Walking onto any troubled project, guess what I hear? We are spending too much money, we cannot miss the due date, we need everything we are asking for, and it is "their" fault. My job is telling them the bad news—we need more money, we are cutting scope, and the project is still going to be late. Those are the unavoidable facts and the stakeholders need to accept them. Worse than that, I am not going to blame anyone. Blame is counterproductive. So, how does this compare to the situation with the United States Congress? In short, they do not get it. They need an apolitical, outside entity to build the recovery plan—just like we do anytime we are recovering any project.

Featuring nearly 70 case studies—real-world examples of what works, what doesn’t, and why—drawn from Todd Williams’ extensive experience, RESCUE THE PROBLEM PROJECT is an indispensable resource for everyone with a stake in project success.  Read the entire press release here.

Project failure is rampant. Having spent most of his business life rescuing failing projects, Mr. Todd C. Williams has spent the last year organizing and writing a 95,000-word manuscript, which was recently accepted for publication by AMACOM Books.  Read the entire press release here.

Recently Cascade Microtech retained eCameron, Inc. to assist in rolling out their ERP implementation worldwide.  Read the entire press release here.

eCameron, Inc. is proud to announce the addition of Don Payne to its full-time staff as a senior management consultant.  Read the entire press release here.

Back in the eighties, I was working for a large aerospace company cutting my teeth as a systems analyst. My bosses were a little older than I am now, and they loved talking about the days before cubicles, pontificating on how personal computers were inferior to mainframes, and reminiscing about the days of the BOMARC missile. It was their way of telling us thirty-something kids that they were in control and we needed to respect their position. Then, as now, information was king and these pterodactyls were not letting it go. To earn the stripes, one had to partake in the tribal rituals, smoke cigars during three-martini lunches, and attend your boss's parties. They saw no value in email let alone the boondoggle shop floor automation project I was part of. In two words, communication sucked.

eCameron has completes the initial work on implementing a state of the art over-the-phone (OPI) system for Northwest Interpreters.  Read the entire press release here.

A friend of mine alerted me to an article in a PMI Community post titled Is Manipulation Ethical? From the title, I thought this would be neat read. However, the article was pretty swallow. How foolish to think that a 650-word article would address an issue that has plagued philosophers for a few millennia. The initial reaction was to the manipulative title, which was deceptive. It led me to believe the article would supply some profound knowledge. The short treatise failed. To its credit, though, it made me think. On the second pass, I decided that I disliked the article. In fact, its thesis—manipulation is ethical—is morally wrong.

Decisions, deshmisions, what is the big deal? Anyone can make a decision! Hardly. After years of working with ineffective initiatives and consternated companies, I have a healthy respect for the D-word. It is all about the seven 'tudes—ineptitude, attitude, fortitude, altitude, aptitude, incertitude, and vicissitude. Some organizations obtrude the 'tude in which they are imbued, while others are denude of a common 'tude.