Author: Jeremie Averous

Obstacles on your road are there for a reason. Are you ready for them?

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal”

This quote is by Henry Ford. And I find it quite deep and powerful when considered carefully.

obstacle on your road
An obstacle on your road?

Henry Ford was a determined person. He spent years battling against the patent for “automobiles” that was held by a ‘patent troll’ – as we would say today – who tried to maintain scarcity. He wanted to be able to provide affordable cars to more people; and he eventually won after years of legal procedures.

He does not deny that obstacles can look frightening and difficult. He just states that if we have a strong goal, we’ll always find a way.

An other thinker, Randy Pausch, in his famous “last lecture“, did a statement that is for me fundamental:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

So, obstacles are not just here to test your commitment, they are also here to make the different with those that are not passionate enough to persevere.

So, remember next time you moan or you’re scared because of some obstacle: did you take your eyes off your goal? Is your goal clear and compelling enough?

Will you work to overcome that obstacle, which will make the difference between you and the other wannabes?

Share

Get a glimpse in how the organization of the Collaborative Age will work, today!

Once upon a time there was a company that had no boss. There were quite more than 100 people in the office, and they just organized themselves fluidly around temporary projects: who has the best idea got the support of others.

Pages from Valve Employee Handbook
Extract from Valve Employee Handbook

Desks had wheels so that project teams can join spontaneously. Just unplug, replug, and there you could work next to your new buddy.

Failure was accepted as a learning opportunity and very quickly, new hires worked directly on the main products where they could wreck havoc so easily!

Employee evaluation was based on peer evaluation; a constant stream of feedback was organized to each employee from the feedback of peers; and even salary increments were based on a peer-review ranking.

Do you think this company exists in another galaxy or is just in the Fourth Revolution’s author imagination? No, it’s a company called Valve and its employee handbook is accessible here. Get a glimpse of how the workplace of the future will look like, it is absolutely eye-opening! A real MUST-READ!

Also stroll on the company website, where all current employees are displayed alphabetically. Even the founder, Gabe Newell, is just listed there as any other employee.

Brace yourself because the workplace is going to look more frequently like that: we will be expected to take initiatives in an unstructured environment and let our contribution shine in the eyes of the others. No more boss, no more instructions. Pure initiative, pure entrepreneurship.

Are you ready for the Fourth Revolution in organizations?

The link to Valve’s employee handbook was originally in a blog post by Seth Godin with various other useful references.

Share

VIDEO OF THE QUARTER: Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web

In this stunning video from TED, Kevin Kelly describes the revolution of the last 5,000 days of the Web and what is coming in the next 5,000 days. Knowing that the video was shot in 2007 we can already see some predictions coming true!

Fasten your seat belts, the world is now changing amazingly!

How the web will become a ONE machine and we will all be the ONE. How in 2040, the processing capability of the web will exceed the combined processing power of 6 billion individuals. And more insight about the tremendous changes that are happening in the world!

Share

BREAKING NEWS: my new book, Project Soft Power, is published!

Miracle of the Fourth Revolution, my new book is now out to the world even before I have received the copies from the local printer!

Project Soft Power Book

It took less than 10 days to get the title setup on LightningSource and disseminated to all e-bookshop worldwide!!

And I can now announce also the launch of the Project Soft Power website where you can know more about the Project Soft Power concept, find extracts of the book…

Can’t wait? Here are some links to buy the book. Enjoy!

and on Kindle

Share

When is failure an option?

I visited Houston Space Center the other day as I was stranded a week-end in town during a business trip. There you can visit one of the famous space control rooms, view a Saturn rocket, many spaceships and a bunch of memorabilia about the space conquest (exciting for the child in you!). And you can’t escape this famous quote attributed to Gene Kranz, the flight director on Apollo 13: “Failure is not an option“, written on everything – books, mugs and T-shirts included.

Failure is not an option - book by Gene Kranz
When is failure an option?

Quite a tough guy, this Gene Kranz, and undoubtedly his determination helped much bring the astronauts back on earth that time.

But then today we know that we should fail often to progress, at least limited failures. So, when is failure an option? And when is it not an option?

When should one persevere, against all odds, and when should one not?

One of the few references on this topic is a little book by Seth Godin called “the Dip“. It discusses how all ventures always go through a dip between the initial excitement and the possible future development. How can we recognize whether that’s a temporary dip or a slide toward failure? How can we recognize whether we need to persevere? How can we recognize that in that case, failure is not an option?

