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So what I want to do, first of all, is just give you a little bit of background.

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So back in March, we had the PMO

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Unconference in San Diego.

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Mickey's hometown, actually. That's where Mickey's based.

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So Mickey and the PMI team in San Diego kind of hosted us there,

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and the group of people on here, we were the facilitators

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for the strategy and transformation

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track. Right? So over two days, we did four pretty

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intense sessions on-

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Yeah

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... strategy and transformation and how PMOs can play a

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really full role in that.

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And there was one topic that came up a couple of times, completely independently,

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and whenever it came up, the whole room lit up, right?

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The room just exploded, which was budget cuts.

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Right?

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So many people around the world, this is not a US phenomenon, this is a global

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phenomenon right now. Around the world, people are,

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organizations are reviewing the budgets, cutting budgets,

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reorganizing, and that's kind of scary.

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So we figured we'd spend an hour and sort of pick it apart and see how we

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can take it from being something that's scary into something that's actually an

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opportunity. So that's our goal, an opportunity for our

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community here.

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So to run the conversation, I'm just going to

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sit here and tell people to be quiet when they've said enough.

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That's my job. But on here we have a number of other absolute

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superstars. So just

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30-second intro. We'll go Mickey, Al, Rebecca, and then we'll

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come to the queen. Laura, do you think I should go find that visual?

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The goddess.

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No.

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The goddess. That was it.

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You should not. You're going to now, aren't you?

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No, I wouldn't do that to you.

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We've been having fun with AI, let's just say that.

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Yeah, exactly. So Mickey, off you go.

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Oh.

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Thank you. Thank you, Stuart.

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Oh, you're welcome.

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Thanks to...

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Well, can you guys hear me?

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Yeah.

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Yep.

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Okay, great.

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No, Stuart, it's been a pleasure and such an honor to meet you all in San

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Diego, and it feels like

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a long time ago, but it wasn't that long ago we all sat in person

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and went through such interactive conversation.

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So I'm so happy that we're sharing this with the rest of the world here it seems

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like.

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But my role is an organizational change executive,

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just a fancy word for saying that I lead change in my organization.

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My organization is one of the largest healthcare public health

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organizations in the country, and looking at change

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from a people lens in this digital AI

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world, that's kind of the world I'm living in, and

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turning

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what can be intimidating into something

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that's an opportunity, I think that's one of the

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key themes. So I'm excited to talk to you all.

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I've been working in the PMO transformation space for

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20 years now, and so it's exciting to meet with

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this team and have this such interactive conversation today.

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So thank you for having us.

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Excellent. Good, Mickey. Actually, Al, I'm going to come to you last.

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I've just realized we were going to use you as the pivot, weren't we?

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So why don't we have the goddess next? The goddess Laura.

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You mean Rebecca, right?

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Well, it works either way, right?

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Question, Stuart. Which Laura? There's two Lauras.

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That's right. One's Hawaiian and one's Luara. Yeah.

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We've got Luara and Laura.

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Yeah, that's right. We fixed it. We fixed my name before we started.

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All right. Well, I'll just go ahead and go here.

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Hi, everyone. It's so good to see your lovely

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names here. I'm imagining your faces.

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I'm honored to be here with this panel. Stuart, thank you for including me.

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We did get to hang out and have a great time, and you'll see some of that in our

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conversation. For those that don't know me, I have spent

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30 years now in PMOs, change management, business

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transformation, building my first PMO in

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1999, and having absolutely no idea what I was doing,

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learned a ton of things the hard way, and then

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inside organizations, building and leading PMOs and transformation teams,

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much like Mickey has in the past, and all of us actually have had a role in doing

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this stuff inside the organization first.

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And now I run, let's see, starting in

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2013, I built PMO Strategies to help all

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of you

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have it easier than I did, and

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share a lot of the don't do this, do this instead, it'll make your life a lot

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easier,

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through my book, "The Impact Engine," and shout out to our students

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that are Impact Engine System students and Mastermind students.

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I see some of you here. And then last year we started another company

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called Global Transformation Group that is working around the globe to help

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organizations accelerate strategy delivery.

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So we cover everything from training and the skills and talent

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development for all of you individuals to helping you drive big

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transformation in organizations.

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Brilliant. Rebecca.

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Good morning, everybody. So great to see you and also the team from San

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Diego. Thanks, Stuart, for corralling us.

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My background is about three decades of also leading

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transformational change, and what I mean by that is big change inside

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organizations where they've hit the wall on

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their mission or how they're delivering, and so these are really

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reinventions. So often I'm hired by senior leaders,

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and it starts with working with them, and I notice a

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key leadership capability that really

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distinguishes great leaders from sort of, I would say, not so great leaders

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is the ability, as Mickey had saidTo understand the perceived

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problems as opportunities, and that those opportunities

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are for growth and for learning, and then ultimately result in

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next-level impact. So I feel like that's very much in line with what we're going to

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be talking about today, and I'm excited to hear from you all about what some

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of your challenges are that we can help you with.

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Brilliant. So before we go to Al, just a quick question for the audience

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is,

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is anyone here, just drop a quick yeah or something into the chat.

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Is anybody here actually wrestling with or has recently wrestled with

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reorganizations, budget cuts,

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things like that? So just stick a quick yeah in the comments.

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Yeah. There we go. So it's absolutely

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rife.

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Literally every conversation I have at the moment, it's one of

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the factors that people want to talk about.

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So this feels like a really well-timed conversation.

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And there's a well-known phrase that it goes something like, "If life gives you

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lemons, make lemonade."

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And so the sourest of us all, I think, is Al Zaitoon.

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Al, why don't you

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introduce yourself and add a little bit of sugar to that statement?

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Listen, I'm not going to even spend a minute introducing myself.

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I think

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one thing that's really interesting

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is Stuart, and as he prepped us for

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this,

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he says, "Gosh, Al, you're sunshine.

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What are you thinking?" Everybody's concerned about the title of the session,

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and he literally took me to a place where he

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cannot be realistic in that view. So to be honest, since you and I had that

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discussion, things have changed in my head, yeah?

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And to tee that off, the reality is, every

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executive I talked with in San Diego and beyond, there are some execs in

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San Diego, there are execs we interact with for the last maybe, I would say

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especially this has been very

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strong signal for the last maybe 12 to 15, 16 months, in my

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opinion. And especially around PMOs,

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every one of them has been asking a question directly or indirectly saying, "Do

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we really need a PMO?"

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And I was really gutted, in a way, but also not surprised, because you

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heard me also say before, we're in 2026, and I can't believe we're still talking

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about PMOs.

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Personal opinion. Although my entire life has been, so maybe that's an intro

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to who am I. It's really a project management by,

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it runs in my blood and PMI and all of those entities that

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shape that have always been in the backdrop.

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But what's very interesting, the dialogue was not,

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can we make our PMO better? Can we make it

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stronger? Can we scale it? I have not heard that from any single

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exec in those discussions, which even made me worry even more.

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Because when I was talking with you and the team here, I was thinking, "No, let's

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focus on the fact that really the PMO..." Well, the PMO, the good

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news is,

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is because of the heavy signal from AI that

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finally changed my mind since you and I talked last.

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Because the reason these guys have been, in my opinion, talking so poorly

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about the

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PMO is the fact that it continues to be

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literally the classic PMO that I grew up around, which

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is an engine for shooting stuff out.

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Yeah? And let's see if it lands.

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What is that?

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Whereas really, just a last comment on my background-

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Yeah

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... my background has been in strategy execution.

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So if the PMO is really not hitting that on the head,

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and especially in this day and age, I don't know why I invested my career

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in culture, strategy, the execution thereof, and

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also making sure that organizations truly and on ongoing

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basis transform to do what's more meaningful

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for their stakeholders and shareholders, et cetera.

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So anyhow, we'll get into the details, but that's in a way

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the change, so that helps even when you talk and address any questions with me.

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My head has changed quite a bit-

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It's really interesting

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... since we connected last. So what I'm saying is we do have a crisis, but

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it's very much like a risk. It has an upside, which has an opportunity.

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So I'm hoping to hear a lot of that from my colleagues as well. Yeah.

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Absolutely. Okay, quick tactical thing. Yes, the call is being recorded.

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It will be shared with you in a couple of days.

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Look for an email from Preeti at transparentchoice.com.

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It's a bit of a weird name for many of you.

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That's P-R-E-E-T-I at transparentchoice.com.

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It is not spam. She's not trying to sell you a timeshare

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in Florida, Laura.

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She's

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one of our team. She's been with us for years, and she's absolutely lovely.

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So just look for that email. So I want to come to the comment from Jo

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Stanford, right?

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So Jo runs an organization called the HPCA here in the

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UK.

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Think of them as a mini PMI or a mini APM

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specifically for the healthcare community here in the UK.

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Right? So the NHS, the National Health Service, of which we are incredibly

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proud, employs directly and indirectly something

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like 9% of the UK workforce.

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Right? It's colossal. And they are going through

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a generational change, possibly a bi-generation.

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It's 40 years since they've done anything

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this big. So they literally just a few months ago

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announced that they were going to shut down NHS England. Right?

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So this is mind-blowing. So we're talking

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with Jo to people who

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know that their whole organization is being shut down,

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and what do we do about it? Okay. So that's the

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downside.

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That's the backdrop to this. My camera's gone crazy today. All right.

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I love the picture, though.

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Yeah.

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This is a good, no?

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Excellent. All right. Come back.

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There we go.

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You have to just keep pressing the-- There's a preset on here, which is called

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guitars for some strange reason.

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Oh, right. Oh.

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So I'm going to have to just keep pressing the guitars button and hope that things

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go well. So

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one of the things that Al said there is that the reason that people jump

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to the PMO is partly what Jo said, which is that it's not a

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frontline serviceIt's a supporting service.

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Yeah.

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But

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I want to come to what, Al, where you were talking about this actually being

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about strategy and strategy execution.

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And if there's one time that you need to be able to execute well and efficiently

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and effectively, it's when there's a big period of change.

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So Rebecca, you spend all your time helping leadership teams,

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executive teams, primarily in government,

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get their head around how to manage change, how to

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formulate strategy. So from that boardroom's perspective,

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what's the problem here? Why is it that the PMO's in

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trouble, and what is it that the execs actually want?

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Well, first of all, we, I think, have said over and over that the

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execs aren't really that aware of PMO, and I think that's a

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really, really big problem. If they don't understand the value

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being given, then they can't advantage

250
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themselves and so on.

251
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The problem with execution in change

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is that we don't have a clear pathway forward, and that is the leadership's job.

253
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I think that that's in fact what I've brought in a lot of times to do, is to

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help to reshape and refashion what that strategy's going to

255
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be. But I think that the PMO, or at least the people that

256
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are operating in that function, let's not worry about

257
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whether you have that office or not, there's a critical function there for

258
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leaders, which is to help them to understand what is going

259
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on in terms of execution. How does that connect?

260
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And so I think we're going to be talking a lot more about that value.

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No matter what it's called or whatever, it's the value of

262
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being able to show

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where the lack of strategy or the lack of governance or

264
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whatever is impinging the ability to implement whatever

265
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strategy is being created.

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Brilliant. I love it. So Laura, I'm going to come to you now because

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you spend

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some of your time helping PMOs figure out how to fill that gap,

269
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right?

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Yeah.

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So the opportunity here is to use this time,

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this

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period of change,

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to transition the PMO from being an order taker

275
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to a change maker, to an impact driver, as you might call it.

276
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So why don't you talk us through just, and many people here will have heard

277
00:14:46.516 --> 00:14:50.276
you talking before, but just give us a flavor of what that might look like.

278
00:14:51.516 --> 00:14:51.796
Well,

279
00:14:52.816 --> 00:14:56.696
so this is the exact conversation that PMOs want to be involved

280
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in, right? When budget cuts are happening,

281
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instead of being where many of them are, is in reactive mode or

282
00:15:04.736 --> 00:15:08.586
being scared, this is where you lean in and say, "Let me help you

283
00:15:08.996 --> 00:15:10.796
make the decisions you need to make.

284
00:15:11.156 --> 00:15:12.476
Let me help you see

285
00:15:13.796 --> 00:15:16.076
all the different scenarios with all of the

286
00:15:16.996 --> 00:15:20.696
projects and programs you have going on right now, and help you

287
00:15:20.756 --> 00:15:24.516
think through, if we do this, this is what you can expect,"

288
00:15:24.576 --> 00:15:28.416
right? And really participate, for those of you that are familiar with The Impact

289
00:15:28.496 --> 00:15:32.476
Engine, we talk about the strategy life cycle, and supporting setting

290
00:15:32.516 --> 00:15:36.296
that strategy up for success instead of just being there to be the dumping

291
00:15:36.376 --> 00:15:40.276
ground of the projects once they've already been all figured out,

292
00:15:40.436 --> 00:15:44.326
right? Because the reason a lot of these organizations are really struggling from a

293
00:15:44.396 --> 00:15:47.976
budget perspective is that they didn't set those projects up for success before

294
00:15:47.986 --> 00:15:51.956
they started. So they're having to make cuts because they made bad bets, because

295
00:15:51.976 --> 00:15:55.016
they didn't have the right information, because the PMO wasn't involved in the

296
00:15:55.056 --> 00:15:58.616
process, right? And the executives are

297
00:15:58.976 --> 00:16:02.396
guessing, unless they have the PMO

298
00:16:02.836 --> 00:16:06.576
with the information, not just data, not shoving a bunch of reports at them

299
00:16:08.256 --> 00:16:12.136
with 85 columns and 52 colors and nobody knows what's going

300
00:16:12.196 --> 00:16:16.156
on, but really saying, "Here's the information you need to make

301
00:16:16.196 --> 00:16:20.116
the right bets, make the right decisions, and as things change,

302
00:16:20.596 --> 00:16:23.836
let me help you understand what your options are," right?

303
00:16:24.196 --> 00:16:24.556
Help them

304
00:16:26.096 --> 00:16:29.696
make business decisions, not project decisions, right?

305
00:16:29.826 --> 00:16:31.816
And that's where

306
00:16:32.676 --> 00:16:36.336
what we're seeing is a lot of these budget cuts are a result of

307
00:16:36.815 --> 00:16:40.776
not having that whole operating model in place that's

308
00:16:40.815 --> 00:16:44.776
driving those better decision-making before projects start, ensuring that

309
00:16:44.816 --> 00:16:48.716
the projects are set up for success as they go into planning and delivery.

310
00:16:49.046 --> 00:16:51.716
And then actually, I don't know, let's measure.

311
00:16:51.736 --> 00:16:55.656
I was just in a conversation with someone saying most organizations

312
00:16:55.676 --> 00:16:59.436
they work with don't even measure, did we actually achieve the business goals we

313
00:16:59.456 --> 00:17:03.356
were intending to achieve in a way that made them worth doing

314
00:17:03.396 --> 00:17:06.777
in the first place, which is why PMI's leaning into this whole MORE thing that,

315
00:17:06.816 --> 00:17:08.186
Mikki, I know you want to talk about,

316
00:17:09.036 --> 00:17:12.816
and that I've been on an advisory group trying to help them make sense of

317
00:17:12.896 --> 00:17:15.517
it and roll it out to project people.

318
00:17:18.096 --> 00:17:21.946
We need to be asking better questions up front, and as the budget is

319
00:17:21.977 --> 00:17:25.666
changing and as organizations are having to shift and pivot,

320
00:17:25.666 --> 00:17:29.556
this is an opportunity for the PMO to shine and say, "I've

321
00:17:29.596 --> 00:17:33.536
got you. Let me help make this decision-making process

322
00:17:33.616 --> 00:17:37.496
easier for you." And one thing that I want to say before

323
00:17:37.636 --> 00:17:39.936
I pass the baton to whoever's next,

324
00:17:40.916 --> 00:17:43.596
I want to ask you all this question to be thinking about.

325
00:17:44.056 --> 00:17:47.736
If your PMO disappeared tomorrow, would leadership

326
00:17:47.776 --> 00:17:51.676
lose reporting or lose strategic decision-making

327
00:17:51.716 --> 00:17:55.696
capability? And understanding that difference is what matters.

328
00:17:56.116 --> 00:17:59.976
Because if your leadership team is asking you

329
00:18:00.016 --> 00:18:03.466
questions, leaning in right now and saying, "Hey, we've got to make changes.

330
00:18:03.516 --> 00:18:05.816
Help," then you're positioned well.

331
00:18:06.236 --> 00:18:08.316
If they are saying, "Oh, don't worry about it, PMO people.

332
00:18:08.496 --> 00:18:11.216
We've got to go figure out this stuff over here, and we'll let you know,"

333
00:18:12.156 --> 00:18:14.676
then you may be on that chopping block as well.

334
00:18:14.706 --> 00:18:15.856
And I'm not saying that to scare you.

335
00:18:16.306 --> 00:18:20.216
I'm saying that because you have to shift the perception of the value you

336
00:18:20.236 --> 00:18:24.036
bring to the table and actually be valuable if you want to be seen as

337
00:18:24.056 --> 00:18:24.476
valuable.

338
00:18:25.584 --> 00:18:29.364
So, I want to tell a little story, and then Mickey, I want to come to

339
00:18:29.484 --> 00:18:33.483
you, and perhaps you can do some of your more stuff and help

340
00:18:33.524 --> 00:18:37.124
us start to think about how to use those tools to navigate the change.

341
00:18:38.304 --> 00:18:39.564
So, here's a little story.

342
00:18:40.944 --> 00:18:44.924
I'm not going to name and shame people,

343
00:18:45.044 --> 00:18:47.344
but the situation was it was a

344
00:18:48.844 --> 00:18:51.304
utility company, big utility company, power generation.

345
00:18:52.764 --> 00:18:56.144
And they were under extreme pressure from their

346
00:18:56.184 --> 00:18:58.704
shareholders. Performance was in the toilet,

347
00:18:59.664 --> 00:19:02.424
profitability was nonexistent, share price had collapsed.

348
00:19:04.104 --> 00:19:07.984
So the CEO said, "We've got to do something about this." And at that point,

349
00:19:08.144 --> 00:19:11.344
the guy who, I'm going to call him a PMO, he was actually

350
00:19:12.284 --> 00:19:15.994
a little more senior than that, but he stepped in to fill the

351
00:19:16.044 --> 00:19:19.924
role of the PMO, and he sat down with the executives and said,

352
00:19:20.614 --> 00:19:21.544
"I've got a plan.

353
00:19:22.524 --> 00:19:26.504
Here's my plan. We're going to agree what the goals of the organization

354
00:19:26.564 --> 00:19:30.204
are, right? What we need to achieve in order to turn this around.

355
00:19:31.544 --> 00:19:32.244
And then we're going to

356
00:19:33.044 --> 00:19:35.344
set up a system where we ask

357
00:19:36.184 --> 00:19:38.944
our colleagues, our employees, our team members

358
00:19:39.884 --> 00:19:42.484
what things we ought to do to help us achieve that plan.

359
00:19:43.484 --> 00:19:44.904
And we're going to filter them," right? There were rules.

360
00:19:44.944 --> 00:19:47.864
The rules were, you don't bring us your complaints.

361
00:19:48.244 --> 00:19:52.084
Bring us an opportunity where you've got an idea how to fix

362
00:19:52.144 --> 00:19:55.364
it, and that was it. That was basically the rules.

363
00:19:56.064 --> 00:19:59.224
And so they processed something like

364
00:19:59.284 --> 00:20:02.984
12,000 suggestions of ideas that they could do to improve.

365
00:20:03.804 --> 00:20:05.884
They implemented about a third of them,

366
00:20:07.744 --> 00:20:10.944
and that resulted in the space of about a year, year and a half,

367
00:20:11.764 --> 00:20:14.983
in a $300 million a year

368
00:20:15.744 --> 00:20:18.824
operating cost saving, and about a half billion dollar

369
00:20:19.564 --> 00:20:23.204
capital saving, right? They freed up working capital of about a half a billion

370
00:20:23.284 --> 00:20:23.664
dollars.

371
00:20:24.604 --> 00:20:27.064
And literally through that process,

372
00:20:27.764 --> 00:20:31.264
the performance of the organization turned around,

373
00:20:34.084 --> 00:20:37.764
and a couple of years later, in terms of their

374
00:20:37.824 --> 00:20:41.124
performance on Wall Street, they were outperforming all their peers.

375
00:20:42.444 --> 00:20:46.344
Now, this is an excellent example of bad news,

376
00:20:46.764 --> 00:20:48.364
everybody hates us, we got no money.

377
00:20:49.693 --> 00:20:52.904
PMO turns up and says, "I got a plan.

378
00:20:52.944 --> 00:20:54.144
I'm going to help you with insight.

379
00:20:54.244 --> 00:20:58.164
You set the goals, and then I'm going to help you figure out what we

380
00:20:58.204 --> 00:21:01.514
should actually implement, because I understand the capacity and all that kind of

381
00:21:01.524 --> 00:21:03.364
good stuff, and I'm good at putting systems in place.

382
00:21:03.744 --> 00:21:07.584
So I'm going to put a system in place that collects the ideas and turns that into a

383
00:21:07.624 --> 00:21:11.144
transformation that's going to

384
00:21:11.204 --> 00:21:14.804
help and support you. You're in control, Mr. Executives.

385
00:21:15.404 --> 00:21:17.544
I'm giving you the information, the insight.

386
00:21:17.584 --> 00:21:21.064
I'm giving you the systems to make it happen. I'm going to run the process for you.

387
00:21:21.104 --> 00:21:24.424
So all you've got to do is sit there, consume the insight, and make decisions."

388
00:21:25.084 --> 00:21:27.664
And the result was an absolute turnaround.

389
00:21:28.944 --> 00:21:32.844
So that, when Laura's talking, and Rebecca and Al are

390
00:21:32.864 --> 00:21:35.064
talking about that strategic

391
00:21:36.324 --> 00:21:38.884
aspect of the role, that's what we're talking about.

392
00:21:40.044 --> 00:21:43.984
Right? And just phenomenal. So effectively, the PMO, they

393
00:21:44.004 --> 00:21:47.224
didn't have a PMO, but the guy was filling that role.

394
00:21:47.264 --> 00:21:51.174
The PMO was the one who stepped in and said, "I'm going to make this happen." And

395
00:21:51.324 --> 00:21:54.844
do you know what? No one ever questioned whether his office should exist or not,

396
00:21:55.604 --> 00:21:56.284
not after that.

397
00:21:57.404 --> 00:22:01.184
So Mickey, with that as a background, how do we

398
00:22:01.884 --> 00:22:05.324
use some of these tools to start to have this conversation and start to

399
00:22:05.904 --> 00:22:09.884
take the people with us and have the conversation with the

400
00:22:09.904 --> 00:22:11.504
organization to turn things around?

401
00:22:12.944 --> 00:22:16.824
Yeah, I don't think there's any magic wand or anything, and I think

402
00:22:16.864 --> 00:22:20.784
we all know that. But some of the things that are coming to mind just from the

403
00:22:20.844 --> 00:22:24.384
conversation and where this is going, I like your comment about

404
00:22:24.464 --> 00:22:28.124
turning lemons into lemonade. I think a lot of us have watermelons, to be

405
00:22:28.244 --> 00:22:30.193
honest, larger than lemons, right?

406
00:22:30.224 --> 00:22:32.724
And so one of the things that comes to mind is,

407
00:22:33.604 --> 00:22:37.004
and this is not my current organization, but I'm just thinking out loud.

408
00:22:38.624 --> 00:22:42.084
Similar to Laura and all of you here, I've gone through multiple industries.

409
00:22:42.323 --> 00:22:45.904
My current industry is healthcare, but in the past, having worked with

410
00:22:45.964 --> 00:22:49.744
government, federal, state, and local, and also working in more of a

411
00:22:49.804 --> 00:22:53.604
purely IT type of organization, I think one of the common

412
00:22:53.624 --> 00:22:57.354
themes is that moving upstream from what a

413
00:22:57.384 --> 00:23:01.284
traditional PMO does, because people tend to think

414
00:23:01.324 --> 00:23:05.184
of PMO as kind of like the peeper police, right? At least the old school PMOs.

415
00:23:06.144 --> 00:23:09.994
But one of the things that I've seen and I'm experiencing in the

416
00:23:10.044 --> 00:23:13.104
last decade, or last five years, is that

417
00:23:13.924 --> 00:23:17.424
PMOs need to move up in this chain,

418
00:23:18.104 --> 00:23:21.394
and be bigger than projects and

419
00:23:21.424 --> 00:23:24.894
portfolios. And part of that is

420
00:23:24.944 --> 00:23:28.524
working with the C-suite, like what Rebecca does every single

421
00:23:28.544 --> 00:23:31.984
day. And in working with the C-suite,

422
00:23:32.604 --> 00:23:36.184
understanding what direction they're going in terms of their

423
00:23:36.264 --> 00:23:40.244
vision and strategy, but now translating that for the

424
00:23:40.324 --> 00:23:41.824
staff and middle management.

425
00:23:43.004 --> 00:23:46.844
How many times have we all been in rah-rah sessions

426
00:23:46.924 --> 00:23:50.884
where folks are talking strategy and vision, and the rest of the

427
00:23:50.944 --> 00:23:53.724
organization just kind of looks at them with glazed eyeballs, right?

428
00:23:55.104 --> 00:23:58.744
One organization as an example of strategy into

429
00:23:59.284 --> 00:24:01.884
something more of a change that people can embrace,

430
00:24:02.804 --> 00:24:06.164
was where in terms of digital transformations,

431
00:24:07.204 --> 00:24:10.904
having a merger between three organizations and looking for

432
00:24:10.964 --> 00:24:14.824
cost savings, and there was no construct of a PMO, but

433
00:24:14.884 --> 00:24:18.424
we introduced this concept of a PMO or transformation

434
00:24:18.524 --> 00:24:18.964
office.

435
00:24:19.804 --> 00:24:23.184
Out of the merger, there was a vision of consolidation.

436
00:24:24.084 --> 00:24:27.584
People are thinking of layoffs, especially in the project

437
00:24:27.664 --> 00:24:30.304
space. But turning that into an opportunity

438
00:24:30.384 --> 00:24:33.996
whereTo Laura's point, we can help become

439
00:24:34.036 --> 00:24:37.786
drivers of-- I'm not talking about drivers of layoffs, I'm talking about

440
00:24:37.796 --> 00:24:40.426
drivers of value and cost savings, right?

441
00:24:40.456 --> 00:24:42.796
So putting this kind of portfolio mindset,

442
00:24:43.616 --> 00:24:44.896
working with the C-suite,

443
00:24:45.776 --> 00:24:49.576
presenting to them a plan for cost savings,

444
00:24:50.096 --> 00:24:53.976
and we looked at a portfolio of 1,100 projects

445
00:24:54.016 --> 00:24:57.556
and programs, and putting through a stage gate.

446
00:24:58.216 --> 00:25:01.996
And my point in saying all that is our executives didn't know what to do,

447
00:25:02.116 --> 00:25:05.776
whereas folks like us were able to organize that into a

448
00:25:05.816 --> 00:25:09.716
cohesive plan. And the good news out of that

449
00:25:09.796 --> 00:25:12.356
story is we became an enablement office.

450
00:25:12.676 --> 00:25:15.416
Not a PMO, an enablement office, right?

451
00:25:15.816 --> 00:25:19.536
And we were there working with all of the C-suites, the middle management.

452
00:25:19.876 --> 00:25:23.656
We put together a portfolio, if you want to call it in terms of a PMO

453
00:25:23.716 --> 00:25:27.256
construct, and then out of the portfolio, organized

454
00:25:27.336 --> 00:25:31.236
into these work streams. And the end result of

455
00:25:31.276 --> 00:25:35.096
this six-month process was we were able to have

456
00:25:35.555 --> 00:25:39.476
$200 million in savings, right? So the PMO is

457
00:25:39.536 --> 00:25:41.156
no longer seen as a cost

458
00:25:42.196 --> 00:25:44.976
center. PMO is seen as a value driver.

459
00:25:45.896 --> 00:25:48.476
And I think I encourage you all to think about this, right?

460
00:25:50.256 --> 00:25:53.516
This is not a PMO function. This is more of a strategic

461
00:25:53.576 --> 00:25:57.496
enablement function. And I think there's many examples

462
00:25:57.536 --> 00:25:59.696
that you can probably think of where you

463
00:26:00.536 --> 00:26:04.476
or, even if you don't have a PMO, think about becoming

464
00:26:04.616 --> 00:26:07.296
an enabler as opposed to a cost center.

465
00:26:08.356 --> 00:26:12.236
Fast forward at the end of a 12-month

466
00:26:12.376 --> 00:26:16.016
period for that particular endeavor that I mentioned, we

467
00:26:16.076 --> 00:26:20.046
had a $200 million rationalization

468
00:26:20.096 --> 00:26:23.116
for over 1,100 programs and projects.

469
00:26:23.806 --> 00:26:27.236
The merger became much more-- All mergers are

470
00:26:27.516 --> 00:26:31.396
hard, but the merger with this cost savings, the cost savings was

471
00:26:31.456 --> 00:26:35.336
reinvested back into the three entities, and

472
00:26:35.416 --> 00:26:39.136
this is a value, right, as opposed to being seen as a cost

473
00:26:39.176 --> 00:26:43.096
center. But hopefully that long story doesn't scare anyone off,

474
00:26:43.196 --> 00:26:47.096
because that's a real example of strategy into

475
00:26:47.136 --> 00:26:51.016
execution. PMO making-- I guess, what's an

476
00:26:51.056 --> 00:26:52.736
analogy with watermelon, Stuart?

477
00:26:53.396 --> 00:26:56.816
Watermelon and making the watermelon into

478
00:26:57.136 --> 00:26:59.676
something that you can eat at a picnic, right?

479
00:27:00.156 --> 00:27:00.316
So

480
00:27:01.836 --> 00:27:02.116
Love it.

481
00:27:03.296 --> 00:27:07.236
So what's interesting there to me is that there's a lot of commonality

482
00:27:07.276 --> 00:27:08.486
between those two stories,

483
00:27:09.656 --> 00:27:09.916
right?

484
00:27:10.656 --> 00:27:10.776
Yep.

485
00:27:11.356 --> 00:27:13.126
The nature of the change was different,

486
00:27:14.096 --> 00:27:17.696
but the way that the PMO stepped up and structured the process.

487
00:27:18.196 --> 00:27:22.036
And what I found really interesting there was that there wasn't a lot in

488
00:27:22.136 --> 00:27:24.656
either of those stories about actual project management.

489
00:27:25.636 --> 00:27:26.436
Oh, it's

490
00:27:27.536 --> 00:27:28.836
above project management.

491
00:27:28.866 --> 00:27:28.866
Yeah.

492
00:27:28.876 --> 00:27:29.486
And this is where

493
00:27:30.296 --> 00:27:34.016
I think it utilizes all the skills that maybe you already

494
00:27:34.036 --> 00:27:35.976
know, but framing it differently.

495
00:27:36.636 --> 00:27:40.616
And, Rebecca, you work with the executives all the time, so it resonates with

496
00:27:40.676 --> 00:27:44.346
me. And then Al and Laura, your examples are, I

497
00:27:44.476 --> 00:27:44.756
think,

498
00:27:45.996 --> 00:27:49.036
examples that maybe we have in our head, but people just don't

499
00:27:49.496 --> 00:27:51.476
execute or bring to the forefront.

500
00:27:52.336 --> 00:27:52.396
Mm-hmm.

501
00:27:52.416 --> 00:27:55.636
But I think in healthcare, my current industry,

502
00:27:56.796 --> 00:27:59.936
the people side of change becomes value, right?

503
00:28:00.376 --> 00:28:03.976
So value is the profit driver, and healthcare is not

504
00:28:04.076 --> 00:28:07.936
necessarily how much money you can profit from shareholders, right?

505
00:28:08.436 --> 00:28:10.116
It's value to patients,

506
00:28:10.956 --> 00:28:14.296
doctors, nurses. So it kind of depends on your industry.

507
00:28:14.396 --> 00:28:14.556
But

508
00:28:15.996 --> 00:28:19.976
when I first started my current organization, there was this concept of

509
00:28:20.136 --> 00:28:23.936
escalations pyramid that went up into governance.

510
00:28:23.996 --> 00:28:27.725
We fought hard to flip that and make it an enablement model,

511
00:28:27.876 --> 00:28:31.676
right? So that's kind of similar to my original story, enablement versus

512
00:28:31.776 --> 00:28:33.276
cost center, so.

513
00:28:33.356 --> 00:28:35.476
Yeah. Interesting. So Stuart, actually,

514
00:28:36.896 --> 00:28:39.116
I'm trying hard to

515
00:28:40.096 --> 00:28:43.916
also-- So I think we have everyone on

516
00:28:44.296 --> 00:28:47.696
the group here attending, agreeing with us, right?

517
00:28:48.116 --> 00:28:51.855
And I see it in the comments, et cetera, and I love who is attending as well.

518
00:28:51.956 --> 00:28:55.836
I see some friends like Kevin. I see some folks from Maryland, Jim

519
00:28:55.856 --> 00:28:58.456
and others. It's a very interesting mix there.

520
00:28:59.036 --> 00:29:02.806
And I think the analogy of veggies and all of that, and lemons and all that is

521
00:29:03.056 --> 00:29:06.856
really good. If I think of what is one thing I would say I learned

522
00:29:06.996 --> 00:29:10.386
and hit me hard, that would be an advice that I could share,

523
00:29:11.156 --> 00:29:14.936
I would say language. And you heard me say that in San Diego, I think a couple of

524
00:29:14.976 --> 00:29:17.316
times. Language matters. Matter of fact, if I

525
00:29:18.336 --> 00:29:21.996
have one ask of whoever is attending here, when you leave

526
00:29:22.056 --> 00:29:22.436
today,

527
00:29:23.236 --> 00:29:27.096
develop a list, literally a list between words you've been

528
00:29:27.136 --> 00:29:30.636
using and words that really you have to start using from this point

529
00:29:30.696 --> 00:29:32.376
onward. Don't waste a second.

530
00:29:33.236 --> 00:29:36.776
I do not know any executive that enjoys having a dialogue with

531
00:29:36.816 --> 00:29:37.296
me.

532
00:29:38.336 --> 00:29:41.756
Maybe two quick story. Backdrop, small PMO in Indianapolis, Indiana, paper

533
00:29:41.856 --> 00:29:45.596
industry. Nobody knows what a project is or cares about project management, to the

534
00:29:45.636 --> 00:29:48.886
time in the Middle East 10 years ago, running a $30

535
00:29:48.916 --> 00:29:52.246
billion construction in the energy industry, yeah?

536
00:29:52.276 --> 00:29:55.276
And if you look at that second one, I thought I got it by now, and I got all the

537
00:29:55.316 --> 00:29:58.236
resources, the reports, everything that I needed.

538
00:29:58.496 --> 00:29:59.976
I've got the arsenal, I've got the support.

539
00:30:00.016 --> 00:30:02.115
The CEO knew PMI, he hired me for that reason.

540
00:30:03.866 --> 00:30:07.636
But the reality is, we still failed in the utilization of

541
00:30:07.676 --> 00:30:11.276
language that matters. Not a single person really cared about what a

542
00:30:11.316 --> 00:30:14.336
PM thinks about when it comes to risk, probability, impact, all of that.

543
00:30:14.436 --> 00:30:16.976
That's all noise, right? Not a single person

544
00:30:17.896 --> 00:30:20.956
in the executive team is going to be so thrilled to hear your words about scope

545
00:30:21.016 --> 00:30:24.496
creep. They want to hear about opportunity missed, for example.

546
00:30:25.056 --> 00:30:29.016
When you talk updates, what's the implications, for

547
00:30:29.076 --> 00:30:33.036
example, on trade-offs, right? When you talk about-- So think about those

548
00:30:33.076 --> 00:30:35.356
lines, one thing. That would be one immediate

549
00:30:36.236 --> 00:30:40.176
recommendation I would have. The second thing is with the AI component in the mix,

550
00:30:40.296 --> 00:30:44.160
because-Just about everything you are comfortable doing and using is going to be

551
00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:48.180
automated. Right? So really hit hard in terms of the cost-cutting and the budget

552
00:30:48.260 --> 00:30:52.150
piece as well. However, because of everything we've been talking about right now,

553
00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:54.980
there is a great opportunity, and I've seen it in practice quite a bit.

554
00:30:55.360 --> 00:30:57.720
There are three letters that the executives really care about.

555
00:30:57.800 --> 00:31:01.560
They care about clarity. We had a webinar, you and I, on clarity, strategic clarity

556
00:31:01.600 --> 00:31:04.100
before, and Kevin was with us, Stuart.

557
00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:06.600
They care about capacity, which is your area.

558
00:31:06.700 --> 00:31:10.260
If you can help me truly understand the capacity of the organization

559
00:31:11.700 --> 00:31:14.520
in relationship to those investments and decisions I want to make.

560
00:31:14.560 --> 00:31:17.060
And speaking of that, the last one is decision-making.

561
00:31:17.120 --> 00:31:20.980
And there's everything right now in the midst of the most complex environment we've

562
00:31:21.020 --> 00:31:24.870
had over the years. This is where there is nothing

563
00:31:25.340 --> 00:31:28.360
except the future's going to even get more complex, but we've never been as complex

564
00:31:28.420 --> 00:31:28.980
as we are now.

565
00:31:30.040 --> 00:31:34.010
So I think if I look at capability and teams I've worked with and executives,

566
00:31:34.180 --> 00:31:38.120
what they're looking for is your ability to do what's needed for system

567
00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:41.580
thinking. There is number one, two, and three in my books right now.

568
00:31:41.940 --> 00:31:45.580
If I can find a way for PMOs to have management system

569
00:31:45.700 --> 00:31:49.580
thinking, drive exactly how to look at the enterprise, how to, when

570
00:31:49.620 --> 00:31:52.240
people are talking about enterprise agility, when people are talking about

571
00:31:52.260 --> 00:31:56.220
strategic fluidity, et cetera, all of that requires PMOs to be

572
00:31:56.260 --> 00:31:59.680
the host, literally the host of the end-to-end

573
00:31:59.760 --> 00:32:03.730
understanding of the integral parts of the business, every trade-off,

574
00:32:03.880 --> 00:32:07.800
every connecting the thread. And in my opinion, we've got to find a way to

575
00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:09.500
tackle that, because otherwise,

576
00:32:10.760 --> 00:32:13.880
the cost-cutting theme and the budgets and the doom and gloom.

577
00:32:14.140 --> 00:32:16.760
I saw in the chat three orgs in three years, right?

578
00:32:17.100 --> 00:32:18.800
I mean, that's now going to be uncommon.

579
00:32:18.840 --> 00:32:22.480
I mean, I'm not surprised there's not even more of that, given

580
00:32:22.560 --> 00:32:24.500
my recent work in technology, for example.

581
00:32:24.560 --> 00:32:28.360
I can tell you, I could not get through to connecting the dots

582
00:32:28.380 --> 00:32:32.160
between the message that executives truly

583
00:32:32.280 --> 00:32:35.300
say, "I want to be more program management-like," and the actions and behavior.

584
00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:38.680
So we got to figure between language, between approaching it

585
00:32:38.700 --> 00:32:41.140
system-like, a way to connect through that. Yeah.

586
00:32:41.240 --> 00:32:44.060
Hey, Al, I do want to piggyback on what you just said.

587
00:32:44.260 --> 00:32:47.970
I think reorg is such an incredibly important

588
00:32:48.120 --> 00:32:50.560
indicator of where senior leaders are.

589
00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:54.460
If we're seeing a lot of reorgs, what we know is senior leaders are

590
00:32:54.540 --> 00:32:57.060
struggling. They don't have clear strategy.

591
00:32:57.160 --> 00:32:59.600
It's just a move stuff around the board.

592
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:02.640
And I mean, this is something I tell my leaders all the time.

593
00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:05.640
If you keep shuffling around the board, that's not handling it.

594
00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:09.560
We got to look at the board. So leaders, I mean, reorgs, I

595
00:33:09.600 --> 00:33:13.480
think are a total time suck, waste suck, morality problem.

596
00:33:13.800 --> 00:33:14.180
Excuse me,

597
00:33:15.100 --> 00:33:18.820
morality. What's the word? I kind of have a head

598
00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:21.220
cold, so anyway, whatever. A morale problem.

599
00:33:21.280 --> 00:33:22.980
That's the word I was looking for.

600
00:33:22.989 --> 00:33:22.989
Morale.

601
00:33:23.040 --> 00:33:23.940
So yeah, morale.

602
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:25.600
Definitely not morality.

603
00:33:25.640 --> 00:33:28.460
Right. And, well, it can be morality as well, right?

604
00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:30.240
I mean, what are we trying to hide?

605
00:33:30.290 --> 00:33:30.410
It can be, yeah.

606
00:33:30.840 --> 00:33:31.640
But I also want to

607
00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:35.320
emphasize what you were saying about language.

608
00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:37.830
Our language is absolutely critical.

609
00:33:37.870 --> 00:33:41.780
If we're not speaking into how senior leaders speak to each

610
00:33:41.860 --> 00:33:44.220
other, our message is not going to land.

611
00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:47.560
But even more than language is what we're bringing.

612
00:33:47.660 --> 00:33:50.320
What is the actual message that we're bringing?

613
00:33:50.700 --> 00:33:50.820
Sure.

614
00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:54.580
When we were doing a very large change project, I had an

615
00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:58.520
organization that was stuck way down in the organization, and they

616
00:33:58.540 --> 00:34:02.220
were having a really hard time with why they were so

617
00:34:02.260 --> 00:34:04.090
overburdened, why things weren't getting done.

618
00:34:04.540 --> 00:34:07.200
And I realized that it was because they were trying to

619
00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:09.920
manage

620
00:34:10.841 --> 00:34:14.620
a debit, an area of huge

621
00:34:14.680 --> 00:34:18.301
cost that was invisible to the organization.

622
00:34:18.390 --> 00:34:18.390
Yeah.

623
00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:21.841
It just wasn't seen. And so they had to be able to first

624
00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:25.781
quantify it in a realistic manner, and then deliver

625
00:34:25.841 --> 00:34:29.640
the message. Well, when they were able to quantify it in the billions of

626
00:34:29.720 --> 00:34:32.301
dollars and deliver that message cleanly,

627
00:34:33.180 --> 00:34:35.540
it made all the difference. I mean, things changed like that.

628
00:34:35.620 --> 00:34:39.120
So it was that they were sort of complaining about the wrong

629
00:34:39.380 --> 00:34:43.150
thing. They weren't getting into that mindset that you were talking about,

630
00:34:43.220 --> 00:34:44.080
Al, and Mickey as well.

631
00:34:44.120 --> 00:34:48.060
I'm glad. Yeah, because I used language a bit more encompassing,

632
00:34:48.140 --> 00:34:50.761
but I'm glad you clarified that because absolutely you're spot on.

633
00:34:50.801 --> 00:34:54.769
The behaviors, the metrics aspect, measuring the wrong things, or we're all not

634
00:34:54.781 --> 00:34:57.180
going to create the same impact. Great point, yeah.

635
00:34:57.220 --> 00:35:01.080
And that capacity piece too, I think, and just one second, Laura, is also

636
00:35:01.200 --> 00:35:02.060
often missed.

637
00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:06.799
I think our value is showing where capacity is being

638
00:35:06.900 --> 00:35:10.740
underutilized over here, or it's being ignored

639
00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:14.280
over here. It's invisible. So a capacity sort

640
00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:18.080
of normalization or view for

641
00:35:18.240 --> 00:35:21.800
senior leaders, as long as it's at a very high level, is also a

642
00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:25.500
hugely impactful thing. So really great comments, Al. Thanks so much.

643
00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:28.940
Hey, Stuart, I'd like to address this discussion happening in the chat, if you

644
00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:29.570
don't mind, about this naming.

645
00:35:29.580 --> 00:35:32.470
Yeah. No, I was going to come to you in the hope that you would do exactly that,

646
00:35:32.520 --> 00:35:33.810
Laura. I knew you couldn't resist that one.

647
00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:36.780
I got you. Yeah. I was like, "Oh, I got to talk about this."

648
00:35:37.100 --> 00:35:37.220
Yeah.

649
00:35:37.260 --> 00:35:37.360
So,

650
00:35:38.420 --> 00:35:42.220
excellent discussion happening in the chat here about renaming and rebranding the

651
00:35:42.240 --> 00:35:46.220
PMO. Here's the challenge that you all need to be aware of so

652
00:35:46.260 --> 00:35:47.580
that you don't fall into this trap.

