WEBVTT

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So today what we're gonna do is we're gonna go over, uh,

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these are the slides that, uh, I used at quite a lot

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of conferences and webinars

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and things last year, um, to tell a story.

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And we're gonna pick part of that story

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and do a deep dive into it, right?

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So the story is all about ducks and eggs.

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And, um, uh, uh, I,

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I don't know, jump onto chat.

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Tell me, please tell me if you do not.

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In fact, let's do it the other way around, if you know

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what I mean when I say ducks and eggs, right?

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Give me a quick quack in the chat.

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Oh, we've got some thumbs going up. Excellent. Good stuff.

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We've got a few hearts coming up.

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We've got a nice little quack in there. Fantastic.

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So, for those, for the uninitiated, for those who, uh,

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who haven't had a chance to, to play with my ducks yet,

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the idea of the, the ducks is that, you know, a friend

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of mine was, was presenting his project to CEO of one

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of the world's biggest oil and gas companies.

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And, uh, you know, he was doing the usual thing, right?

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He is geeking out. He's talking about his Gantt chart

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and his, and value reports,

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and, uh, all of these wonderful things that,

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that we love to talk about.

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And the CEO stops him

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and he says, Roberto, I don't care if you've got a boy duck

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or a girl duck, right?

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I don't care about your project methodologies.

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I don't care about all this stuff.

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All I want is eggs, right? I just want the value.

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So tell me about the value.

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Don't bore me with all the eggs and, and, and that stuff.

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So, so from this, right?

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We, we can, we can kind of conclude

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that all the executives want are eggs.

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And so as, uh, as a profession, the PMO profession, right?

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Our job is to maximize

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how much egg we give to the business.

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And eggs are getting more and

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more valuable, right? Stuart?

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They really are. We were, we were,

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we were laughing about that in the green room.

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I'm not sure we're gonna bring some

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of those jokes into, into this forum. Well,

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I'm gonna bring one in right now, um, to, to, to, uh,

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share with everyone here

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how this whole duck story you came up

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with has kind of ruined me.

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I was out Christmas shopping a few months ago,

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and I saw a little, uh, I don't know, it might might've,

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might've been like a little coaster or something,

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and it said, dear autocorrect, it's never duck.

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Excellent. And for the, uh, non,

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non-native English speakers out there, if you go

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and write that one down and think about it later

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on, you'll, you'll get it.

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And it really is never duck.

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Um, so, so one of the things when I'm,

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when I'm presenting this is

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that I'll say something crazy like, yeah, our job is

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to double the strategic impact from the portfolio, right?

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That's, that's what we're here to do as a, as a profession.

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And people kinda look at me weird at that point,

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you know, it's like, double.

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Really, that's not possible.

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And so the next slide that comes up is this one, right?

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Where, where I put Mike's beautiful face up there.

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He, he regrew his beard, by the way, specifically for today,

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so that we'd all recognize it,

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otherwise we'd, we'd never recognize you, right?

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Mike?

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Somebody actually said that to me once.

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Like, I see some guy on the LinkedIn profile

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with facial hair, but that doesn't look like you.

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It's like, really

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Excellent. Well, so

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the funny thing about this slide is

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that when I reached out to Mike

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and said, Hey, Mike, give me a couple of, couple

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of case studies that I can use as, as a validation point.

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Uh, I think I was presenting at the, uh, at the

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PMI Global Summit or something,

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and he sent me a bunch of case studies, uh, and,

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and these case studies had four x increase in, in, in flow,

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five x increase in flow.

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I'm like, Mike, I can't use that. Right?

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Nobody, nobody's gonna believe that.

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So can you send me a few tamer ones?

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So these, these are Mike's failures

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that we're looking at right now.

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These, these aren't even the good ones.

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And so, you know, I've talked about this stuff so often

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that I thought we'd just had to get Mike on a webinar so

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that we could, um, so

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that we could hear from the master, right?

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Um, where, and,

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and so what we thought we'd do is I'll kinda share some

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of the, the way that I talk about this stuff.

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And, and I, you know, most of, most of what I know such as,

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you know, in insofar as I know anything, most of what I know

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I've learned from Mike, because he's really, you know, top

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of the game when it comes to, uh, all things around theory,

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constraints, critical chain, um, uh, in, in, in terms

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of project execution.

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Mike's, Mike's the man,

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And you know, Stuart, real quick on this, yeah.

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Um, it took me a long time to, uh, get to that point.

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Um, and I spent probably the first 20 plus years

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of my career having the same reaction that you said,

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you guess, uh, quite often thinking that's not possible.

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Um, you know, we, we PMs can't possibly be

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that underperforming, that there's so much room to improve

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that it could be double or better.

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It just, that, that just doesn't make any sense.

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We'd have to be so incompetent for that to even be possible.

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It just can't be possible.

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Um, and so, uh, it, when I, when I finally had to face up

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to the fact that, uh, quite a bit

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of improvement at the portfolio level is quite possible,

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it really, um, forced me to rewire my entire brain.

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Um, it, it took me like a,

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it was like a six month painful process to open my, my mind

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to the possibility that that much improvement was actually,

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um, realistic.

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Well, so here we go. Let's start, let's start with a bit

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of a story there, Mike, before we jump into this one.

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Um, how did you get into all this?

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Because a lot of this stuff really is not intuitive,

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even if you've, even if you've read the goal, right?

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It still isn't intuitive.

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Uh, it was all just a, a series of serendipitous events

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where I just kind of fell into one career after another

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and began learning and assembling knowledge from, uh,

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you know, my time at NASA trying to get, um,

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space systems in orbit, uh, becoming a software engineer

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and, um, kind of living the

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agile revolution in the early days.

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Um, and just always kind of having this curiosity about,

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you know, what, uh, I've lived through so many failures

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and, um, and many of those are attributable to me.

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So also quite humbling, right?

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Um, but hey, I can learn from

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these failures, and you know what?

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There must be a better way. So that's sort

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of the organizing theme of my,

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my whole career trajectory is there must be a better way.

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My issue is I'm, I'm rarely intelligent enough

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to actually figure out what that better way is.

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So I just, I just read

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voraciously and, and learn from others.

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So I was very lucky that I had quite a few amazing mentors

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that were patient enough with me to take me through

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and help me rewire my brain.

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Awesome, awesome.

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Well, that, and, and to be honest, that's, um, uh,

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that underlines one of the things we were talking about in

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the Green Room before we opened up, which is that, um,

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you know, all all, all the people who, you know,

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jump on web webinars, stand on stage at conferences, um,

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you know, we've all learned from other people.

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Um, and, um, so again, I, I'm, I'm gonna, um, suggest

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and encourage you all to jump in with questions

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and make this session as interactive as you can,

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because Mike is offering himself up today as a resource so

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that we can all learn and,

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and get, get better at this stuff and get smarter.

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So, so the message here fundamentally is the, um, yes,

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it absolutely is possible to double

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or better the, the flow of projects.

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So, so let's start off, Mike, maybe with,

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with a case study or something.

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Just, just tell us about a customer, you know, what do,

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what does it typically look like when you walk

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through the door for the first time, and then,

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and then what does it look like when you leave?

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So, honestly, uh, some

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of the biggest successes I've had we're the simplest

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and probably did not require, well, did not require much

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of my, um, help or support,

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and was something that was readily available to the client,

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even had they never met me.

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They just didn't know it. And so the,

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it's almost embarrassingly simple, but I'll share it.

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We, we humans have a, a very, um, common tendency

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to overload our systems.

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Um, you know, if you're familiar

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with the holiday in the US Thanksgiving where we, you know,

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celebrate with a big feast, uh,

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there's a term we have called Thanksgiving eyes.

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You just want, uh, you want some of everything.

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It's just all looks so good, but it's probably more than you

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can actually handle, at least handle

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in a healthy way, right?

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Yeah. Um, and that's the same

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with executives and organizations.

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I want more done. I want more eggs.

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So if I want more value delivered, I guess the way

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to do it is to launch more initiatives, right?

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Because all these initiatives, these projects sound great.

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I want them all done. And yes, I'm well aware

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of resource constraints.

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All executives understand those concepts,

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but I don't think they understand the difference

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between keeping everyone busy as possible

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and getting as many results as possible.

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Because not only are those two different things,

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they're actually in conflict with each other.

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You can't have both. If you choose, uh, everyone being

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as busy as possible, you will create a traffic jam.

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Um, and so the typical scenario is my PMs, uh,

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you know, have lost their zeal.

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They no longer, you know, they no longer know how

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to keep a, a fast cadence.

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Um, we're getting big and bureaucratic and lazy around here.

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I want you to whip everyone into shape.

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And I say, well, without even knowing anything else about

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your organization, I can tell you with 99% confidence

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that you have overloaded your highway system.

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And now you're wondering why everyone's late.

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So deload your highway system, and, um,

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and again, we all know this right, from sitting in traffic,

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but, but it's, it's harder

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to see in our organizations, right?

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How, how congested our project portfolios

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are are not so easy to see.

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Like traffic might be if you're like in a helicopter

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flying above the highway, right?

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Or certainly sitting in it,

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but the PMs who are sitting in it, they feel it,

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and they, they know that like, okay, well,

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I can only get 20% of Joe

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and he's not available till next Thursday,

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and then Joe's sick next Thursday,

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and we try to muddle through without Joe.

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And, uh, and then we wonder why we're so much slower.

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So basically, unless you have people standing around, kind

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of like in a relay race ready to take the baton,

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you will not get, you will not get the

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fastest possible execution.

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So that's very counterintuitive.

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Like, wait, you want me to have people standing around?

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Um, yes, but not, not for no purpose.

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They're, they're standing there ready

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to take the baton, right?

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Um, and they're warmed up and they're trained up,

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and they've drilled on the baton handoffs, and,

249
00:11:10.475 --> 00:11:12.495
and they're, they're ready to, they're ready to go

250
00:11:12.495 --> 00:11:14.775
after maximum speed here, right?

251
00:11:15.835 --> 00:11:17.735
And if they're over finishing their high jump

252
00:11:17.755 --> 00:11:20.895
or some other event, and we have to wait for them, well,

253
00:11:20.895 --> 00:11:22.055
we're gonna have a much slower time.

254
00:11:22.195 --> 00:11:25.545
So it's very, it's very, um, simple in concept,

255
00:11:26.205 --> 00:11:27.465
but counterintuitive, right?

256
00:11:27.465 --> 00:11:29.025
Because it challenges core assumptions.

257
00:11:29.025 --> 00:11:31.865
Like, if I want more done, I better launch more initiatives.

258
00:11:31.885 --> 00:11:34.385
That's, that's one. And also, uh,

259
00:11:34.445 --> 00:11:35.985
the sooner we start, the sooner we finish.

260
00:11:37.285 --> 00:11:40.465
So that assumption, um, is a real tricky one

261
00:11:40.465 --> 00:11:41.945
because like the traffic analogy,

262
00:11:42.445 --> 00:11:43.905
if I know there's bad traffic out there

263
00:11:43.905 --> 00:11:46.505
and I want to be home by 6:00 PM well, I better leave

264
00:11:46.605 --> 00:11:47.665
by four 30 or whatever.

265
00:11:48.665 --> 00:11:50.845
But the difference there is I don't control that system.

266
00:11:51.545 --> 00:11:53.795
I'm a victim of it. Um,

267
00:11:53.795 --> 00:11:56.195
organizations do control their portfolios,

268
00:11:56.875 --> 00:11:58.015
and they're not victims of it,

269
00:11:58.075 --> 00:11:59.255
or they don't have to be anyway.

270
00:12:00.625 --> 00:12:02.645
So literally, I just say, cut your projects in half,

271
00:12:02.745 --> 00:12:04.005
and they of course ask why half?

272
00:12:04.085 --> 00:12:06.565
I say, I don't know. Um, it's a big number.

273
00:12:07.705 --> 00:12:10.205
Uh, you might need to cut by 80%, but 20 probably won't do.

274
00:12:11.025 --> 00:12:14.285
So, uh, put half on hold, redeploy the resources,

275
00:12:14.285 --> 00:12:16.445
the other half, and you will, uh,

276
00:12:16.505 --> 00:12:17.885
get twice as many done this year.

277
00:12:18.065 --> 00:12:19.285
And it's really that simple.

278
00:12:19.865 --> 00:12:21.725
I'm almost embarrassed that I, that I have

279
00:12:21.725 --> 00:12:22.845
to send an invoice just for that,

280
00:12:25.905 --> 00:12:26.965
Should never be embarrassed

281
00:12:26.965 --> 00:12:28.245
to send an invoice invoice, Mike.

282
00:12:28.745 --> 00:12:31.165
Um, but okay, so, so there's a couple of questions.

283
00:12:31.165 --> 00:12:32.405
Let's make you edit today.

284
00:12:33.745 --> 00:12:36.805
So the, so the first one is, um, so,

285
00:12:36.825 --> 00:12:40.165
so we're talking about increasing ROI or flow,

286
00:12:40.185 --> 00:12:42.685
or whatever you, you, you want to call it, right?

287
00:12:43.635 --> 00:12:46.535
How do you, how do you actually baseline that?

288
00:12:46.975 --> 00:12:48.695
'cause at the end of the day, we to declare victory,

289
00:12:48.695 --> 00:12:49.695
we've gotta be able to measure.

290
00:12:50.805 --> 00:12:52.305
So how do you create the baseline?

291
00:12:54.335 --> 00:12:57.355
So usually, uh, especially large organizations,

292
00:12:57.355 --> 00:12:59.315
they almost always will have some sort of system

293
00:13:00.175 --> 00:13:02.525
where they have, you know, charge codes for projects

294
00:13:02.525 --> 00:13:04.965
and time sheets and all that kind of stuff, um,

295
00:13:04.965 --> 00:13:06.125
for better and worse, right?

296
00:13:06.545 --> 00:13:09.205
So usually, uh, I could say like, well, okay,

297
00:13:09.225 --> 00:13:13.205
how many charge, how many project charge codes did you, um,

298
00:13:13.205 --> 00:13:14.645
decommission last year?

299
00:13:15.585 --> 00:13:17.445
And they can go into their system and run a report

300
00:13:17.445 --> 00:13:19.045
and tell me within five minutes usually.

301
00:13:19.945 --> 00:13:21.965
Um, and if they can't, if they don't even have any,

302
00:13:22.025 --> 00:13:23.965
any system like that, or any discipline or,

303
00:13:23.965 --> 00:13:26.125
or whatever, usually that's because they're a startup

304
00:13:26.145 --> 00:13:29.205
or a scale up, and they can count them on, you know,

305
00:13:29.265 --> 00:13:30.445
two hands, right?

306
00:13:32.015 --> 00:13:33.385
It's okay, you got 10 done last

307
00:13:33.385 --> 00:13:34.425
year, how'd you like to get 20?

308
00:13:35.455 --> 00:13:38.405
Um, and go, oh, but everyone's so maxed out around here.

309
00:13:38.565 --> 00:13:39.765
Everyone's already so stressed. There's already,

310
00:13:39.835 --> 00:13:41.085
already so much overtime.

311
00:13:41.605 --> 00:13:43.725
I was like, right, how about we reduce all that too?

312
00:13:45.225 --> 00:13:47.255
Um, and,

313
00:13:47.355 --> 00:13:49.855
and then again, they, they often will look at me with, um,

314
00:13:50.325 --> 00:13:52.305
disbelief, but, uh,

315
00:13:52.325 --> 00:13:53.545
but there's a reason they, they

316
00:13:53.545 --> 00:13:54.705
called me in the first place, right?

317
00:13:54.705 --> 00:13:56.185
There's a problem with the status quo

318
00:13:56.205 --> 00:13:57.865
and strong motivation to improve it.

319
00:13:58.795 --> 00:14:00.015
So I just remind them of that

320
00:14:00.725 --> 00:14:03.715
and then just say, well, uh, if, you know,

321
00:14:03.715 --> 00:14:05.915
it might not work, but you won't know until you try it.

322
00:14:06.135 --> 00:14:07.515
And if you try it and it fails,

323
00:14:07.535 --> 00:14:09.955
you're gonna learn some very interesting things about

324
00:14:09.955 --> 00:14:12.795
that failure, and you're free to fire me if it fails.

325
00:14:12.935 --> 00:14:15.035
Um, I'm the consultant, I'm supposed

326
00:14:15.035 --> 00:14:16.875
to get fired at some point, right?

327
00:14:17.935 --> 00:14:19.435
But every, every time I've gone

328
00:14:19.435 --> 00:14:22.035
and done that, um, it either worked really quickly

329
00:14:22.535 --> 00:14:26.715
and built momentum for, for more, or it didn't work,

330
00:14:27.215 --> 00:14:30.915
and that gave them amazing insights into what could work.

331
00:14:31.825 --> 00:14:34.715
Like we were sure this would work, it didn't, why not?

332
00:14:35.585 --> 00:14:37.485
And then that's, uh, I've never seen a case

333
00:14:37.485 --> 00:14:40.245
where a client needed, uh, more than one try

334
00:14:40.245 --> 00:14:42.995
to get it right, or, sorry, more than two tries, right?

335
00:14:43.105 --> 00:14:45.515
More than one failure, right? Yeah. Yeah.

336
00:14:45.575 --> 00:14:48.395
The second tries, uh, you know, they never need,

337
00:14:48.945 --> 00:14:50.035
it's always the first try,

338
00:14:50.215 --> 00:14:52.525
and never worse than the, than the second try, I guess.

339
00:14:54.005 --> 00:14:56.185
So, so in the event, you know, in, in the chat,

340
00:14:56.185 --> 00:14:58.665
people are talking about, you know, the, the, the fact

341
00:14:58.665 --> 00:15:02.805
that some execs don't realize that there are constraints

342
00:15:03.025 --> 00:15:04.925
and that those constraints are causing problems.

343
00:15:05.625 --> 00:15:07.645
So how do you, how do you make that visible?

344
00:15:07.745 --> 00:15:09.045
And I, I've got a little story about that,

345
00:15:09.045 --> 00:15:11.725
but I'd love to hear your, your take first, how do you,

346
00:15:12.025 --> 00:15:13.045
how do you get their attention

347
00:15:13.185 --> 00:15:14.405
and how do you make it visible

348
00:15:14.915 --> 00:15:16.165
that this is causing a problem?

349
00:15:18.315 --> 00:15:19.885
Well, usually, again, if they've called me,

350
00:15:19.885 --> 00:15:22.045
they already know there's a problem, or there's, uh,

351
00:15:22.045 --> 00:15:24.365
at least some pretty big missed opportunities, um,

352
00:15:24.965 --> 00:15:26.695
frustration, all of that.

353
00:15:27.595 --> 00:15:30.415
And often they will have already tried something like, well,

354
00:15:30.875 --> 00:15:33.215
we tried sending all the PMs to training

355
00:15:33.715 --> 00:15:35.375
or getting them all PP certified,

356
00:15:35.715 --> 00:15:38.775
or, um, we'll have an agile transformation

357
00:15:38.795 --> 00:15:40.415
and get everyone trained up in agile stuff

358
00:15:40.475 --> 00:15:43.255
and try, try following the scrum guide or something.

359
00:15:43.875 --> 00:15:46.655
And they may well have gotten some improvements from, um,

360
00:15:46.675 --> 00:15:49.895
all of those, but it's almost always very incremental,

361
00:15:49.915 --> 00:15:52.095
and sometimes they don't get any improvement at all.

362
00:15:52.095 --> 00:15:55.335
And it could even get worse, because, again, until you,

363
00:15:55.505 --> 00:15:59.545
until you set things up for flow, none of

364
00:15:59.545 --> 00:16:01.495
that stuff matters, right?

365
00:16:01.495 --> 00:16:02.775
Or it only matters at the fringes.

366
00:16:03.675 --> 00:16:06.215
Um, and oh, by the way, I have quite a few now.

367
00:16:06.215 --> 00:16:07.735
I'm, I'm, I'm a proud agileists.

368
00:16:08.395 --> 00:16:10.655
You can see the word agile in the subtitle of my book there.

369
00:16:11.155 --> 00:16:13.615
Um, and I lived, like I said, I lived the agile

370
00:16:14.135 --> 00:16:16.015
movement in the nineties and the early aughts.

371
00:16:17.605 --> 00:16:21.105
Um, but again, uh, the best methods will,

372
00:16:21.245 --> 00:16:25.005
can easily be squandered if you're just stuck in traffic.

373
00:16:29.525 --> 00:16:30.885
Absolutely. Right? Absolutely right.

374
00:16:31.225 --> 00:16:34.485
So, so, um, what, what, what I, what I'd like

375
00:16:34.485 --> 00:16:37.925
to do now is just sort of jump forward a little bit and,

376
00:16:37.925 --> 00:16:39.285
and start to tell the story

377
00:16:40.325 --> 00:16:43.385
and, um, uh, come back to the, the,

378
00:16:43.485 --> 00:16:45.225
the traffic jam analogy for a second.

379
00:16:45.735 --> 00:16:49.835
Because, um, the, there are sort of, there are several ways

380
00:16:49.835 --> 00:16:51.875
that you can get your execs attention on this one.

381
00:16:52.015 --> 00:16:53.675
One is just to show them, right?

382
00:16:53.735 --> 00:16:58.395
So, so, um, there's a, a, a chap in in Wales

383
00:16:58.775 --> 00:17:00.395
who was really struggling,

384
00:17:00.975 --> 00:17:02.515
and exec, his execs were just coming

385
00:17:02.535 --> 00:17:03.675
and saying, look, here's a project.

386
00:17:03.675 --> 00:17:05.355
Just get it done. Just get it done.

387
00:17:06.745 --> 00:17:08.315
Find a way, just get it done.

388
00:17:09.505 --> 00:17:11.965
And, uh, he happened to be on, uh,

389
00:17:11.965 --> 00:17:13.405
Laura Barnard was launching her book.

390
00:17:13.405 --> 00:17:16.805
He was on one of the launch calls, and I got him to join

391
00:17:16.945 --> 00:17:18.685
and got him to tell the story.

392
00:17:18.825 --> 00:17:20.765
And Laura gave him some great advice,

393
00:17:21.175 --> 00:17:23.205
which was basically just, just, you know, next time

394
00:17:23.205 --> 00:17:27.255
that happens, just show them your

395
00:17:27.775 --> 00:17:29.495
resource allocation and the projects

396
00:17:29.495 --> 00:17:30.895
to which everybody's allocated,

397
00:17:31.635 --> 00:17:36.285
and ask him which project you would like

398
00:17:36.285 --> 00:17:39.525
to take the resources from in order to do this new thing.

399
00:17:40.845 --> 00:17:42.435
Great. Love it. How'd that go

400
00:17:42.985 --> 00:17:43.985
Beautifully.

401
00:17:44.055 --> 00:17:48.175
The executing question just kind of went, oh, I see.

402
00:17:48.175 --> 00:17:51.185
No, we can't stop any of that other activity. Okay.

403
00:17:51.405 --> 00:17:54.515
So you'll just have to wait. Yes. Okay. Right.

404
00:17:54.615 --> 00:17:57.915
It can be that simple. It really can, um, uh,

405
00:17:57.915 --> 00:17:59.435
storytelling is a good way.

406
00:17:59.535 --> 00:18:01.035
Uh, you know, and if Yeah,

407
00:18:01.035 --> 00:18:02.035
Go ahead. And on that scenario,

408
00:18:02.035 --> 00:18:03.115
if they say, well,

409
00:18:03.115 --> 00:18:04.635
we're not gonna stop anything, we'll just,

410
00:18:04.965 --> 00:18:06.715
we'll just stop starting new things

411
00:18:06.855 --> 00:18:09.395
and we'll wait for the current traffic jam to,

412
00:18:09.415 --> 00:18:12.675
to slowly clear before we get things really flowing again.

413
00:18:13.435 --> 00:18:14.715
I say, okay, well that's, that's

414
00:18:14.715 --> 00:18:16.595
how you double your ROI in a year or two.

415
00:18:17.745 --> 00:18:22.685
I thought you said you wanted to do it right now. Right?

416
00:18:22.985 --> 00:18:24.885
So you, you gotta make some bold decisions now if you

417
00:18:24.885 --> 00:18:26.205
want big improvement.

418
00:18:27.225 --> 00:18:28.445
Um, and by the way, it reminds me

419
00:18:28.445 --> 00:18:29.685
of a story. Go ahead. Sorry, Stuart.

420
00:18:29.685 --> 00:18:31.565
Yeah, go. No, well, no, I was, I was just gonna say,

421
00:18:31.645 --> 00:18:33.725
I mean, it reminds me, actually, Mike, when you say that

422
00:18:33.865 --> 00:18:37.405
of our first ever conversation, so Mike was working

423
00:18:37.405 --> 00:18:41.115
with a client and they, you know, he kind of thought

424
00:18:41.115 --> 00:18:42.795
that prioritization might be important

425
00:18:43.555 --> 00:18:44.695
for this particular client.

426
00:18:45.275 --> 00:18:48.335
And he rang me up. I remember I was, I was, I was, uh,

427
00:18:48.335 --> 00:18:51.055
walking the streets of London at the time, um,

428
00:18:51.795 --> 00:18:54.015
not in any kind of dodgy revenue earning way,

429
00:18:54.075 --> 00:18:56.415
but just kind of, I was walking back from a meeting

430
00:18:56.475 --> 00:18:58.895
or something and, uh,

431
00:18:59.315 --> 00:19:03.015
and this, this arrogant SOB came on the call

432
00:19:03.015 --> 00:19:06.035
and he's like, look, the customer wants prioritization,

433
00:19:06.095 --> 00:19:07.435
but I, I'm not sure I need it.

434
00:19:07.515 --> 00:19:09.035
I know it's important, but I'm not sure I need it.

435
00:19:09.255 --> 00:19:10.435
I'm like, what do you mean? He said, well,

436
00:19:10.995 --> 00:19:12.755
I can make projects go so fast

437
00:19:13.065 --> 00:19:16.165
that they can just do everything right.

438
00:19:16.995 --> 00:19:19.015
And, uh, to which I responded, great,

439
00:19:19.015 --> 00:19:20.655
so you're just gonna do the wrong projects faster.

440
00:19:20.965 --> 00:19:22.655
Nice, nice work. But,

441
00:19:22.755 --> 00:19:26.015
but from that came this, this kind of realization that, hey,

442
00:19:26.125 --> 00:19:29.375
there's a guy here who's claiming to do something

443
00:19:29.885 --> 00:19:33.245
that everyone else thinks is just mad, right?

444
00:19:33.545 --> 00:19:35.565
And what can we, what can we learn from that?

