Would you have invested in this guy’s startup (called “The Facebook”) based on his pitch?

Would you have invested in this guy’s startup (called “The Facebook”) based on his pitch?

This is the beauty of the startups’ ecosystem. No matter how many analysis and parameters you will put in the evaluation’s process, you’ll never know for sure if a startup will fail or will succeed. And whether you like it or not,there is a big component of “visceral intuition” that needs to be used to make your final decision.

When we have a founder in front of us, we should always answer the journalist’s question at the beginning of this interview: Is this perhaps the next big thing? And then, based on our gut’s instinct, be fast and act accordingly.

Full text here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/would-you-have-invested-guys-startup-called-facebook-based-adrian?trk=hp-feed-article-title-share

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Lili was selected to join the Total incubator!

Thank you to the Total and Impulse partners teams! Lili was selected on a global competition to enter the Total start-up incubator. Total (#4 oil and gas global company) manages large billion dollars infrastructure projects. Lili was recognized by 200 Total decision makers (in Europe and NA) for its innovation and possible benefits to the business!

Eric Schmidt sees a huge future for machine learning

We all know that machine learning will change drastically our lives. Where to start and how is a great challenge to be solved.

Eric Schmidt, ex-CEO of Google said the adoption of machine learning will allow companies to mine crowd sourced data, which already provides a mass of information not previously available to companies, and improve on it.

Full article available here: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3047657/eric-schmidt-sees-a-huge-future-for-machine-learning.html

 

 

The relationship between big companies and deep machine intelligence is just starting. NY Times

MARCH 27, 2016

An article about the future of AI confirming the need of Lili!

“Just teaching companies how to use A.I. will be a big business.” (Diane B. Greene, the head of Google Compute Engine)

“In the ’80s, it was spreadsheets,” said Andreas Bechtolsheim, a noted computer design expert who was Google’s first investor. “Now it’s what you can do with machine learning.”

“We may build an A.I. system to figure out all the ways businesses can use this,” she joked. “The relationship between big companies and deep machine intelligence is just starting.” (Diane B. Greene, the head of Google Compute Engine)

Full article available here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/28/technology/silicon-valley-looks-to-artificial-intelligence-for-the-next-big-thing.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0

NASA hundred rules for Project Managers

“Rule 14

Most Managers succeed on the strength and skill of their staff.”

http://www.oliverlehmann.com/project-management-sources/Nasa-Hundred-Rules-for-Project-Managers.pdf

2014 NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Handbook

A very detailed handbook about Program and Project Management.

Given ships or sails adapted to the breezes of heaven, there will be those who will not shrink from even that vast expanse. – Johannes Kepler Letter to Galileo, 1610

The goal of the NPR requirements is to ensure programs and projects are developed and successfully executed in the most cost-effective and efficient manner possible. This handbook provides context, rationale, and explanation to facilitate the application of requirements so that they make sense and to pass on some of the hard-won best practices and lessons learned.

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20150000400.pdf

PMI Pulse 2016: US$122 million for every US$1 billion invested due to poor project performance

Organizations waste US$122 million for every US$1 billion invested due to poor project performance — a 12 percent increase over last year.

That’s the finding of the 2016 Pulse of the Profession^®, which reveals an imperative to strengthen the conversation around the benefits of project management.

Since 2006, our annual global survey of project, program and portfolio managers has charted the major trends in project management. This year’s findings reinforce the critical need for strong project management in producing better business outcomes. Yet compared to 2015, more projects are failing, resulting in significant monetary loss.

With shrinking project outcomes, shifting global trends, and an uncertain economy, organizations must shift their thinking and embrace project management as a strategic competency that can reduce risk, cut costs and improve success rates. This year’s Pulse report addresses how to tackle this ongoing challenge.

http://www.pmi.org/learning/pulse.aspx

The need for a consistent reference framework in PM

Now how do you inject structure without creating new bureaucracy; while capturing the knowledge before the generation of experienced engineers retires?

Time for a change?

——–

Full article: http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/large-project-management-in-oil-and-gas.aspx

“Today, large projects in the oil and gas industry face similarly daunting challenges as they become increasingly complex and technologically demanding. Schedules and budgets are tight, safety is crucial and every project faces a network of stakeholders concerned about its impact on the environment and communities. Even so, today’s project managers still rely on concepts that the builders of the Colosseum, as well as other large projects of antiquity, such as the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Wall of China, would recognize: work breakdown plans, design-to-cost and make-or-buy decisions.

Our experience working with projects in oil and gas suggests that while best practices and experienced talent are essential, they are not enough. Successful managers of large projects follow a coherent, consistent reference framework that guides their decisions and processes. These frameworks include:

• Formalized project phases and checkpoints

• Clear accountabilities within an integrated project team

• Checks and balances between central functions and project teams

• Continuous review to measure project value and monitor risk”

 

How to sabotage an organization

A very interesting article I was forwarded about how to sabotage a company by destroying the team morale. For those who were not convinced, your team IS your first asset!

However, they need to be supported by structuring processes and tools! The fine balance between too much and too little controls become then vital!

 

Organizations and Conferences

• Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.
• Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.
• When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.” Attempt to make the committee as large as possible — never less than five.
• Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
• Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.
• Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.
• Advocate “caution.” Be “reasonable” and urge your fellow-conferees to be “reasonable”and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.

Managers

• In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first. See that important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers.
• Insist on perfect work in relatively unimportant products; send back for refinishing those which have the least flaw.
• To lower morale and with it, production, be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions.
• Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.
• Multiply the procedures and clearances involved in issuing instructions, pay checks, and so on. See that three people have to approve everything where one would do.

Employees

• Work slowly.
• Contrive as many interruptions to your work as you can.
• Do your work poorly and blame it on bad tools, machinery, or equipment. Complain that these things are preventing you from doing your job right.
• Never pass on your skill and experience to a new or less skillful worker.

PMI scheduling Conference 2016

30 March 2016 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm ET | 6 PDUs | Online

More information: http://www.projectmanagement.com/events/315728/PMI-Scheduling-Conference-2016/

Registration Now Open — Only Available to PMI Members*

Manage large project schedules? Or, just love keeping your teams on track?

Don’t miss PMI’s premier scheduling event! Free for PMI members, this all-day virtual event is the only place you’ll learn the latest tips, tools and techniques in project scheduling.  It includes valuable case studies and lessons learned in project scheduling from real projects and programs — not available anywhere outside of PMI.

Keynote Address: The Past and Future of CPM Scheduling –  Dr. Dan Patterson, PMP

Understanding, Analyzing, and Presenting the Critical Path –  Jonathan Japka, PMP

Using Schedules to Make Projects Predictable – Rob Newbold

Case Study: Use of Risk Techniques and Graphical Planning Method (GPM) to Identify Probable Completion of a 1.B+ Project – Bruce Stephan, PMP

The Value of Failure – John Riopel, PMP

The Value and Approach to Operational Efficiency Evaluations – Chris Carson, PMP and Paul Collins