653
00:35:48.940 --> 00:35:52.370
For years, we have watched a lot of different

654
00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:55.520
iterations of renaming the PMO,

655
00:35:56.100 --> 00:35:59.780
and what happens in many organizations is that they

656
00:35:59.860 --> 00:36:02.400
change the name but not the behavior.

657
00:36:03.160 --> 00:36:07.040
And when you change the name so that you can get attention, so you can

658
00:36:07.120 --> 00:36:11.020
get support, but the behavior stays the same, you will

659
00:36:11.060 --> 00:36:15.040
continue to create the same vicious cycle that's

660
00:36:15.080 --> 00:36:17.060
happening in many organizations now.

661
00:36:17.580 --> 00:36:21.170
And that is why things like the agile transformation

662
00:36:21.260 --> 00:36:25.180
movement, the from project to product, and all of those other discussions

663
00:36:26.460 --> 00:36:28.380
have, over time, gotten

664
00:36:29.380 --> 00:36:33.232
someair time and then some support and then kind of crash and

665
00:36:33.312 --> 00:36:37.272
burn. The reason for that is that it's just a rebranding as opposed

666
00:36:37.312 --> 00:36:41.292
to fixing the root cause. Right? And that's a lot, I saw some

667
00:36:41.332 --> 00:36:44.652
of our mastermind students responding on stuff here, and you're spot on.

668
00:36:44.992 --> 00:36:48.682
We can't just change the name. We have to change how

669
00:36:48.852 --> 00:36:52.772
you think first, the mindset, how you think, and

670
00:36:52.812 --> 00:36:55.882
then how you talk and behave, which is exactly what

671
00:36:56.752 --> 00:37:00.532
my colleagues here are talking about and trying to impress upon you.

672
00:37:00.612 --> 00:37:03.452
Al's spot on. You've got to change your language, but that means you've got to

673
00:37:03.512 --> 00:37:07.412
think differently. You have to stop thinking in outputs and start thinking in

674
00:37:07.492 --> 00:37:10.692
outcomes, and really position yourself to

675
00:37:10.752 --> 00:37:14.532
be the person that is driving, what we call being the

676
00:37:14.592 --> 00:37:18.542
strategy navigator, driving the conversations from

677
00:37:18.652 --> 00:37:22.572
every point in the strategy life cycle to say, "Here's where you are now.

678
00:37:22.672 --> 00:37:26.132
Here's the information that you need to make the right decisions now.

679
00:37:26.532 --> 00:37:30.332
Here's how we set these projects up for better success," getting to, I love it,

680
00:37:30.372 --> 00:37:32.832
with the clarity and the capacity and having the decision-making.

681
00:37:33.232 --> 00:37:37.092
Every CEO we talk to when we go in and work on

682
00:37:37.132 --> 00:37:38.872
consulting engagements says the same thing.

683
00:37:39.302 --> 00:37:40.052
"Laura, I

684
00:37:40.892 --> 00:37:44.832
am being asked to make decisions all day long, but nobody's giving me the

685
00:37:44.932 --> 00:37:46.252
information I need to do so."

686
00:37:47.072 --> 00:37:49.792
And you go talk to the PMO and they're like, "Well, what do you mean?

687
00:37:49.832 --> 00:37:53.312
We got 82 reports and all this data and all this stuff." And

688
00:37:53.392 --> 00:37:56.232
executives are overwhelmed, and they don't have what they need.

689
00:37:57.092 --> 00:38:00.612
And when they try to talk to the PMO people, they get a bunch

690
00:38:00.772 --> 00:38:04.632
of outputs, thinking outputs, discussion.

691
00:38:04.652 --> 00:38:05.182
And so they

692
00:38:06.492 --> 00:38:09.932
don't include you in the conversations because when they do, you project at

693
00:38:09.972 --> 00:38:13.842
them. Right? You do project speak at them, and they're like, "I don't know what's

694
00:38:13.872 --> 00:38:17.712
happening here." Instead, what do you know about

695
00:38:17.832 --> 00:38:21.372
what your organization actually does from a business

696
00:38:21.452 --> 00:38:24.772
perspective? What do you know about the strategy?

697
00:38:25.072 --> 00:38:27.892
And for all of you overwhelmed with the word strategy, it's just the plan to

698
00:38:27.932 --> 00:38:30.412
achieve the business goals. So what are the business goals?

699
00:38:30.782 --> 00:38:34.712
And then how might you and your team think about how do we not

700
00:38:34.752 --> 00:38:37.652
just do the project, create the outputs?

701
00:38:38.092 --> 00:38:41.632
How do we ensure that every step along the way, everyone

702
00:38:41.672 --> 00:38:45.212
understands not just what we're doing, but why we're doing it and what success

703
00:38:45.252 --> 00:38:48.992
looks like? And just that mindset shift and asking those

704
00:38:49.032 --> 00:38:52.592
questions sets you up for, like Al's talking about here,

705
00:38:53.272 --> 00:38:55.441
having different conversations with your business leaders.

706
00:38:55.572 --> 00:38:59.212
And for those of you that are the yeah but monster crawled up onto your shoulder

707
00:38:59.252 --> 00:39:01.852
and said, "Yeah, but they won't talk to me.

708
00:39:01.912 --> 00:39:05.792
They won't answer my questions." Well, do you want to be an order taker or an

709
00:39:05.872 --> 00:39:08.632
impact driver? That's really the question you need to answer.

710
00:39:08.652 --> 00:39:12.012
And if you want to be an impact driver, that means that you don't take no for an

711
00:39:12.112 --> 00:39:15.912
answer, that you say, "If you want your projects to achieve the business

712
00:39:15.932 --> 00:39:18.492
goals, we need to understand what those are."

713
00:39:18.512 --> 00:39:19.012
Yeah.

714
00:39:19.032 --> 00:39:22.212
Right? And not just me, but everybody in the process.

715
00:39:22.492 --> 00:39:26.441
And not just what the goals are, but that there's a link between those

716
00:39:26.472 --> 00:39:27.332
goals-

717
00:39:27.472 --> 00:39:27.482
Yeah

718
00:39:27.482 --> 00:39:29.161
... and the work that actually gets done. Right?

719
00:39:29.172 --> 00:39:31.352
Exactly. And the measurable outcomes.

720
00:39:31.432 --> 00:39:33.192
Oh, by the way, you do need to actually measure

721
00:39:34.512 --> 00:39:37.812
what you did, not just from a on time, on scope, on budget, but

722
00:39:38.312 --> 00:39:42.192
did we achieve the business goals we intended in a way that made it

723
00:39:42.232 --> 00:39:46.132
worth doing in the first place, and then feed that information back to the

724
00:39:46.172 --> 00:39:49.992
beginning of the strategy development process so that you can create this

725
00:39:50.032 --> 00:39:52.632
flow, this momentum, and then everything.

726
00:39:52.712 --> 00:39:56.112
It's an upward spiral if you do this, and we see it happen all the time, so it's

727
00:39:56.172 --> 00:39:59.132
achievable for all of you, whether you're in a 50 or a

728
00:39:59.212 --> 00:40:02.132
350-person PMO or a one-person PMO.

729
00:40:02.632 --> 00:40:06.492
You can absolutely do this, but it starts with your mindset and then all

730
00:40:06.552 --> 00:40:10.392
of this great advice you're getting from my peers here on how to

731
00:40:10.432 --> 00:40:14.192
think differently, how to talk differently, how to position differently, and none

732
00:40:14.252 --> 00:40:16.612
of that happens with a rebranding.

733
00:40:16.652 --> 00:40:20.512
It happens with mindset and behavior changes first, and then the

734
00:40:20.552 --> 00:40:22.832
rebranding is just a natural consequence.

735
00:40:23.312 --> 00:40:25.752
You don't have to change the name and then not change the behavior.

736
00:40:26.032 --> 00:40:26.682
Oh, there's Stuart.

737
00:40:26.682 --> 00:40:29.152
And that's why Laura is the queen of PMO.

738
00:40:29.432 --> 00:40:30.392
Oh my God.

739
00:40:30.402 --> 00:40:30.682
And I saw-

740
00:40:31.372 --> 00:40:32.532
This is the Laura duck

741
00:40:33.192 --> 00:40:36.471
... Stuart gave me one. I have a new duck every time I see Stuart.

742
00:40:36.492 --> 00:40:36.522
Ah.

743
00:40:36.522 --> 00:40:37.052
And they're all

744
00:40:37.892 --> 00:40:38.542
funny.

745
00:40:38.542 --> 00:40:38.682
Yeah.

746
00:40:39.382 --> 00:40:39.382
Thank you.

747
00:40:39.392 --> 00:40:40.612
We've got the ducks. We got the ducks.

748
00:40:40.632 --> 00:40:41.692
We got the big one. Good.

749
00:40:41.792 --> 00:40:44.441
Look, I'm going to crack the ducks out for a second because one of the things-

750
00:40:44.572 --> 00:40:44.582
Yeah

751
00:40:44.582 --> 00:40:46.372
... right, I'm going to change gears.

752
00:40:46.411 --> 00:40:46.782
So that was-

753
00:40:46.832 --> 00:40:46.842
Yeah

754
00:40:46.872 --> 00:40:50.692
... fantastic, Laura. I'm really glad you jumped in because I was about to pull you

755
00:40:50.732 --> 00:40:51.692
into that conversation because-

756
00:40:51.732 --> 00:40:52.152
Thank you

757
00:40:52.491 --> 00:40:52.642
... I knew that was-

758
00:40:52.652 --> 00:40:53.292
Couldn't help myself

759
00:40:53.592 --> 00:40:54.372
... I knew that was yours.

760
00:40:55.772 --> 00:40:58.452
All right. So I want to talk for a second about ducks, right?

761
00:40:58.552 --> 00:41:02.312
So most of you know me well enough, I hope, at this point,

762
00:41:02.392 --> 00:41:05.572
to know what I mean by ducks, right? So the ducks represent your projects.

763
00:41:06.192 --> 00:41:09.112
Okay? And nobody really cares about your duck.

764
00:41:09.152 --> 00:41:11.412
Your executives don't care if you have a boy duck or a girl duck.

765
00:41:11.452 --> 00:41:14.952
They just want eggs. They want the value from the

766
00:41:15.252 --> 00:41:19.182
projects. And I apologize to any vegetarians,

767
00:41:19.232 --> 00:41:20.832
I'm going to get a little bit meaty on this

768
00:41:21.792 --> 00:41:25.452
metaphor, so I don't mean any offense. I apologize in advance.

769
00:41:25.852 --> 00:41:28.012
But imagine you're running a duck farm, right?

770
00:41:28.892 --> 00:41:31.732
And you're collecting all those eggs, and you're selling the eggs, but then

771
00:41:31.832 --> 00:41:34.592
suddenly there's a shortage of duck food.

772
00:41:36.472 --> 00:41:39.792
What do you do? Do you just keep all your ducks? Right?

773
00:41:39.852 --> 00:41:43.832
You've got 1,000 ducks. Do you keep all those ducks, and all those ducks just have

774
00:41:43.872 --> 00:41:46.052
to make do with 25% less food?

775
00:41:47.192 --> 00:41:48.792
Well, let me tell you what happens if you do that.

776
00:41:48.832 --> 00:41:52.812
The first thing that happens is they stop laying eggs.