445
00:19:36.465 --> 00:19:39.245
And I, I think over the, over the intervening years,

446
00:19:39.245 --> 00:19:41.605
we've learned a bit from each other, hopefully, um,

447
00:19:41.655 --> 00:19:43.805
right on most, mostly Mike teaching me,

448
00:19:43.965 --> 00:19:45.205
I have to, I have to confess.

449
00:19:45.745 --> 00:19:49.325
But the, but the, the, the point is that, um, you know,

450
00:19:49.785 --> 00:19:51.405
to do, to do all of this, right?

451
00:19:51.745 --> 00:19:56.415
So, so asking someone to cut half the portfolio gets a heck

452
00:19:56.415 --> 00:19:58.855
of a lot easier if we actually understand the relative value

453
00:19:58.855 --> 00:20:00.335
of those projects, right?

454
00:20:01.205 --> 00:20:04.665
And, and, um, so, so this is the, the, the analogy that I,

455
00:20:04.665 --> 00:20:07.505
that I kind of use, many of you will have seen this before.

456
00:20:08.325 --> 00:20:12.345
So, um, so, uh, uh, so I am fully expecting lots

457
00:20:12.345 --> 00:20:14.945
of perfect answers in the chat, please, as we go

458
00:20:14.945 --> 00:20:16.185
through this, right?

459
00:20:16.285 --> 00:20:17.585
So, so here's a road

460
00:20:18.505 --> 00:20:21.845
and, uh, you know, so, so why do we, why do we build roads?

461
00:20:21.905 --> 00:20:23.605
What's the point of building roads?

462
00:20:24.905 --> 00:20:26.285
Ah, sha you're not allowed to answer.

463
00:20:26.485 --> 00:20:27.525
'cause you've heard this too many times.

464
00:20:30.305 --> 00:20:32.565
So why do we, why do we build roads? Jump into the chat.

465
00:20:32.635 --> 00:20:34.765
Someone give me, someone, gimme a quick answer

466
00:20:38.885 --> 00:20:40.545
to get from one point to another to get

467
00:20:40.545 --> 00:20:41.585
what, from one point to another.

468
00:20:41.585 --> 00:20:42.625
Randy, that's a good answer.

469
00:20:43.095 --> 00:20:44.225
What, what is it that we're getting

470
00:20:44.225 --> 00:20:45.305
from one point to another?

471
00:20:55.065 --> 00:20:56.345
So much store traffic costs?

472
00:20:58.005 --> 00:20:59.905
You know, I've never had that answer before. I like that.

473
00:21:00.845 --> 00:21:04.545
Uh, whatever you want to get to an end point. Okay. Yeah.

474
00:21:04.545 --> 00:21:07.425
I, I, oh, that, I, I quite like that answer actually, Randy.

475
00:21:07.445 --> 00:21:11.225
That's, that's good people. Good, good. Like that people,

476
00:21:11.465 --> 00:21:12.625
I like Gregor's answer too.

477
00:21:13.525 --> 00:21:16.505
Uh, where was Gregor to get to the goal? Absolutely.

478
00:21:17.285 --> 00:21:21.105
Um, so, so the, I, so the goal, you know, we build roads

479
00:21:21.105 --> 00:21:24.065
to get people and goods from A to B, right?

480
00:21:24.125 --> 00:21:26.745
Not to get cars from A to B to get people and goods.

481
00:21:27.005 --> 00:21:29.235
So the people are the value,

482
00:21:30.655 --> 00:21:32.515
the cars are like projects, right?

483
00:21:32.515 --> 00:21:33.915
That's just, it's just the vehicle

484
00:21:33.945 --> 00:21:36.235
that takes the value from one place to another, right?

485
00:21:36.235 --> 00:21:38.475
And delivers the value to its, to its end point.

486
00:21:38.895 --> 00:21:40.595
And then the road is like the constraints

487
00:21:40.595 --> 00:21:41.635
that we have, right?

488
00:21:41.635 --> 00:21:46.325
There's only so much road. So, so 0% utilization

489
00:21:46.325 --> 00:21:47.645
of the road, we've got an empty road.

490
00:21:47.945 --> 00:21:49.565
How much, how many people are getting to their,

491
00:21:49.575 --> 00:21:51.125
their journey and, uh, getting

492
00:21:51.125 --> 00:21:52.245
to their destination right now?

493
00:21:53.875 --> 00:21:56.285
This is, this is gonna be very chat intensive folks for,

494
00:21:56.285 --> 00:21:58.285
so just keep, keep your fingers out there.

495
00:22:00.785 --> 00:22:02.645
So how many people are getting to their destination?

496
00:22:04.085 --> 00:22:06.045
Everyone, everyone who set out, right? I

497
00:22:06.045 --> 00:22:07.805
Know IL was correcting his previous comment.

498
00:22:07.825 --> 00:22:09.005
That's all. Oh, oh,

499
00:22:09.005 --> 00:22:10.005
Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Okay.

500
00:22:10.005 --> 00:22:11.565
Actually, that's,

501
00:22:11.565 --> 00:22:13.125
that is quite a funny, funny answer.

502
00:22:13.485 --> 00:22:14.725
Everyone who sets out gets there, right?

503
00:22:14.725 --> 00:22:17.325
Nobody's setting out. So

504
00:22:17.325 --> 00:22:19.045
how many people are getting to their destination?

505
00:22:26.765 --> 00:22:28.285
I think people are refusing to respond because,

506
00:22:28.595 --> 00:22:29.805
because they're embarrassed

507
00:22:29.805 --> 00:22:31.125
that you'd even ask the question.

508
00:22:31.925 --> 00:22:33.605
I know. Well, there, obviously,

509
00:22:33.605 --> 00:22:35.605
there are no people getting to their destination.

510
00:22:36.465 --> 00:22:38.005
So, so what do we do? We add some cards.

511
00:22:38.075 --> 00:22:39.245
Ones who do not have ev

512
00:22:42.375 --> 00:22:44.125
We've got a punchy, punchy group in

513
00:22:44.125 --> 00:22:45.165
today. I love it, Gregor.

514
00:22:45.165 --> 00:22:47.085
I will have, you know, that I, I've owned nothing

515
00:22:47.085 --> 00:22:48.245
but EVs for over a decade,

516
00:22:48.245 --> 00:22:49.805
and I always get where I'm trying to go.

517
00:22:51.645 --> 00:22:54.365
Absolutely. Whether it's two wheels, four or four by four

518
00:22:55.305 --> 00:22:56.305
Off road, whatever.

519
00:22:56.715 --> 00:22:58.285
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

520
00:22:58.745 --> 00:23:00.525
Um, so, so we put some, uh,

521
00:23:00.745 --> 00:23:02.245
so we put some cars on the road, right?

522
00:23:02.305 --> 00:23:04.885
So we're running at 30% utilization cars are whizzing along

523
00:23:04.895 --> 00:23:06.485
loads of people getting to the destination.

524
00:23:06.485 --> 00:23:08.125
Everybody's happy. So what do we do?

525
00:23:08.515 --> 00:23:10.325
Well, we put more cars on the road, obviously,

526
00:23:10.485 --> 00:23:12.365
'cause we want more people to get to the destination.

527
00:23:12.905 --> 00:23:16.695
So we add more cars and more cars, and eventually, right?

528
00:23:16.875 --> 00:23:19.095
We get to a hundred percent utilization, which

529
00:23:19.115 --> 00:23:20.615
of course looks like this.

530
00:23:22.265 --> 00:23:25.245
So the key question is how many people are getting to

531
00:23:25.895 --> 00:23:27.205
their destination now?

532
00:23:31.625 --> 00:23:34.165
And the answer is not many.

533
00:23:35.135 --> 00:23:36.825
Yeah, it's not, probably not none,

534
00:23:36.925 --> 00:23:38.305
but it's, it's a small number.

535
00:23:38.925 --> 00:23:41.225
You'll get some people through those motorcyclists will

536
00:23:41.225 --> 00:23:43.665
sneak, sneak their way through somehow, right?

537
00:23:44.565 --> 00:23:45.695
And, uh, you know,

538
00:23:45.695 --> 00:23:47.695
and you'll get the odd cast sneaking through, but,

539
00:23:47.755 --> 00:23:50.375
but not many people. So, so, and

540
00:23:50.445 --> 00:23:53.575
Also, Stewart, I also add that, uh, in,

541
00:23:53.595 --> 00:23:56.095
in most organizations, certainly the ones I grew up in

542
00:23:56.515 --> 00:23:58.335
and found success in, is

543
00:23:58.335 --> 00:23:59.935
because I figured out basically how to cheat.

544
00:24:00.535 --> 00:24:03.085
I figured out how to like, put a strobe light, uh,

545
00:24:03.085 --> 00:24:05.045
and on my roof and a siren so

546
00:24:05.045 --> 00:24:07.525
that people thought I was an ambulance that had to get

547
00:24:07.525 --> 00:24:10.125
through, and I would just, you know, force people

548
00:24:10.145 --> 00:24:11.445
to the side and plow through.

549
00:24:12.245 --> 00:24:15.745
So, so when I lived in the States, um, I I, that, that,

550
00:24:15.805 --> 00:24:18.025
my secret was Cadbury's chocolate from the uk,

551
00:24:19.035 --> 00:24:21.835
I would bring Cadbury's chocolate back every time I came

552
00:24:21.835 --> 00:24:23.955
back, and I would hand it out to all the developers.

553
00:24:24.955 --> 00:24:27.015
And, uh, and bribes

554
00:24:27.015 --> 00:24:28.015
Worked too. Yep. Bribes

555
00:24:28.015 --> 00:24:29.015
absolutely worked.

556
00:24:29.195 --> 00:24:31.335
So anytime one of my customers needed something,

557
00:24:31.755 --> 00:24:34.295
it got done top of the pile every single time.

558
00:24:35.245 --> 00:24:37.825
Uh, I'm, I'm not proud of it, but there you go.

559
00:24:37.825 --> 00:24:40.025
That's, that's how the world works. So,

560
00:24:40.135 --> 00:24:42.265
Yeah, no, by the way, that was another humbling moment

561
00:24:42.725 --> 00:24:46.305
for me, realizing that I thought I was this fantastic pm

562
00:24:47.165 --> 00:24:48.425
um, shining star.

563
00:24:48.585 --> 00:24:50.225
I got promoted faster than all my peers,

564
00:24:50.765 --> 00:24:51.865
and I realized that all my

565
00:24:51.865 --> 00:24:53.265
successes were basically cheating.

566
00:24:54.215 --> 00:24:55.435
And it ca came at the expense

567
00:24:55.435 --> 00:24:56.635
of the other projects and the other people

568
00:24:57.965 --> 00:25:01.865
You go, which is why we need PMOs, by the way,

569
00:25:02.895 --> 00:25:05.105
that one of the reasons that we need PMOs.

570
00:25:05.505 --> 00:25:09.465
A good PMO. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. A good PMO.

571
00:25:10.085 --> 00:25:11.825
Um, fantastic.

572
00:25:12.045 --> 00:25:13.305
So let's, let's turn this,

573
00:25:13.315 --> 00:25:15.465
let's convert this into something a bit

574
00:25:15.465 --> 00:25:17.025
more businesslike, right?

575
00:25:17.045 --> 00:25:18.585
So, so the vertical axis here

576
00:25:18.605 --> 00:25:19.785
is the amount of business value.

577
00:25:20.235 --> 00:25:22.705
Horizontal is your, your resource utilization rate.

578
00:25:22.885 --> 00:25:26.065
So low utilization, you're not delivering more much value.

579
00:25:26.165 --> 00:25:28.665
So you, so you add more projects, right?

580
00:25:28.845 --> 00:25:31.025
And the execs say, that's good, let's add even more.

581
00:25:31.025 --> 00:25:32.305
So you add some more projects.

582
00:25:32.765 --> 00:25:33.865
And somewhere around here,

583
00:25:33.865 --> 00:25:35.865
something really interesting happens, right?

584
00:25:36.485 --> 00:25:38.225
Or two things really interesting happen.

585
00:25:38.645 --> 00:25:41.305
The first thing is that the, is that the execs wake up

586
00:25:41.305 --> 00:25:43.345
and they say, well, actually we should be going

587
00:25:43.345 --> 00:25:45.105
for a hundred percent utilization, right?

588
00:25:45.105 --> 00:25:46.385
You can't do better than a hundred percent

589
00:25:46.385 --> 00:25:49.315
utilization. Um, and by the

590
00:25:49.315 --> 00:25:51.595
Way, if they're paid on billable hours,

591
00:25:51.785 --> 00:25:53.275
that actually is appropriate.

592
00:25:54.415 --> 00:25:57.075
That's a very good point. That's a very good point.

593
00:25:57.455 --> 00:25:59.275
If they're paid on actually value delivery

594
00:25:59.275 --> 00:26:01.035
and getting things done, then that's terrible.

595
00:26:03.865 --> 00:26:06.885
Uh, there you go. Nice, nice, nice little fact.

596
00:26:07.445 --> 00:26:08.485
Thank you for that in the chat.

597
00:26:08.945 --> 00:26:11.405
Um, so, so the first thing that happens is execs wake up

598
00:26:11.405 --> 00:26:12.365
and they say, Hey, we should go for a hundred

599
00:26:12.365 --> 00:26:13.005
percent utilization.

600
00:26:13.005 --> 00:26:14.485
Second thing is that you, you start

601
00:26:14.485 --> 00:26:16.855
to get resource contention, right?

