12 Project Management Lessons from James Bond

Last November when the latest James Bond motion picture, Skyfall was released, I found myself in a conversation with my co-workers about the new movie.  The conversation evolved to comparisons of the new movie to previous Bond flicks.  It occurred to me that, although...

Are You a Consultant or Contractor?

The growing trend in the employment world is toward consulting.  This is driven by a number of factors.  The two most notable trends are first, as hiring organizations see slow tepid growth, they have begun to see a need for additional staff, but are hesitant to hire...

Failure…According to Plan

It’s been said that we get what we measure.  That can be either good news or bad.  If a consulting sales team is measured strictly on the sales revenue they bring in, you may get some sales people who go out and sell a lot of services.  Whether they sell services that...

The Difference between Consulting and Managing

Consultants are generally contracted by their clients to resolve an issue.  It’s often project based.  For instance, a healthcare consulting firm may be contracted to implement a new electronic medical records (EMR) system at a medical center.  They will be charged...

Befriending Your Enemies

Hate has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet – Maya Angelou I recently had the pleasure of seeing the movie Lincoln. I’ve always had an interest in American history and had already read Team of Rivals  the book on which the movie was...

Consulting Skill: Dealing with Criticism

You would think, by the time we get through twelve years of primary education and four years of college, that we’d be able to deal with criticism.  After dealing with critical parents, siblings, teachers, coaches and strangers, it should be part of our DNA. But no...