This week, Athena Online is featuring my video “Common Project Management Mistakes” as The Video Lesson of the Week. In the video, I describe the most common mistakes project managers must know.

Project success not only relies on what you need to do—it also relies on what you need to not do. By learning and doing (or not doing, in this case), you can dramatically increase your odds for project success.

Today’s projects are more complex and the stakes are higher—and mistakes are more costly in terms of time, money and resources. See if any of your projects are suffering from these common mistakes.

There’s no time to wait. So, grab a pen and paper (and maybe even some popcorn!) so you can enjoy learning about what to avoid. Simply click here to view:

http://www.athenaonline.com/knowledge/rcmd.asp?xi=2VOC5D4AWC

This week we are featuring Dr. Rick Kirschner, author or coauthor of eight audio and video programs on customer service, communication and creative living. He is also the coauthor of four books including the international bestseller, Dealing with People You Can’t Stand.

Dr. Kirschner’s work has been featured on CNBC’s “MoneyTalk”, in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. His most recent work includes The Art of Change multimedia experience, and the Quick Change Artist training series to improve creativity, team communication, initiative and performance.

In this week’s featured lesson, Dr. Kirschner provides strategies to help people combine leadership, teamwork, and functional relationships during turbulent times. He discusses ways to show respect, provide recognition and share information.

To view the video click on the following link,or copy and paste it into your browser. If you would like to share this lesson with others or post it on your website, just copy and paste the link into your own communications.

http://www.athenaonline.com/knowledge/rcmd.asp?xi=4SXYHQXMO0

This video link will expire on June 9th, so be sure to share it with others soon.

Brought to you by www.athenaonline.com

Drum roll, please!

Recently, The Association for Strategic Planning (ASP) honored Terry Schmidt, Harvard MBA, as the #004 Pioneer to earn the distinguished Strategic Management Professional (SMP) designation. This Certification has been given to only a select handful of senior-most strategic planners in North America.

The endeavor was lead by Stephen Haines, CEO of The Haines Centre, where Terry is a Global Partner and Head of the Centre’s Seattle Office. Terry served two years on the Core Team of the Task Force to lend his knowledge and expertise to developing this first-ever universal Strategic Planning Certification in the Field. This collaborative effort of Strategic Planning colleagues across North America is designed to be a rigorous, yet achievable certification program, based on best practices in Strategic Thinking, Planning, and Implementation to equip planning professionals for the complexities of 21^st century planning.

Terry is one of five Qualified Charter Registered Educational Provider’s whose interactive prep course is proven to provide these best practice knowledge and planning tools. Sign up for one of his 2010 interactive prep courses: May 17-18 (Portland) / June 11 (Seattle) / Aug. 2-3 (Seattle) / Sept. 19-27 (San Diego)

To learn more about how you can get certified as an SMP or SPP, contact Terry at Terry@ManagementPro.com or ASP at www.strategyplus.org.

Want to gain some leading-edge skills? Then come join me and other thought leaders on February 22^nd – 24^th at The 2010 National Conference of The Association for Strategic Planning (ASP). I’ll be among a team of experts and top-rated strategists who will share their Best Practices expertise in workshops. Join me in a deep dive presentation “Turn Strategy Into Results” on Monday afternoon to learn Best Practices in execution and strategic project management.

A leading consulting company identified strategic planning as the number one required competency for corporate success. Whatever your mainstream profession, increasing your strategic management skills in these in topsy-turvy times is a smart move.

Check out the brochure (www.strategyplus.org) and register now. And here’s my gift for the first 15 registrants who register as a result of this announcement: I’ll send you a complimentary copy of Strategic Project Management Made Simple: A Practical Tools for Leaders and Teams as my congratulations. Just let me know when you sign up.

See you there!

Are you aware that your life consists of a cluster of projects in various roles that you play? . In a recent interview with Dr. Hendrie Weisinger (aka, Dr. Hank), I discussed how Project Management (PM) isn’t just for Project Managers anymore and how it can benefit your life.

Dr. Hank is a world-renowned Psychologist, Speaker and Author with a weekly column in The Huffington Post. In the following excerpt from the interview—“The Importance of Project Management: An Interview with Terry Schmidt”—you will see how a little curiosity and experimentation can launch a career (or even restart one):

Dr. Hank: You have developed great expertise in Project Management. How did you get interested in this field?