When Apollo 13 encountered its issues, the purpose of the team was clear: bringing the people back to Earth. They did not know how but the purpose was set, compelling, tangible, emotional, generous. They would do whatever it took to reach it. And they did.

Failure is not an option when the purpose is so compelling that it will move you to do anything to reach it. Don’t get stuck on the way you thought you would take, though; you’ll need to find the way, and it won’t be obvious. And you will find the way, because you will have small failures along the journey, overcoming and learning from them to get closer to your goal.

Failure is not an option for your life purpose. It is certainly an option for helping you find the way to reach it. This is quite a vital distinction.

Test what you identified as your life purpose: is failure is an option?

Share

The KUNG FU MASTER, the second Project Soft Power role

Following the SPIDER role, let’s present the KUNG FU MASTER role.

Kung Fu Master in Action
Breaking Constraints: Kung Fu Master in Action

Like the Kung Fu Master, the successful project leader can practice for hours, days, months and years the disciplines of project leadership. He can focus intensively for hours on a subject, silent and patient, and strike like lightning, suddenly breaking the seemingly unbreakable obstacle with the focused stroke of his bare hands on its rough surface.

Discipline is a key attribute of the successful project leader. It means relentlessly practicing the fundamental disciplines of project management, making sure the underlying processes deliver with the most limited variance possible, week after week, month after month.

Focus is another key tool of the project leader. Success is the result of the project leader focusing intently her attention on the very few important things that drive the project.

Project Soft Power: The Kung Fu Master Role
Project Soft Power: The Kung Fu Master Role

One outstanding issue for the Project Leader is to identify the few constraints that drive the effective delivery of the project, and concentrate on them attention and effort. A project will be driven by a very limited number of constraints, which are often resources or deliverables for critical convergence points. The key role of the successful project leader is to identify them and focus on overcoming them. Only by overcoming the project constraints through relentless focus will the project be delivered successfully

Discipline and focus of the Kung Fu Master are key to outstanding execution. Relentless discipline of running the basic project management processes. Relentless focus of choosing priorities and effectively stick to them.

Are you a Kung Fu Master? How can you improve your discipline and focus?

Project Soft Power Book

Coming soon…

 

Share

School does not interest people in entrepreneurship… except in China!

The graph below is an extract from the report “Entrepreneurship in the EU and beyond” by the European commission. It shows that overall, school does not make people interested in entrepreneurship.

school education and entrepreneurship
did your school education make you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?

Did you remark the funniest thing in this graph? School makes people much more interested in entrepreneurship in China (CN, at the bottom) than in most European countries, and even than in the US!

Isn’t there something wrong here?

Share

What would you do if you were not afraid?

This is an interesting sentence posted on Facebook corporate office walls. It’s quite a deep question in fact. Reflect on it for a minute.

Embracing fear
Embracing fear

Right now as I happen to be pushing myself more often out of my comfort zone, I often face fear. It grasps me in the guts and I have really wrenching days where I feel stressed and miserable.

Fear is there to prevent us from doing really dangerous things. Recently it has mainly come up when I was trying new things. Honestly, seen from the rational perspective, the possible consequences could not have been so bad. I know I would do much more if I was not afraid – or at least it would not be such a struggle.

People say you can become accustomed to fear when confronting it often. I still think it is useful to feel it somehow, but you need to be able to tame it enough that it does not prevent you from doing great things. I am still not there. Sometimes fear literally almost paralyzes me, with no objective reason. I’m working on it – still work-in-progress!.

And you, what would you do if you were not afraid?

 

Share

The SPIDER – the first role of Project Soft Power

The SPIDER is about weaving a network of stakeholders that is effective to allow the project delivery.

Project Soft Power: the Spider role
Project Soft Power: the Spider role

Like the spider, the successful Project Leader patiently weaves its network, the cobweb. Like the spider, the general idea is to capture efficiently anything that comes close to the project and could influence its outcome – stakeholders in particular -, and manage them appropriately.

Having an effective, functional network is a primordial tool for the Project Leader. We are not speaking here of the social professional network that is recommended for career advancement and other mundane tasks. We are targeting a specific network that has to be setup specifically for the execution of the project.

Let’s face it: the most challenging projects (and the most rewarding, if they are successful) will have to deal with a lot of opposition, and the project leader’s job is to address this adequately to allow for the project to proceed.

Building and nurturing an effective project network includes identifying key stakeholders, engaging them, allowing 2-way communication, and nurturing the network on a continuous manner. The internal network inside the project team and on the project sites should not be forgotten. And disbanding the network at the end of the project needs to be considered with attention as people often remember the end more vividly.

