I have been a netizen since the days we called it Darpanet and I believe that blogs are an important way to share experience, observations, lessons-learned, and thoughts. I am an avid reader of project/program management blogs, web libraries, and white papers and I always recommend the best of the best to my program managers and project managers-in-training. However, I have been remiss in sharing with the community through my own blog—better late than never perhaps. Let me tell you a bit about myself and what I hope to accomplish in the blogsphere.
What I believe about project management…
- Project manager is one of the most challenging, interesting, and satisfying positions in an organization
- You can learn to be a good project manager
- Even good project managers can learn to be better
- Effective project managers are people who want to be project managers, not people who were placed in the position because of their excellent technical skills or because someone had to do it
- Project management is mostly about people – no it is ALL about people
A bit about me…
I am the new CEO of Cognitive Technologies. Our company delivers high-performance technology management services and solutions to commercial and government clients. We are based in Austin, Texas with offices in Austin, Washington DC and Atlanta, GA. Cognitive Technologies operates at the intersection of people and technology by providing solutions, staff and applying experience and leadership to ensure that IT projects succeed.
In my past lives I have worked as Senior Project Manager for Cap Gemini establishing an Enterprise Program Management Office. At Verizon (Bell Atlantic), I was Chief Architect and Program Manager for two multi-million dollar re-engineering projects and I served as Department Head and Program Manager for a multi-million dollar business unit of Loral / Western Digital Labs.
In over three decades as a senior program manager, I have dealt with the frustration of maintaining schedule, budget and scope in difficult circumstances. I have hired, laid-off, trained and supported technical professionals across many industry and government IT organizations. I have learned through trial and error and from skilled professionals how to communicate effectively with clients, customers and staff to create an environment of common purpose.
My initial academic training was in business with a concentration in marketing and management. I received leadership training from the Wharton School of Business and I am certified as a Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute. I completed my masters in Technology Management at the University of Maryland.
What’s next…?
I have committed myself to adding meaningful content to my blog weekly— sharing thoughts and experience on issues affecting project managers. Sometimes the blog will be my own musings and at other times I will share contributions from professionals in the field that I respect and learn from. In the near term, this blog will cover topics such as: “Why Projects Fail”, “Effective Schedule Management”, and “Managing Project Meetings”. Beyond that, the blog will reflect on hiring, supervising, integrating, communicating, managing change, and many other topics that consume a project manager’s time and resources.
Fear No Project Blog - Focusing on the Management Side of Projects 