WHAT WE ARE

“We are what we frequently do.”

Source: Aristotle.

FEAR OF THE TIME

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of doing it."

Source: E. Nightingale

IN TIMES OF...RAPID CHANGE

“In times of panic, chaos or rapid change, the bizarre becomes acceptable”.

Source: Frank Ogden.

GETTING LOST

"The best thing about getting lost is what you find along the way."

Source: Advert for CK3 (Calvin Klein)

DON'T WAIT TO GET PERFECT

‘Celebrate any progress. Don’t wait to get perfect.’

Source: Ann McGee Cooper.

THINKING ABOUT THE BIG THINGS

“You’ve got to think about the big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.”

Source: Alvin Toffler

UNLIMITED SCOPE CREEP

"If project content is allowed to change freely the rate of change will exceed the rate of progress."

Source: Anonymous

CAN'T WAIT FOR INSPIRATION

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

Source: Jack London

LISTENING TO GENERAL OPINION

"You can't listen to general opinion. You'd end up doing a little watercolour of a bowl of violets."

Source: Gilbert and George.

IT'S JUST WHAT WE ASKED FOR

"And the users exclaimed with a laugh and a taunt: It's just what we asked for but not what we want."

Source: Anonymous

A DEFINITION OF FANATICISM

“Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.”

Source: George Santayana

NEW MISTAKES

"You are making progress if each mistake is a new one. "

Source: Anonymous proverb

ALIGN AUTHORITY

"Align authority and responsibility."

Source: Anonymous

SCRUM IS...

“Scrum is more than just Standing Up and Burning Down.”

Source: a T-Shirt

THROWING YOURSELF OFF A CLIFF

"Entrepreneurship is throwing yourself off a cliff & assembling a plane on the way down"

Source: Reid Hoffman

EASIER TO TALK ABOUT CHANGE

"It is always easier to talk about change than to make it."

Source: Alvin Toffler

TIME IS THE SCARCEST RESOURCE

"Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed."

Source: Peter Drucker

AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

Source: Albert Einstein.

BLESSED ARE THE FLEXIBLE

“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.”

Source: Michael McGriffy

SWIMMING AGAINST THE STREAM

"The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it."

Source: Woodrow Wilson

SAME THOUGHT TWICE

“There is no reason to have the same thought twice, unless you like having that thought.”

Source: David Allen.

GET STARTED

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Source: Walt Disney.

ULTIMATE AIM OF KARATE

"The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants."

Source: Gichin Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan Karate)

ONE DAY AT A TIME

“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.”

Source: Ashley Brilliant.

ACCURATE ESTIMATING

"The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up."

Source: Anonymous (Ogden's Law)

TURNING BACK

"No matter how far down the wrong road you've gone, turn back."

Source: Turkish proverb (anonymous)

JUNK EXPANDS

"Junk expands to fill the space allotted."

Source: Ron Leemans,

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND PEOPLE

"Everything really interesting that happens in software projects eventually comes down to people."

Source: James Bach

PROJECT TRIANGLE

"Cost, quality, time – choose two." OR "Fast, good, cheap: pick any two."

Sources: Anonymous

REWARDING THE FIREFIGHTERS

"When your organisation rewards firefighters, it breeds arsonists"

Source: Sam Guckenheimer

SEEING THE WOOD FOR THE TREES

“Sometimes when you are inside of a thing, it is mighty tricky to pull your eyeballs out far enough to see what you are in.“

Source: Jean Russell

IT'S ABOUT HAVING WINNERS

“When you're dealing with people it's about having winners. Everybody has to leave the party with a balloon.”

Source: Theo Phaphitis

WORK V HOURS

"It's not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours."

Source: Sam Ewing

WHICH ROAD TO TAKE?

"If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there."

Source: Lewis Carroll

NOT EASY

"Simple is not the same as easy."

Source: Glenda Eoyang

PLANNING TO FAIL

"Fail to plan, plan to fail."

Source: Anonymous

COMFORTABLE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

"The most successful project managers have perfected the skill of being comfortable being uncomfortable".