602
00:26:17.035 --> 00:26:19.535
So, so that, that, that guy is running in the relay

603
00:26:19.535 --> 00:26:21.095
that Mike was talking about a few minutes ago.

604
00:26:21.885 --> 00:26:23.935
He's still doing the, still doing the high jumper,

605
00:26:24.095 --> 00:26:25.895
whatever it was that you said, and he's not

606
00:26:25.895 --> 00:26:27.015
ready to take over the baton.

607
00:26:27.015 --> 00:26:29.925
So you, you end up running a slower race, right?

608
00:26:29.925 --> 00:26:31.485
So you start getting resource contention,

609
00:26:31.865 --> 00:26:34.485
but you know, execs just keep saying more and more, more.

610
00:26:35.345 --> 00:26:37.485
Um, and so you, you load the team up

611
00:26:38.065 --> 00:26:40.885
and you're getting less value, not more now, right?

612
00:26:40.885 --> 00:26:43.405
Because, 'cause there's resource contention.

613
00:26:43.425 --> 00:26:45.685
So, so I've been doing this little schlep,

614
00:26:45.785 --> 00:26:48.085
and most organizations are that, that we encountered,

615
00:26:48.085 --> 00:26:49.085
by the way, way out here.

616
00:26:49.085 --> 00:26:50.725
They're beyond a hundred percent load.

617
00:26:51.935 --> 00:26:55.995
Um, uh, there was, uh, one PMOI spoke with recently,

618
00:26:56.735 --> 00:27:00.315
um, she was mandated by the leadership team

619
00:27:00.315 --> 00:27:02.555
to deliver 120 projects.

620
00:27:03.795 --> 00:27:05.655
And I asked her, how many did you actually complete?

621
00:27:06.105 --> 00:27:09.195
Would you like to have a guess? Mike? Have a guess

622
00:27:09.725 --> 00:27:10.955
Throughout the course of a year.

623
00:27:11.385 --> 00:27:14.195
Yeah. 40,

624
00:27:15.955 --> 00:27:17.095
Not too, no, right, right.

625
00:27:17.095 --> 00:27:21.095
Order magnitude 2020, right?

626
00:27:21.155 --> 00:27:23.215
So, so the other 120, all the effort

627
00:27:23.215 --> 00:27:25.655
that went into those other 120 was completely wasted

628
00:27:26.035 --> 00:27:27.205
because they, so

629
00:27:27.205 --> 00:27:28.605
We averaged what a, a shock said.

630
00:27:28.605 --> 00:27:32.245
And I said, right, we were close. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

631
00:27:33.665 --> 00:27:36.085
So, so now this curve, you,

632
00:27:36.105 --> 00:27:37.205
you draw this slightly differently

633
00:27:37.325 --> 00:27:40.165
'cause you, you draw it based on project flow rather than

634
00:27:40.335 --> 00:27:42.645
value flow, but it's the same, same curve.

635
00:27:42.865 --> 00:27:44.525
So this curve has a name, right Mike,

636
00:27:45.315 --> 00:27:46.525
It's a flow density curve.

637
00:27:48.075 --> 00:27:49.485
Cool. And it's from physics.

638
00:27:49.635 --> 00:27:51.845
It's, it's, it's part of the natural laws of

639
00:27:51.845 --> 00:27:54.655
how things flow and how they don't.

640
00:27:55.805 --> 00:27:58.885
In fact, oh, by the way, uh, one, one of the things

641
00:27:58.885 --> 00:28:00.605
that all my clients are always shocked

642
00:28:00.625 --> 00:28:02.845
by is when they look at a curve like this

643
00:28:03.915 --> 00:28:07.765
and they see that today they're at, uh, you know, 15,

644
00:28:08.625 --> 00:28:12.445
you know, 15% of 50 I guess on business value delivered,

645
00:28:12.445 --> 00:28:15.565
or $15 million or 15 whatevers, right on.

646
00:28:15.565 --> 00:28:16.805
You knew exactly where I was going with it, Stewart.

647
00:28:17.165 --> 00:28:18.725
I didn't, that's only as good as

648
00:28:19.145 --> 00:28:21.445
as when they were just starting to use their resources.

649
00:28:23.315 --> 00:28:25.055
Um, like, think about, think about that.

650
00:28:25.055 --> 00:28:27.935
It's, it's no better than if it's no better than if 80%

651
00:28:27.935 --> 00:28:30.655
of their, uh, capacity was just sitting idle.

652
00:28:31.475 --> 00:28:33.455
So, so just, let's make that really human

653
00:28:33.515 --> 00:28:35.135
for a second, right?

654
00:28:35.355 --> 00:28:37.565
So if you're over here and you're,

655
00:28:37.565 --> 00:28:39.525
you're on the project delivery teams,

656
00:28:40.675 --> 00:28:41.845
what does life feel like?

657
00:28:44.035 --> 00:28:45.705
Right? It, it's not nice.

658
00:28:45.865 --> 00:28:48.825
I mean, you know, Mike's been in that position and,

659
00:28:48.885 --> 00:28:50.025
and, yeah, sucks.

660
00:28:50.025 --> 00:28:53.185
Thank you. I like that one word, succinct, very clear.

661
00:28:53.845 --> 00:28:55.545
Um, you know, Mike, Mike had hair

662
00:28:55.605 --> 00:28:57.465
before he was in that position, right?

663
00:28:58.565 --> 00:29:02.265
Uh, so, so, so this is not a, this is not a good place

664
00:29:02.265 --> 00:29:04.905
for your people, nevermind for the business, right?

665
00:29:06.575 --> 00:29:08.905
Over here. What does life feel like for the people?

666
00:29:10.465 --> 00:29:13.675
Well, oddly enough, boring. You got it, Mike. Yeah.

667
00:29:13.795 --> 00:29:15.355
I mean, uh, your initial reaction is, oh,

668
00:29:15.355 --> 00:29:17.475
that'd be brilliant, but no, you, you'd be bored.

669
00:29:17.565 --> 00:29:20.235
You'd be bored. People don't wanna be sitting here, right?

670
00:29:20.235 --> 00:29:21.915
They, they, they want to be up here.

671
00:29:21.915 --> 00:29:23.395
They want to be in the productive zone.

672
00:29:24.265 --> 00:29:27.565
So, so, you know, the, the, the, the answer is clearly

673
00:29:28.255 --> 00:29:30.725
don't, don't load your people all the way over there.

674
00:29:30.725 --> 00:29:32.565
Right? I'm gonna have to figure out how

675
00:29:32.585 --> 00:29:33.725
to delete all of that now.

676
00:29:33.885 --> 00:29:35.125
'cause Zoom has moved everything. Oh, there it is.

677
00:29:35.425 --> 00:29:40.205
Hey, actually, uh, fantastic.

678
00:29:40.465 --> 00:29:44.445
So, so the, the moral of this story is that, um, I, I guess,

679
00:29:46.315 --> 00:29:49.735
um, to make that happen, to put yourself on top of the hill,

680
00:29:51.615 --> 00:29:53.675
you need to stop some work

681
00:29:55.105 --> 00:29:58.365
and that you could just throw darts at it.

682
00:29:58.365 --> 00:30:00.085
Mike, we, there was that guy down in Brazil.

683
00:30:00.085 --> 00:30:02.885
Do you remember that one? Where I do, um, the,

684
00:30:02.905 --> 00:30:06.005
the CIO was trying to get, uh, by,

685
00:30:06.305 --> 00:30:08.765
by our transparent choice prioritization software,

686
00:30:08.765 --> 00:30:09.805
Mike was supporting them.

687
00:30:10.635 --> 00:30:12.415
And, uh, he went to the COO

688
00:30:12.415 --> 00:30:14.775
and the COO, you know, I'll,

689
00:30:14.775 --> 00:30:17.135
I'll delete the expletives from the, he said to,

690
00:30:17.475 --> 00:30:19.095
he basically went, you want priorities?

691
00:30:19.095 --> 00:30:21.335
I'll give you priorities. And just took a pen and just went,

692
00:30:23.175 --> 00:30:25.515
Yep, I'll be back on Monday with priorities. Go,

693
00:30:26.255 --> 00:30:27.255
Go. Absolutely.

694
00:30:27.255 --> 00:30:30.305
And, and within two weeks, the VP

695
00:30:30.305 --> 00:30:33.505
of sales was banging on, on, uh, on our door.

696
00:30:33.705 --> 00:30:35.545
Actually, it was on Roberto's door, uh,

697
00:30:35.725 --> 00:30:38.225
saying, I can't get anything done.

698
00:30:38.465 --> 00:30:39.505
I can't hit my goals.

699
00:30:40.445 --> 00:30:43.905
Uh, and, you know, they've cut all these projects and all

700
00:30:43.905 --> 00:30:45.025
My initiatives got undercut.

701
00:30:45.415 --> 00:30:48.025
Yeah. And I, and I can't deliver anything, right?

702
00:30:48.045 --> 00:30:50.385
So, so, so they, yeah, they cut some stuff.

703
00:30:50.565 --> 00:30:52.145
So projects are gonna go faster,

704
00:30:52.805 --> 00:30:54.065
but they're not necessarily moving,

705
00:30:54.135 --> 00:30:56.065
they're not necessarily the projects that are moving

706
00:30:56.485 --> 00:30:57.545
to towards their goals.

707
00:30:57.925 --> 00:30:59.545
And, you know, Stuart, this ties back

708
00:30:59.545 --> 00:31:01.545
to the story from when you and I first met where

709
00:31:02.065 --> 00:31:03.745
I just said, look, you know,

710
00:31:04.085 --> 00:31:06.305
why waste all this time on prioritization when you could

711
00:31:06.305 --> 00:31:08.065
just be busy getting stuff done at

712
00:31:08.065 --> 00:31:09.185
double the rate or better?

713
00:31:10.205 --> 00:31:12.185
Um, and that was born out of, I knew, I knew

714
00:31:12.185 --> 00:31:15.785
what I was saying was, um, only, only half baked, right?

715
00:31:16.645 --> 00:31:18.945
But, but, but it, but it was out of frustration.

716
00:31:18.945 --> 00:31:21.505
And it was the same frustration that that c um,

717
00:31:21.865 --> 00:31:23.465
CEO actually, um, felt.

718
00:31:24.235 --> 00:31:27.015
It was like, I'm, I'm tired of spending all this time,

719
00:31:27.015 --> 00:31:29.335
energy, and capacity arguing over which projects get

720
00:31:29.335 --> 00:31:30.655
prioritized over which other projects

721
00:31:31.035 --> 00:31:32.695
and all the politicking and, and,

722
00:31:32.995 --> 00:31:36.295
and silliness that just, um, gets us nowhere.

723
00:31:37.355 --> 00:31:40.135
And I, I'm, I'm, I'm just gonna put a stop to it.

724
00:31:40.675 --> 00:31:43.135
And of course, that creates its own negative effects

725
00:31:43.325 --> 00:31:45.255
that you like the ones you just described.

726
00:31:45.915 --> 00:31:49.305
So obviously, um, you know, if that's the best we can do,

727
00:31:49.305 --> 00:31:51.665
okay, fine, at least we, at least we have priorities.

728
00:31:51.665 --> 00:31:53.265
And that's better than not having priorities.

729
00:31:54.005 --> 00:31:55.545
But obviously we could do much better than that.

730
00:31:55.565 --> 00:31:56.945
And that's why you

731
00:31:56.945 --> 00:31:58.065
and I have partnered, uh,

732
00:31:58.215 --> 00:32:00.065
more strongly ever since that conversation.

733
00:32:02.525 --> 00:32:07.145
You can get good priorities quickly that honors everyone's,

734
00:32:07.245 --> 00:32:12.175
um, uh, you know, legitimate, uh, perspective, right?

735
00:32:13.295 --> 00:32:15.415
Absolutely. And, and you know, the, the, so the,

736
00:32:15.435 --> 00:32:19.135
the PMI data says that 20% of projects are so badly aligned

737
00:32:19.135 --> 00:32:20.095
with the goals of the business,

738
00:32:20.095 --> 00:32:21.375
they should be stopped, right?

739
00:32:21.915 --> 00:32:25.575
So if we could just eliminate those 20% of projects, right?

740
00:32:25.635 --> 00:32:28.415
Not only does that mean we're putting ourselves up here

741
00:32:28.415 --> 00:32:31.795
somewhere, but also the curve has gone up

742
00:32:31.795 --> 00:32:33.595
because we got rid of the, we got rid of the,

743
00:32:33.615 --> 00:32:35.115
the rubbish, right?

744
00:32:35.115 --> 00:32:36.835
We took the trash out, which means the

745
00:32:36.835 --> 00:32:37.955
stuff we left with is better.

746
00:32:38.345 --> 00:32:39.365
It's more valuable. Valuable. Yep.

747
00:32:39.385 --> 00:32:42.525
So more valuable. So just doing that has the potential

748
00:32:42.545 --> 00:32:44.285
to massively increase the amount

749
00:32:44.285 --> 00:32:46.835
of business value that you deliver.

750
00:32:47.295 --> 00:32:49.275
So now, and on here, we,

751
00:32:49.655 --> 00:32:51.635
it talked about a HP, so transparent choice.

752
00:32:51.655 --> 00:32:54.275
One of the things we do is obviously prioritization

753
00:32:54.595 --> 00:32:57.115
software, uh, as part of the, the journey.

754
00:32:57.935 --> 00:33:01.455
Um, and, and Mike, you've used that once or twice, does it?

