Chinese project to make lemonade from lemons

With millions of Chinese retiring poor and serious quality of life issues like littering, spitting in public and driving without helmets, the Chinese government has made an attempt to make lemonade out of these two lemons. According to a recent NY Times article, the government of Shaoyang has awarded the right to issue tickets to 1,000 of their retirees who get to keep 80% of the fines.

While there has been some success in this endeavor, some overzealous members of the neighborhood watch are taking things too far, ticketing one man for his car's nose protruding slightly over the line at a traffic light for instance.

Still, if it keeps people from being splashed by 'snot-rockets', I'm all for the vigilantes.

Celebrating Roger Fisher, author of 'Getting to Yes.'

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

A giant in the world of negotiating died on Saturday. This Harvard professor was so confident in his negotiating abilities that he flew around, uninvited, to trouble spots and got himself into the middle of the fray, helping negotiate agreements to the world's most contracted disputes.

From hostage crises in Peru and Iran to the Camp David accords, Professor Fisher was a master at resolving conflicts. His best-selling book: Getting to Yes, is a treasure trove of advice for project managers and leaders trying to succeed.

Buy the book

In his obituary was the following quote. Whenever I thought, ‘Someone should do something about this,’ it eased my conscience to learn that Roger was already working on it.”

Dear PM Advisor Aug 27, 2012

Dear PM Advisor,

I was just given a global project to manage and notice how you advise that all team members should be present during the planning session. But my management are notorious skinflints. How can I justify the expense of bringing the three Japanese and European team members to Chicago for the two days of planning?

Local in Chicago

Dear Local,

It's been my experience that few global projects have a budget of less than $250,000; most run into the millions. But let's assume yours is worst case. Let's compare the cost of bringing in the non-local team members to the overall budget. Three overseas flights at about $5,000 each. Three night's accommodations plus meals and taxis in Chicago can't cost more than $1,000 each. You're talking about $18,000 total. That represents 7% of the budget, less if the budget is greater. That's the cost.

Now let's look at the benefit. Having the entire team present during planning is huge! The team building aspects aside, you get every team member seeing what each other does, seeing how their activities lead into another member's activities. They see the critical path being built in front of them, work together to refine the timeline to crash that path. They identify potential risks together and start on early problem removal, they identify all the tasks on the WBS, rather than forgetting those tasks the out of towners would have brought.

All of these things bring about a huge improvement in the planning plus the team building that takes place, the ownership of activities in front of their peers and the camaraderie, all bring about benefits that easily outstrip the 7% deficit you started with.

So run the numbers and determine the exact % of budget that this travel represents. Then show the benefits you will achieve as I've outlined above. If they still object, do the project anyway but keep track of each instance of misstep that could have been avoided if the planning had been done properly. Compile all these mistakes in your project's final report. Maybe your next project will be planned properly.

Good luck,

PM Advisor

Send your questions to bfieggen@gmail.com

Leadership over the ages

I was cruising around one of my favorite sites: I love charts, and found this excellent chart showing the effect various cultures had on their times. For a more readable copy, go to the host website where you can actually purchase the chart. It is also interesting to see which cultures clashed with others, where some emerged from etc.

Does time off make you more productive?



Vidhya Nagarajan



I read an interesting article a few days ago that suggested that software engineers are more productive in the long run if their schedules are adjusted for the seasons. Jason Fried, the CEO of 37signals has instituted some revolutionary work hours in his company and it is paying off dividends.

Work from May to October is 32 hours a week, spread over four days. He finds that better work gets done in these four days than in a traditional five day work week. Why? Because people waste less time. They focus on getting the projects completed because there is less time to spend together.

In June they give every employee a month to work on whatever they want. These independent ideas are presented in July and result in the greatest burst of creativity all year. In addition to a huge morale boost, productivity spikes.

What do you think?

Dear PM Advisor August 20, 2012

Dear PM Advisor,

I've been told by my mentor to convert my 'Start to Start' relationships to 'Finish to Finish'. I don't understand why. I am testing my software and then recoding it based on my tests. I start recoding a couple of days after I start retesting. That sounds like a 'Start to Start' relationship to me. What am I doing wrong?

Depending on you from New York

Dear Depending,

Yours is a common misconception. Logically, the relationship between the two activities appears to be 'Start to Start' with a lag. Planning the project that way seems correct. You would give both activities the same duration, say 20 days, and set up the relationship as SS+2days indicating a two day lag between the start of the testing activity and the start of the recoding activity. So the recoding activity will finish two days after the testing activity. All looks good right?

But what happens when things progress and you will take an extra week completing the testing activity. You will update the Gantt chart by changing the duration of the testing activity. Now it will complete on day 25 instead of day 20. But since the relationship is SS, the finish date of the recoding activity will not change automatically. It will still finish on day 22.

So, even though the relationship appears to be 'Start to Start', think of the end of the activity. You cannot finish the recoding activity until you have finished the testing activity. So the real relationship is 'Finish to Finish'. And when you set it up this way and adjust the duration of the testing activity, the end date of the recoding activity will adjust automatically.

Not all 'Start to Start' relationships are 'Finish to Finish'. Examine each one with an eye to what would happen if the first activity was delayed. Then yo ushould be able to determine the real relationship.

Good luck,

PM Advisor

Send your questions to bfieggen@gmail.com 

Forty-second excerpt from 'Twelve Towers'

After two nights on the road, the group lodged their cart, horses and belongings at the same inn they had stayed in last time and made their way through the castle gates to the office of the seneschal. Sir Kay was not there but they met with his squire who told them: “Sir Kay is in the great hall. I will ask him if you can interrupt.”

The boy returned a few minutes later and asked them to follow him. “You can leave the little ones with me.”

“Not on your life, son,” said Gwilym, much to the delight of Jac and Llawen.

On entering the great hall they saw a huge, round table dominating the room. It was so big that the sides touched two of the walls of the room. Bleddyn stifled a laugh as he saw a knight seated within this enclosed arc climb on a bench, then over the table and off again to get out.

Servants were operating within the center of this table. Gwilym had heard rumors of this round table and had assumed that the top was one big circle, not a pair of circumferences that allowed people to stand in the middle. This was convenient for serving, but he wondered how the servants reached the central area from the kitchens. Climbed over it, he suspected. Clearly this table was not made for this room.

The atmosphere of the great hall had changed from the last time he entered. Rather than a squalling cave of men and dogs, it possessed the relative calm of a church at Christmas Mass. There were no dogs and no wrestling men, those eating were doing so with forced gentility and sounds of quiet conversation were all one heard. The bare walls had been hung with tapestries and banners to brighten the space and four large candelabra hung over the table, illuminating everything.

There was no head of this round table, but the most favorable seats, closest to the fire and easiest to access, seemed to be occupied by the head party. King Arthur sat there, and next to him was seated what could only be his wife, Gwenevere: a frail beauty with golden hair and pale white skin. Next to her sat Launcelot, one of the few in the room to notice the family’s approach. Surrounding this group were many knights, some of whom Gwilym remembered from his last visit. Sir Gawain was on Arthur’s right, and next to him was Sir Kay.

“Our master mason has returned!” exclaimed Launcelot with a broad smile. “Welcome to the new Caerleon. A land smiled upon by the beauty of its queen, the lady Gwenevere.” At this he stood and bowed to the queen who blushed and then looked back at her husband, then at Gwilym.

Gwilym was shocked at this flirtation being expressed right in front of the king and wondered if Launcelot was already well into his cups this early in the day. But King Arthur gave Gwilym a blithe smile and also wished him welcome.

“And how is my master puzzle-maker, Bleddyn, this day? I must show you how fast I can build that tower you gave me on your last visit.” The king stood and shook the boy’s hand. He then looked shocked at the twins and asked Bleddyn “Who are these strong young squires by your side?”

Bleddyn struggled to speak through the stretched lips of his smile as he introduced Jac and Llawen to the king. King Arthur made them feel welcome by asking a large servant to bring them sweetmeats and showing them the great hall. “As you can see, this hall is too small for the wedding gift my wife’s father gave me. So we are building a new castle close to where you live in Huish. It will be big enough to hold this table and have room to move around it.” Gwilym was impressed with the ease at which the king could make his guests feel welcome.

When he introduced the boys to Gwenevere, Gwilym noticed something disconcerting. While the queen doted on the boys as most women did and the rest of the knights watched the tableau with indulgence, Launcelot used the opportunity to stare hungrily at the queen. A servant approached the queen and the two spoke. He looked at the family and then walked off into the back rooms.

After indulging the boys, the king turned to Gwilym and said, “Welcome back, Gwilym. I have been hearing good reports of your works. Sir Kay thinks highly of you. Is this your foreman?”

Gwilym introduced Fred who shook the king’s hand. “I couldn’t complete the works without him.” Fred blushed crimson and tried to stammer out his thanks.

Gwilym covered up his friend’s embarrassment by asking about the new castle. “Have you picked your master mason for your new castle yet?”

King Arthur laughed. “Ever the ambitious builder! I did ask Kay about using you for this job but he told me he had more important plans for you.”

Sir Kay had approached at this question. “Gwilym, I have an important watch-tower planned for you to watch for Irish marauders. I had planned to send for you this week so I thank you for saving me the time.”

The king noticed the deflation in Gwilym’s body at this news and sought to console the man. “These watchtowers are the most important buildings you can create for Britain. They protect the entire country. Why are you disappointed?”

Gwilym composed himself. “As a young lad, wandering around in the great cities of the east, seeing the majestic temples and cathedrals and palaces, I dreamed that one day I would add my creation to that list. A place that would inspire some other young boy to become a builder. No one looks in wonder at a watch-tower.”

Sir Kay placed his hand on Gwilym’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. Gwilym felt another hand on his other shoulder and one on his back. As he glanced around he saw that King Arthur and Launcelot were touching him in what seemed almost like a benediction.

Kay spoke. “The towers that you build are protecting Britain not only from the Saxons but from all future enemies. Although little boys may not be awed by them, little boys will be alive because of them and will be able to look at other buildings to inspire them.”

Gwilym felt warmth spread through him from the three hands. He felt like weeping but controlled himself. It was not from sadness but the raw emotion emanating from the three knights.

To read the entire first draft in one shot, click here: