I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I recent attended the Scrum Alliance gathering in Orlando, Florida, USA. I won't revisit it, but I will tell you about an interesting Scrum Master that I met.

His name is Tobias Mayer, an agilest who was a skeptic (NOT a cynic, by the way) of our presence. He was legitimately worried about PMI's presence. However, after my remarks, he joined us for nearly 45 minutes sharing his pleasure with the commitment and the comments about PMI. It was a very rich discussion indeed. In fact, even though I didn't know him, I felt that our conversation was long overdue. It was as if we had started this conversation before but then waited until that day to continue it. Strange, yes, but it was a great conversation.

He said something that really rang a bell. He said that though Scrum addressed software development and project management, it was more about a value-based work framework, driving such values as respect for everyone's opinion and contribution to the project team, consistent and shared vigilance to risk, and more. He felt that it was developed not only to develop software faster and more effectively, but to provide a new culture of work, and new leadership values and principles. He particularly focused on the fact that it was a movement in the business world rooted in Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). (Note: Relationship of CAS to business systems was an outgrowth of Complexity Theory, and before that Chaos Theory, pioneered by individuals such as M. Mitchell Waldrup and James Gleick. Tobias recommended Surfing on the Edge of Chaos by Richard   Also, I would check out the Santa Fe Institute for specific research on the subject.)

His point was really quite interesting. He made me think about the human involvement of project management and software development. In our congresses and through all of the literature, more space is being devoted to the "leader of the 21^st century." The leader has facilitation skills, employs team approaches to solve problems, and works well with and resolves conflict, engages more individuals to gain diversity of thought, and can bring convergence from such wide diversity. Clearly, our ideal leader is one who is far less hierarchical and autocratic, and believes in engagement as a way of doing business.

However, executives want PMs to possess business skills too. They expect individuals to be decisive and realistic, and understand the policies and politics of economic sustainability. And, above all, they want rigorous accountability and transparency.

Wow, it isn't too easy to meet both left and right brain requirements of the job today. But I think the point Tobias was making was that it requires a "culture" of engagement at the project level, and also to seek the right balance of discipline and accountability, with real solutions.

I really hope Tobias and I have time to talk again soon. As I said, he is one of those people that you realize you are overdue for a more in depth conversation.

More later.

Today I'm talking with Ricardo Vargas, Chair of the PMI Board of Directors and the manager of an $18 billion portfolio for Sonangol, an oil and gas company in Angola. Ricardo has worked around the world and sees huge opportunity for project managers who are willing to focus on risk management, be flexible and offer creative solutions that promote innovations for their companies. He is convinced that a disciplined approach to project management will emerge as a key driver for change and that executives will begin to identify project management as indispensable for business results.

Click the play button to listen to my discussion with Ricardo.

Today I'm talking with Gene Bounds, Vice Chair of the PMI Board of Directors and a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton. Gene looks through a government lens to recommend that professional project managers can be most successful in today's economic environment by broadening their perspectives and skills in order to prepare for a variety of challenges.

Click the play button to listen to my discussion with Gene.

Today I'm talking with Kathleen Romero, Secretary-Treasurer of the PMI Board of Directors and manager in Capital One's enterprise portfolio office. We'll be discussing opportunities for professional project managers who take the time to sharpen their tools, and be accurate and precise during this economic downturn.

Click the play button to listen to my discussion with Kathleen.

Wow! It has been a long time since I last blogged. I have been to the Middle East, specifically Dubai, UAE, and Amman, Jordan. Add to that a short trip to Beijing to participate in a Business Week CEO Conference on Leadership in Turbulent Times, and you have my itinerary for the last couple of weeks.

My last blog post on the CIO article seemed to generate good feedback. In fact, I wanted to highlight a couple of the comments that were generated when I shared that software was not the first solution, but rather a well trained project professional who knows how to use the software...don't throw software at a problem! Here are some of the great responses:

• Marcellus Lindsay was spot on when he shared his mentor's comment that a "fool with a tool is still a fool."

• Sergio Aranda agreed and shared some good news perspectives when he stated that "...companies are aware of this and as a result are spending a significant amount on business process definition ahead of their investment in project/program/portfolio management software."

• Pat Weaver said that "The thing software jockeys often forget is everything to do with projects involves people and their perceptions about an uncertain future, acceptable risks and desirable outcomes."

I must say that I have met the executives and CEOs of some of the PM software suppliers, and they too acknowledge that knowledge of PM is critical to the successful use of software. So, the suppliers want their software used correctly, and the users need more knowledge of PM to be sure they can use the software correctly; so why is there a problem? Frankly, this is where a savvy CTO or CIO can help. They should lead the charge and demand that "form follows function"...or rather, let's get the business process right, and then look at IT enabling. Wow, I could go on for hours on this. If you have the chance, go back and see the other comments on the blog. Thanks to all for your comments.

Since my last blog, the United States has a new president: Barack Obama. This was an extraordinary event in our history...in world history. Regardless of your country of origin, or your party of choice in the USA, the fact that a person of mixed race, a black man, was elected to the highest office in the USA, is a turning point in race relations. I am so grateful that it has taken place in my lifetime. The USA is a very young country for a developed nation of such magnitude. And to see it happen...well, I can't explain how I feel.