755
00:33:01.475 --> 00:33:02.495
What's your experience?

756
00:33:04.115 --> 00:33:06.015
Uh, again, it's, um, I,

757
00:33:06.135 --> 00:33:08.815
I had learned a HP actually in graduate school back in the

758
00:33:09.015 --> 00:33:12.155
nineties and used it, um, to buy my first house

759
00:33:12.185 --> 00:33:13.435
because my wife

760
00:33:13.435 --> 00:33:15.435
and I just couldn't agree on anything, right?

761
00:33:15.735 --> 00:33:18.475
So I knew it worked, I knew it worked, you know,

762
00:33:18.475 --> 00:33:20.035
with two people that are trying

763
00:33:20.035 --> 00:33:22.275
to respect each other's perspectives and,

764
00:33:22.495 --> 00:33:26.115
and find some solution that was, uh, a good one for both.

765
00:33:27.175 --> 00:33:29.155
It didn't really occur to me at the time

766
00:33:29.155 --> 00:33:31.435
that the real value was in the conversations

767
00:33:31.435 --> 00:33:32.555
that it enabled us to have.

768
00:33:34.165 --> 00:33:35.985
And you taught me that Stewart, right?

769
00:33:36.535 --> 00:33:38.665
Like, yes, there's a lot of math and formulas and,

770
00:33:38.725 --> 00:33:40.945
and fancy things going on with a HP,

771
00:33:41.645 --> 00:33:44.065
but the reason that all that math exists is

772
00:33:44.065 --> 00:33:47.465
because it's trying to honor everyone's valid perspectives

773
00:33:48.005 --> 00:33:52.065
and bring harmony to appropriately divergent points of view.

774
00:33:52.695 --> 00:33:55.125
Like, it would be really strange if we all had the exact

775
00:33:55.125 --> 00:33:59.005
same point of view, um, if I, in fact, why,

776
00:33:59.025 --> 00:34:00.965
why would you hire me if I had the same exact point of view

777
00:34:00.965 --> 00:34:02.125
of every other executive in the room?

778
00:34:02.775 --> 00:34:06.485
Right? Right. Um, so that's what we, marketing will have.

779
00:34:07.145 --> 00:34:08.565
We we've got chat PT for that.

780
00:34:09.125 --> 00:34:13.885
Exactly. Um, yeah, marketing can and will

781
00:34:13.905 --> 00:34:15.845
and should have a different perspective than finance.

782
00:34:16.955 --> 00:34:19.055
And yet, uh, we need to find some way

783
00:34:19.055 --> 00:34:20.535
that honors those perspectives

784
00:34:20.685 --> 00:34:23.175
that helps the organization bump that curve up

785
00:34:23.175 --> 00:34:24.215
to the green like you just showed.

786
00:34:26.825 --> 00:34:28.605
So it's that, uh, harmonious,

787
00:34:28.605 --> 00:34:31.885
like bringing harmony from disharmony, um,

788
00:34:32.445 --> 00:34:35.765
honoring divergent perspectives without steamrolling over

789
00:34:35.765 --> 00:34:38.485
someone and just basically turning it into a battle

790
00:34:38.485 --> 00:34:39.965
where someone wins and someone loses.

791
00:34:41.075 --> 00:34:42.655
Um, you know, that's the way to go.

792
00:34:43.925 --> 00:34:45.375
Yeah. AB absolutely.

793
00:34:45.725 --> 00:34:48.495
Well, and, and so, so I, I've got a confession

794
00:34:48.555 --> 00:34:52.055
to make at this point, which is that this, this chart

795
00:34:53.395 --> 00:34:56.285
is oversimplified, right?

796
00:34:56.905 --> 00:34:59.285
And, and the reason, the reason I say that is, you know,

797
00:34:59.285 --> 00:35:00.605
the, the, the idea is cool.

798
00:35:01.505 --> 00:35:02.525
The reason I say that is

799
00:35:02.525 --> 00:35:04.565
that we don't have one resource type.

800
00:35:05.145 --> 00:35:07.485
We actually have multiple resource types.

801
00:35:07.485 --> 00:35:08.605
We've got different skill sets.

802
00:35:08.825 --> 00:35:11.565
You, if you're running an IT portfolio, it would be your,

803
00:35:12.075 --> 00:35:14.805
your developers, your testers, your architects, et cetera,

804
00:35:14.805 --> 00:35:15.965
your DPAs and so on.

805
00:35:17.055 --> 00:35:20.475
And each of your projects draws from those pools

806
00:35:20.475 --> 00:35:21.715
of people in different amounts.

807
00:35:22.765 --> 00:35:25.865
So figuring out how to put yourself on top of the hill,

808
00:35:26.085 --> 00:35:27.865
you know, what, what resource rate

809
00:35:27.865 --> 00:35:29.225
you're looking for, right?

810
00:35:29.225 --> 00:35:32.625
And, and by the way, you know, overall, uh,

811
00:35:33.085 --> 00:35:35.345
so this curve is actually plotted, Mike,

812
00:35:35.425 --> 00:35:36.505
I dunno if I've ever told you this.

813
00:35:36.765 --> 00:35:38.845
Uh, so this is not a random curve.

814
00:35:39.005 --> 00:35:41.805
I actually sat down with the queuing theory equations

815
00:35:42.425 --> 00:35:46.805
and plotted out what this curve would look like, um, uh,

816
00:35:47.255 --> 00:35:48.485
using those equations.

817
00:35:49.105 --> 00:35:52.125
Um, so, so, you know, if you, if you look at the queuing,

818
00:35:52.415 --> 00:35:53.525
right, the, the,

819
00:35:53.525 --> 00:35:56.845
the wait time really takes off once you get past about 80%

820
00:35:57.395 --> 00:35:59.605
utilization in within a system.

821
00:36:00.425 --> 00:36:02.005
So, so our trick is to try

822
00:36:02.005 --> 00:36:05.975
and balance the find a portfolio of projects that

823
00:36:06.575 --> 00:36:10.525
maximizes value whilst not overloading any of those people,

824
00:36:10.905 --> 00:36:13.405
any of those teams, uh, particularly.

825
00:36:14.495 --> 00:36:17.555
And so we, so we build a bit of a, a bit of ai,

826
00:36:17.625 --> 00:36:19.515
special ai, not chat.

827
00:36:19.635 --> 00:36:23.315
GBT type ai, um, is a completely different algorithm.

828
00:36:23.495 --> 00:36:25.995
And it, it simulates thousands of portfolios looking

829
00:36:25.995 --> 00:36:28.035
for the one that puts you on top of the hill

830
00:36:28.035 --> 00:36:32.115
that delivers the maximum value from the resource capacity

831
00:36:32.115 --> 00:36:34.075
that you tell it you have available.

832
00:36:35.055 --> 00:36:37.755
Um, which is a real game changer. Changer and a lot of fun.

833
00:36:38.135 --> 00:36:40.075
But the fun doesn't, yeah, yeah. Sorry, go ahead.

834
00:36:40.255 --> 00:36:43.235
Let me, let me make sure that the game changing power of

835
00:36:43.235 --> 00:36:46.395
that is, is really, um, communicated here.

836
00:36:46.745 --> 00:36:50.875
Because one of the biggest obstacles I have faced ev uh,

837
00:36:51.255 --> 00:36:52.515
as long as I've been doing this,

838
00:36:52.575 --> 00:36:56.075
and I've been doing this for, I guess, uh, 13 years now, um,

839
00:36:56.145 --> 00:36:58.675
when I go into a client organization, they're like,

840
00:36:58.705 --> 00:37:01.915
even if they say yes, we get the concept, yes, we want

841
00:37:01.915 --> 00:37:04.235
to maximize for value delivery and not for utilization.

842
00:37:04.695 --> 00:37:06.555
Yes, we're, we have the political will

843
00:37:06.815 --> 00:37:08.075
to put some projects on pause

844
00:37:08.075 --> 00:37:10.635
and redeploy resources so that we, we clear the highway,

845
00:37:10.845 --> 00:37:12.835
right, and get it flowing again right away.

846
00:37:13.335 --> 00:37:17.955
Um, but it seems like none of my tools can help me do that.

847
00:37:18.055 --> 00:37:19.275
I'm kind of guessing in the dark,

848
00:37:19.735 --> 00:37:21.795
and I, I might recommend a tool and I'm like, okay,

849
00:37:21.795 --> 00:37:22.875
but now we have to learn a tool.

850
00:37:23.055 --> 00:37:24.595
We have to populate the tool with a bunch of data.

851
00:37:24.895 --> 00:37:26.355
We have to load all our resources into it.

852
00:37:26.655 --> 00:37:29.035
We have to have good plans for each of our projects.

853
00:37:29.055 --> 00:37:32.075
So we have a, you know, a good portfolio level view

854
00:37:32.075 --> 00:37:34.595
of like a resource histogram across all my projects.

855
00:37:35.335 --> 00:37:37.355
And, uh, and they just said, that's,

856
00:37:37.355 --> 00:37:38.835
that's too steep of a hill to climb.

857
00:37:39.535 --> 00:37:42.715
Um, so, you know, I don't know what to do.

858
00:37:43.335 --> 00:37:44.915
And so what you've come up with, uh,

859
00:37:44.915 --> 00:37:46.555
what transparent choices come up with Stewart

860
00:37:47.215 --> 00:37:48.955
is a maj major game changer

861
00:37:48.955 --> 00:37:52.315
because it just asks for a few things, um,

862
00:37:52.315 --> 00:37:53.835
mostly based on intuition.

863
00:37:54.015 --> 00:37:55.315
And if you have data on it

864
00:37:55.315 --> 00:37:57.475
that you can pull from a report right away,

865
00:37:57.825 --> 00:37:59.115
fine, so much the better.

866
00:37:59.775 --> 00:38:02.755
But you, but, but it's not like pulling out your entire

867
00:38:02.755 --> 00:38:04.835
project portfolio management ecosystem of tools

868
00:38:04.835 --> 00:38:06.995
and replacing with something designed to do this.

869
00:38:07.745 --> 00:38:09.235
It's using your best intuition

870
00:38:09.235 --> 00:38:11.075
and the best information you already have at hand

871
00:38:11.695 --> 00:38:13.235
and just getting started right away.

872
00:38:14.425 --> 00:38:17.805
So, um, I think it's the most important, uh, development,

873
00:38:18.345 --> 00:38:20.085
um, promoting, you know, a higher cadence

874
00:38:20.085 --> 00:38:22.205
of value delivery in 30 years.

875
00:38:23.975 --> 00:38:26.155
Wow. Awesome. Thank you for that.

876
00:38:26.175 --> 00:38:27.995
That's, look, I'm, I'm blushy

877
00:38:30.785 --> 00:38:33.075
I'll take an ounce some credit since I've kept encouraging

878
00:38:33.075 --> 00:38:36.165
you to do something like that, but I had no idea of

879
00:38:36.165 --> 00:38:37.325
what you were really doing with the sort

880
00:38:37.325 --> 00:38:39.685
of simul AI simulations that can, um,

881
00:38:39.715 --> 00:38:41.045
Well, I'll tell you what we're gonna, we're,

882
00:38:41.045 --> 00:38:44.485
we're gonna get onto the next bit now, um, uh, which,

883
00:38:44.575 --> 00:38:46.685
which I, which I'd, I'd like you to talk us

884
00:38:46.685 --> 00:38:47.805
through actually, Mike, 'cause you,

885
00:38:47.805 --> 00:38:49.125
you probably do it way better than I do.

886
00:38:49.745 --> 00:38:52.245
Um, so, so once you picked your projects,

887
00:38:52.245 --> 00:38:54.205
you then you wanna stagger them.

888
00:38:54.345 --> 00:38:56.845
So why, so what's, what's the, what,

889
00:38:56.955 --> 00:38:58.765
what do you normally see people do, right?

890
00:38:58.765 --> 00:39:00.165
Staggering isn't really what,

891
00:39:00.475 --> 00:39:02.485
what most organizations do today.

892
00:39:03.625 --> 00:39:04.845
So what does today look like?

893
00:39:06.565 --> 00:39:08.385
You want me to say or are you asking? Yeah.

894
00:39:08.385 --> 00:39:11.145
No, you go. You, no, you, you go for it. You go for it.

895
00:39:11.225 --> 00:39:12.985
'cause, because if you, if you, well,

896
00:39:12.985 --> 00:39:14.545
Again, it's, it's based on the assumption.

897
00:39:14.565 --> 00:39:16.025
The sooner we start, the sooner we finish,

898
00:39:16.045 --> 00:39:17.345
we better start everything right away.

899
00:39:17.565 --> 00:39:18.505
Hey, we just got all of our

900
00:39:18.505 --> 00:39:19.945
funding approved for the new fiscal year.

901
00:39:20.485 --> 00:39:23.785
All projects have money, all projects, uh, can, can

902
00:39:23.785 --> 00:39:25.465
therefore kick off tomorrow.

903
00:39:27.025 --> 00:39:28.645
And so we, we in, we basically

904
00:39:28.705 --> 00:39:31.125
by design create an instant traffic jam.

905
00:39:31.755 --> 00:39:33.125
Yeah. Everything's run in parallel.

906
00:39:33.125 --> 00:39:36.725
And resource contention is rampant frustration and overtime

907
00:39:36.725 --> 00:39:39.085
and stress is rampant and not much is moving.

