No products
More info
Doing more with less is a skill mastered by entrepreneurs. Budgets are tight, deadlines are short, and time is of the essence. Entrepreneurial project managers use these parameters to their benefit. Hurdling over obstacles with the bare minimum of effort makes their projects and teams stand out. Focusing inward to develop the skills and mindset necessary to accomplish anything with anyone sets an entrepreneurial project manager apart from the group. This book builds on the basics of project management knowledge with tools and techniques to get you as well as your projects and teams performing on an advanced level.
No matter your industry or experience level, this book gives you practical ways to improve any project. More importantly, it shows how you can improve your own performance. The biggest improvements a project manager can make are about him- or herself. Personal limitations can be the hardest obstacle to overcome, and this book explains how to overcome them. The techniques have been tried and tested by the author who shares them with you in this book.
Whether in your projects or career, all the right things can be said and done, yet the results are always unpredictable. We all have little control over events. This book’s tools and techniques give you the ability to handle anything that may come your way.
Entrepreneurs are constantly changing and adapting to the world around them. They must stay cutting-edge to make their businesses thrive. This book explains how to take a cutting-edge approach to project management. The goal is to take your technical skills as a project manager, add the elements of an entrepreneur, and create a high-powered team around you as well as become the best project manager you can be.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Philosophy
1.2. Sales
1.3. Imposter Syndrome
2. Traditional Mindset
2.1. The Midas Touch
2.2. Setting Goals Through Stoicism
2.3. Taoism
2.4. Sales
2.5. Belle the Dog
2.6. Importance of Trust
2.7. Low Friction vs. High Friction
2.8. Passion Without Purpose
2.9. Old School: Kicker and High Jumper
2.10. Waste in Traditional Organizations
2.11. Leadership Modeling
3. Entrepreneurial Mindset
3.1. Stoicism
3.2. Taoism
3.3. Sales
3.4. Vertical Slices
3.5. Six Thinking Hats: Use Them
3.6. Five Actions of an Entrepreneur
3.7. New School: Kicker and High Jumper
3.8. Fixed and Growth Mindsets
4. Organizational Strategy
4.1. The von Manstein Matrix
4.2. Stoicism
4.3. Taoism
4.4. Sales
4.5. Common Organizational Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
4.6. Gym Teacher vs. Coach
4.7. Project Management Office Maturity
4.8. Followership
4.9. Execute Your Strategy
4.10. Relevance and Meaning
5. Exploit Challenges
5.1. Stoicism
5.2. Taoism
5.3. Sales
5.4. Freeze-Thaw Your Challenges
5.5. What Do You See?
5.6. Problem Finders vs. Problem Solvers
5.7. Becoming an Insider
5.8. Five Strategies to Overcome Obstacles
5.9. Obstacle: Culture
5.10. Obstacle: Mindset
6. Entrepreneurial Agile Management
6.1. S.C.A.M.P.E.R.
6.2. Stoicism
6.3. Taoism
6.4. Sales
6.5. Lean Construction Management
6.6. Not Your Grandparent’s To-Do List
6.7. How to Grow as an Agile Leader
6.8. "We Asked Questions. We Got Answers."
7. Pessimistic Optimist
7.1. Stoicism
7.2. Taoism
7.3. The Adversarial Ego
7.4. Sales
7.5. A Cautionary Tale
7.6. Illusion of Rationality
7.7. To the Film Room
7.8. Aristotle’s Golden Mean
7.9. Learning to Say "No"
7.10. Investing in Loss
8. 80/20 Technique
8.1. Brief History
8.2. Application: Clients
8.3. Application: Team
8.4. Application: Yourself
8.5. Cost of Complexity
8.6. Removing Emotions from Decision Making
8.7. Stoicism
8.8. Taoism
8.9. Sales
8.10. KISS Principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid
8.11. Capacity
9. Internalize Failure and Success
9.1. Stoicism
9.2. Taoism
9.3. Sales
9.4. Are You Lucky or Good?
9.5. Trust the System
9.6. Grow and Achieve
9.7. Celebrate the Wins
9.8. Can Both Parties Be Right?
9.9. Narcissistic Injury
9.10. Biases: What They Are and How to Use Them
10. Speaking and Influencing
10.1. Stoicism
10.2. Taoism
10.3. Sales
10.4. Skimming Information
10.5. Speak Through Your Work
10.6. Increase Your Influence
10.7. Office Politics
10.8. Getting Back on the Horse
11. It Is What It Is Not
11.1. Stoicism
11.2. Taoism
11.3. Sales
11.4. Problem Managers—Problem Solvers
11.5. A = B, B = C, Then A C
11.6. Alchemy
11.7. Pride—Fool’s Gold
11.8. Social Intelligence
12. Giving Back
12.1. Stoicism
12.2. Taoism
12.3. Sales
12.4. Happiness: It Is Simple Math
12.5. Gospel of Wealth
12.6. Recognition
12.7. Being Human
12.8. Show Me the Tools
References
Index
View More
Author(s)
Biography
Over the past ten years, Christopher Cook, PMP, has spent his career in the construction industry. Aspects of the industry include heavy highway, aggregates, sewer, and grading roads. During this time, he earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Industrial Technology Management with an emphasis in Building Construction Management, Master’s of Science in Project Management, and Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification. In those years, he served as a laborer and worked his way up to estimator and master scheduler roles. Serving in these various roles has provided many opportunities to monitor and control projects from headquarters. The portfolio of projects is in the tens of millions of dollars annually. Working side by side with operations, he has the technical skills necessary for daily work while learning the management way of doing things to serve as a better manager. He is a member of the local Project Management Institute (PMI) chapter in Denver, Colorado. Having the right education and technical background has proven vital to his success and continued growth in the industry. He shares his project management insights weekly through "The EntrePMeur" blog (http://entrepmeur.wpengine.com).
Related Titles
Book Series
This book is included in the following series:
Best Practices in Portfolio, Program, and Project Management