{"id":11173,"date":"2012-12-11T08:21:08","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T15:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=11173"},"modified":"2012-12-11T08:21:13","modified_gmt":"2012-12-11T15:21:13","slug":"practicing-project-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=11173","title":{"rendered":"Practicing Project Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Athletes, musicians, and artists regard practice as a \u201cmust do\u201d, so why don\u2019t business leaders and project managers?<\/p>\n

Malcolm Gladwell\u2019s book \u201cOutliners\u201d highlights that 10,000 hrs of practicing something seems to be the tipping point for becoming an expert. Bill Gates and the Beatles are two examples of this success principle in action. They were not naturally gifted \u201cgeniuses\u201d at an early age, but they took advantage of opportunities to accelerate the learning processes by investing a LOT of time in a very short period of time to make it happen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learning Japanese language has been a struggle for me. I tend to blame it on the computer program I\u2019ve been using or my engineering background (English\u00a0wasn’t\u00a0easy for me either). Deep down I know the real reason. I don\u2019t practice regularly. I\u2019m currently looking for a class to add motivation and feedback but realize it\u2019s the lack of regular practice that undermines my efforts to retain what I\u2019m learning.<\/p>\n

Many Japanese professionals I work with find it difficult to build competency in English too because of a lack of regular use. There must be like-minded individuals all across the world who want to learn languages. Guess I\u2019ll start a meetup group for those in the bay area who want to learn Japanese so that we can create some accountability as another form of motivation<\/p>\n

Could the same philosophy apply to improving your project management and leadership skills. \u201cOf course\u201d is the easy answer, but rarely do we do it. We take that class or attend the webinar (if your distractions allow you to focus long enough), but putting new skills into action is difficult. Why?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

First, there is time pressure. Our multi-tasked existence provides no \u201cslack time\u201d for the added prep that\u2019s necessary for applying a new tool or technique. Secondly is the lack of feedback from an expert to provide insights on how to adapt the concept to the unique situation you are dealing with. Thirdly, others are hardwired to reject another change, so this addition de-motivation is the third strike that leads to a \u201cstrike out\u201d on your first trip to the plate. Ready to try again? Not likely.<\/p>\n

Is it possible to change the system of learning to make it easier to adopt new skills without paying your mom to nag you daily to practice before bedtime? I think so.<\/p>\n

It starts with rethinking our workshop approach. I often fall victim to stuffing in more content to a workshop with the mindset that \u201cmore is better\u201d or \u201cthey\u2019ll pick out the tools that work best for them\u201d. But a recent design project has me rethinking this approach. This time around I\u2019m focusing on introducing a few key skills early and reinforcing them through repetition in a variety of different situations with increasingly more complexity. This opportunity for participant\u2019s to \u201cpractice\u201d the skills several times begins the process of transitioning the learning from the prefrontal cortex (the thinking part of our brands) to the basal ganglia. This part of the brain is where routines reside. You don\u2019t have to think about tying your shoe anymore because all that practice pays off. By the time the 2 days is over, some of the foundational pieces are set in place making them easier to recall in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here is the key \u2013 START PRACTICING THIS WEEK. We often find ourselves investing extra hours to get caught up after a day or two\u00a0out of the office. Schedule time during this critical first week back so you can focus on what and how to apply. Choose some meetings that your run or 1-on-1 conversations\u00a0you’ve\u00a0got coming up to put new concepts into action. This\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0have to be some \u201csecret mission\u201d \u2013 let others know and request feedback on what they think along with suggestions for improvement. Making it a WE learning exercise works for some situations. Not going to fly in your place? Try saying its required \u201chomework\u201d even if the class is finished. If the skill your are working to improve requires a bit more discretion, then ask a trusted colleague about your plan and request input from them alone after the meeting is done. We can make time to practice skills in our everyday lives then we are guaranteed to accelerate ANY change that we want to.<\/div>\n

Jim Kouzes, author of The Leadership Challenge, recently highlighted this point in a conversation we had. Using a weekly meeting or adding a few minutes to a daily routine is all it takes. I\u2019d suggest 3 steps to ensure that your investment of time and energy reap the desired returns you want\u2026<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Focus<\/strong> \u2013 make small changes and build on the successes while limiting the risk of screwing up \u2013 a necessary part of the learning process.<\/li>\n
  2. Goals<\/strong> \u2013 set specific objectives that will allow you to track and celebrate small wins and document for yearly performance reviews<\/li>\n
  3. Feedback<\/strong> \u2013 inputs from yourself and, more importantly, from someone else to look at \u201cwhat worked\u201d and \u201cwhat\u00a0didn’t”\u00a0 ensures you can continue the good stuff and fix what\u2019s not<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So what are you waiting for? Start today by choosing one specific thing you want working on and add time to your weekly schedule to focus on it. Be consistent. Do it for 21 days or 3 weeks if it\u2019s a weekly practice and see what results you get.
    \nMaybe I\u2019ll start the morning yoga practice that\u00a0I’ve\u00a0been putting off to?? Or maybe I\u2019ll wait and add it to the growing list of New Year Resolutions to begin on January first. Just kidding. It\u2019s in my calendar, so I\u2019ll follow up later with results.<\/p>\n

    Mata atode aimashou!<\/p>\n

    Jeff Richardson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Athletes, musicians, and artists regard practice as a \u201cmust do\u201d, so why don\u2019t business leaders and project managers? Malcolm Gladwell\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[204,163,1370,321,1154],"class_list":["post-11173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous","tag-change","tag-improvement","tag-leadership","tag-learning","tag-skill-development"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11173"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11184,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173\/revisions\/11184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}