908
00:39:40.355 --> 00:39:42.875
Absolutely. And, and what, what's happening is, you know,

909
00:39:43.515 --> 00:39:46.435
'cause at the end of the day, right, we PMOs, we,

910
00:39:46.575 --> 00:39:48.875
our project managers and the PMO, we wanna be,

911
00:39:49.055 --> 00:39:50.555
we wanna be able to turn around to the,

912
00:39:50.555 --> 00:39:53.795
these powerful project sponsors and say, yes, we've started.

913
00:39:53.795 --> 00:39:54.995
Right? We wanna make you happy.

914
00:39:55.655 --> 00:39:57.395
So, so people will often, you know,

915
00:39:57.395 --> 00:39:58.595
they'll start project one

916
00:39:59.135 --> 00:40:01.035
and then move on to project two, project three.

917
00:40:01.035 --> 00:40:02.955
At this point, we can turn to all three sponsors

918
00:40:02.955 --> 00:40:05.455
and say, we started, right?

919
00:40:05.455 --> 00:40:06.735
They come to the kickoff meeting, well,

920
00:40:06.735 --> 00:40:07.735
There's, there's some progress. Yeah.

921
00:40:07.735 --> 00:40:09.735
They come to the kickoff meeting, which may

922
00:40:09.735 --> 00:40:11.855
or may not be the last time you ever see them, by the way.

923
00:40:12.555 --> 00:40:15.015
But, but you know, they, they come to the kickoff meeting

924
00:40:15.155 --> 00:40:16.855
and, and you, you've started, right?

925
00:40:16.855 --> 00:40:18.935
So they feel good, they feel like something's happening.

926
00:40:19.235 --> 00:40:20.415
So then you jump back to project

927
00:40:20.595 --> 00:40:22.175
1, 2, 3, back to project one.

928
00:40:22.175 --> 00:40:23.735
You hand it onto the next team, same thing.

929
00:40:24.035 --> 00:40:26.255
And eventually you de de deliver your first

930
00:40:26.265 --> 00:40:27.575
value all the way out here.

931
00:40:28.615 --> 00:40:30.315
And oh, by the way, from the point of view

932
00:40:30.315 --> 00:40:33.355
of every single project sponsor of these three, um,

933
00:40:33.505 --> 00:40:37.165
imaginary projects, the white squares are delay.

934
00:40:39.145 --> 00:40:41.085
Say that again. Say that again. That's important

935
00:40:42.045 --> 00:40:44.335
From the point of view of each individual project sponsor.

936
00:40:44.715 --> 00:40:46.495
The white squares represent delay,

937
00:40:48.175 --> 00:40:49.475
and oh, by the way, we, we,

938
00:40:49.575 --> 00:40:52.635
we humans get really good at hiding those white squares.

939
00:40:53.595 --> 00:40:56.495
So like, if each of those squares say is a day

940
00:40:56.515 --> 00:40:58.495
or a week, the reality is I might switch

941
00:40:58.495 --> 00:41:00.375
between all three projects five times a day.

942
00:41:01.105 --> 00:41:03.805
And so the white becomes little slivers of white

943
00:41:04.765 --> 00:41:05.855
that sort of blend in.

944
00:41:05.855 --> 00:41:07.015
And now the dark blue is just a little bit

945
00:41:07.015 --> 00:41:08.255
lighter than dark blue.

946
00:41:09.325 --> 00:41:11.335
Yeah. And so you can't really see the

947
00:41:11.335 --> 00:41:12.535
delay, but of course it's there.

948
00:41:13.125 --> 00:41:14.775
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well,

949
00:41:14.775 --> 00:41:16.695
and the other thing that's happening here, of course, is

950
00:41:16.695 --> 00:41:19.935
that people are, people are, uh, uh,

951
00:41:19.955 --> 00:41:21.895
are task switching, right?

952
00:41:22.115 --> 00:41:27.095
So, so the, the, um, uh, you know,

953
00:41:27.095 --> 00:41:29.375
so if you, if you imagine you're a resource, uh,

954
00:41:29.735 --> 00:41:31.735
delivery resource, and, and you've got six projects,

955
00:41:32.345 --> 00:41:34.545
every time you switch, you've gotta switch gears.

956
00:41:35.255 --> 00:41:36.545
That takes a chunk of time.

957
00:41:36.985 --> 00:41:39.345
'cause you know, these are complicated tasks,

958
00:41:40.285 --> 00:41:42.465
but it's worse than that because while you're doing that,

959
00:41:42.765 --> 00:41:44.585
you've got six project managers coming

960
00:41:44.585 --> 00:41:46.865
to you saying, what's the update?

961
00:41:46.865 --> 00:41:48.785
Where are you on this task? What are you doing with this?

962
00:41:49.205 --> 00:41:51.025
And every time they do that, you gotta, you gotta talk

963
00:41:51.025 --> 00:41:53.145
to 'em for quarter of an hour to explain to them what's,

964
00:41:53.145 --> 00:41:54.305
what's the delay and why is

965
00:41:54.305 --> 00:41:55.465
this gonna take it a little longer?

966
00:41:55.485 --> 00:41:57.985
And all the rest of it. So, so, um,

967
00:41:58.285 --> 00:42:01.345
so the American Psychology Association did some research

968
00:42:01.375 --> 00:42:04.905
that shows that, um, you lose up to 40%, four zero

969
00:42:05.405 --> 00:42:09.145
of your useful capacity when you're task switching in

970
00:42:09.255 --> 00:42:11.425
complex tasks like project management.

971
00:42:12.415 --> 00:42:16.655
And so, so not only are your people stressed out,

972
00:42:16.715 --> 00:42:19.575
not only do we have frustrated executive sponsors

973
00:42:19.735 --> 00:42:21.615
'cause of the delay, but we're also

974
00:42:21.615 --> 00:42:22.775
being hideously inefficient.

975
00:42:24.375 --> 00:42:25.955
So what's the, what's the alternative, Mike?

976
00:42:26.305 --> 00:42:28.435
Have each resource finished the task at hand

977
00:42:28.775 --> 00:42:32.965
before they start the task on the next project, hand it off

978
00:42:33.105 --> 00:42:34.965
and then jump not before.

979
00:42:36.495 --> 00:42:38.805
There you go. Stay on, stay on task.

980
00:42:38.905 --> 00:42:42.645
So, so the idea here is that you, you stagger the project so

981
00:42:42.645 --> 00:42:44.845
that, um, so that, and,

982
00:42:44.845 --> 00:42:46.805
and in this particular case, the,

983
00:42:46.825 --> 00:42:49.605
the long pole in the tent is this light blue team, right?

984
00:42:49.705 --> 00:42:52.525
So they're doing, doing more work than the dark blue

985
00:42:52.525 --> 00:42:54.525
or the light other mid blue, right?

986
00:42:54.985 --> 00:42:56.485
So we're staggering the projects.

987
00:42:56.485 --> 00:42:59.365
So these guys are super, are just constantly busy, right?

988
00:42:59.395 --> 00:43:02.125
They, they, they finish that, they flow down here,

989
00:43:02.125 --> 00:43:03.525
they finish that flow down here.

990
00:43:04.205 --> 00:43:06.305
And because now the whole, all the teams are are,

991
00:43:06.305 --> 00:43:08.225
rather than task switching,

992
00:43:08.455 --> 00:43:10.985
they're staying focused on the task until they're done.

993
00:43:11.605 --> 00:43:15.635
You get that 30% back, 30, 40% back, which means

994
00:43:16.255 --> 00:43:19.605
you get free projects in here. So, so Mike, and,

995
00:43:20.025 --> 00:43:24.445
And I would add, we have not yet shown the benefit

996
00:43:24.545 --> 00:43:29.485
of focused execution for a single human brain right up top,

997
00:43:29.745 --> 00:43:33.365
the two, the two dark blue squares that some resource,

998
00:43:33.825 --> 00:43:35.205
you know, if, if that's two weeks

999
00:43:35.225 --> 00:43:36.525
or something for project one,

1000
00:43:36.855 --> 00:43:39.045
we're still assuming two weeks down below just

1001
00:43:39.045 --> 00:43:40.125
to show apples to apples.

1002
00:43:41.945 --> 00:43:43.685
So we're saying even if there were no benefit

1003
00:43:44.195 --> 00:43:46.285
from being more focused, look

1004
00:43:46.285 --> 00:43:47.405
how much more you could get done.

1005
00:43:48.465 --> 00:43:50.605
And now imagine that we do know there's real benefit.

1006
00:43:51.065 --> 00:43:53.645
So it won't be just that free fourth project on the bottom.

1007
00:43:53.665 --> 00:43:55.965
You'll probably get a free fifth and the sixth one also.

1008
00:43:56.705 --> 00:43:59.245
And that's now we've doubled our project throughput,

1009
00:43:59.665 --> 00:44:01.045
our cost basis is the same.

1010
00:44:01.465 --> 00:44:03.685
And that is a tripling in ROI if you do the math.

1011
00:44:04.795 --> 00:44:07.205
Love it. And, and what's more, right?

1012
00:44:07.705 --> 00:44:11.045
How, this is where we got our first value, uh, sorry,

1013
00:44:11.045 --> 00:44:12.925
over here is where we got our first value.

1014
00:44:12.925 --> 00:44:15.645
It's hidden by my little zoom window, uh, is

1015
00:44:15.645 --> 00:44:17.285
where we got the first value before.

1016
00:44:18.015 --> 00:44:19.475
Now we're getting first value here.

1017
00:44:20.305 --> 00:44:22.645
So let's say, let's say this is a project that delivers,

1018
00:44:22.685 --> 00:44:24.885
I dunno, a million dollars of value just

1019
00:44:24.885 --> 00:44:25.885
to make the numbers simple.

1020
00:44:26.125 --> 00:44:27.725
A million dollars of value every month.

1021
00:44:28.725 --> 00:44:33.335
We've just delivered an extra $2 million of value just just

1022
00:44:33.355 --> 00:44:35.015
by sequencing projects.

1023
00:44:35.755 --> 00:44:38.655
And oh, by the way, if I'm the sponsor for project three,

1024
00:44:39.275 --> 00:44:41.655
and you're telling me you're not gonna get started until,

1025
00:44:41.755 --> 00:44:44.015
you know, whatever the eighth, the eighth square is,

1026
00:44:44.035 --> 00:44:47.175
you know, eight weeks or eight months later, I might,

1027
00:44:47.175 --> 00:44:48.175
that might sound terrible

1028
00:44:48.175 --> 00:44:50.535
because I'm operating under the assumption the sooner we

1029
00:44:50.535 --> 00:44:51.735
start, the sooner I'll get my value.

1030
00:44:53.195 --> 00:44:55.655
The reality is, if you wait to start even the

1031
00:44:56.265 --> 00:44:59.375
lower priority projects, which doesn't feel so good to me,

1032
00:44:59.375 --> 00:45:00.735
if I'm told I'm lower priority

1033
00:45:00.735 --> 00:45:04.295
or my, my pet initiative is, is third priority

1034
00:45:04.295 --> 00:45:05.375
of these three right?

1035
00:45:06.085 --> 00:45:07.975
Dead last for this small portfolio.

1036
00:45:08.875 --> 00:45:12.175
But look, uh, by waiting eight weeks or months

1037
00:45:12.175 --> 00:45:14.775
or whatever to start, I'm still gonna get my thing done four

1038
00:45:14.775 --> 00:45:16.055
weeks sooner than I would have otherwise.

1039
00:45:16.885 --> 00:45:19.745
And again, this is not showing the, um,

1040
00:45:19.805 --> 00:45:21.225
the the task switching penalty.

1041
00:45:21.885 --> 00:45:23.105
So it's actually gonna be even better.

1042
00:45:24.315 --> 00:45:26.185
It'll probably be not just four weeks sooner,

1043
00:45:26.285 --> 00:45:28.185
but maybe eight weeks or something.

1044
00:45:29.185 --> 00:45:30.945
Absolutely. And, um,

1045
00:45:31.325 --> 00:45:32.745
and again, this is, this is something

1046
00:45:32.745 --> 00:45:36.145
that we've built some really cool AI to do to figure out

1047
00:45:36.335 --> 00:45:40.705
what order should you deliver the projects in, in order to,

1048
00:45:41.165 --> 00:45:42.905
um, to maximize this flow.

1049
00:45:43.685 --> 00:45:45.025
And, uh, Mike, you

1050
00:45:45.025 --> 00:45:48.465
and I met up last year, uh, along with Laura Barnard, uh,

1051
00:45:48.605 --> 00:45:49.625
on the, the shores

1052
00:45:49.625 --> 00:45:51.145
of Lake Geneva, I think it was, wasn't it?

1053
00:45:51.285 --> 00:45:53.265
Yes. That was fun. That was nice.

1054
00:45:53.605 --> 00:45:57.705
And we, we had a, we had a, a spirited conversation about,

1055
00:45:58.045 --> 00:46:00.465
um, you know what, well actually, what, what

1056
00:46:00.465 --> 00:46:02.185
what really happened was Mike, Mike turned

1057
00:46:02.185 --> 00:46:03.985
to give me some really good advice.

1058
00:46:04.885 --> 00:46:07.145
And the advice was, Stuart, the first thing you need

1059
00:46:07.145 --> 00:46:08.345
to ask every customer is

1060
00:46:08.615 --> 00:46:10.305
what is your most constrained resource?

