My Medium Content
Thanks for stopping by! The content here is going to be in a little flux for a while because I’m moving items and shifting some of my media creation over to Medium as a way to leverage the power of the publishing platform. I’ll still post a unique blog here and on LinkedIn from time to time, but my main focus will be on that site.
Get in touch!
pmann@educationalthinking.com
(717) 400-6266 (voicemail)
Harrisburg, PA
MANAGING PROJECTS AND MANAGING CHANGE: THE SOLUTION TO PM VS. OCM
Putting arguments, assertions, and turf defense to the side, PM and OCM are only distinct when neither considers the whole purpose and process of the change. To truly succeed, every project must include the technical and functional requirements, and facilitate the accomplishment of both. When done properly, correctly verified technical requirements and correctly validated functional requirements results in a successful and successfully adopted project.
Are You Compartmentalizing Your Culture?
Organizational culture is often an aspirational quality that leaders plan to work on when they have time, attention, resources, or whatever. Culture becomes, at some point, a repository of the hopes and dreams of a high-functioning and internally consistent workforce that lives in its own little compartment of reality, separated from the operational and personnel practices that could make it a reality.
How S.M.A.R.T. Are You?
Organizations strive to have something reportable – usually something “green” that looks both important and constantly successful – without any chance of failure or actually changing (i.e. improving).
Your Thinking on Millennials is Wrong
There. I said it. You are wrong. Wrong about millennials, wrong about their place in the workforce, and wrong about how you are trying to gain their attention (long enough) to work for you. Just. Plain. Wrong. On at least three counts.
Stop Right There!
There is another horrible notion going around that you can attract, hire, and retain the best people if you can just figure out how to comply with all of the applicable laws and diversity initiatives dreamed up over the last couple of years. If you get the ratio du jour of colors, shapes, and plumbing, then you will have an environment of egalitarian inventiveness and creativity like nothing seen short of Star Trek.
Is A-76 Dead, or Just Sleeping?
I am driven to wonder whether the rule itself is finished, or if it simply needs better and more regular implementation. My sense is that, of the two sides, only the "kill it" side has a clear focus, but that doesn't mean it is the only relevant view even if there isn't an obvious and reasonable focus on keeping it.
Directions or Options
You see, while we were both hungry and are heading to get something to eat – that is, our goal is the same – our roles and responsibilities were very different. For her, the emphasis is on being the supporting partner who is flexible with how we achieve our shared goal. In her mind, providing the maximum number of agreeable options without making the final decision is the best way she can meet the obligations of her role.