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Pain No Gain

Exceptional project management is an uncomfortable place. Those who are the most successful, are those who swiftly identify risks and are able to provide deep insight into what could happen if situations are not resolved. The beauty of these individuals is they have an innate, internal magnifying glass and can almost predict situations. Often times, organizations often do not respond well to these individuals. I equate it to somewhat of an antiseptic and burn or obtrusion situation. Just think about pouring antiseptic on a cut. It often stings, burns, and is uncomfortable for a bit, but it helps heal and helps prevent the situation from getting worse. A good project manager and business leader can have the same effect. Message delivery definitely matters to help the organization handle the burn. I find that most organizations are not as receptive to short-term pain for long-term gains. We want the quick and immediate solution, or to even pretend the situation will get better without t...
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That Stick

If you follow my column, you have seen my articles on how good project managers have radar and are able to predict situations. Good project managers are also strong, insightful business leaders. This can be both challenging and rewarding. One of the challenges I often see highly intuitive and knowledgeable project managers or business leaders experience is that organizations often do not fully "hear" initial ideas or understand their significance. Personal approaches I have tried to counteract this situation include developing analogies, what-if scenarios and other methods to illustrate my vision and precautions. Still many organizations do not take the proper action. I once had a boss who insightfully suggested to me that an individual's education and background allows him/her to develop strong business intuition and awareness. This results in certain managers "seeing" issues where others simply do not. For me, this dialogue resulted in an immediate connection...
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