1061
00:46:10.915 --> 00:46:13.145
Right? Most customers kind of know what it is,

1062
00:46:13.145 --> 00:46:15.465
they've got a feel for what it is, and then,

1063
00:46:15.525 --> 00:46:17.145
and then optimize everything around that.

1064
00:46:17.145 --> 00:46:18.465
That's what your software needs to be doing.

1065
00:46:19.445 --> 00:46:21.345
And I, I described to 'em what the software does,

1066
00:46:21.445 --> 00:46:23.945
and I literally, it just, it just brute force solves

1067
00:46:23.945 --> 00:46:25.225
the problem, right?

1068
00:46:25.325 --> 00:46:27.715
It just runs through tens

1069
00:46:27.735 --> 00:46:29.595
or hundreds of thousands of scenarios,

1070
00:46:29.895 --> 00:46:33.125
of different sequences of projects incrementally looking

1071
00:46:33.125 --> 00:46:35.365
for better, better, better solutions until it,

1072
00:46:35.365 --> 00:46:36.845
until it can't find a better one, right?

1073
00:46:37.155 --> 00:46:39.485
It's pretty simple. Um, and,

1074
00:46:39.945 --> 00:46:41.405
and Mike thought about that for a minute

1075
00:46:41.465 --> 00:46:43.975
and he kind of went, oh, I get it.

1076
00:46:44.235 --> 00:46:46.655
You don't even care, which is the most constrained resource,

1077
00:46:47.075 --> 00:46:48.655
you're just looking for the best solution.

1078
00:46:49.045 --> 00:46:50.785
Yeah. Which really

1079
00:46:50.785 --> 00:46:52.785
Cool way, bruteforce, you'll bruteforce expose it if they,

1080
00:46:52.785 --> 00:46:53.825
if their intuition doesn't

1081
00:46:53.825 --> 00:46:54.865
already tell them what it should be.

1082
00:46:55.445 --> 00:46:56.825
You you got it. You got it.

1083
00:46:57.445 --> 00:47:00.065
Um, so, so this was, th this is,

1084
00:47:00.065 --> 00:47:02.865
this is really cool in the past, right?

1085
00:47:02.895 --> 00:47:05.465
This is Mike, this is probably where,

1086
00:47:05.475 --> 00:47:07.305
where you earn some of your money, right?

1087
00:47:07.325 --> 00:47:10.215
Is helping people figure out how to do this. Oh yeah.

1088
00:47:10.235 --> 00:47:12.335
And, and you know what I,

1089
00:47:12.335 --> 00:47:15.655
what I hope transparent choice is doing is helping mortals,

1090
00:47:15.805 --> 00:47:17.695
mere mortals do that as well.

1091
00:47:20.695 --> 00:47:22.675
Uh, yeah, I think that, I think it has the power

1092
00:47:22.735 --> 00:47:26.165
to really revolutionize, like to bring these concepts to,

1093
00:47:26.185 --> 00:47:27.925
to the masses, if you will, right?

1094
00:47:28.505 --> 00:47:29.925
So you, you get over the tool hurdle

1095
00:47:30.145 --> 00:47:32.325
and all, all the obstacles I mentioned earlier.

1096
00:47:33.225 --> 00:47:36.205
So, so here's, here's the biggest question that I have

1097
00:47:36.205 --> 00:47:39.045
around this, um, is how,

1098
00:47:40.325 --> 00:47:43.105
how do you have this conversation with executives?

1099
00:47:43.125 --> 00:47:44.785
How do you get them to the point where they

1100
00:47:46.985 --> 00:47:50.695
understand buy-in, believe that this is

1101
00:47:51.645 --> 00:47:53.705
doable, because you are gonna ask some of them

1102
00:47:54.125 --> 00:47:56.185
to delay the start of their projects.

1103
00:47:56.485 --> 00:47:59.465
So how do you know from, from an organizational change point

1104
00:47:59.465 --> 00:48:01.795
of view, how do you have that conversation?

1105
00:48:02.305 --> 00:48:04.275
Yeah. So because the change, you know, if you,

1106
00:48:04.295 --> 00:48:07.715
any big improvement, um, will require a pretty big change.

1107
00:48:07.855 --> 00:48:10.795
Now that doesn't mean it's, it has to be, um, complex

1108
00:48:11.175 --> 00:48:12.275
or a complicated change.

1109
00:48:12.295 --> 00:48:14.995
The concepts could be quite simple like we've described in

1110
00:48:14.995 --> 00:48:16.075
this webinar today.

1111
00:48:16.815 --> 00:48:17.835
Um, but,

1112
00:48:18.015 --> 00:48:22.775
but the, the fact that it really will, um, you know,

1113
00:48:22.775 --> 00:48:24.695
tip over some people's apple carts, right?

1114
00:48:24.955 --> 00:48:28.295
And, and break some eggs and all of that, right?

1115
00:48:28.955 --> 00:48:30.655
Um, um, that's real.

1116
00:48:31.315 --> 00:48:34.375
And so I I, I've learned over and over

1117
00:48:34.375 --> 00:48:37.615
and over again that I really need to honor that more, more

1118
00:48:37.615 --> 00:48:41.645
and more that, that what I'm proposing, um,

1119
00:48:42.155 --> 00:48:43.645
will be disruptive to people.

1120
00:48:45.195 --> 00:48:47.405
Okay? Yes, there's a benefit at the end of the road,

1121
00:48:48.065 --> 00:48:50.605
but, um, but the motivation really has to be there.

1122
00:48:50.605 --> 00:48:52.565
It has to be genuine, and I can't force you

1123
00:48:52.565 --> 00:48:54.555
to be motivated, right?

1124
00:48:55.375 --> 00:48:59.795
Um, and so a joke I like to tell is, uh, you know, how many,

1125
00:48:59.855 --> 00:49:00.915
how many psychiatrists

1126
00:49:00.915 --> 00:49:01.955
does it take to screw in a light bulb?

1127
00:49:02.775 --> 00:49:05.475
Um, and the answer is just one,

1128
00:49:05.475 --> 00:49:08.555
but the light bulb has to want to change, right?

1129
00:49:09.695 --> 00:49:13.275
And so when I left one client, I, I was really nervous

1130
00:49:13.465 --> 00:49:15.595
that I was leaving one client too soon.

1131
00:49:16.375 --> 00:49:19.995
Um, my contract had had, you know, had ended the, the,

1132
00:49:19.995 --> 00:49:22.995
the money was spent, um, they were ready to go on

1133
00:49:22.995 --> 00:49:26.635
and do other things, but I was nervous that they,

1134
00:49:26.655 --> 00:49:28.235
the initial progress they had gotten

1135
00:49:28.655 --> 00:49:31.235
and the benefits that they were already seeing might,

1136
00:49:31.335 --> 00:49:32.795
um, might evaporate.

1137
00:49:33.495 --> 00:49:35.995
And so I was in this sort of funny spot of like, yes,

1138
00:49:36.135 --> 00:49:37.595
I'm proud of delivered real value here.

1139
00:49:37.615 --> 00:49:39.075
Yes, I've gotten you through the toughest part.

1140
00:49:39.535 --> 00:49:40.955
Yes, you've gotten the concepts

1141
00:49:40.955 --> 00:49:41.995
and you're, you're seeing the benefit.

1142
00:49:42.095 --> 00:49:44.995
And so that's reinforcing your motivation to do more.

1143
00:49:45.975 --> 00:49:49.195
But I still, like, part of me felt like, uh, you know,

1144
00:49:49.865 --> 00:49:51.635
keep me around another two or three months

1145
00:49:51.695 --> 00:49:53.235
and then we'll make sure it's all locked in.

1146
00:49:53.725 --> 00:49:55.465
And of course, part of me was wondering if I was just trying

1147
00:49:55.465 --> 00:49:58.425
to get more money, you know, for more, more revenue

1148
00:49:58.485 --> 00:50:03.465
or whatever I was, I was really trying

1149
00:50:03.465 --> 00:50:05.145
to, to be in service to them.

1150
00:50:06.625 --> 00:50:09.725
And, um, and finally this one, it was a,

1151
00:50:10.065 --> 00:50:12.805
it was in another country and, uh, not everyone spoke great.

1152
00:50:12.805 --> 00:50:14.005
Engli, great English,

1153
00:50:14.465 --> 00:50:17.085
and one woman who was super bright, um,

1154
00:50:17.085 --> 00:50:18.365
but her English wasn't stellar.

1155
00:50:19.025 --> 00:50:21.985
She stood up and she goes, Mike, don't worry,

1156
00:50:22.805 --> 00:50:24.705
we will succeed because we want,

1157
00:50:26.615 --> 00:50:28.045
that was the most eloquent thing I

1158
00:50:28.045 --> 00:50:29.125
think I've ever heard anyone say.

1159
00:50:30.005 --> 00:50:32.765
I love it. I love it. That's brilliant.

1160
00:50:33.435 --> 00:50:36.165
Well, and, and to that point, um, so one of the things that,

1161
00:50:36.165 --> 00:50:38.885
that we've done is we've put together a little, uh,

1162
00:50:39.405 --> 00:50:40.605
workshop, I dunno if that's the right word,

1163
00:50:40.985 --> 00:50:45.645
but we, we, um, we run little sessions, sort

1164
00:50:45.685 --> 00:50:48.205
of an hour, an hour and a half, something like that, um,

1165
00:50:48.465 --> 00:50:50.085
to help build the case for change.

1166
00:50:50.665 --> 00:50:53.525
So it's not a case to buy our software, it's a case

1167
00:50:53.525 --> 00:50:56.525
for change for the, for to, to reorganize the way

1168
00:50:56.525 --> 00:50:59.405
that you do things so that you can start

1169
00:50:59.405 --> 00:51:01.205
to get this doubling effect whether you

1170
00:51:01.205 --> 00:51:02.365
use our software or not, right?

1171
00:51:02.365 --> 00:51:03.365
That's not the issue.

1172
00:51:03.945 --> 00:51:07.325
The issue is getting support from the leadership team,

1173
00:51:07.325 --> 00:51:10.045
from the business, so they understand, you know,

1174
00:51:10.275 --> 00:51:12.565
what are the things, what are the problems today?

1175
00:51:12.565 --> 00:51:14.325
What are the root causes of those problems?

1176
00:51:14.505 --> 00:51:16.805
How can we fix them? How can we address them?

1177
00:51:16.945 --> 00:51:18.565
So the question's about, you know,

1178
00:51:18.565 --> 00:51:19.885
those executives not understanding

1179
00:51:20.155 --> 00:51:22.885
that there is a resource constraints, right?

1180
00:51:23.095 --> 00:51:25.645
Let's, let's put that in the pot, figure out, you know,

1181
00:51:25.715 --> 00:51:27.965
what, why, how, how do we communicate that

1182
00:51:27.985 --> 00:51:32.685
and come up with a plan to help you, um, uh, uh,

1183
00:51:32.865 --> 00:51:37.205
get the leadership team on board, uh, to support the PMO

1184
00:51:37.305 --> 00:51:39.125
to start making some of these changes or,

1185
00:51:39.125 --> 00:51:40.925
or whatever you call the organization, right?

1186
00:51:41.235 --> 00:51:42.605
Some people call it PMO,

1187
00:51:42.675 --> 00:51:44.445
some people call it something else, right?

1188
00:51:44.505 --> 00:51:46.165
But the, the name's not important,

1189
00:51:46.665 --> 00:51:48.645
but what's important is that you, you get

1190
00:51:48.645 --> 00:51:51.685
to start using some of these techniques to radically

1191
00:51:51.945 --> 00:51:54.445
and I mean, radically improve the performance

1192
00:51:55.025 --> 00:51:57.085
of project delivery within your organization.

1193
00:51:57.865 --> 00:52:00.165
And, um, and that at the end of the day is

1194
00:52:00.165 --> 00:52:02.025
what delivers the eggs, right?

1195
00:52:02.025 --> 00:52:04.185
That's what delivers the change that you need to,

1196
00:52:04.245 --> 00:52:06.545
to deliver the value to the business.

1197
00:52:07.205 --> 00:52:09.585
So if you would like Lenora, I dunno if you're still

1198
00:52:09.585 --> 00:52:13.385
with us, but if you could, uh, uh, drop the link,

1199
00:52:13.385 --> 00:52:16.865
there is a link to book your very own case for change.

1200
00:52:17.245 --> 00:52:18.545
Uh, if Lenora has left us,

1201
00:52:18.565 --> 00:52:19.985
we will put it in an email to you.

1202
00:52:20.085 --> 00:52:21.745
She put it there. There she is. There we go.

1203
00:52:22.715 --> 00:52:25.575
Um, hey, and I was Sorry, go ahead. Sorry. Finish Stuart.

1204
00:52:25.805 --> 00:52:28.175
Yeah, I was gonna say, so, so just go, go click on

1205
00:52:28.175 --> 00:52:29.575
that book, A Case for Change.

1206
00:52:30.115 --> 00:52:33.975
Um, it's not re it's not a sales call, it's, it's about, um,

1207
00:52:34.165 --> 00:52:38.145
just helping you create the vision

1208
00:52:38.365 --> 00:52:41.945
for your executive team so that they understand what's in it

1209
00:52:41.945 --> 00:52:46.105
for them and hopefully get as excited as, as we all are, uh,

1210
00:52:46.175 --> 00:52:47.145
Mike and I could talk about

1211
00:52:47.145 --> 00:52:48.145
this stuff for hours, by the way.

