IAPM Essentials #95 - News from the project management world

What was eventful last week? What has happened in project management? Here you can find articles worth reading and links to videos or podcasts that we warmly recommend.

To put it briefly: Essentials from the world of project management.

Enjoy reading!
Logo of IAPM Essentials number 95.

IAPM Essentials March 01, 2022

This week, these three articles were particularly inspiring:

Failing more wisely... - German language
Failure is part of life, because as soon as you start doing something, mistakes can happen. But instead of trying to hide your mistakes, you should take the chance to learn from them. That's how we all learned to walk - by both falling down and getting up again. How we deal with mistakes certainly depends, among other things, on where we grow up. In the US, for example, failure is not condemned, but giving up is. Those who try to continue despite failures receive recognition. The Japanese car manufacturer Toyota, among others, has also internalised this. They are continuously working on improving all processes by learning from their mistakes and failures.
Click here to read the original article.

OKR ANTI-PATTERN: SANDBAGGING YOUR KEY RESULTS
"Sandbagging" in terms of OKRs means that estimates are deliberately kept very low. During execution, the estimated targets are then easily exceeded. Of course, one then gets praise and recognition for this. This behaviour is harmful to the company, as employees no longer try to do their best. The reason for this can often be found within the company. If the achievement of a goal is linked to certain bonuses and failure is sanctioned, the employee often has no choice but to undermine their performance and thus the success of the company. This is because they only do what they can actually implement. This can be counteracted by linking bonuses to company success and not to the achievement of OKRs. It is also important to rethink the sanctioning of failures. In addition, managers should try to create the best possible working environment for employees, independent of rewards, so that they can do their best.
Click here to read the original article.

Tech debt gets worse before it gets better
Technical Debt reduction projects require a lot of perseverance, because before things get better, they get worse. This means that our Technical Debts increase before they decrease, which often leads to the abandonment of the project. You have to realise that this is exactly what has to happen. This is because you add programme code and cannot delete existing programme code for the time being, because the stability of the system must be guaranteed. The result is a large and confusing programme code. This can be illustrated by repairing a car while it is driving. It has to drive in order to reach its destination and must not fall apart under any circumstances. The bigger the damage, the more difficult it is to repair the car while it's moving. So it is important not to wait until it is almost too late to repair the car. Also, don't quit in the middle of the project; otherwise you'll have a much bigger problem than when you started.
Click here to read the original article.

Further articles worth reading and podcasts worth listening, you should not miss:

A long time ago, in an agility far far away ...
Click here to read the original article.

Agile Transformation mit Liberating Structures leicht gemacht
(en.: Agile transformation made easy with Liberating Structures)
Click here to read the original article.

Das ist das Ende! Vom guten oder glanzlosen Beenden von Projekten, Ziehwegen, Tourenabbrüchen und allem dazwischen. Teil 1
(en.: This is the end! From the good or lackluster completion of projects, pulling paths, tour cancellations and everything in between. Part 1)
Click here to read the original article.

Denken dringend erwünscht!
(en.: Thinking urgently desired!)
Click here to read the original article.

Empowered teams are essential for complex work
Click here to read the original article.

Grüss Gott! – über Rituale in 2022
(en.: Greetings To God! – about rituals in 2022)
Click here to read the original article.

How To Work Remotely Like A Pro: Advice From A Veteran
Click here to read the original article.

The Scrum Anti-Values: don’t be a B.I.T.C.H.
Click here to read the original article.

Three Steps to Done in Scrum
Click here to read the original article.

Wissen teilen - wie schreibe ich?
(en.: Sharing knowledge - how do I write?)
Click here to read the original article.
Author: IAPM internal 

Keywords: IAPM Essentials, Links, News

The IAPM certification

The certification can be taken via a reputable online examination procedure. The costs are based on the gross domestic product of your country of origin.

From the IAPM Blog

Become a Network Official

Do you want to get involved in project management in your environment and contribute to the further development of project management? Then become active as an IAPM Network Official or as a Network Official of the IAPM Network University. 


For better readability, we usually only use the generic masculine form in our texts. Nevertheless, the expressions refer to members of all genders.