harlekins spirit

Jobs that no longer exist

Are project managers a dying breed too?

Why do occupations die out? There may be many reasons, but two are definitely drivers: technological and social changes.

From school we know Hauptmann’s drama ‘The Weavers’, in which changes in technology forced people to work for starvation wages. The job title itself may still exist in part, but the job description looks completely different. In this context, mention should be made of telling the time and the illuminating cities at night, which are no longer done by night watchmen.

Digital Punk

What comes to your mind on the subject of the largest_online_retailer_whose_name_must_not_be_mentioned? The NZZ (Neue Züricher Zeitung) says on 16.05.2021: ‘Largest_online_retailer_whose_name_must_not_be_mentioned makes it happen: Digitalisation is bringing a new working class to modern society’. This is predominantly about the people who are employed with shipping and on the hotline. In my opinion, they should be used to optimise processes, because, don’t we all know, often the software doesn’t even allow special cases to be handled by the employee.

Old Heads on Young Shoulders

Sometimes clients surprise me when I learn from them “how to do it right”. By that I mean how quickly transformations that no one previously thought possible sometimes succeed. For several years now, I have been discussing how to continuously change and improve with the board of an association that has set itself the goal of redefining and shaping youth work. What makes CREW, as the association is called, special?

Does it help or does it do harm?

I simply can’t hear it any more. I am repeatedly told that project managers need domain know-how, i.e. expertise beyond project management and leadership. This is also practically always a requirement in job advertisements.

The Crazy PMPprep – A Novel

Let me say this right away: I don’t really know anything about project management – what I do know is just enough for the usual small projects of my professional and private everyday life. And I don’t need to know much more about it.

My motivation for reading “The Crazy PMPprep” (A novel to prepare for PMP and CAPM certification) was therefore not to further qualify myself in the field of project management (or even to get certified), but simply curiosity. I witnessed various discussions between the authors during the writing process and wanted to know what exactly it was all about. So I asked the authors, my Harlequin colleagues BCO and RGE, for the manuscript and after only 30 pages fell for the charm of the tragic hero Henri, music therapist in a psychiatric institution.

On the art of thinking together (Part 2)

What does it take to create a real flow of thoughts and dialogue?

On the art of thinking together (Part 1)

For us, the tree symbolises the essence of dialogue: We come together, connect with ourselves, the others and open a common thinking space in which new things can emerge.

Are you one of those people who think meetings are a waste of time? You could work so well if it weren’t for those constant discussions. And then the behaviour of the “fellow-meeters”: you start to relate something and are impatiently interrupted. “Why don’t you get to the point? We don’t have all day.” Or they pick out one aspect of your contribution and react exclusively to it, perhaps even with suspicion. Or a participant explains to you for the umpteenth time what you already know and have known for a long time. Or you are told: “That won’t work”, coupled with body-language reactions of devaluation, and your ideas are brushed aside. And so on, and so on…

Rowling’s got it wrong!

I have already dealt with the topic of “decisions” once before, in September 2020. Two reasons motivate me to take up this topic again: Firstly, the new book by Daniel Kahnemann et al., which deals with this very topic and secondly, a quote from Joanne K. Rowling, who may be a good writer but apparently has not read anything by Kahnemann and – what is much worse – not even our blog.

Project management in internal Projects – a Survival Guide

I was pleased a while ago when I read Oliver F. Lehmann’s proposed project typology. He included a number of characteristics of internal projects that I recognised. As an external consultant I regularly experience that companies behave quite differently when their own employees are allocated to internal projects, particularly in business departments. “Just do it,“ seems to describe it nicely.

“EVER GIVEN” – Has there ever been such a thing?

How the name of the ship fits the situation! Isn’t that funny? Yes, but only for those who have nothing to do with it. But wait: if we drill deeper into this event, we come to a behavioural pattern that should be more or less familiar to all of us: megalomania. This time on a global scale.