My name is Coach Tony, and I am a believer in the power of project management.
In my twenty years as a professional project manager, I have witnessed project success drive business results. I have also proven that project management can change lives and help achieve personal transformation.
Now, I use project management principles as a coach to help clients achieve their life, health and professional goals.
In PM Believer, I share practical project management tips and techniques that you can use to help you achieve your own personal goals and live your best life.
Are you ready to become a PM Believer too?
Amuse-Bouche Before we jump into today's post, I offer you this "dad joke" as a light "amuse-bouche" to entertain your mind before we get serious. Like any other amuse-bouche, you may hate it, but it is worth every penny you paid for it, right? A grasshopper walks into a bar, and the bartender excitedly says, "hey, we have a drink named after you." The grasshopper, looking confused, replies to the bartender, "you have a drink named George?"
Unexpected Project Success Advice From Indiana Jones
We all know who Indiana Jones is, right? He’s the fictional archeology professor, played by Harrison Ford, who jumps from adventure to adventure with his trademark whip and hat. He is always looking to save some historical relic that belongs in a museum to preserve history but is falling into the hands of some profiteering villain.
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indy explains the field of archeology in a college lecture:
Archeology is the search for fact…. forget any ideas you’ve got about lost cities, exotic travel, and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried treasure, and “X” never, ever marks the spot. 70% of all archeology is done in the library. Researching. Reading. We cannot afford to take mythology at face value.
In the world of archeology, no artifacts can be found, or history reassembled if it hadn’t previously been written down. Written records are the only way an accurate history can be recreated.
As project managers, we usually aren’t excavating some site in the desert looking for a lost civilization. But this doesn’t mean we aren’t called upon to engage in project archeology.
Here’s a typical example of project archeology in corporate project management.
Imagine you are leading a big corporate project which has been going on for a year or more. During this lengthy timeline, the project has taken many twists and turns. It looks a little different now than when it first started.
Suddenly, because this often happens in corporate project management, a key executive leaves the company, and the project now has a new sponsor. This new executive sponsor starts asking questions about the journey the project has taken. As the project manager, you are on the hook for answering these questions.
Without a thorough written record of the history of your project, you will have to rely solely on your memory to answer questions about decisions made six, nine, twelve or more months back. And, without these written facts, the new sponsor will be taking the project’s “mythology at face value.” None of this is likely to work out well for you!
While you may not be facing the same issues as a corporate project, an accurate historical record is just as valuable for your personal goal projects.
Suppose you are working through a significant weight loss, training for a marathon, changing careers or some other life transformation. On a particularly challenging day, you feel a little deflated and want to reflect on your progress instead of the work left to do – a proven technique to boost happiness. A detailed record of your journey will help you see that progress more clearly. Even more relevant if you try to look further back in history.
Using your historical record to manage your mindset a little too ethereal for you? There are many pragmatic problems that you can solve with such a record. For example, what happens when you encounter a problem you know you have faced before but don’t remember how you resolved it. Wouldn’t a little quick project archeology be easier than re-learning the same lessons again?
Ok, but how?
Convinced of the value of a historical record but not sure how to do it. Here’s an easy technique that can yield significant value with one small habit change.
Like an Agile project, it is time to start your day with a stand-up meeting… of sorts.
I have written in the past about the value of journaling. It is a useful tool for processing your thoughts and managing emotions. It is also an excellent tool for creating a historical record of your life. It is also simple to do!
- Set aside ten minutes at the start of each day
- Write your thoughts in a physical or digital notebook, whatever works best for you
- Write out a paragraph or bullets summarizing the events from the previous day. This is a good place to include any data you are tracking associated with your goals (you are tracking progress every day, right?)
- Write a second paragraph or bullets summarizing your plan for today
- Then free write whatever is in your head, any issues bothering you, anything you are proud of from the previous day and anything you are grateful for
Don’t worry about trying to make it perfect; just strive for consistency and write your thoughts daily. This process will get easier and increase in value over time.
Before you know it, you will have a robust historical record that your future Indiana Jones will appreciate!
Are you ready to be a PM Believer?
Project managers are often asked to wear many hats. Sometimes, we even have to don that trademark felt fedora and play archeologist. But, as Indiana Jones says, “70% of archeology is done in the library.” So, don’t forget to leave a trail for the future project archeologist to follow, especially when you may be the one doing the digging!
Need a little help getting started with creating your historical record? My felt fedora and whip are ready to help you build an archeologist-ready journal!
Click Here to learn more about my Operation Melt coaching services.
Meet Coach Tony
My name is Coach Tony, and I am a coach, author and project manager on a mission. I am working to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
I almost allowed one of my biggest life goals to die without ever being attempted for forty years. My goal almost died, not of failure but of loneliness. But, I took a risk and leveraged a simple, logical process that helped me wildly exceed my goal.
I transformed my life, and you can do the same with the help of Operation Melt.
Operation Melt provides engaging, practical content and hands-on coaching to inspire, motivate and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
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