Since 2007, Ricardo Vargas has been publishing the 5 Minutes Podcast, where he addresses in a quick and practical way the main topics on project management, business agility, risk and crisis management, among other topics.
This week Ricardo discusses the impact of inflation on the project risks. In the past, countries with weak economies were more likely to experience inflation; however, today, countries with stronger economies, like those in Europe, are experiencing relevant impacts of inflation. The ability to complete projects may be heavily impacted by inflation, which presents a significant issue for project managers.
In this week's episode, Ricardo talks about the Problem Statement. He explains that we often receive a problem with a solution from our customers. The given solution is not always the correct one; before thinking about how to implement the solution, we need to be clearer about what problem our project is trying to solve.
In this week's episode, Ricardo talks about the Round-Robin Brainstorming technique. Ricardo explains that with this technique, everyone participates by analyzing, confirming, and questioning the other participants, and he makes an analogy between a football championship, where all teams play each other.
In this week's episode, Ricardo talks about the Hawthorne effect. Despite the rather unusual name, the effect is associated with changing our behavior whenever someone observes us. He gives examples in our daily lives, such as the compliments our young children receive when they stay at other people's houses or when we watch programs like Big Brother. Ricardo also talks about the Hawthorne effect in projects.
In this week's episode, Ricardo talks about cadence in the project. He explains that cadence dictates the rhythm of project deliveries and gives some examples of cadence, such as the frequency of the heartbeat and the rhythm of a military parade.
In this week's episode, Ricardo talks about the similarities and differences between managing projects/programs/portfolios and managing products. He explains that the product is the result of a project or program most of the time. However, it can also result from chance or simply an unexpected opportunity. The life cycle of a product can involve numerous projects:
This week, Ricardo discusses TRL, or the Technology Readiness Level, a method developed by NASA in the 1970s to ensure the reliability and safety of the technology they used in their projects. In terms of safety, the higher the TRL number, the more developed the technology is. All the things that come at the outset of studying a new technology—empirical research, a scientific concept, an article, an idea, etc.—are related to the first 3 stages.
In this week's episode, Ricardo talks about the relevance of early warning systems. He comments that one of our biggest aims in risk management is to anticipate the knowledge and awareness of unexpected events. Ricardo gives some examples and explains that one of the mechanisms that help us identify threats is project indicators, showing clear signs of a problem without having the pain.
This week, Ricardo discusses decision-making processes in the context of projects, the "governance" component of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) acronym. He explains that knowledge of governance, the organizational framework used to oversee projects, is crucial for effective decision-making. This structure and processes are used to make decisions about approving changes and planning the next steps based on project findings.
This week, Ricardo discusses three prominent businesspeople whose incoherent actions hurt those who had put their faith in their ideas: Elizabeth Homes of Theranos, Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX, and Elon Musk of Twitter. These persons share many characteristics, including a remarkable charm that has garnered them widespread adulation and the impression that they possess superhuman abilities.
Read Ricardo's reviews of some of the best technical books published.
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