777
00:41:54.292 --> 00:41:56.912
That doesn't make things better. That makes things worse.

778
00:41:57.012 --> 00:41:58.292
You have fewer eggs to sell.

779
00:41:59.412 --> 00:42:02.452
So what you need to do is you need to retire some of your ducks,

780
00:42:03.772 --> 00:42:07.712
right, so that you can feed the ones and keep healthy the ones

781
00:42:07.792 --> 00:42:11.772
that you keep. So one of the key things that you can

782
00:42:11.852 --> 00:42:15.332
do in this cycle is really engage with that

783
00:42:15.372 --> 00:42:18.962
prioritization process. Help the organization understand what

784
00:42:18.992 --> 00:42:22.822
activities, what projects, what services, what

785
00:42:22.872 --> 00:42:26.782
capabilities add the most value to the organization,

786
00:42:26.812 --> 00:42:28.512
and how you can enhance those,

787
00:42:29.752 --> 00:42:32.272
perhaps by turning off other things that don't

788
00:42:33.632 --> 00:42:34.472
add quite as much

789
00:42:35.312 --> 00:42:36.592
value. So,

790
00:42:37.492 --> 00:42:41.392
I don't know if I-Do any of you want to pick

791
00:42:41.402 --> 00:42:43.592
that up and explore that, give an example?

792
00:42:43.692 --> 00:42:45.152
Rebecca, I know you've done a bunch of those.

793
00:42:45.232 --> 00:42:46.602
Al, you've lived through that a bunch of times.

794
00:42:46.652 --> 00:42:50.092
Yeah. No, maybe I'll count on Rebecca for example here,

795
00:42:50.632 --> 00:42:53.532
but I just want to recognize there's still a tension in the chat, which is a really

796
00:42:53.552 --> 00:42:56.532
interesting tension, right? I see a tension about perception.

797
00:42:56.592 --> 00:42:57.732
I saw your point, Kevin,

798
00:42:58.632 --> 00:43:02.532
when commenting on Laura, and I also saw the comments about

799
00:43:02.592 --> 00:43:05.812
service catalog, for example, whether the PMO should have that, et cetera.

800
00:43:06.512 --> 00:43:08.772
And then the heavy tension around the brand.

801
00:43:09.312 --> 00:43:13.232
I don't think any one of us here is saying brands don't matter, but I

802
00:43:13.312 --> 00:43:17.092
think being stuck is not where we would like to see our PMOs,

803
00:43:17.172 --> 00:43:17.752
that's for sure.

804
00:43:18.352 --> 00:43:18.472
Well-

805
00:43:18.532 --> 00:43:21.612
But also there was a lot mentioned about strategy, and I love how Laura simplified

806
00:43:21.672 --> 00:43:25.202
strategy, which I agree with her. There's a piece about culture that's embedded in

807
00:43:25.232 --> 00:43:28.792
everything all of us have said as well, so I cannot not mention that, right?

808
00:43:28.852 --> 00:43:31.092
Because at the end of the day, PMOs

809
00:43:32.172 --> 00:43:35.792
that will excel will have to do something about the culture within which the PMO

810
00:43:35.872 --> 00:43:39.572
operates. Some of it is exactly driven from where Laura talked about the mindset

811
00:43:39.592 --> 00:43:39.892
shift.

812
00:43:41.512 --> 00:43:45.331
One thing that's really critical, though, that I believe has to happen is

813
00:43:45.392 --> 00:43:49.092
where we spend our times. If at this critical point in history where we

814
00:43:49.152 --> 00:43:52.772
have so much with automation possible, where we combine virtual and real

815
00:43:52.852 --> 00:43:56.452
worlds and everything else, if the PMOs are truly still spending their

816
00:43:56.512 --> 00:43:59.432
time in default mode, we have a problem.

817
00:43:59.592 --> 00:44:02.872
The default mode is what got us to this discussion. Yeah?

818
00:44:03.312 --> 00:44:03.322
Right.

819
00:44:03.372 --> 00:44:07.202
So we really need to make a turn. If maybe right now you're still spending 70% or

820
00:44:07.332 --> 00:44:09.032
80% of your time in default mode, okay.

821
00:44:09.492 --> 00:44:13.412
By the end of a year from now, please turn that around where it's more

822
00:44:13.452 --> 00:44:17.212
about choices mode, for example. Make your new tagline, if you're into brand,

823
00:44:17.512 --> 00:44:21.212
"I am the choice enabler for my executives going from this point on," or

824
00:44:21.232 --> 00:44:23.232
something like that. I don't care which one you call it.

825
00:44:23.772 --> 00:44:23.932
Mm-hmm.

826
00:44:24.012 --> 00:44:27.762
Because running the business and changing the business, that mix is

827
00:44:27.852 --> 00:44:31.351
changing so much and has been for the last five to 10 years, and if we don't do

828
00:44:31.372 --> 00:44:33.212
something urgently about it, we're in trouble.

829
00:44:33.552 --> 00:44:37.212
Rebecca, I would love to hear your examples to maybe connect the dots for

830
00:44:38.192 --> 00:44:39.232
what Stuart started as well.

831
00:44:39.552 --> 00:44:40.852
I'm not sure I was-

832
00:44:40.992 --> 00:44:41.122
Oh, go on

833
00:44:41.122 --> 00:44:44.072
... quite attending to that, so what was the example you were looking for?

834
00:44:44.092 --> 00:44:46.592
Okay. Well, just give me one second, Rebecca.

835
00:44:46.652 --> 00:44:49.192
So I just want to finish one thing off and then come to you, Rebecca,

836
00:44:50.592 --> 00:44:54.052
because Jo Stanford just asked a question, and I'd like to start-- I know she was

837
00:44:54.132 --> 00:44:54.972
pointing it at Laura.

838
00:44:55.442 --> 00:44:55.442
Yeah

839
00:44:55.452 --> 00:44:58.032
But I'd like to start with you and then go to Laura, if that's okay.

840
00:44:58.492 --> 00:44:58.572
Yeah.

841
00:44:59.272 --> 00:45:02.272
So, I was very lucky many years ago to

842
00:45:04.472 --> 00:45:07.812
engage a chap called Wally Olins. Wally is

843
00:45:09.072 --> 00:45:12.032
the guy who literally wrote the textbook on branding.

844
00:45:13.332 --> 00:45:17.312
And one of the things that Wally says is that branding is not what you're called

845
00:45:17.452 --> 00:45:20.572
or how you look. Branding is what you do.

846
00:45:22.592 --> 00:45:26.272
Right? Think about that for a second. It's what you do, it's how you act.

847
00:45:27.172 --> 00:45:29.892
That's how people perceive you. Right?

848
00:45:30.012 --> 00:45:30.192
So

849
00:45:31.452 --> 00:45:35.152
the name, yeah, great. By all means, change it, but it's all about what you do, the

850
00:45:35.212 --> 00:45:37.452
value you deliver. That's what drives it.

851
00:45:38.172 --> 00:45:42.132
So, Rebecca, I can't believe what

852
00:45:42.192 --> 00:45:44.332
time it is, right? We're running out of time already.

853
00:45:44.392 --> 00:45:47.861
So Rebecca, I'd love to come to you, and the question from Jo is how do we get the

854
00:45:47.952 --> 00:45:50.792
CEOs engaged? So you spend your time in that room.

855
00:45:51.272 --> 00:45:53.872
How do you get them engaged? Then Laura, I'm going to ask you the same question

856
00:45:53.912 --> 00:45:54.912
coming from the other direction.

857
00:45:55.852 --> 00:45:59.732
Well, I want to really emphasize what we're all talking about, which

858
00:45:59.792 --> 00:46:03.722
is changing your mindset and getting it higher

859
00:46:03.992 --> 00:46:07.682
up. If you start bringing value from that

860
00:46:07.732 --> 00:46:11.452
place to whatever executives you're dealing with, you may not

861
00:46:11.632 --> 00:46:14.452
get invited into the C-suite right at the very beginning.

862
00:46:14.792 --> 00:46:18.712
But if you start to actually be that value add,

863
00:46:18.772 --> 00:46:22.732
if you start thinking in terms of the bigger picture and how you can

864
00:46:23.192 --> 00:46:27.052
reveal capacity problems or opportunities, you start to

865
00:46:27.132 --> 00:46:30.232
create that brand that Stuart's talking about.

866
00:46:30.272 --> 00:46:31.892
And it doesn't matter what you're called.

867
00:46:32.292 --> 00:46:35.572
People all of a sudden are like, "Wow, that person is really helpful.

868
00:46:35.612 --> 00:46:38.852
They're really insightful. They've really helped me make decisions." And pretty

869
00:46:38.952 --> 00:46:42.852
soon you find you're invited in. That is the very best

870
00:46:42.861 --> 00:46:46.092
thing, and I think I wrote in the chat earlier, leaders

871
00:46:46.192 --> 00:46:50.112
who know about somebody who's performing in that way,

872
00:46:50.152 --> 00:46:53.812
who's providing true value as opposed

873
00:46:53.892 --> 00:46:54.432
to,

874
00:46:55.352 --> 00:46:58.972
like we were talking about, tiresome reports, outputs,

875
00:46:59.472 --> 00:47:01.032
but really can speak to value,

876
00:47:01.932 --> 00:47:05.772
they're going to recognize that. That's what they're looking for.

877
00:47:06.372 --> 00:47:09.892
The second point I want to make, I want to follow up from something Laura said.

878
00:47:10.252 --> 00:47:11.752
We've got to measure

879
00:47:12.652 --> 00:47:15.372
our effectiveness. Too often we're measuring

880
00:47:16.172 --> 00:47:19.272
more about outputs, right? What did it cost? Did it come in on time?

881
00:47:19.392 --> 00:47:23.012
All those things. That's all dandy, but what do leaders really want?

882
00:47:23.082 --> 00:47:26.812
They want to know, is this moving the needle on our strategy?

883
00:47:27.492 --> 00:47:30.812
And I would say that is not an easy thing to measure.

884
00:47:31.012 --> 00:47:34.712
It does take real intention, and it needs to

885
00:47:34.752 --> 00:47:38.182
involve a lot of different perspectives in the organization.

886
00:47:38.312 --> 00:47:42.072
I have found that designing measurement strategies to really

887
00:47:42.112 --> 00:47:45.832
measure value of projects is a way to get more

888
00:47:45.852 --> 00:47:48.552
visibility on what we're doing in the PMO.

889
00:47:48.832 --> 00:47:52.732
Because see what we're doing? We're talking about exactly what senior

890
00:47:52.772 --> 00:47:56.192
leaders are concerned about, and we're looking at how to measure it, and we're

891
00:47:56.212 --> 00:47:59.652
involving a number of different parts of the organization in doing that.

892
00:47:59.932 --> 00:48:03.872
And just a plug, Transparent Choice has been an incredible tool

893
00:48:03.912 --> 00:48:07.792
for me to help me make this a very

894
00:48:07.832 --> 00:48:11.732
broad and inclusive and transparent process, and

895
00:48:11.772 --> 00:48:13.032
my leaders love it. So...

896
00:48:13.962 --> 00:48:15.082
Brilliant. Thank you. Love that.

897
00:48:15.112 --> 00:48:18.302
Can I just second that? That we have lots of clients and students who think-

898
00:48:18.302 --> 00:48:19.512
Yeah, everybody can second that

899
00:48:20.822 --> 00:48:21.582
. Well, no, because Stuart-

900
00:48:21.632 --> 00:48:22.572
Hey, third that.

901
00:48:22.682 --> 00:48:26.332
We have a thing. We're here because we're friends with Stuart, not because he runs

902
00:48:26.372 --> 00:48:28.052
a company called Transparent Choice, right?

903
00:48:28.152 --> 00:48:31.872
Because he is also a thought leader in this space who

904
00:48:32.452 --> 00:48:36.202
really, like-I mean, the engagement that he's getting in his workshops and

905
00:48:36.232 --> 00:48:38.052
everything, just blowing everybody away.

906
00:48:38.132 --> 00:48:41.992
And also, Transparent Choice is something that many of

907
00:48:42.012 --> 00:48:45.992
our clients and students use and love because it does exactly what we're

908
00:48:46.032 --> 00:48:49.672
talking about here. It gets you started with having the right

909
00:48:49.732 --> 00:48:53.252
conversations with executives. And what we have found to be true is

910
00:48:53.272 --> 00:48:56.412
that those executives will say, "These are the

911
00:48:56.512 --> 00:48:59.672
conversations we should've been having all along, but weren't."

912
00:49:00.072 --> 00:49:00.252
Exactly.

913
00:49:00.282 --> 00:49:02.412
And I just want you guys to take that in for a second.

914
00:49:03.072 --> 00:49:07.012
These are the conversations the executives believe they should've been having all

915
00:49:07.072 --> 00:49:10.712
along, but they weren't. And that is a really

916
00:49:10.752 --> 00:49:13.412
important place for all of you to live.

917
00:49:13.982 --> 00:49:17.722
And so being able to expose that, to answer Joe's

918
00:49:17.772 --> 00:49:21.712
question about, well, how do you help the executives see

919
00:49:21.792 --> 00:49:24.512
this, right? There's two ways I'm going to answer this, and then I want to pass the

920
00:49:24.552 --> 00:49:28.472
baton to Mickey. So one, you have to show them what

921
00:49:28.492 --> 00:49:30.952
they're not doing, but not in a way that says, "You stink.

922
00:49:31.312 --> 00:49:34.741
You're not doing these things." In a way that says, "What would

923
00:49:34.872 --> 00:49:38.152
happen if you had this information

924
00:49:38.711 --> 00:49:40.812
so that you could make faster decisions?

925
00:49:41.292 --> 00:49:44.832
How would your world look differently if..." Right? You show them what's possible.

926
00:49:45.332 --> 00:49:49.182
One of the ways that, to be very practical and tactical for a lot of you, one of

927
00:49:49.192 --> 00:49:52.952
the things that we do every week with our newsletter is, our free newsletter,

928
00:49:53.352 --> 00:49:57.072
is point you to an executive perspective article that I've written for one of these

929
00:49:57.112 --> 00:50:00.972
C-suite magazines, telling them exactly why the PMO

930
00:50:01.052 --> 00:50:04.852
should be there, the role an enterprise PMO has, how to shift from

931
00:50:04.912 --> 00:50:08.352
outputs to outcomes. All of these things we're talking about

932
00:50:08.392 --> 00:50:12.372
here, there's all kinds of articles that we share that we're writing for C-suite

933
00:50:12.412 --> 00:50:15.132
magazines to help them think differently, to answer your question, Joe.

934
00:50:15.492 --> 00:50:18.952
But to give you the language to use, going back to what Al said, because I'm going

935
00:50:18.972 --> 00:50:22.552
to keep doing it, so that you can use that language in your

936
00:50:22.612 --> 00:50:25.812
conversations with the executives. That's what's super important here.

937
00:50:26.202 --> 00:50:29.512
And also, the timing just happens to be perfect for this, Stuart.

938
00:50:29.572 --> 00:50:32.672
We're going to be releasing a free resource, totally free,

939
00:50:33.392 --> 00:50:37.142
called "The Strategic Decision Playbook: How PMO and Transformation

940
00:50:37.192 --> 00:50:40.582
Leaders Help Organizations Make Better Bets, Faster Decisions, and Stronger

941
00:50:40.652 --> 00:50:44.511
Strategic Moves." Specifically, here's the language to use.

942
00:50:44.552 --> 00:50:46.672
Here is how to use it. Here's how to think differently.

943
00:50:46.692 --> 00:50:48.252
Here's how to get them to think differently.

944
00:50:48.312 --> 00:50:51.992
Because the questions you all are asking are universally being asked

945
00:50:52.032 --> 00:50:53.812
across organizations all over the place.

946
00:50:53.872 --> 00:50:57.752
So, we're creating something, so make sure you're on our newsletter so that you

947
00:50:57.792 --> 00:50:59.792
get it free right away. There's nothing to

948
00:51:01.072 --> 00:51:04.632
share but your email to get that. But we just really want to help you all position

949
00:51:04.672 --> 00:51:08.032
yourselves more effectively, because whether you call it a PMO, TMO, a

950
00:51:08.112 --> 00:51:11.801
VMO, an XMO, I don't care what you call it, I care about the impact it's

951
00:51:11.852 --> 00:51:13.372
driving, and that's what we're here to help you do.

952
00:51:13.552 --> 00:51:15.102
So Mickey, passing the baton to you.

953
00:51:15.372 --> 00:51:18.052
Mickey, I'll pass over to you, my friend.

954
00:51:18.152 --> 00:51:21.461
And if you could keep talking for a few minutes, because I'm going to be typing to

955
00:51:21.472 --> 00:51:24.632
our colleagues here. I've got a proposition for you guys while Mickey's talking.

956
00:51:25.252 --> 00:51:28.452
So just watch the chat. Go ahead.

957
00:51:28.512 --> 00:51:30.072
I was just trying to comment earlier.

958
00:51:30.132 --> 00:51:32.072
I forgot what I wanted to comment on but-

959
00:51:32.672 --> 00:51:33.992
You were going to give some examples.

960
00:51:34.092 --> 00:51:35.672
You're going to give some examples of where this is showing up.

961
00:51:35.712 --> 00:51:39.192
No. I actually wasn't going to give examples, but I was going to make some

962
00:51:39.252 --> 00:51:42.872
comments about the conversations during that Rebecca brought up.

963
00:51:43.772 --> 00:51:44.392
I think

964
00:51:45.812 --> 00:51:47.552
my kind of

965
00:51:48.572 --> 00:51:49.392
feedback here is

966
00:51:51.152 --> 00:51:54.442
executives, and not just executives, that goes for all

967
00:51:54.792 --> 00:51:58.602
levels of the organization. In fact, executives, I

968
00:51:58.692 --> 00:52:00.372
think is just the tip of the iceberg, right?

969
00:52:00.772 --> 00:52:04.332
You got to win the hearts and minds of the organization, not just the leaders,

970
00:52:04.432 --> 00:52:08.252
right? So I think having that kind of mindset of looking at

971
00:52:08.332 --> 00:52:11.872
all levels in an organization, that's where you can really

972
00:52:12.312 --> 00:52:16.192
increase the value of your PMO, and even in

973
00:52:16.252 --> 00:52:20.212
organizations that don't have a formal PMO, it's kind of the same mindset

974
00:52:20.252 --> 00:52:24.192
that I've seen, is that I'm playing the role, and

975
00:52:24.232 --> 00:52:27.692
then you all can play the role of chief translator, right?

976
00:52:27.832 --> 00:52:27.842
Yeah.

977
00:52:27.842 --> 00:52:31.032
Translating what executives to frontline.

978
00:52:31.932 --> 00:52:35.772
I had four committee meetings last week, and guess

979
00:52:35.832 --> 00:52:39.612
what? In talking to the population, the staff, one of the

980
00:52:39.652 --> 00:52:42.592
committees represented staff and employees, right?

981
00:52:42.652 --> 00:52:45.952
They don't have the C-suite title in front of their job titles, but they are so

982
00:52:46.032 --> 00:52:48.632
important. They don't know what's going on.

983
00:52:48.692 --> 00:52:52.252
They hear our executives speaking, and they're, like I mentioned earlier, their

984
00:52:52.332 --> 00:52:55.112
eyeballs are glazed. They're not speaking the same language.

985
00:52:55.532 --> 00:52:57.472
So I think, I haven't heard that yet here.

986
00:52:57.592 --> 00:53:01.472
I think we're alluding to it, because we're using the term strategy a lot.

987
00:53:01.552 --> 00:53:03.692
In my mind, it's multidimensional, right?

988
00:53:03.792 --> 00:53:03.822
Yeah.

989
00:53:03.822 --> 00:53:07.612
You got to look all around you, and then your role

990
00:53:07.732 --> 00:53:11.432
and your team's role, if you do have a formal PMO, if you can be that

991
00:53:11.492 --> 00:53:15.432
chief translator, and more than chief translator, now you're articulating

992
00:53:15.472 --> 00:53:19.372
value from all sides, right? The value to, I'll use my healthcare

993
00:53:19.452 --> 00:53:22.932
example. The value to a nurse in their day-to-day

994
00:53:22.992 --> 00:53:26.772
work is different than the value to a chief executive that

995
00:53:26.872 --> 00:53:28.652
oversees that organization, right?

996
00:53:28.732 --> 00:53:32.252
So this is where you can push the boundaries of maybe

997
00:53:32.332 --> 00:53:36.032
yourself, your team, into translating value

998
00:53:36.412 --> 00:53:40.362
both sides, right? So now you're playing an important role, not just from

999
00:53:40.412 --> 00:53:43.852
a strategy perspective, top-down, but now it's

1000
00:53:43.912 --> 00:53:46.722
bottoms-up, middle out, sideways, right?

1001
00:53:46.792 --> 00:53:50.412
A lot of times it's sideways conversations that need to be

1002
00:53:50.472 --> 00:53:52.962
had. I'm talking about cross-functional, right?

1003
00:53:52.972 --> 00:53:55.672
Because you can see our roles as a horizontal,

1004
00:53:56.592 --> 00:54:00.432
and that's a unique role to have in any organization.

1005
00:54:00.532 --> 00:54:04.332
We're looking across the forest, not just at the individual tree, right?

1006
00:54:04.392 --> 00:54:06.732
Sorry about these analogies, Stuart. You got me going.

1007
00:54:07.772 --> 00:54:10.932
So we're not looking at the individual tree or the weeds.

1008
00:54:10.972 --> 00:54:14.592
We're looking at the entire forest, and we're looking at the health of that forest.

1009
00:54:14.812 --> 00:54:18.632
So I think that, to Rebecca's point, that's something that we can really provide.

1010
00:54:18.992 --> 00:54:22.412
Now, that translates into tactics, and the tactics are

1011
00:54:22.492 --> 00:54:23.232
all-embracing.

1012
00:54:24.032 --> 00:54:27.972
One of the examples, Laura, one recent example, you've heard me talk

1013
00:54:28.032 --> 00:54:28.872
about this before.

1014
00:54:29.832 --> 00:54:33.092
In the AI space, and this could be maybe our next webinar.

1015
00:54:33.452 --> 00:54:37.072
In the AI space, what about people?Something about humans.

1016
00:54:37.652 --> 00:54:37.732
Mm-hmm.