The SPIDER role, weaving the Project Leader’s network, is an essential practice. It needs to be made effective by developing and nurturing a specifically targeted network related to the project. Going in the field or meeting stakeholders across hierarchy and roles is key to develop the most effective network. This activity requires proper planning and the successful Project Leader’s personal attention and time, so as to develop strong personal connections with the relevant persons.

So, are you an effective SPIDER?

Project Soft Power Book

 

Coming soon…

Share

How Crowdfunding redefines the future of Creation for million of artists

The International Herald Tribune published an amazing infographics about Kickstarter. According to these stats, this leading crowdfunding site gathered in 3 years more than 200 million dollars of funding!

Amanda Palmer and the future of creation
Amanda Palmer and the future of creation

Most of the funding happens to be for the creative arts. Yes, because crowdfunding redefines the future of all creative arts. Before, government subsidies were the only way to get funded when the big companies that controlled the market did not want to hear about you. Today, ordinary citizens vote with their feet.

Check out the example of the video of Amanda Palmer, a musician. As of early May she had already gathered more than 500K$, thanks to some viral diffusion by Seth Godin and others. The computation is simply awesome: 10,000 backers put on average 50$ to help her get her album out. And it’s not finished!!

Crowdfunding is changing the world. It redefines the economics and the possibility of Creation for millions or artists. And if you don’t believe it, just listen and watch the excitement of the creators. Go on Kickstarter.  And enjoy the video below!

Share

Building stone by stone an enduring monument

Following a previous blog post about the patience conundrum here are some nice quotes about patience I want to share with you – and how I modified one to create a personal motto.

“Have patience with all things. But, first of all with yourself” – Saint Francis de Sales

“If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all” – Michelangelo

“Seek patience and passion in equal amounts. Patience alone will not build the temple. Passion alone will destroy its walls“- Maya Angelou

“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones” – Chinese Proverb

Segovia Aqueduct, one of the most elegant stone structures
Segovia Aqueduct, one of the most elegant stone structures

I’d like to modify the last one. Watching inspiring structures that have been built and are there for us all to enjoy, like the incredibly elegant aqueduct of Segovia built by the Romans two millennia ago, which still inspires awe and admiration, I have created my motto regarding patience:

“The man who build an enduring monument for all to enjoy begins by carrying small stones”

What do you think?

Share

Unveiling “Project Soft Power” – how to make Project Leaders reliably successful

My new book, ‘Project Soft Power’, will now be published very soon (the final production process has started). In this blog post as well as in 6 weekly sequels leading to the book’s publication, I will share with you what is Project Soft Power and why it is important to the world of the Fourth Revolution.

In the Collaborative Age, beyond the Fourth Revolution, organizations will be open and fluid. They will be organized around temporary projects. Yet, we don’t have today a consistent framework that allows a reliable project delivery, in particular when it comes to complex projects (those projects that involve many inter-related participants that all have different aims and interests). Project Management Failure StatisticsAlthough much progress has been done in the past decades to formalize specific tools around project management, the percentage of projects that fail outright or that does not deliver the expected value is staggering (depending on the sources, between 60 to 80% of projects). And research shows that it does not significantly improve through the careful use of processes described in thick manuals, and the increasing number of certified professionals in the use of these processes.

What is then the difference that makes project delivery a more reliable endeavour? I believe it is ‘Project Soft Power’, or the application of personal and inter-personal skills to project management. Project Soft Power is deeply rooted in emotional work, and is closely related to some of the key skills of the Collaborative Age K.E.E.N.

First of all, the “project manager” should not manage; she should lead. An unknown situation cannot be managed; we can only lead through it. Thus we have have decided from now on to use ‘Project Leader’ instead of ‘Project Manager’. In the Collaborative Age, the manager, a concept from the Industrial Age, will be obsolete anyway.

Project Soft Power characters
Project Soft Power characters

We have identified 5 main Project Soft Power skills that correspond to the following roles:

  • the SPIDER (weaving its network)
  • the KUNG FU MASTER (executing through focus and discipline)
  • the ENTREPRENEUR (able to invest upfront and defer instant gratification to reap later returns)
  • the TEAM COACH (building an effective team)
  • the PEOPLE CATALYST (unleashing the talents of the individuals)

In the next weeks I will publish on a weekly basis a description of each of these roles. Get ready for a mind-changing description of success factors in the Collaborative Age!

Project Soft Power Book

 

 

Coming soon…

Share