doug smith training

What are you selling yourself? Before we can convince anyone else of anything, we first convince ourselves. What have you convinced yourself about your goals? Are your goals backed by plans? Are your goals exciting, enticing, and tasty? Are you so proud of your goals that you can't wait to tell other people? Or are you building a case for the status quo? I'd let that go. The status quo is far too heavy to carry and leads to nowhere. There is no real status quo, only slow decay. Instead, I like to make a case for action. A case for moving forward toward achieving new goals. How about you? -- doug smith

Does your most important project include a financial business case AND a compelling story? I've noticed that project leaders tend to forget one or the other. You need both. Why? Because half of the world is laser-sharp focused on the financials while the other half cares about the financials but needs a compelling story. A compelling story is the cool reason why you are doing a project. It's the people side. It's the part that when the project is finished makes you and your constituents feel warm and fuzzy. Maybe you're not a warm-and-fuzzy kind of person. I'm not. But, I've learned that the chances of sustaining support and achieving the project goals improves dramatically when the project includes both a business case and a compelling story. The business case shows the financial impact of your project on the organization. It shows how will your project improve your results in any of these areas: Revenue Expenses Customer Happiness Team Member ...