Paul Sizemore

Paul Sizemore  //  

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Oct 26 / 3:36pm

Throw for the Bull's Eye, but Accept the Holes in the Wall

Innovation is directly tied to leadership, and that entails creating a sustainable innovative environment, and executing that innovation. Creating an innovative environment is a fundamental shift for the manager. Transition to innovation is no longer looking for acceptance, but looking for success and tolerating failure. Innovation is a lot like throwing at a dart board. You are going to miss the board and put some holes in the wall, but you will hit the bull's eye.


Many times corporate environments reward acceptance, fail to recognize success, and does not tolerate failure. How many job descriptions include a requirement of "has a track record of dismal failures." Without failure, there is no consistent risk to meet the opportunities. Innovation is like playing darts. Sometimes you miss the board, sometimes you come close, and as you practice, you are going to get a bull's eye.
For the project manager the dilemma is to risk corporate cultural rejection and project failure or ensure acceptance by following well established techniques. The later has been the choice, but to further corporate competitive advantage, this can no longer be the standard. We must evaluate each project as it is initiated to find appropriate methodologies and techniques for that project.


By acting and reacting to the project with your creativity and full set of project management skills, you empower the project and team to take a life of its own, and realize it's potential. You can't control the project, you can only control yourself. Realizing this will ensure your success. Each team member manages their own perceptions and expectations of the project, as the project manager you must do the same.

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Oct 25 / 11:20am

Book Report: How Full is Your Bucket

This book proposes the concept that everyone has a bucket, a bucket full of good will, excitement for life and positive emotions. All things that are vital to success in life. The people we are around either dip out of our bucket, or fill our bucket. 

One of the illustrating stories the author uses to express how important the concept of 'filling a bucket' is the story of North Korean's prisoners of war. After the war, and the prisoners were returned back to the US, most of their 'personal stock' were so low, they didn't want to contact their families or any other things that we think would 'normally' happen after prolonged confinement. They had given up. 

North Korean's at times used the ultimate torture:
1) Informing
2) Self Criticism / They broke relationships 
3) The broke soldier's loyalty to leadership
4) Withheld positive support

Increase positive interactions, that leads to successes. Don't avoid things, but make them positive. 

There are questions to ask to see if you are filling your bucket:
   • I have helped someone in the last 24 hours
   • I'm an exceptionally courteous person
   • I like being around positive people
   • I have praised someone in the last 24 hours
   • I have developed a knack for making other people feel good
   • I'm more productive around positive people
   • In the last 24 hours I have told someone I care about them
   • I make it a point to become aquatinted with people where ever I go
   • When I receive recognition it makes me want to give recognition
   • In the last week I have listened to someone talk through their goals and ambitions
   • I make unhappy people laugh 
   • I call people by the name they like to be called
   • I notice what my colleagues do at a level of excellence
   • I smile at the people I meet
   • I feel good about giving praise

Directed and meaningful recognition fills your bucket. 

Recognition can transform the workplace - enhance job satisfaction, increase engagement, and a lot of other things. Give praise - immediately. 

The number one reason people leave their job is the person feels unappreciated. 
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Oct 25 / 11:18am

Hi, I'm Paul, and I'm an ENFP

First to bring everyone up to speed, Myers Briggs is a questionnaire to determine the way people see the world and make decisions. It's a personality inventorying system. 

According to the Myers Briggs people exhibit the following: 
   Extraversion versus Introversion / E-I
   Sensing versus Intuition / S-N
   Thinking versus Feeling / T-F
   Judging versus Perceiving / J-P

As a manager, the two I really look to is the E-I and the J-P. The Extraversion versus Introversion dichotomy helps to understand how to recharge people. It helps to know if you need to leave them alone, or adjust their job roles so they are interacting with people. Often people aren't in touch with themselves, and if you can give them what they need, they will excel as an employee. 

When I first took the test a few years ago, I was an INFJ, but now have shifted to an ENFP. I'm much happier as a person. 

 As someone that deals in ideas, a judging person is often the idea squasher. Ideas must be set free and bounce among people, and unless Js realize that ideas are not always going to happen, they can stifle a strong P with the judging of ideas. 

 

   
Click here to download:
Hi_Im_Paul_and_Im_an_ENFP_tag_.zip (765 KB)

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Posted from Louisville, KY

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Oct 24 / 2:52pm

Randy Pausch lecture on time management

So this really isn't a book, but it's very important. Important enough to break the rules to present notes on this lecture. 

In this lecture he proposes using a four quadrant to do list. Each task you meed to do goes into the to do list, and you do the activities that are important and due soon first, then the activities that are not important and not due soon last. In fact those activities might not even get done, they are the ones that fall through the cracks. 

Use the four quadrent to do list
Due Soon Not Due Soon
Important 1st to do 2nd to do
Not Important 3rd to do 4th to do

Ways to manage:
Manage from beneath
Delegate
Management is about growing your people

Delegation:
Grant authority with responsibility
Do the ugliest job yourself
People urn to be more challenged
Communication must be clear
Give people a specific job, specific date & time, specific reward
Give people objectives, not procedures
Tell people importance of each task

Procrastination:
Make a fake deadline
Are you afraid you are going to fail?
Do the worst stuff first

Communication:
Telephone   /  Announce goals for phone calls & emails
/ Group your phone calls for before lunch or the end of the day
EMail / Don't delete e-mail. ever
/ Be specific,  
/ Nag after 48 hours, people don't respond after 48 hours
/ Touch each piece of paper once, or e-mail once
Verbal / Ask people in confidence, the truth is like gold
/ Renegotiate deadlines
/ Write thank you notes

Time Management: 
/ Plan each day, each week, each semester (month)
/ Make to do list (time box it)
/ Keep a time journal to find where your time is going
/ 100 things to do in my life, don't work on anything else
/ Doing things right vs. doing the right things adequately
/ Experience comes from doing things wrong
/ Most things are pass/fail, don't go for an A when you only need a C
/ Don't spend more time on things than you need to spend on them

Find your creative time, and defend it ruthlessly, spend it alone

The brick walls are there to stop the people that don't want it, the other people.

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