April 2016 Dinner Meeting – Rancho Cucamonga

April 19, 2016
5:30 PM PDT to 9:00 PM PDT

Antonino's Ristorante Italiano
7945 N Vineyard Ave D-7
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
http://www.antoninosrestaurant.net/
Directions

Presentation Title: I Think, Therefore I Plan: Mastering the methods and meditations of project management.

Presented by: Don Kim

PDU Category: Leadership

Presentation Abstract:

Like the play on Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” for which the title of this talk gets its inspiration, someone at some point said, “Since I can think, I can plan and since I can plan, I can manage a project!” The speaker will argue that this is the first irrefutable law of project management. It is irrefutable because despite all the doubts (a.k.a., “risks” in PM-speak) you may have about project for which you are to undertake (and even yourself as PM), one thing is irrefutable: Since you are the PM who exists and thinks, you are (like it or not) the central point for which the project will realize itself either successfully or unsuccessfully.

The problem from the speaker’s view is that in modern project management, the approach taken for addressing this situation has been dominated from the methodological perspective. In other words, the only question really asked is the “how” (or which method to use) of project management, which has caused the field to be entirely too narrowly focused on tools, techniques and processes and not enough on the deep critical thinking, tacit knowledge and emotional intelligence (EQ) skills. Furthermore, its roots from the scientific method is for the most part not understood nor implemented correctly.

Therefore, the speaker argues that you need to master not only the “how” (methods) of managing projects, but the “why” (meditations) as well. From its roots in the Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist traditions to its practical implementations in Lean Manufacturing’s relentless “5 Whys” questioning process created by Toyota (which has much of its roots in Zen Buddhist philosophy), the speaker will discuss how the methods and meditation practices work hand in hand to allow one to master mindfulness. In other words, we will go beyond the stereotypical image of a guru sitting with legs crossed, eyes closed and chanting hymns while finding their inner Buddha (though that is not to say that there isn’t some truth to this image!) and delve into the structured methodological and conscious meditative practices that allow fully present mindfulness that leads to truly effective practices.

Like the play on Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” for which the title of this talk gets its inspiration, someone at some point said, “Since I can think, I can plan and since I can plan, I can manage a project!” The speaker will argue that this is the first irrefutable law of project management. It is irrefutable because despite all the doubts (a.k.a., “risks” in PM-speak) you may have about project for which you are to undertake (and even yourself as PM), one thing is irrefutable: Since you are the PM who exists and thinks, you are (like it or not) the central point for which the project will realize itself either successfully or unsuccessfully.

The problem from the speaker’s view is that in modern project management, the approach taken for addressing this situation has been dominated from the methodological perspective. In other words, the only question really asked is the “how” (or which method to use) of project management, which has caused the field to be entirely too narrowly focused on tools, techniques and processes and not enough on the deep critical thinking, tacit knowledge and emotional intelligence (EQ) skills. Furthermore, its roots from the scientific method is for the most part not understood nor implemented correctly.

Therefore, the speaker argues that you need to master not only the “how” (methods) of managing projects, but the “why” (meditations) as well. From its roots in the Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist traditions to its practical implementations in Lean Manufacturing’s relentless “5 Whys” questioning process created by Toyota (which has much of its roots in Zen Buddhist philosophy), the speaker will discuss how the methods and meditation practices work hand in hand to allow one to master mindfulness. In other words, we will go beyond the stereotypical image of a guru sitting with legs crossed, eyes closed and chanting hymns while finding their inner Buddha (though that is not to say that there isn’t some truth to this image!) and delve into the structured methodological and conscious meditative practices that allow fully present mindfulness that leads to truly effective practices.

Three key takeaways from the presentation:

1. Understand the reasoning for both the how and the why of adopting a project management method (applicable to any approach whether waterfall, Agile, Lean, Critical-Chain, etc.)
2. Calculative thinking vs. meditative thinking and why it is vital to develop “conscious meditative thinking” abilities
3. How mastery of these principles leads to a state of fully present mindfulness that will enable you productivity gains farther than you ever imagined in your professional and personal life.

This discussion is based on a book the speaker is planning to publish in 2016.

Speaker Biography:

I live the very life of constant career transitions as I was a one-time aspiring PhD student in philosophy who became disillusioned with the whole tenure process and decided to do something else. I somehow became an owner of several franchise businesses (which included an Arco AM/PM gas station, mail and shipping center, etc.) while also teaching myself to program software during my free time and selling it on the side. I found a way to leverage these skills to transition back into the workforce initially as a software developer. This included a short stint in a start-up cutting code for an artificial intelligence call center system, to working for a boutique consulting company developing web applications for Fortune 100 companies.

A major shift in my career occurred, when I discovered the field of project management that seemed to integrate and reconcile technical knowledge, emotional intelligence and business management skills into a perfect marriage. I have never looked back. In about the last decade, I have been involved in the field of project management initially as corporate employee and now as an independent consultant, trainer, coach, educator and writer which includes being an instructor at four universities and colleges, writer for several industry publications and event speaker. I am the founder and owner of one of the world’s most popular PM portal website at www.projectation.com.

Agenda:

• 5:30-6:00 Check-In
• 5:30-6:15 Upcoming Event Loop
• 6:00-6:45 Dinner
• 6:15-6:45 Dinner Meeting Deck
• 6:45-7:00 Break & Speaker Presentation Setup
• 7:00-7:50 Speaker Presentation (Part 1)
• 7:50-8:00 Break
• 8:00-8:50 Speaker Presentation (Part 2)
• 8:50-9:00 Wrap-Up & Raffle
• 9:00-9:30 Networking

 

Tickets

$30.00 PMI CIE Member

$35.00 Non-Member

$15.00 Presentation Only / Student (no dinner)

$15.00 Presentation Only