My post today is an easy one.  I was informed I am the winner of the very first Freedom of Speech February (FOSF) giveaway from How to Manage a Camel.  My comments last week on a blog post by Gary Holmes earned me a free copy of the Method123 Project Management Methodology (MPMM™) Professional from their partners at Method123.

All I did was pass praise in my comments on a Holmes post regarding common courtesy and the little things candidates should do beyond merely sending in a CV.

Reading his post inspired me to write a post of my own, THE most important thing is the customer.  I sometimes get a little worked up over the need (not the want) for common courtesy or being polite.  What else is free to you but can carry so much value to others?

So, thank you to the team over at Arras People and How to Manage a Camel.  You provide wonderful insights on your blog and I enjoy reading it while having my first cup of coffee every morning.

My advise to people out there is to get involved in the conversation.  Your thoughts and opinions are important and they should be heard (or read). I didn’t post a comment because I thought I could win a contest.  I did it because I thought Gary wrote a great piece and he should be recognized for it.

If there is one thing you do today, recognize someone for the work they do.  You never know how you may be rewarded for that selfless act.

Today my wife looked at me and said, “ya know, you’re like that guy on My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We talk about something, anything, and you tell me how it relates to Project Management.”  You know what?  She’s right!  We talk about snow removal…Agile. We talk about getting through the honey-do list…Kanban.  I asked her what I should write this post about.  She said, My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

The person she was referring to was Gus Portokalos. He  said, “Give me a word, any word, and I show you that the root of that word is Greek.” Oh Gus, you wise man.  Recently, I decided I was going to write a lot more.  That leaves me with a bit of a challenge.  I don’t want to produce garbage just for the sake of publishing something.  I see people like James Rich, a blogger I follow, push a volume of product but his quality hasn’t gone down.  As a result, I find myself not only internalizing project management but also verbalizing it at every turn.

Yes, I absolutely believe if you give me a topic, any topic, and I will show you how that topic relates to project management.  So, if by chance you read my blog one day this next week and I’m ranting about how a particular restaurant could offer better service if they employed Agile Methods instead of following a Waterfall Process, you’ll be forewarned.

Remember, there are two kinds of people – Project Managers, and everyone else who wish they were Project Managers.