Published Readings:
***UPDATE – Book is being revised and expected to be republished TBA***
“I Think, Therefore I Plan: Mastering the methods and meditations of project management“. Maybe you took the PMP® or are studying for it and are still bewildered? What is this thing called project management that I have to do and WHY is it worth it? This is a philosophical question and in general, people in the field don’t really answer it. Is it worthwhile to discuss the philosophy of project management? Absolutely! Then why are there so few, if any, books out there that discuss this topic in detail?
The problem is that in modern project management, the approach taken to articulating its discipline, practices and theoretical framework has been dominated from the methodological perspective. In other words, the only question really asked is the “how” (or which method to use) of project management, which has caused the field to be narrowly focused on how to use methods, processes and tools, and not enough on the deep philosophical thinking, acquisition of tacit knowledge and development of emotional intelligence (EQ) skills that are critical for successfully utilizing those methods in an efficient and effective manner.
Therefore, I will argue that you need to master not only the”how” (methods) of managing projects, but the “why” (meditations) as well. And by meditation, I’m not referring to the popular notion of sitting with legs crossed, palms turned upward, eyes closed and chanting positive thoughts, but as the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as a means “to engage in contemplation or reflection: focus one’s thoughts on something so as to understand it deeply”. In other words, it’s a form of conscious meditative mindfulness that will allow you to act decisively and effectively AND to understand deeply, the reasoning for that action.
This book will discuss how the methods and meditation practices work hand in hand to allow one to obtain mastery in project management. This book fulfills this need like no other in the industry!
Here’s a podcast with the Don Kim describing the book, as well as the implications of being a “philosophical-artisan” project manager and the limits of the PMP: