Category Archives: Personal Development

Posts offering information, thoughts and ideas related to the development of personal skills and behaviors.

Project Management and the Risk and Learning Cycle

Posted on July 30, 2012 by donmcalister

During the life of a project there is a Risk and Learning Cycle that takes place that is critical to the success of the effort and an important foundation for projects that follow. This blog describes my thoughts on that cycle, … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Personal Development, Program & Knowledge Management | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Learning to Be A Project Manager By Building on the Basics

Posted on July 2, 2012 by donmcalister

    Sometimes I think that as we work to develop new project managers, we make the subject matter seem more complicated than it needs to be. I’m not trying to say that all of the tools and processes and … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Personal Development, Program & Knowledge Management | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Found in Translation – My Experiences in Japan, Part 1

Posted on April 2, 2012 by donmcalister

Remember that movie “Lost in Translation”? It was a romantic comedy starring Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson. Bill Murray plays an American movie star (Bob Harris), in the autumn of his career, who reluctantly takes his first trip to Japan. … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Personal Development, That's Life | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Project Management in the Matrix Crossfire

Posted on March 19, 2012 by donmcalister

Many businesses have adopted a Project/Functional matrix management organizational model as a way of ensuring enterprise focus on both the near-term execution and long-term process capability. Matrix organization theory says that Functional Managers are responsible for building, deploying and supporting … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Personal Development, Program & Knowledge Management | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Gorillas in the Midst

Posted on February 29, 2012 by donmcalister

I’ve been doing a lot of studying recently about the processes that go on in our body sensory systems and our brains as we interact with the world and each-other to learn, create and collaborate. I make no claim of … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Leadership, Personal Development, That's Life | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

“Are We There Yet” – Grain Elevators and Learning

Posted on February 11, 2012 by donmcalister

They say all stories have teaching moments. The following is a story from my childhood. Although as you’ll see it made some immediate difference in my life, it took me another 40 years to understand and appreciate the learning. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Personal Development, That's Life | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments