Posts Tagged ‘Project Management’

5 Minute Management Course (Humorous)

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Below is a humorous piece providing several illustrations on how to be a better manager (warning: contains some mildly foul language).


5 Minute Management Course…


Lesson 1.

A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said,



The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, ‘Father, remember Psalm 129?’ The priest apologized, ‘Sorry Sister but the flesh is weak.’

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, ‘Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.’

Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 2.

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, ‘I’ll give each of you just one wish.’

‘Me first! Me first!’ says the administration clerk… ‘I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.’ Poof! She’s gone.

‘Me next! Me next!’ says the sales rep. ‘I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of pina coladas, and the love of my life.’ Poof! He’s gone.

‘O.K., you’re up,’ the Genie says to the manager. The manager says,

Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 3.

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, ‘Can I also sit like you and do nothing?’ The eagle answered, ‘Sure, why not.’

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 4.

A turkey was chatting with a bull. ‘I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,’ sighed the turkey, ‘but I haven’t got the energy.’ ‘Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?’ replied the bull. ‘It’s full of nutrients.’

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there…

Lesson 5.

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Moral of the story:

(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

(3) And when you’re in very deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!


THUS ENDS THE 5-MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE.

How Important is PMI Certification for An Enterprise Software Implementation?

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

How important is “PMI certified” when selecting a project manager for an enterprise software implementation?

Project Management Institute (PMI) certification can be a distinguishing criteria when deciding between two project managers with the same experience. PMI certification should never be an absolute requirement for someone to be the lead on an enterprise software implementation.

PMI certification provides great tools and processes to be a great project manager, but it does not certify that person will be a great project manager. The best assurance that a project manager will be a success is that he or she has a successful successful track record in managing like projects.


Project-Centric Supply Chains

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Construction and project-centric businesses have to manage their supply chains more to minimize overall project failure than just to reduce costs. Project-centric businesses use their supply chains to manage risks. Supply chain costs are secondary than the risk of inadequate resources or meeting critical project deadlines and deliverables. Project-centric businesses must look at the total project cost instead of supply chain costs in isolation. To that end, project-centric businesses are using supply chain systems to provide better visibility, less risk, lower total costs, and strengthen supplier relationships.

SupplyChainBrain has a great article, Lifting the Burden of Project-Centric Supply Chains. This article talks about the five drivers of project-centric businesses: risk, cost, cash flow, time, resources. Additionally, enterprise systems are now increasingly being used by project-centric businesses for visibility and control, strengthening supplier communications, managing risk, and even managing return on investment (ROI).