Art Petty on Management

The Carnival of Human Resources-A Great Content Source

The Carnival of Human Resources, Installment #32 is live today at the Maximize Possibility blog.  One click leads you to 27 great blog postings on all things people, leadership and business. Go ahead and check it out.  You will be glad that you did.   Thanks to Jake Flanagin for running my  post on "Strategy Bursts." It's in some great company with the featured bloggers. 

The Raw Marketing Power of Passionate People in the Workplace

For those of you drawn to this post in the hope of finding something juicy about workplace romance, keep on clicking.  This is about romance of the professional type.  It's about the powerful impact that someone with passion for his or her job has on the working environment and ultimately on the success of the enterprise.

A passionate employee is like rocket fuel for your organization.  These rare and valuable people build your brand, strengthen client loyalty, stimulate repeat business and energize your workplace just by their daily participation in your business. 

It Might Be Time for You to Start Acting Like The Leader You Want to Be

A blog post at on Looking and Acting Like a Success at Alan Weis's Contrarian Consulting site triggered some thoughts on what it means to look and act like a leader.  While Alan's post emphasizes how a successful person might act to present a desired image, how does a leader portray himself or herself as competent?  If this seems superficial to some, I would challenge that a leader is responsible for acting (and to an extent looking) the part. 

Too Many Projects Chasing Too Few Resources in the Strategy-Starved Organization

Whether you are operating at the strategic level or working in product development, I would bet my life-starting morning cup of coffee (a great Mexican roast from Conscious Cup in Crystal Lake, IL) that your organization faces more opportunities than it can possibly deliver.  The extreme of this situation is Project Gridlock, a phenomena that I've observed in mature technology firms where the demand to support and enhance legacy offerings collide with the need to modernize or create new products to grow the business and stay-ahead of competitors.

Want to Improve Your Business? Fire the People Holding You Back.

Why is it that so many managers struggle with the issue of firing the employees that justifiably require firing?  I've watched as brilliant business owners and otherwise accomplished leaders have agonized over this issue, unable to take the final step, while knowing all the while that it has to be done

Product Manager does not Mean Product Emperor (and other helpful suggestions for success as a Product Manager)

It's long been my opinion that the Product Manager has one of the tougher jobs in an organization (see my post: In Support of the Product Manager as MVP).  This position is one of those "all of the responsibility with none of the power" roles that grind up and spit out mere mortals with alarming frequency. 

There are a number of common mistakes that I've observed both new and experienced Product Managers make, that if understood and avoided, might increase the survival and success rate of this endangered species.  In no particular order, these common mistakes and hopefully, helpful hints, include:

Teammate Yesterday, Manager Today

Undoubtedly, one of the most difficult and awkward professional transitions is the jump from team member to team manager.  The people that you've worked with side by side, joked with and shared lunch with are no longer your peers, they are your employees, and for good or bad, your relationship with them will never be the same.  If you are truly interested in developing as a leader, this awkward situation is an outstanding rite of passage, complete with some hardcore lessons on what it takes for you to build credibility, motivate, direct, support and lead others.

When Projects Go Horribly Wrong: A Great Example

The folks that designed Denver International Airport's infamous baggage handling system can breathe a bit easier now.  While the much publicized start-up disasters at Denver have faded into the past, apparently the project management lessons learned did not transfer across the pond to the teams responsible for the new Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport.

How to Improve a Dysfunctional Meeting Culture Without Removing the Chairs

This is a follow-on to my recent rave against the time-wasting, dysfunctional debating society events that masquerade as meetings in many corporate settings.  My drive to momentarily stay on my "effective-meeting" soapbox was galvanized yesterday, when I spoke with a good friend who had just started a new job.  Her first day coincided with an operations meeting that she described as an all day rugby scrum where everyone got bloody, but no one scored.

Leader: Are Your Meetings Straight Out of A Dilbert Comic Strip?

Consider the last team meeting that you attended or led: 

-Was the agenda well organized?
-Did problems and polite (or not so polite) bickering dominate the airtime? 
-Did people show up with an agenda of their own? 
-Were the same topics that were debated in the last meeting still being debated in this meeting?
-Was much time spent on discussing ideas to create value for the firm and stakeholders? Was there substantive progress or even agreement on problems and priorities?
-How good was the action plan that came from that meeting?
-Was it clear who owned what follow-up and in what time frame? 
-Did people leave feeling like their questions were answered and their priority clear? 
-Were meeting notes promptly distributed?