I was two weeks shy of my 17^th birthday when then US President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, 99 years after the U.S. Civil War, and more than 100 years after the abolition of slavery. The act was monumental, and it led to massive change. 44 years later, we have Barack Obama as president. Amazing!

But we live in time of change, don't we? It seems that change is all around us all the time. I am amazed that just one year ago, the economies of the world were steaming along at full speed...and today the global economy is downshifting and slowing down. Less than a year ago, the cost of a barrel of oil was over $150, and today it is down to around $50 per barrel. Fear and uncertainty pervades the news.

Leaders of the G20 nations (G8 plus other countries like China, Russia, and Brazil) met in the USA over the weekend to discuss the crisis in the global economy. No big decisions yet, but they at least agreed to focus on the problems in the mortgage arena. I am not sure that anyone really knows what is happening and how to fix it. Frankly, it is always about "value" (paid for something, etc.) and "confidence" (public confidence about stock, their jobs, etc.). Obama will have his hands full when he takes office. Hope may be in the offing due to the historic change in leadership, but the immediate future remains uncertain.

I am starting to read about leading indicators that may lead to a slow down in project management hiring and employment. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), BMP Billiton, the largest mining company in the world, is showing a dramatic slow down in iron ore mining, due to a slow down in the construction economy (manufacturing of steel) in China. If China slows down in construction, then there is not only an impact in mining, but all of the related supplies in construction. In addition, China is the leading importer in Asia (3^rd largest in the world), and a slowdown would hurt other Asian countries.

Also, that same issue of the WSJ pointed out that the telecommunications industry, particularly those companies producing cellular devices (Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, RIP, etc.) are scaling back, and they are in for a shakeup. Market analysts are projecting a decline in sales next year for the first time in many years, and it could be as little as 1% or as much as 9%. Jobs are at risk.

However, I have reason to be optimistic. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I was in Richmond, Virginia, USA, recently to attend our Global Corporate Council meeting. I facilitated a session on the economy, asking the 25 or so attendees to share what they were witnessing in their own companies, and those of their clients. Universally, they said money and investments were becoming extremely tight, and that some initiatives and projects were either being slowed or delayed. However, almost all said that their companies would not stop investing in innovation. They would have to in order to remain competitive.

All of this makes me think that project managers have a real role to play in navigating through this. In the early 1990s, during the 2000 dot com bust, and again following September 11, 2001 disaster, PMI grew dramatically, and project management jobs continued to grow in number. There is a shortage globally of experienced project professionals, and this crisis might be our opportunity to become stewards of the limited assets of our organizations. We need to step up to the task, directly, and exercise leadership, to bring about change, stay focused on value, while managing in a very resource-limited environment.

Time to "be the change we want to be," as John Legend said.

I mentioned in my last blog about the concern over a slowing of the supply of money and its impact on fixed capital investment (FCI). There is something else about the economic crisis that is bothering me... for now, let me call it the giant global distraction. I know that sounds strange to call the current global economic crisis a "giant global distraction," but the fact is that economic cycles are, well, cyclical, and it will get better. Assuming we go into a global recession (HELLO!), we could be in for 16-20 years of sluggish economies... or we could come out of it as we did in the 1990s within a couple of years (...well, maybe 4-5 years).

Either way, we end up distracted from critical global issues that we face. Global sustainability, for example, is not a transient issue. It is real need, and it faces us everyday. Food shortages, problems in water supplies, finding cures for AIDS and cancer, education... all critical issues to the quality of life in the future. We cannot get distracted from solving the associated problems. And, yet, I can guarantee that our focus will start to narrow, inexplicably to... yep, you guessed it... cost management. Risk management may very well shift to risk aversion, and creativity and innovation will slow down. Timidity will prevail. Look back over the last 50 years and tell me it didn't happen.

By the way, I am not delusional. We need more prudent financial management in the markets... no doubt at all. I know the economic crisis is real and powerfully impactful throughout the world. And, I am well aware that cost management and risk management are critical to successful projects, especially large complex projects. But if we are so distracted that we fail to consider the management of value, or worse, not look for the opportunities to project success when managing risk, then we will see a regression of prosperity and the gains we have made in solving the problems associated with global sustainability. And worse, we won't tap the unlimited potential of our PM colleagues around the world.

I am reminded of a great quote that I heard two weeks ago at a Forbes Conference on Innovation out in Palo Alto, California. (PMI cosponsors of a series of three conferences on Innovation with Forbes Magazine). More than 10 years ago, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, was asked by the Apple board to come out of retirement to rescue the company. He agreed to do it, and at his first press conference, when he was greeted with the reality of the condition of the company, he was asked how he was going to rescue the company. He paused, then looked straight into the cameras and said: "I guess we will just have to innovate our way out of it."  And he did just that!

Yes, we need to innovate our way of it... we need to rely on project managers to use their creativity and innovation to get the job done, in spite of the economy. We have the potential... I have seen it in action throughout the world, with PMs solving crisis after crisis. In Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, China, Poland, and the United States, creative and innovate project professionals have repeatedly saved projects facing critical crises. Now is the time to unleash the potential in the PM community, not reel it in.

Let's innovate out of the crisis, not hesitate and withdraw until we see the end of the crisis... let's get the job done now.