(A guest post by Peter Taylor, The Lazy Project Manager)
So, the other day I shouted out Peter Taylor’s fabulous success with his book (that you need to immediately go out and buy), and begged him for a guest post. Well, in true gentlemanly fashion (you have to love the Brits), he refused to allow me to beg for very long, and spun around with this really inspiring guest post. Without further ado, I am honoured to present you…Mr. Peter Taylor! *mad applause*
I was humbled recently by the kind words from someone I have never even met. Not in a physical way (something I hope to remedy in the not too distant future). That was your host, Mr ‘Papercut PM’ himself – Geoff Crane.
And you know, if made me reflect on something really special that has happened in the professional world of project management.
I have been doing this PM thing now for some 26 years and for the most part it has been really enjoyable. For sure there have been rough times (more so in the early days as I learnt my craft), and there have been the low points but there were a whole lot more good times and high points to remember. I play golf badly but I keep going back the course in the hope of improving and encouraged by the one or two good shots I put in last time I was on the fairways and greens. Project management has been a huge amount more positive than my golf experiences and so that is why I love it so much. It is never an effort to get involved in the next project or initiative.
When I released my book The Lazy Project Manager in late 2009 I had hopes of it at least selling enough copies that my publishers wouldn’t drop me with an embarrassed look. To help avoid this I began some serious networking within the project management world and I met people like Geoff. In fact I have connected to literally thousands of people out there in social media land through LinkedIn and Twitter and Facebook and through my blogs, and podcasts and websites. I have attended congresses and conferences (more and more as keynote speaker these days, thank you very much) and every time the people are what makes it so very special.
Which brings me back to the ‘something really special that has happened in the professional world of project management’. If you just make the smallest effort you will be able to connect to some truly wonderful project managers and experts out there on the www. And you know what? They will happily and eagerly give you their time. I was blessed with a wonderful mentor in my early days and that made all the difference to me to be able to reach out to someone to talk through a challenge or ask for some advice. You can be blessed a hundredfold or more by the amount of advice and guidance and mentors on hand through you local project management group, through conferences and meetings, through the online discussions and blogs and lots more.
Check out my website www.thelazyprojectmanager.com for some of my favourite websites and blogs and podcasts. And do please connect to me through LinkedIn and Twitter (@thelazypm).
Then go check out the rest of the project management world.
So thanks Geoff once more for the kind words.
And to all of you out there…
Dude: Go get some of that awesome for yourself (there is more than enough for everyone)!
Peter is a dynamic and commercially astute professional who has achieved notable success in Project Management.
His background is in project management across three major business areas over the last 26 years, MRP/ERP systems with various software houses and culminating in his current role with Infor, Business Intelligence (BI) with Cognos, and product lifecycle management (PLM) with Siemens. He has spent the last 7 years leading PMOs and developing project managers and is now focusing on project based services development with Infor.
He is also an accomplished communicator and leader and is a professional speaker as well as the author of ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ (Infinite Ideas) and ‘Leading Successful PMOs’ (Gower).
More information can be found at www.thelazyprojectmanager.com – and through his free podcasts in iTunes.
Do you have an article you’d like to submit about the soft side of project management? By all means, please do!