Terry: My love of projects began in high school when I launched a small rocket loaded with guppies. That project earned national press coverage and motivated me to study aerospace engineering. During a summer internship at NASA, I devoured all the project and program management books in their library. This ignited my passion for Project Management and systems thinking, which considers how all the elements of large and complex systems work together to accomplish the big picture goal.

In a later career as a management consultant to developing nations, I witnessed the futility of piecemeal solutions to complex problems. For example, a project designed to reduce childhood mortality in Africa may provide inoculations and health education, but these good efforts will fail unless there is also access to clean water, which may not be part of the project. So we need to think, plan, and act from a larger perspective and address all the solution elements.

Given the nature of the problems we face today, it is essential to use systems thinking combined with Project Management.

Check out the full interview at this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hendrie-weisinger/the-importance-of project_b_395007.html Then feel free to post a comment about how PM relates to you and how apply PM concepts to manage your life.

I recently taught a group of executives from Golden Eagle Broadcast System, China’s most progressive media organization and owners of 11 tv stations, several radio stations, and a movie production business. I taught them strategy, as part of a custom UCLA Extension program on entertainment in a digital area. If you have attended my Strategic Project Management course, you will remember the Noah’s ark case study. It was pure joy watching these execs enthusiastically develop a Logical Framework for the Noah’s Ark case in Chinese!

Have you heard “the talk of the world” lately? Tune in to hear Terry Schmidt and Stephen Haines on www.WorldTalkRadio.com Tuesday, October 20th from 2:00-3:00pm PST so you don’t miss a thing.

Terry will be interviewed by Stephen on the important topic of Future Environmental Scanning. This topic is especially vital to developing strategic plans that take into account the internal and external factors affecting critical projects. Terry will provide lots of strategic wisdom and humor to keep the discussion lively and impactful.

Mark your calendars. Terry and Steve may not have crystal balls, but be sure that sharpening your Future Environmental Scanning skills will make a difference in your business and your life. So, join the talk of the world today about future impact! Here’s the link..

Have you heard (or read, rather) that Sage Journals publishes 165+ online journals in management, technology, science and more? The content is great; and every October, Sage Journals makes its archives available for FREE.

Well, now you have! It’s easy to sign up and access solid journals with articles dating back to 1999 to the present. As you know, it is important to stay updated about the issues and factions within and outside of your field. There are literally hundreds—if not thousands—of topnotch articles to stimulate and educate.

Simply click on the link below to sign up and get started reading:

https://online.sagepub.com/cgi/register?registration=FTOct2009-12

I would love to hear back from you about interesting topics you find! See you in the archives!

In times when it’s vital to reduce expenses, former American Airlines president Robert Crandall offers a creative example of how to do so. While the details are situation-specific, the thinking process transfers to virtually any situation.

Crandall visited each AA location annually, and discovered that a low traffic Caribbean office employed an expensive night watchman. He suggested reducing the watchman to just three nights a week (the thieves wouldn’t know). A year later, with no theft, he suggested a further cost savings.

Crandall ordered a “vicious dog” sign be prominently placed, and found the meanest and scariest dog around. Months later, after no theft, he put the dog on part time duty.

During the next years’ budget review, in search of further cost reductions, Crandall instructed that the dog not be fed for a day to make him angry. He had the staff tape-record the dog barking, then play the tape recorder on a timer, so that potential thieves would be fooled into thinking a vicious guard dog was inside the facility.

And it worked!

How can you adapt this concept? The key is to analyze the central function of any system or process, then identify alternate ways to perform that function. In this case, the function was to deter potential robbers, and there were cheaper alternatives than a live guard. Rather than automatically accepting the traditional way of doing something, what better and cheaper ways can you uncover?

Last month we celebrated the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, America’s first manned lunar landing. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, not only was it “One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind,” it was one great adventure for me because I was the youngest accredited press member covering this historic life off and the only one representing an underground hippie newspaper. I still get chill bumps recalling the fiery lift off from Cape Canaveral. For the story on how my early love of rockets lead a grand adventure and a career in technology, READ ON