Empowering Leaders, Managing Change
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Sabotage The PMO…by Backsliding
“People say a heart attack is a warning sign that you have to make changes,” my friend proclaimed. Strange, I thought, isn’t a heart attack a sign that you’re moments from death and it’s only thanks to modern science that we have a hope of surviving? He continued, “So I’ve ditched the drink, the bad…
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Goin’ Contractin’ (Part 4)
“We’re paid more than most permie Managing Directors in this country, you know?” the PM asked, “So we have to make sure we show we’re worth it. We have to demonstrate value.” He was right. The surprising thing was hearing this 8 months into the contract. A cost challenge had emerged in the business and…
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Sabotage the PMO…with Historical Record Changes
“I’m not saying for certain that they would pass the Sociopath Test. I’m just saying I don’t think they’d fail it.” “You’re going to get in trouble if they hear you talking about them like this,” my grinning boss told me. “What would they do about it?” I challenged. “Complain to HR?” he offered. “The…
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Sabotage The Project – Ignoring Advice…and then Criticism
“…so to summarise, your project team is failing to demonstrate key competencies and as a result I can not expect it to achieve its objectives on time or to the quality expected.” After delivering this shit-o-gram I wasn’t expecting a round of applause. Everyone in the room was glancing at each other, waiting for someone…
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Waiting For Training
"What training to you think you need?"I looked blankly back at the Manager. I'd been contracting for a while and now was back in a permanent role. It had been a long time since I'd been asked this question and wasn't really prepared for it. I'd recently done some work with a team using Six…
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Goin’ Contractin’ (Part 3)
Back to Goin’ Contractin’ (Part 1) Back to Goin’ Contractin’ (Part 2) It was two days before my first contract was due to start and I was suddenly feeling very vulnerable. “Are you okay?” shouted an old lady across the street. I glanced up, nervously smiled, and nodded. “Close one!” she added, “they need to…
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Sabotage the PMO… By Chasing Personal Glory
The news had trickled down slowly. The announcement of a new Head of Central PMO wasn’t the sort of thing that really got people excited. Chances are most people forgot the details before the sentence was ended, “And the new Head of….” Zzzzzz! But eventually – after being forgotten by the senior managers, heads of…
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Poll: Whose Fault?
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Sabotage the Project – Pragmatism Bypass
“This is OUTRAGEOUS!” Looking back into the rage haze that had descended over me, I can’t really be sure if I said it, or shouted it, or screamed it. Memories of emotions are unreliable though. Odds are that I croaked or whimpered it, but for the purpose of today’s story let’s assume I bellowed it…
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Goin’ Contractin’ (Part 2)
Back to Goin’ Contractin’ (Part 1) “I can get paid twice as much to be this unappreciated!” But I was wrong. Turns out I could get paid two and half times as much to be so unappreciated. As surprises go, it was a nice one. The annual performance meeting that had prompted my decision to…
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