Despite what we think, we’re actually terrible at estimating projects. Studies show that 91.5% of big projects go over budget, over schedule, or both. There needs to be a better way to estimate the work ahead of us. Story Points are a powerful...
Whether it’s people, materials, or cash, all projects need resources to succeed. But, resource management is consistently voted as one of the hardest project management disciplines to get right. When resources aren’t available, projects suffer...
One of the worst things that can happen to a leader or founder is losing touch with your actual users. Unfortunately, a famous study from Bain & Co found that, while 80% of CEOs think they deliver a “superior experience” to their customers, only...
Being a designer is hard. Balancing the desire to design something remarkable against a project’s cost, time, and scope limitations requires equal doses of creativity, collaboration, and pure grit. Luckily, this is where a design brief can really...
Lack of consistency, frequent scope changes, and poor governance are three of the most common reasons that projects fail. If you recognize these challenges, a structured project methodology, such as the Stage Gate process, can help you overcome...
Great leaders build great companies. Unfortunately, a 2024 Gallup survey found that only 20% of employees have strong trust in their leaders. If you run a company, you want to be respected and trusted. But a lack of trust in our leaders does...
When life gets busy, it can feel counterproductive to step back and take the long view. Instead, most of us are used to putting our head down and focusing on the task at hand. But, without even realizing it, taking the short-term view is killing...
Making decisions is tough. A recent study of over 14,000 people found that 85% of us regularly suffer from decision distress – the feeling of regret, guilt, and uncertainty around the decisions we make. But the most successful companies have to...
Deep down, we all know that it’s OK to make mistakes — but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt in the moment after you realized you’ve messed up on a project or task. No one’s perfect, yet it’s all-too-common to try to hide or deny our mistakes...
No one can do everything themselves — but that doesn’t stop us from trying. While most managers know the value of delegating work, they still try to tackle as much as possible on their own. A Microsoft survey of over 20,000 leaders and workers...