1017
00:54:38.552 --> 00:54:41.692
Humans should be part of your AI conversation.

1018
00:54:42.792 --> 00:54:46.712
So having yourself, your teams involved in that, that's

1019
00:54:46.732 --> 00:54:48.732
one way of articulating value.

1020
00:54:49.652 --> 00:54:52.882
The PMOs or PMO-like structures that I'm at,

1021
00:54:53.712 --> 00:54:57.632
we now have a seat at the table when it comes to AI transformation.

1022
00:54:58.552 --> 00:55:01.832
That wasn't envisioned a year and a half ago, but now it is.

1023
00:55:03.132 --> 00:55:06.772
And so there's another way, example of translating the

1024
00:55:06.872 --> 00:55:10.772
value of your team and yourself to be part of

1025
00:55:10.832 --> 00:55:14.672
the AI conversation. One of the things that we are having

1026
00:55:14.732 --> 00:55:18.321
in terms of this organizational AI governance and policy,

1027
00:55:19.012 --> 00:55:22.812
we are now helping with that enablement and rollout, and

1028
00:55:22.872 --> 00:55:24.352
we're helping at different levels.

1029
00:55:24.392 --> 00:55:28.252
Not only tactics, but the policy and governance overall.

1030
00:55:28.281 --> 00:55:32.022
Why do they come to the PMO? Because we can look across the forest, not just

1031
00:55:32.052 --> 00:55:35.972
down. So what a perfect engine to

1032
00:55:36.012 --> 00:55:39.432
help with AI, right? So there's another way of

1033
00:55:39.472 --> 00:55:43.332
translating something that might be intimidating into something

1034
00:55:43.352 --> 00:55:46.112
that's a top of every organization now is AI

1035
00:55:46.192 --> 00:55:49.872
transformation. And if you don't have a seat at a table, like

1036
00:55:50.152 --> 00:55:51.472
I didn't a year and a half ago,

1037
00:55:53.052 --> 00:55:56.692
think of ways that you can get a seat at that table for

1038
00:55:56.792 --> 00:56:00.752
AI, right? And it might be just as simple as going to have

1039
00:56:00.792 --> 00:56:03.872
a lunch, which is actually what happened. So think about that.

1040
00:56:04.592 --> 00:56:08.492
Well, one of those lemons, like you were just talking about, Micky, about, oh,

1041
00:56:08.612 --> 00:56:12.592
AI can just do what the PMO does, so we don't really need the PMO anymore.

1042
00:56:13.152 --> 00:56:16.732
That's a great lemon, a great opportunity for us to insert

1043
00:56:16.772 --> 00:56:18.292
ourselves into that conversation.

1044
00:56:18.492 --> 00:56:18.502
Exactly. Yeah.

1045
00:56:18.502 --> 00:56:22.452
Because it's true. AI can free up the PMO and all kinds

1046
00:56:22.492 --> 00:56:24.152
of other work parts of the organization.

1047
00:56:24.222 --> 00:56:24.222
Yeah.

1048
00:56:24.232 --> 00:56:27.872
It can retire some tedious, time-intensive kinds of

1049
00:56:27.972 --> 00:56:31.612
monitoring and data collection, but frees it

1050
00:56:31.872 --> 00:56:33.452
up, not replaces.

1051
00:56:33.512 --> 00:56:33.732
Right.

1052
00:56:33.772 --> 00:56:37.532
Frees it up to do the strategic work, advising,

1053
00:56:37.652 --> 00:56:40.512
support, enterprise thinking, capacity

1054
00:56:42.352 --> 00:56:45.252
revealing, all of those value adds.

1055
00:56:45.332 --> 00:56:47.292
So yes, Micky, I agree completely.

1056
00:56:47.352 --> 00:56:50.692
We've got to get at the table around how AI can be used.

1057
00:56:50.832 --> 00:56:54.632
Otherwise, they're going to think, "Oh, the AI can just handle it," which is

1058
00:56:54.872 --> 00:56:56.552
not true at all.

1059
00:56:57.142 --> 00:56:57.142
Yeah.

1060
00:56:57.172 --> 00:56:58.812
The human intelligence is critical.

1061
00:56:59.572 --> 00:57:03.532
You're spot on. We're not looking at AI replacing us in the PMO.

1062
00:57:03.572 --> 00:57:06.372
We're actually looking at AI helping the organization, right?

1063
00:57:06.492 --> 00:57:09.872
So, this is not AI replacing project managers or

1064
00:57:09.992 --> 00:57:13.392
PMO. This is actually PMO helping

1065
00:57:13.452 --> 00:57:17.312
enable AI in a good way. And so we

1066
00:57:17.412 --> 00:57:19.572
added a trigger called psychological safety.

1067
00:57:20.212 --> 00:57:23.832
And so the AI governance executives never thought about

1068
00:57:23.852 --> 00:57:27.692
psychological safety. I said, "Well, if you don't have psychological safety, how

1069
00:57:27.732 --> 00:57:31.332
are you going to win the hearts and minds of the people when it comes to

1070
00:57:31.412 --> 00:57:35.352
AI?" And they were like, "Oh, okay." So there's another thing for

1071
00:57:35.372 --> 00:57:36.792
a future webinar, Stuart.

1072
00:57:36.972 --> 00:57:40.032
Yeah, 100%. Fantastic. So,

1073
00:57:41.172 --> 00:57:44.612
brilliant, thank you. I know Micky needs to run, and I can see people are starting

1074
00:57:44.652 --> 00:57:48.452
to drift off. So I want to thank everybody really quickly, but I also want to

1075
00:57:48.512 --> 00:57:52.472
just throw out a last thought. So the two case studies that Micky and

1076
00:57:52.512 --> 00:57:56.192
I talked through were about basically where you had a very

1077
00:57:56.232 --> 00:57:59.512
specific handbrake turn kind of situation, right?

1078
00:57:59.552 --> 00:57:59.892
Where

1079
00:58:00.692 --> 00:58:04.252
you're bleeding money, or there was some kind of bleeding from the neck problem

1080
00:58:04.312 --> 00:58:08.192
that needed to be fixed. And in that environment, in both of those

1081
00:58:08.202 --> 00:58:12.032
situations, the way to address it, or one way to address it very

1082
00:58:12.072 --> 00:58:16.052
quickly, was to go through a process of defining what the goals

1083
00:58:16.112 --> 00:58:19.372
are that we want to achieve, have an ideation campaign,

1084
00:58:19.752 --> 00:58:23.372
prioritize the stuff, execute the stuff that'll

1085
00:58:23.512 --> 00:58:25.932
drive the change, right? And so

1086
00:58:26.952 --> 00:58:30.472
I just made a proposal to my fellow panelists here

1087
00:58:31.152 --> 00:58:34.432
that we put together a little offer, which is software plus services,

1088
00:58:35.332 --> 00:58:39.052
where you can basically just get that as a package and implement it, and in a

1089
00:58:39.092 --> 00:58:43.012
couple of months, deliver a huge impact to your organization at a

1090
00:58:43.092 --> 00:58:47.072
time when they're screaming for someone to come in and help them with figure

1091
00:58:47.112 --> 00:58:50.432
out how to do this cost-cutting thing without chopping your arms off,

1092
00:58:50.492 --> 00:58:53.841
right? So if you're interested in that, and

1093
00:58:54.711 --> 00:58:56.062
this is going to be driven by you guys.

1094
00:58:57.052 --> 00:58:58.532
If you're interested in that offer,

1095
00:58:59.692 --> 00:59:03.492
jump into the chat and tell me that you are interested in that offer, and two

1096
00:59:03.532 --> 00:59:07.512
things will happen from there. The first thing is I'll get together with the

1097
00:59:07.532 --> 00:59:07.952
team here

1098
00:59:08.852 --> 00:59:12.172
and we'll figure out what the offer actually is. That'll be the first thing.

1099
00:59:12.252 --> 00:59:15.472
And then the second thing is that we will get on a call with you

1100
00:59:16.132 --> 00:59:19.072
and figure out how to help and support you. Right?

1101
00:59:19.132 --> 00:59:19.142
Love that.

1102
00:59:19.172 --> 00:59:22.652
So the very worst you get is an hour's support from one of us.

1103
00:59:23.772 --> 00:59:23.852
Yeah.

1104
00:59:24.092 --> 00:59:27.532
And the best is that you get something that you can take to your

1105
00:59:27.612 --> 00:59:31.552
CEO and absolutely transform the PMO on the spot,

1106
00:59:31.732 --> 00:59:35.452
and the perception of the PMO, and the reality of what the PMO is

1107
00:59:36.052 --> 00:59:36.482
on the spot.

1108
00:59:36.532 --> 00:59:39.312
I love that point, and hopefully you get a lot of comments in the chat because I

1109
00:59:39.352 --> 00:59:42.492
think you kind of surprised us with that, but it's great.

1110
00:59:42.542 --> 00:59:42.542
Yeah.

1111
00:59:42.572 --> 00:59:46.192
I think we can easily develop a thread to help, in multiple ways.

1112
00:59:46.912 --> 00:59:50.432
I'm also hopeful that discussion was really great for the ones

1113
00:59:50.992 --> 00:59:54.772
that they are more encouraged, and I think I would love to hear them also send a

1114
00:59:54.792 --> 00:59:58.632
note to, is it Preeti, right, when she sends notes out, et

1115
00:59:58.652 --> 00:59:59.012
cetera.

1116
01:00:00.052 --> 01:00:04.012
If your executives are making a decision tomorrow of $10 or $20

1117
01:00:04.032 --> 01:00:07.312
million, will the PMO be invited in the room?

1118
01:00:07.512 --> 01:00:08.352
I would love to hear

1119
01:00:09.192 --> 01:00:13.012
that that is actually happening because what I try to hit hard is

1120
01:00:13.072 --> 01:00:16.712
really, I use CCD, but now to make it easy to remember the three

1121
01:00:16.832 --> 01:00:19.872
Cs, right? So I talked about the whole idea of

1122
01:00:20.672 --> 01:00:24.652
the clarity, the capacity, I said decisions initially, but maybe let's

1123
01:00:24.672 --> 01:00:28.172
call it choices, right? So if the PMO is really able

1124
01:00:28.182 --> 01:00:31.932
to speak along the lines of that language, I think our colleagues here

1125
01:00:32.632 --> 01:00:35.712
hit the nail in terms of the backdrop for a lot of that.

1126
01:00:35.772 --> 01:00:37.992
It's great to be here, Stuart. Good job.

1127
01:00:38.792 --> 01:00:40.312
Awesome. Well, thank you very much.

1128
01:00:40.552 --> 01:00:40.862
And

1129
01:00:41.952 --> 01:00:45.652
so first of all, thank you to everybody who's attended.

1130
01:00:45.672 --> 01:00:49.392
We really appreciate you taking time out. We do two webinars a month.

1131
01:00:49.912 --> 01:00:52.772
We do a demo webinar, and we do one of these thought leadership sessions.

1132
01:00:53.612 --> 01:00:56.072
Please look for the emails and sign up, come along.

1133
01:00:56.752 --> 01:00:58.662
Great turnout today. Thank you all very much.

1134
01:00:59.152 --> 01:01:02.652
Thank you for your engagement, but mostly thank you to the panel.

1135
01:01:02.712 --> 01:01:04.692
I really appreciate it. We'll see you on the next webinar.