1212
00:52:48.255 --> 00:52:50.665
Sure. And I'll add that, um,

1213
00:52:50.835 --> 00:52:53.025
while this doubling your ROI seems like, you know,

1214
00:52:53.025 --> 00:52:56.265
in a capitalistic society that that'd be plenty

1215
00:52:56.265 --> 00:52:58.825
of incentive, um, to just go for higher

1216
00:52:58.885 --> 00:53:02.345
and higher, um, you know, amounts of value and more profit

1217
00:53:02.525 --> 00:53:03.705
and more, more mission

1218
00:53:03.845 --> 00:53:06.345
and more, whatever the reality is,

1219
00:53:06.455 --> 00:53:10.585
most human beings are motivated not by, um, the pot of gold,

1220
00:53:10.595 --> 00:53:12.785
let's say, but by the alligator.

1221
00:53:13.215 --> 00:53:14.625
It's more like, if I don't fix

1222
00:53:14.865 --> 00:53:16.065
this quick, I'm gonna be fired.

1223
00:53:17.435 --> 00:53:20.455
Um, and so if you find yourselves having to, um,

1224
00:53:20.995 --> 00:53:23.455
in a tough spot in your organization, right,

1225
00:53:23.555 --> 00:53:24.975
and you're looking to stop the bleeding,

1226
00:53:25.745 --> 00:53:27.925
but it requires the kind of changes we've talked about,

1227
00:53:29.155 --> 00:53:32.995
I can tell you that I, I often, um, go into organizations

1228
00:53:33.595 --> 00:53:38.235
speaking truth to power and, um, and again, they can fire me

1229
00:53:38.235 --> 00:53:39.795
or send me outta the room, and that's better than if they

1230
00:53:39.795 --> 00:53:41.075
fire you or send you out of the room.

1231
00:53:44.775 --> 00:53:46.415
Excellent. Mike, can you still hear me?

1232
00:53:47.055 --> 00:53:48.615
I can. I just, okay. You just froze,

1233
00:53:48.635 --> 00:53:49.635
That's all. Yeah, no,

1234
00:53:49.635 --> 00:53:51.575
no, no. Zoom has completely crashed.

1235
00:53:51.575 --> 00:53:53.615
I've lost all control over Zoom, so that's fine.

1236
00:53:53.615 --> 00:53:55.335
But if you can hear me we'll, we'll keep going.

1237
00:53:55.995 --> 00:53:57.215
Um, fantastic.

1238
00:53:57.675 --> 00:53:59.735
So I have, I just, you know, we're getting,

1239
00:53:59.745 --> 00:54:01.055
we're getting close to the top of the hour.

1240
00:54:01.395 --> 00:54:04.335
So I, I've got three more things I'd like to cover

1241
00:54:04.335 --> 00:54:06.095
before we, before we sign off.

1242
00:54:06.635 --> 00:54:11.255
Um, number one is just another, another, um, uh,

1243
00:54:11.645 --> 00:54:14.775
request or suggestion to, to the attendees.

1244
00:54:15.155 --> 00:54:17.295
Um, if, you know, we've been talking a little bit about the

1245
00:54:17.495 --> 00:54:21.015
software, um, if you would like to see the software, um,

1246
00:54:21.085 --> 00:54:24.255
just book a meeting, book a book, a demo, uh,

1247
00:54:24.355 --> 00:54:26.015
and again, it'll, it'll be me or Dan

1248
00:54:26.075 --> 00:54:28.775
or one of the team that that will take you through that.

1249
00:54:29.305 --> 00:54:30.455
We're, we're kind of nice guys.

1250
00:54:30.475 --> 00:54:33.015
We, we don't really believe in the hard sell, so We'll,

1251
00:54:33.015 --> 00:54:34.175
we'll tell you some stories.

1252
00:54:34.175 --> 00:54:36.975
We'll show you some software and see if we can help you.

1253
00:54:37.155 --> 00:54:38.615
And if we can't, that's, that's super.

1254
00:54:39.315 --> 00:54:43.135
So, so, um, so Lenora again, if we'll drop a,

1255
00:54:43.215 --> 00:54:45.095
a link hopefully into the, into the zoom,

1256
00:54:45.095 --> 00:54:46.255
unless hers is frozen as well.

1257
00:54:46.315 --> 00:54:47.975
She just did. Excellent.

1258
00:54:48.515 --> 00:54:50.575
Um, so, so go ahead and,

1259
00:54:50.635 --> 00:54:53.015
and, um, you know, get yourself a case

1260
00:54:53.015 --> 00:54:54.655
for change session or a, or a demo.

1261
00:54:56.015 --> 00:54:58.915
And if you do it now, you won't forget that's, that's,

1262
00:54:58.975 --> 00:55:00.275
you know, what are, what are the tips

1263
00:55:00.295 --> 00:55:01.475
is don't procrastinate.

1264
00:55:02.175 --> 00:55:05.435
Um, right. Two, two other things I want to tick off.

1265
00:55:05.785 --> 00:55:09.395
Mike, I'd like you to tell us how people can get hold of you

1266
00:55:09.395 --> 00:55:13.825
because, um, you, uh, he doesn't like me saying this,

1267
00:55:14.125 --> 00:55:18.165
but Mike is, is probably the preeminent theory constraints,

1268
00:55:18.525 --> 00:55:22.565
critical chain in project management expert on the planet,

1269
00:55:22.565 --> 00:55:24.725
certainly that I know, and I know quite a lot of people.

1270
00:55:25.485 --> 00:55:27.745
Um, so if you wanna fix these problems

1271
00:55:27.745 --> 00:55:29.985
and fix 'em fast, go talk to Mike.

1272
00:55:31.065 --> 00:55:32.555
Yeah, I forget my exact LinkedIn.

1273
00:55:32.875 --> 00:55:35.195
LinkedIn, URL, but um, the part

1274
00:55:35.195 --> 00:55:36.355
where you have your actual id,

1275
00:55:36.985 --> 00:55:38.915
it's MB Hannon, I just put it in the chat.

1276
00:55:39.675 --> 00:55:42.825
There you go. Excellent. So just go, go reach out to Mike.

1277
00:55:42.825 --> 00:55:45.705
Thank you for that. And then the final thing is I thought it

1278
00:55:45.705 --> 00:55:48.265
would be great to just to hear one last story.

1279
00:55:48.925 --> 00:55:53.385
Um, what do you, what do you consider your, you know, in,

1280
00:55:53.385 --> 00:55:56.705
in, in the context of, you know, massively increasing flow

1281
00:55:56.805 --> 00:55:58.705
and all that kind of good stuff, what do you,

1282
00:55:58.705 --> 00:56:02.025
what do you consider as your biggest success?

1283
00:56:02.295 --> 00:56:04.985
With what, what, tell, tell us that story briefly.

1284
00:56:05.935 --> 00:56:08.115
So it was actually, um, a university

1285
00:56:08.695 --> 00:56:11.195
and they were wondering if the same concepts could be

1286
00:56:11.195 --> 00:56:13.195
applied to helping reduce the dropout rate

1287
00:56:13.855 --> 00:56:16.435
and really improved the completion rate, right?

1288
00:56:16.435 --> 00:56:17.915
We're talking about project completions.

1289
00:56:18.265 --> 00:56:20.515
Getting a student through an undergraduate

1290
00:56:20.515 --> 00:56:21.635
degree is kind of like a project.

1291
00:56:22.495 --> 00:56:23.575
And of course, I'd never really

1292
00:56:23.575 --> 00:56:24.655
thought about it that way before.

1293
00:56:24.955 --> 00:56:27.295
Um, so I was kind of fascinated that they thought of it

1294
00:56:27.395 --> 00:56:28.535
and then, and they thought of me

1295
00:56:28.535 --> 00:56:29.895
and inviting me in to try and help.

1296
00:56:30.595 --> 00:56:32.855
And so I, I knew nothing about academic advising

1297
00:56:32.995 --> 00:56:34.295
and what causes people to drop

1298
00:56:34.355 --> 00:56:35.495
out and all this kind of stuff.

1299
00:56:36.235 --> 00:56:37.935
And long story short, they, they went

1300
00:56:37.935 --> 00:56:39.775
after the hardest to serve population.

1301
00:56:40.635 --> 00:56:45.335
It was, um, you know, first time like they called them, um,

1302
00:56:45.945 --> 00:56:47.175
first scholars, right?

1303
00:56:47.175 --> 00:56:48.975
Because the first people to go to college,

1304
00:56:49.365 --> 00:56:51.375
like first gen scholars, first people to go

1305
00:56:51.375 --> 00:56:52.135
to college in their family,

1306
00:56:52.235 --> 00:56:53.455
in their family history, that was

1307
00:56:53.455 --> 00:56:54.055
Me. Mm-hmm.

1308
00:56:54.555 --> 00:56:57.335
Um, and also people that, uh, didn't have much money

1309
00:56:57.355 --> 00:56:59.095
and didn't know how to navigate the financial aid

1310
00:56:59.095 --> 00:57:00.895
and all that kind of stuff here in the us.

1311
00:57:01.745 --> 00:57:05.165
Uh, and so that community was like 300 of 'em.

1312
00:57:05.745 --> 00:57:08.805
Um, their, their completion rate took a while to measure,

1313
00:57:09.385 --> 00:57:10.765
but uh, they ended up

1314
00:57:11.505 --> 00:57:14.205
clo not only closing the gap in the completion rate,

1315
00:57:14.665 --> 00:57:16.085
but actually doing better than everyone else.

1316
00:57:17.055 --> 00:57:18.515
Wow. So they created the reverse gap

1317
00:57:19.845 --> 00:57:21.315
First. Wow. That is awesome. Your

1318
00:57:21.315 --> 00:57:23.235
Best chance of graduating is if you were one

1319
00:57:23.235 --> 00:57:24.915
of the underserved first gen students.

1320
00:57:26.785 --> 00:57:28.035
Well, and, and do you know what, sometimes

1321
00:57:28.055 --> 00:57:29.195
the solutions are so simple.

1322
00:57:29.255 --> 00:57:31.355
You, you would, you would tell me one time about a,

1323
00:57:31.435 --> 00:57:34.555
a hospital where they, they'd sort of cut, they were trying

1324
00:57:34.555 --> 00:57:35.715
to cut costs or something

1325
00:57:35.735 --> 00:57:37.715
and they'd, they'd cut all the janitors

1326
00:57:37.935 --> 00:57:39.755
for cleaning the, the,

1327
00:57:40.095 --> 00:57:40.915
The orderlies. Yeah,

1328
00:57:41.265 --> 00:57:42.265
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1329
00:57:43.085 --> 00:57:45.545
And everything crashed. And everything crashed.

1330
00:57:45.645 --> 00:57:48.265
And so, and, and so it was ironic you had these,

1331
00:57:48.265 --> 00:57:50.865
these million dollar doctors who were not billable

1332
00:57:50.865 --> 00:57:52.425
because they, they refused to, they're sitting

1333
00:57:52.425 --> 00:57:54.105
There waiting, waiting for the or to be cleaned.

1334
00:57:56.425 --> 00:57:58.065
'cause the $20 an hour orderly was,

1335
00:57:58.245 --> 00:57:59.345
you know, they didn't have enough of them.

1336
00:58:01.115 --> 00:58:03.705
Silly. So, so it, it, it is, you know,

1337
00:58:03.935 --> 00:58:05.425
very often it's the simple things.

1338
00:58:05.805 --> 00:58:08.225
And, um, you know, I, if, if this is you,

1339
00:58:08.225 --> 00:58:10.985
if this has resonated, do reach out to Mike, um,

1340
00:58:11.405 --> 00:58:12.665
and, and ask for help.

1341
00:58:12.895 --> 00:58:16.945
Because the experience, Mike's a super nice guy,

1342
00:58:16.945 --> 00:58:18.065
as you can tell, great sense of

1343
00:58:18.065 --> 00:58:19.345
humor, but he is also very humble.

1344
00:58:19.405 --> 00:58:20.905
So he, he would never say it this way,

1345
00:58:21.565 --> 00:58:25.025
but when, when you've done this stuff a bunch of times,

1346
00:58:26.675 --> 00:58:28.775
you learn to see things differently.

1347
00:58:29.155 --> 00:58:30.575
So, uh, you know, a couple

1348
00:58:30.575 --> 00:58:33.295
of years ago I was describing some challenges in our sales

1349
00:58:33.655 --> 00:58:37.695
pipeline and, and Mike, you know, in, in, in 30 seconds

1350
00:58:38.155 --> 00:58:40.175
and said, no, no, you just need to change that and that.

1351
00:58:41.945 --> 00:58:44.655
Right. So, so there are

1352
00:58:44.655 --> 00:58:45.655
Patterns, that's for sure.

1353
00:58:46.005 --> 00:58:47.135
Yeah, exactly. You know, his,

1354
00:58:47.615 --> 00:58:48.895
I think it was Churchill said,

1355
00:58:48.895 --> 00:58:50.935
history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

1356
00:58:53.295 --> 00:58:55.455
I don't think I'd heard that one. That's great. Yeah.

1357
00:58:55.455 --> 00:58:57.855
Yeah. Hey Stuart, thanks so much for having me on. It

1358
00:58:57.855 --> 00:58:58.855
Was pleasure. It's been great. Thank

1359
00:58:58.855 --> 00:59:00.935
you everybody for joining us and, uh,

1360
00:59:01.235 --> 00:59:03.535
and hopefully we'll see you again soon on another webinar.