?”)

• Picturing something you have not seen yet takes a lot of metabolic fuel

• It is easier to spend time thinking about problems (things we’ve seen) then solutions (things we haven’t seen)

• We are terrible at estimating how we will feel in the future, or estimating which tasks will be more difficult than others.

LIMITATION #2:Affective Forecasting

• The number of items we can hold in our brain at once isn’t seven, as previously thought. It’s more like four. (U of Missouri-Columbia)

• The number of items you can hold in your head at once without any memory degradatation is one. (Brian McElree, NYU)

• When people try to do two cognitive tasks at once, their cognitive capacity can drop from that of a Harvard MBA to that of an eight-year old.

LIMITATION #3:Can’t Handle Multiple Commands

MULTI-TASKING IS WORSETHAN POT.

Constant emailing and text-messaging reduces mental capacity by 5 points for women (missing a night’s sleep) and 15 points for men (3x effect of smoking cannabis) (University of London)

The Power of Focus

The ability to focus is NOT an ability to concentrate. It is the ability to inhibit the WRONG things from coming into focus.

BLACKGRAYGRAYBLACK

Time Deprivation

• Office distractions eat up an average of 2.1 hours a day

• Employees spend an average of 11 minutes on a project before being distracted

• After an interruption, it takes them 25 minutes to return to the task at hand, if they do at all.

• People switch activities every three minutes, either making a call, speaking with someone in their cubicle, or working on a document.

Time Management Criteria

Our Time Management Approach Needs To:

Force us to make the hardest decisions early, before we’re tired

Minimize unnecessary decision making throughout the day

Help us visualize our priorities

Help us accurately estimate how long tasks will take

Minimize technology overload

Minimize multi-tasking, while still allowing us to operate in a fast-paced work environment

Five Boxes

1. Do the Boxes Exercise

Today’s Second Most Important

Deliverable

Today’s Most Important

Deliverable

Today’s Third Most Important

Deliverable

Today’sMeetings

Everything Else

What We Think A Manager’s Job Is

MANAGER

EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE

What It Really Is

MANAGER

EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE

Five Boxes Cont.

2. Break the Tasks Down (4 Chunks or Less)

2. Update Project Schedule

Add unexpected part delay

Evaluate impactCompress if possibleIssue status report

1. Review Risk Register

Mark Closed RisksAdd New RisksRe-Assess Open

3. Create Agendas for

Meetings10 AM Meeting1PM Meeting2PM Meeting

Today’sMeetings

10 AM1PM2PM4PM

Everything Else

Five Boxes Cont.

3. Estimate Time 2. Update Project

ScheduleAdd unexpected part

delayEvaluate impact

Compress if possibleIssue status report

2 Hours

Risks1 Hour

1 Hour

Today’sMeetings

10 AM1PM2PM4PM

Everything Else

Five Boxes Cont.

4. Shave Down the Day (BEFORE Checking Email)

2. Update Project Schedule

Add unexpected part delay

Evaluate impactCompress if possibleIssue status report

1.5 Hours

Risks1 Hour

1 Hour

Today’sMeetings

10 AM1PM2PM4PM

Everything Else

The Pomodoro Method

Create Agenda for TFR MeetingRisk Register ReviewSchedule ReviewManagement By Walking Around

41 Pom3 Poms3 Poms3 Poms

What This Looks Like Realistically

Pomo: Create Agenda IIPomo: Schedule Review

IIIPomo: Schedule ReviewIIII

Pomo: Schedule Review I

Email: First Pass8-8:30

LONG BREAK: 25 Minutes

11:3012:00

Pomo: MBWA IIIII

Pomo: Schedule Review

Pomo: MBWAPomo: MBWA

• To periodically regain control of your time and refocus your priorities

• When you need to be über-productive, but you can’t check out completely from your team

• When you feel yourself losing steam on a GANTT (God-Awful, Never-Ending Terrible Task)

• When you lose your sense of how long tasks take to complete (leading to unrealistic deadlines and schedules)

• When you have a morning or afternoon that is clear of meetings, and you want to make the most of it!

When To Use

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTIVITY

BALANCES PRODUCTIVITY AND ACCESSIBILITY

TRASH CAN BUCKET LIST

WORKAHOLICS AREN’T HEROES.THE REAL HEROES ARE HOMEBECAUSE THEY FIGURED OUT A FASTER WAY.