Category Archives: Projects@Risk™ – Malcolm Peart

#456 – PROJECT MANAGEMENT REQUIRES CONSTANT GARDENING – MALCOLM PEART

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What on earth does gardening have to do with projects?  Well…projects are defined as a series of structured tasks, activities, and deliverables that are carefully executed to achieve a desired outcome.  Furthermore, they are seen as temporary endeavors undertaken to create a unique project service or result.

Gardens too have similar traits albeit the temporary nature of some gardens is relative.  An overseas visitor to the United Kingdom once asked a gardener of the late Queen how long it took to make Windsor Castle gardens look like royalty…the gardener replied, “about 900 years”. Continue reading →

#455 – PROJECT WITCH-HUNTS: FEAR OR LEARNING? – MALCOLM PEART

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There is an Afrikaans expression “you learn through your feet,” analogously hands-on experience is best.  We learn through mistakes and failures and, economically, it’s always better to learn from those of other people rather than paying for your own.  However, real learning is ingrained through the direct and bitter experience of failure and the pain that it can bring. Continue reading →

#454 – PROJECT DRAMA: WASTE OF ENERGY – MALCOLM PEART

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The Law of Conservation states that energy is neither created nor destroyed.  When energy is used it doesn’t disappear it’s converted into another form.  We all (should) know that potential energy can be converted into kinetic energy and for petrol-heads burning gasoline in a combustion engine converts chemical energy into mechanical energy. Continue reading →

#453 – WORK & LIFE STUPIDITY: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING – MALCOLM PEART

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There are very few people around who don’t make mistakes, and, in hindsight, most mistakes are seen as being stupid ones.  But why ‘stupid’?

“Stupid is as stupid does” goes the idiom popularized in the movie Forrest Gump.  Stupidity is shown by a person’s actions rather than their appearance or mannerisms.  If an action that obviously didn’t work previously is repeated despite the knowledge of the possibility of a faux pas, then a mistake, and a stupid one at that, is likely. Continue reading →

#452 – HOT POTATO MANAGEMENT – MALCOLM PEART

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“Hot Potato,” or “Pass the Potato,” is, ostensibly, a party game for children.  Players sit in a circle and pass the ‘potato’ to each other while music plays, and when it stops the potato holder is out.  The last player left is the winner and those who have been caught with the spud have lost. Continue reading →