Let me set the context for this post about the project charter: By now, the team knows what it has to accomplish because they have a product vision. The next question is: How will the team manage their risks to achieve those outcomes? That's where I recommend a team define its project driver, up to […] The post Project Charter Part 2: Clarify the Project Driver, Boundaries, and Constraints for This Project appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
My podcast this week is from a fiction story. After I wrote this part, I realized I started in the wrong place. So you get the benefit of reading something I will definitely change later today. Yes, I write fiction exactly the same way I write nonfiction. I start where I think the piece starts. […] The post 2025.35 Solarpunk Short Story Opening appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
Does your team have an overarching goal for its work—a product vision? Too many teams do not. The whole point of a project is to deliver a useful product that satisfies its customers. I like to think about projects as a container of some product value. That means that a given release does not need […] The post Project Charter Part 1: Write (And Test) a Product Vision for This Project appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
This week's podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. The cover people are working on a back cover, which means I'm close, close, close to the end of the publication work. Yay! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September 19, 2025, where I read […] The post 2025.34 Black Boxes on a Virtual Presentation appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
Does your team have a project charter so they know what to do for this project? I see too many teams try to start work without one. That leads to feature factories, apparently random work that does not add value, or worse, a product that's partly done in too many areas. Teams start without project […] The post How to Create a Useful Project Charter in Less Time Than You Think: Overview appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
Are you trying to change people's minds? Data can help. But data is not enough. We all need stories to make that human connection. That's the point of the podcast I recorded with Sam Taggart: Storytelling is Problem Solving. (That's the link to the podcast for audio listening.) That page also has a link to […] The post Storytelling is Problem Solving on the LabView Experiment Podcast appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
As I wait for the back cover and all the other pieces for Effective Public Speaking, I can finally write some fiction. (Yay!) This week's podcast is the opening of a caper, a form of mystery story. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September […] The post 2025.33 Caper (Mystery) Story Opening appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
I've been quieter than usual on all the socials and in my writing because I'm deep into finishing the Effective Public Speaking book. (I'm proofing that book today.) That's because I'm stuck between the tension of finishing this project and starting a new project. I love starting projects. Once I decide to start a project […] The post How to Resolve the Tension Between Starting and Finishing Any Work appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
This week, the podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. I am in the midst of the final proofing before I go to print. (Thank goodness!) Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for September 4, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a […] The post 2025.32 Offer More Examples appeared first on Johanna Rothman.| Johanna Rothman
I've been working with several supposedly “agile” teams and their managers. Everyone knows their project is in trouble. And they have no idea what to do about it. The team members say, “We're on a death march. We have no predictability. Everything takes longer than we think it will.” The managers say, “We have no […]| Johanna Rothman
D.C. mayor announces new labor agreement with police union, providing pay increases and initiatives to boost recruitment and retention.| The Washington Informer
This week's podcast is from the Effective Public Speaking book. A funny thing happened on the way to the podcast. I've been heads-down, proofing and finishing the book. I plan to start the index today. That's all finishing the book. I hate this part, but if I don't do it, I can't publish the book. […]| Johanna Rothman
I've heard that the AA/PMI wants to create a manifesto for enterprise agility. I'm not sure we need a manifesto, but that's fine. Here are the necessary conditions for enterprise agility: A culture of flow efficiency thinking. That means everyone collaborates across the organization to optimize up for one overarching goal. Limited planning horizons, with […]| Johanna Rothman
Several of my fellow writers are busy writing their nonfiction books. Since I've published a number of books, they've asked me to take a look at their book covers. Too often, the cover does not do the book or the author justice. The title is too small, the author's name is way too small, and […]| Johanna Rothman
Easily tweakable for your particular tastes.| ideatrash
My youngest child started school this week, so I have a bit of time for blogging! This is another “a neat hack that I’m sharing partly so I remember how I did it in the future”… The problem Basically, I have a big ripped mp3 music collection I play using the venerable MPD Music Player Daemon system. I can play tracks and playlists fine with MPD-compatible applications, but I quite often want to listen to and browse music based on albums not tracks. I want “these are my favourite alb...| Korny’s Blog
Several of my clients want to plan the product roadmap and then “work to the plan.” They think the roadmap is the long-term goal. But roadmaps aren't goals. Instead, they are tactics for achieving a long-term goal. That means we need long-term goals based on both the corporate strategy and each product's strategy. Those are two […]| Johanna Rothman
Many of my consulting and job-searching colleagues feel stuck in finding clients or jobs. Social media used to work, but it doesn't anymore. But people actually have more options for discoverability (aka marketing) than ever before. That's writing, speaking, and connecting people who might not know about each other. The more we write, speak, and […]| Johanna Rothman
Are you trying to use story points for estimation? If so, you might have encountered these problems: Story points reflect the ideal thinking of the team, not the actual experience of the team. Your managers don't want story points—they want durations and dates. In the absence of sufficient information, everyone makes up fiction (human stories) […]| Johanna Rothman