Source: Anon

ENTHUSIASM - THE REAL SECRET OF SUCCESS

Each new Ferrari employee is taken to meet Luca di Montezemolo, who presents them with a special gift: a card inscribed with the words of legendary Detroit car-maker, Walter P. Chrysler:

“The real secret of success is enthusiasm. You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hope rise to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eye, it is the swing of your gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of your will, And your energy to execute your ideas. Enthusiasts are fighters. They have fortitude, they have staying qualities,

Enthusiasm is behind all progress. With it there is accomplishment.

Without it there are alibis.”

Source: Walter P. Chrysler

TESTING YOUR PRODUCT

"If you don't like unit testing your product, most likely your customers won't like to test it either."

Source: Anonymous

PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

"Plan for the future, because that is where you are going to spend the rest of your life".

Source: Mark Twain

IDEAS ARE COMMMON....

"Ideas are common - what's uncommon are people who'll work hard enough to bring them about".

Source: Ashleigh Brilliant

EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM?

"It may be the early bird that gets the worm, but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese."

Source: Anonymous

CUSTOMERS AS USERS

"Remember, only two industries refer to their customers as users."

Source: Anonymous

PLANNING & DESIGN

'Planning is also design.'

Source: Kent Beck.

TIME ON A PROJECT

'There is nothing more perishable than an airline seat - unless it is time on a project.'

Source: Joy Gumz

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

'Project management is like juggling three balls - time, cost and quality. Programme management is like a troupe of circus performers standing in a circle, each juggling-three balls and swapping balls from time to time.'

Source: G. Reiss

CRITICAL PATH

'A project without a critical path is like a ship without a rudder.'

Source: D. Meyer

DOING THINGS SOMEONE ELSE’S WAY

'Do things someone else's way and you take your life in your own hands.'

Source: Harry Callaghan

PUNISHMENT OF ERROR

'In NASA, we never punish error. We only punish the concealment of error.'

Source: Al Siepert

INDISPENSABLE PEOPLE

‘Indispensable people end up working too hard because they can't risk showing anyone else how to do what they do.’

Source: Wally from Dilbert

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

'Operations keeps the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organisation forward.'

Source: Joy Gumz

FAILING TO PREPARE

'By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.'

Source: Benjamin Franklin.

PROJECT FUNDING

'I prefer to fund projects that have a long-term benefit'.

Source: Duncan Bannatyne

PASSION

'If I had to name a driving force in my life, I'd name passion every time.'

Source: Anita Roddick

FOCUS

'He who begins too much, accomplishes little.’

Source: German Proverb

BREAK THE RULES

'Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.' (Instruction for LIfe No. 5)

Source: Dali Lami

EXCELLENCE A HABIT

'Excellence is not an act but a habit. The things you do the most are the things you will do best.'

Source: Marva Collins

FUN

'People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.'

Source: Dale Carnegie

OPTIMISM

'A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.'

Source: Winston Churchill

FEAR OF LOSING

'I'm driven more by a fear of losing than the idea of winning. I'm constantly looking forward.'

Source: David Brailsford

COLLABORATION

'What you get out of it [collaboration] is more than a sum of the original components.'

Source: Professor David Phillips

PRIORITISATION AND METHOD

'Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.'

Source: Pope John Paul II

NEW IDEAS

'If you go through life convinced that your way is always best, all the new ideas in the world will pass you by.'

Source: Akio Morita

RESPECT

'When you do something others don't have the balls to do, respect starts to roll your way'.

Source: Duncan Bannatyne.

CUSTOMERS

'Don't be afraid of your competitors - be afraid of your customers.'

Source: Jeff Bezos

EXPLOITING TECHNOLOGY

'It will be the ability to exploit the technology and deliver business and public benefit, rather than technical excellence in itself, that will distinguish the most successful businesses’.

Source: Charles Hughes, chairman of BCS. Nov 2006.

STAYING CALM

'Keep calm and carry on.'

Source: Unpublished propaganda poster commissioned by the Ministry of Information in 1939.

DOING THE WRONG THING

‘You can do three things in Irish politics, the right thing, the wrong thing or nothing at all. I’ve always thought it’s best to do the wrong thing than nothing at all.’

Source: Brian Faulkner

SIMPLICITY FOLLOWS...

'Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.'

Source: Alan Perlis

EXPECTING TO SUCCEED

‘Don’t be satisfied with yesterday, choose the right equipment, use it the right way, refuse to compromise, because you can expect to succeed. Then start again.‘

Source: Ron Dennis

DEADLINES

'A deadline is a great motivator, and without that projects can loose their way.'

Source: Duncan Bannatyne

DIFFICULTIES

'Settle one difficulty and you keep a hundred others away.'

Source: Anon (Chinese proverb)

COMPLEXITY

'It's impossible to think big without thinking complex'.

Source: Duncan Bannatyne

CROSSROADS

‘Luck is a crossroad where preparation and opportunity meet.’

Source: Jesse Jackson.

A-B

A-B The hyphen should be the exciting part.

Source: Mercedes poster

CREATIVITY

'Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.'

Source: Albert Szent-Gyrgyi

DELIBERATION

‘Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.’ Source: Napoleon Bonaparte

HELL

‘If you are going through hell, keep going.’ Source: Sir Winston Churchill

TAKING THE INITIATIVE

‘Like rabbit, never let things come to you, always go out and fetch them.’

Source: Winnie the Pooh.

INSIGHT

‘It's best to know what you are looking for before you look for it.’

Source: Winnie the Pooh

UNLESS YOU MOVE...

‘Unless you move, the place where you are is the place where you will always be.'

Source: Ashleigh Brilliant

TEAMS

‘A team is a mosaic.’

Source: Charles Williams.

DISCOVERY

'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes.'

Source: Proust

GENIUS

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.

Source: Thomas Edison

MISUNDERSTANDINGS

'In business, I hate misunderstandings.'

Source: Theo Paphitis (BBC Dragons Den)

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

'One of the unsung freedoms that go with a free press is the freedom not to read it.'

Source: Ferdinand Mount

USER STORY DETAIL

'..readers of this type of story [overly detailed UserStory]...mistakingly associate the extra detail with extra precision.'

Source: Mike Cohn

PROJECTS FINISH LATE

‘#1 reason why projects finish too late? Because they start too late!’

Source: @DaveHicksRADTAC

EXACTLY TO PLAN?

‘If everything is going exactly to plan, something somewhere is going massively wrong.’

Source: Anon

SUCCESS AND FAILURE

'The best advice I've had? It's better to be a flamboyant failure than a benign success.'

Source: Malcolm McLaren

KEEP MOVING

‘Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.’

Source: Conrad Hilton

ESSENCE OF INNOVATION

‘Risk taking is the essence of innovation’

Source: Herman Kahn.

SUCCESSFUL PERSONS

The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do.

Author: Thomas Edison

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

‘Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.’

Source: Thomas Edison

PROJECT EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT

‘Anything that can be changed will be changed until there is no time left to change anything.’

Source: Anon

DEVELOPMENT

‘I can build you anything as long as it’s logical’.

Source: A technology supplier

RISK MANAGEMENT

‘A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning.’

Source: Anon

CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT (SOFTWARE)

'..what really counts: the behavior that users need from the system.'

Source: Jez Humble and David Farley

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

‘At the heart of every large project is a small project trying to get out.’

Source: Anon

RESPONSIBILITY

‘No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.’

Source: Voltair

I HAVE NOT FAILED

‘I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’

Source: Thomas Edison.

SPACE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WHIRLPOOL

'If I had been Prime Minister, I'd have enjoyed the possibility of pleasure more than Mr Major did. Prime Ministers don't have to wear themselves out. They are in the middle of a whirlpool; they can be the calm ones and use the space to think.'

Source: Douglas Hurd

SYMPTOM OF DECAY

‘Perfection of planning is a symptom of decay. During a period of exciting discovery or progress, there is no time to plan the perfect headquarters.’

Source: C. Northcote Parkinson.

QUIET COURAGE

‘Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”.’

Source: Mary Ann Radmacher

DEFEAT

‘Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.’

Source: Marilyn vos Savant

CORPORATIONS

'They [corporations] have no soul to save and they have no body to incarcerate.'

Source: Baron Thurlow

a) PROCRASTINATION OR b) GOOD PREPARATION?

'Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe’.

Source: Abraham Lincoln

SAVING TIME

‘I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty and besides, the pig likes it’.

Source: George Bernard Shaw