Welcome to the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (HU) Project Management blog page, Getting Stuff Done (GSD). I am Scott Rainey and I have the privilege of leading the Master of Science in Project Management program at HU. Our team is excited to invite you to join us as we continue our learning journey in the Project Management (PM) discipline. Our collective goal is to share thought provoking insights relevant to the discipline and inspire readers to find ways to apply those insights in innovative ways in their own professional journey. It is our sincere hope that our musings will ultimately provide the fodder for the kind of ongoing professional dialogue and exchange that will inevitably lead to growth and continuous improvement of the PM discipline. We ambitiously envision the time when this space becomes a forum where PM professionals, both the novice and the experienced, seek and share the lessons they have learned the hard way, the burning questions that keep them awake nights and those big “What if…” ideas about how to better lead and manage projects.
Getting Stuff Done (GSD). Before we go any further, I should explain the admittedly and intentionally non-scholastic title of this blog. I am often asked by friends and acquaintances about what academic subjects I teach… or…” What is this project management thing of which you speak?” Over time, my answer has evolved into some variation of “I teach people the principles of how to most efficiently get stuff done.” Frankly, that approach just seemed simpler than whipping out my PMBOK pocket guide and stepping my inquisitor through the PM Knowledge Areas and Process Groups as their eyes glazed over.
Similarly, in the classroom my new students are often in need of convincing that the PM program is relevant to their specific industry or field of technical expertise. What typically follows is a Socratic dialogue that begins with me asking, “What is your professional role/job?” and often ends with the student recognizing that when they go to work each day they are engaged in projects even if they are unaware that the stuff they are doing are tasks in a project plan. And somewhere in their organization there is a lonely (and likely stressed out) project manager planning, monitoring, and controlling the little stuff so that it all fits together to get bigger stuff (projects) done. Project Management is the art and science of efficiently Getting Stuff Done (GSD).
Finally, the title of this blog is intended to set the tone of this forum as a place to find and share PM knowledge and ideas that can be applied to the readers’ professional experiences immediately. We hope you will find information that is useful and practical…even as you find it innovative and thought provoking. And we look forward to the professional dialogue and growth that it spurs.
