We as PMs often get stuck in situations where we have less power.

These are my 7 tips to get out of the sticky situation.

Basic Tip #1

Build-up and Nurture Your Credibility and Brand

Your “opponent” may hold the bigger title, salary, and position.

What you have is your brand and credibility.

This is not just about your project delivery track record (altho…

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Truth #1

Humans Do Not Resist Change

If we did, we wouldn’t be here, 200,000 years later. We would be extinct.

What we resist is change without meaning. Change without reason. Change without urgency.

Once we understand the motivation for the change (and it is personal to us), then we can show invention, grit, and persistence, to make the change happen.

Tru…

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Question #1

Can You Lead Without Having Formal Authority?

Your project team will include multiple experts in their domain, and you are not their manager.

You will deal with senior clients and internal high-level executives.

And you will work with Devs who usually think they are the best.

Question #2

Can You Manage The Expectations Of Several Stakeholders?

Th…

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A layoff is, of course, a "tough change".

But there are many other types of "tough change" in a company. It can be:

• the withholding of promotions,

• the firing of a long-time customer,

• the cancellation of salary increases,

• the umpteenth leadership reorganization,

• the modification of career levels and paths,

• the decommissioning of a service or product,

• the 180 on …

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Every time you give a presentation, you compete against your slides. And your slides tend to win! Either by boring the audience or by being more interesting than you are.

You might as well have Siri or Alexa read your slides instead!

You really don't want that. Your audience neither.

----- My 4 basic tips (TLDR) -----

1. Minimize the use of text.

2. Includ…

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Here is a simple and powerful mind hack to help you communicate with impact in impromptu situations*. The "K-F-D" framework, or KNOW - FEEL - DO. It also works for prepared presentations, but its elegance is that you can quickly think (and use) "KFD" whenever you're put on the spot.

The mind hack (for short presentations or impromptu talks):

Know - Feel -…

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The 10 Questions:

1. Why Now?

2. Who is the main customer?

3. How will we measure success?

4. Which stakeholders are critical?

5. What are our budget constraints?

6. What problem will we solve for them?

7. How do you want us to communicate?

8. What is the most important deliverable?

9. What is the business value to our company?

10. What is our main organizational obstacle to this

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I've been promoted 8 times, lateralized 4 times, and took a step back 3 times in my 30-year career.

I discussed the notion of promotion "entitlement", which is self-centred.

Instead, I emphasized that every true promotion (unlike "pity promotions") is a business decision.

In other words, it's ROI-centric (ROI = return on investment). Your tenure, loyalt…

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One key to happiness at work is a good manager.

And a key to advancement is to talk with your manager. You have no control over the former (some managers are just terrible).

But you can be your best at the latter.

If you are lucky enough to have a good manager (or at least a decent one), then you owe it to yourself to talk regularly to him/her.

Check my …

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You were probably told to use the STAR method during interviews - ditch that! Here is a better way.

My method:
• forces you to tell a story (dragons, anyone?)
• is shorter and punchier
• is easier to remember
• showcases your judgment

𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹

then the complica…

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There are 2 ways to become known for great presentations:

1) Deliver a great many presentations.
2) Deliver as few presentations as possible.

Unfortunately, presentations are like meetings.
A lot of them are just 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 and could have been an email, or something else.

So what do you do when you're faced with the conundrum: To Present or Not to …

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Once, I saw "Depeche Mode" in concert.

They're my wife's favorite band, and she was the one who insisted we go.

To all of you youngsters and the uninitiated, they were regarded as the greatest band to ever walk the Earth—or so it seemed to a diverse crowd of enthusiastic fans ranging from 20 to 65 years old.

They're not my favorites but I like them.

But…

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Most project leaders (including yours truly) are not natural storytellers. We think it's for comedians, politicians, and salespeople. 𝗨𝗻-𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀. We have important matters to attend to:

• Risks to talk about

• The budget increase

• The resources we need

• Requ…

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You are in front of key stakeholders, about to present your project.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗿.

But you do just great!

HOW?
(𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸-𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺'𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵)

• First off, you have prepared well.
• Second, you put together some quality material.
• 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 …

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For practical purposes, not out of laziness,  𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆.

Think of the 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

1. It distorts the actual size of countries
2. It's the conventional North is up and South is down
3. The equator is at 1/3 to show the most landmass
4. It is centered on Greenwich zero for symmetry

It's…

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I've seen my share of bad managers and colleagues. To me, the worst are the ones who are "performative".

"𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲" 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀:

• know to always say all the right things,
(especially to their boss and peers)

• tend to be good in public
(especially in meetings)

• sound knowledgeable and expert
(and make sure you know it)

• try HARD t…

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Once in a while a document makes a splash and changes the Tech World. The "Agile Manifesto" was such a document. I think the Netflix Culture Deck deserves the same standing.

It came out in 2009. It was unconventional for the time: minimal BS, to the point, and practical and actionable.

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When the sh!t hits the fan, the storm is at max power and the boat is about to sink:

→ 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯.

It's about survival!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 (𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹):

• radiate impatience and stress

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They:

 1. know their weakness but don't do anything about it
 2. are in the wrong place (company, industry, location)
 3. are seen as 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀
 4. think the world is against project management
 5. are seen as 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀
 6. are in a company with a poor PM …

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