Friday, June 8, 2012

Saag Paneer Automation

As I was preparing a meal for my family - Saag Paneer, I thought about automating my cooking process to see if I can shorten the cooking time. Typically, the dish takes one hour. After using tools such as food processor and multi-tasking by making chapatis on side, my cooking process that takes over an hour turned to be 20 mins. I was excited that I saved 40 mins by automating simple tasks. The best thing - the dish was amazingly yummy!!! At work, often times, we do things the same way everyday. We get stuck in a rut because it is comfortable and safe. If we would take few minutes and seek alternative ways, we may save those "minutes". Thinking creatively and finding ways to get the job done faster makes us very effective. It also makes us available to take on work that can be challenging. In a competitive market place, people that can think quick on their feet and work effectively survive. The next time we are doing tasks, challenge yourself to think creatively. You may surprise yourself.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

One on One with Richard Morreale - Author of Top Gun Project Managers

I had an opportunity to speak with Richard Morreale to get a sneak peek into what our PMI chapter can expect on Monday, June 11th. I was astonished when I heard about his experiences. Here is a brief bullet list:


• Worked for the Apollo Spaceship program – started out as a messenger

• Worked for Computer Sciences Corporation – started out managing small projects then ended up working on projects for the Army and Navy

• Spent roughly 10 years in Europe – working for England Revenue Services (really cool!)

• Developed CSC – UK’s first project management group

• Opened a project management consultancy group in UK

• Written several articles and books on project management such as Killer ideas for delivering successful projects and Top Gun Project Managers.

The chapter meeting is going to be on “Top Gun Project Managers” – What it takes to reach the top of the Project Management Profession. Richard will be discussing with us 8 strategies that each PMs should follow, how to become a master of paradox, and soft skills needed to be successful. He is a firm believer of a success equation that 20% of what we have learned is in the PMBOK and the other 80% is our attitude, behavior, and how we treat people.



If you haven’t register – you don’t want to miss this meeting:

http://www.pmitriadnc.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1093816&eventId=494682&EventViewMode=EventDetails

To learn more about our speaker Richard Morreale:

http://www.richardmorreale.com/