Blog

Friday Again Already?

In the last time it happens again regularly that I ask myself at the latest on Friday around noon the question; "Friday noon, where is this week already again"? Yes, I really ask myself this question in this form. And not as the universally quoted TGIF - "Thank God is Friday"; because I like to work! So my motto is IIFRA - "Is it Friday really again?" ;-)

So now I'm taking some time to review selected topics of the last week. Maybe I'll be able to slow down the pace a bit... or what's the consultant term for that: "deceleration".

PM Camp Hamburg

Finally, the preparations for the „biggest class reunion of German-speaking project managers" (I like to quote myself) are underway. After a few attempts sabotaged by Covid-19, a new orga team has now been found, which has already found a place and a date:

On May 19 and 20, 2023, the PM Camp will
take place on the premises of ISM Hamburg.

More details will follow very soon. Until then, block the date in your schedule. I will definitely be there!

Happy Holidays and Prosperous New Year!

I'm sure many of you are like me. I organize my daily routine with to-do lists. That way, no tasks get forgotten. Even the list of tasks that absolutely had to be done before the holidays is now checked off.

Recently, I came across a to-do list for students on the web that gave them tasks for the Christmas vacations. There I read things like.

• 🎬 Watch a Christmas movie.
• 📖 Read a good book
• 😁 Make someone laugh
• 🍪 Snack on delicious Christmas cookies
• 🍹 Sip some delicious punch

I immediately felt addressed, even though I'm not a kid anymore, this list is on my desk now and I plan to work through it over the holidays 😉

Time for me to flip up the keyboard and enjoy Christmas with my favorite people.

The whole ProjectWizards team wishes you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and all the best for 2023.

A New Manual In AsciiDoc

Part 6

I don't even like to say it or even write it; reality has caught up with me in this project. I looked at the date of the last blog entry and was very shocked: January 14th, 2022.

I'll be honest, since that date I haven't written quite a bit on the new manual either. Of course, I recognized the problem a few months ago and even tried to find solutions. But unfortunately everything didn't really work out and I realized that I need support.

So I sat down with Antoni - with whom I had already written the Merlin 2 book in German language for the publishing house Hanser Verlag - and we relaunched the project. I know it's embarrassing. But sometimes you have to recognize and solve a problem, even if the problem is you.

Accelerate@HHL 2022: Leaving My Comfort Zone

Those who know me know that I have been doing ProjectWizards for 20 years and Merlin Project for almost 18 years. So everyone can easily imagine that I know a lot of people in the business. No matter if I show up at an Apple event, or a project management event, I already meet the first known people right at the entrance. That's nice, it gives me a good feeling and it's fun. That's how I know that the years of work have paid off and that the network I've built up is working. Because people help each other, they exchange ideas. And even if you don't do business directly with each other, sooner or later it pays off for both of us in some form or another.

But I also have to admit that after 20 years you become more idle. You only choose events where you know that there will be something going on - whatever. And this comfort zone became bigger and bigger for me. Of course, no trips took place during Covid-19, and the urge to attend online community meetings became more and more suppressed. I noticed myself getting more and more cushy. And then the opportunity came: Accelerate@HHL 2022!

With Merlin Project In Deutsche Bahn

"I'm not compatible with Deutsche Bahn," was my answer for many years when asked about my choice of travel mode. I couldn't even say exactly how long it had been since my last train trip, but it may have been anything between 10 and 15 years.

Recently, however, it came to pass that the only way I could reasonably accomplish a business trip was by train. And by that I mean a combination of time and money. So I bravely chose this option and went on the adventure.

Over the course of 3 days, I rode the train from Osnabrück to Stuttgart, on to Munich and from there back to Osnabrück. I learned a lot on this trip. Some old prejudices were confirmed, but many were also revised. Here are a few of my insights: