Four ways a Project Differs from a Product

Products are different than projects!  Don't confuse the two.

This challenge became clear to me when I ran a Scrum team and trained a Product Owner.  Having a Product Owner with an intense focus on the Product (with project as a means to an end) helped me to understand that Products have a longer lifespan that Projects.

Consider my Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) project from 2012.  My client has operated their ITSM product for years.  My project was to modify the ITSM software to support a new business model over the course of 8 months.  At project's end, the newly modified ITSM Product remained in operation.  Projects tend to be shorter duration and higher intensity than products.

Four ways a Project differs from a Product

1. A project is shorter duration than a product.
2. A project includes plans for turning the product over to someone for long term operations.
3. A project has a defined end based on meeting predefined objectives
4. A project gathers a team to start and disbands the team to finish.

Crowd-Funded Project of the Week - NeoLucida

I find crowd-funded projects fascinating!  In this first installment of a weekly series I highlight an interesting current crown-funded project.

NeoLucida is an optics product and the project to deliver it.  An artist looks into the prism and sees both his subject, and the paper and pencil or brush.  This is an ancient concept, but only available with antiques or very expensive custom builds - until now . . .


I'm funding this one at the $40 level and hope to receive a NeoLucida in exchange.  My creative daughter should get a kick out of this.



Note how heavily this is funded with just a few days of active campaign!  Click through to see that Pablo and Golan have planned for this over-funding - very impressive project planning and risk assessment (yes, in a kickstarter - too much funding is a risk).

Let me know if you like the idea of "Crowd-Funded Project of the Week"

Quote of the Week

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. 

— General George Patton

Six ways to Aviod Big Endian Drama

To much project time and and energy is spent on trivial issues that don't  improve the project result.  I call this "big endian drama" because it reminds me of Gulliver's Travels.  In "Gulliver's Travels" the lilliputians eat boiled eggs with the big end up (big endian) and the King orders the people to eat their boiled eggs with the little end up.  This was the principle issue in the land during Gulliver's stay.

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On one project, I watched two professionals argue for days over the spelling of "database" (No!  That should be "data base").  In the morning one would do a global search for "data base" and change to "database" while in the evening the other would do the reverse.  The climactic ending occurred when one opened the dictionary (paper back then) and demonstrated that "database" was not a word.  Not ready to give up - the other opened the same dictionary to the credits (who knew dictionaries have credits) and noted that the "database administrator" spelled it as one word.  This back and forth, plus argument time, plus Project Manager time burned several expensive hours with no appreciable benefit.

I use a simple "Who Cares" criteria when I find myself getting pulled into this trap.Remembering that it takes two for a contest - what I try to do if I find myself engaging in a win/lose argument is ask "Who Cares?"  If I don't care, and my key project players (Sponsor, steering committee, tech lead, etc.) don't care, and if the decision doesn't materially weaken the project or product - then I agree and walk away.

Like so much Project Management knowledge and practice, this is common sense yet difficult to apply consistently.  Here are my simple rules to avoid big endian drama:

Six Ways to Avoid Big Endian Drama on your Projects

1. Ask "Who Cares" to avoid participating directly in big endian drama.
2. Teach "Who Cares" to help your team avoid big endian drama
3. Intervene early when you observe big endian drama in your project
4. Model collaborative decision making when possible
5. Reward collaborative decision making when observed
6. Reward those who apply "who cares" criteria and walk away

Technical Education Bonus - from the same Johnathan Swift - Guliver's Travels story.  Big Endian indicates storing the most significant digits first when storing a number, little endian indicates storing the least significant digit first.  Go impress you project team!

Bucket Filling - Four Ways to Improve your Projects

One key to success in projects and life is "Bucket Filling."  The phrase comes from the metaphor described in "The Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket" by Donald Clifton.

The Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket 

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Each one of us has an invisible bucket.  It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us.  When our bucket is full, we feel great.  When it is empty, we feel awful.

Each of us has an invisible dipper.  When we use that dipper to fill other people's buckets ~ by saying or doing things to increase their positive emotions ~ we also fill our own bucket.  But when we use that dipper to dip from others' buckets ~ by doing or saying things that decrease their positive emotions ~ we diminish ourselves.

Like the cup that runneth over, a full bucket gives us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes is stronger and more optimistic. But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That's why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us.

So we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another's buckets, or we can dip from them.  It's an important choice ~ one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness.


Using this simple metaphor - here are four ways to improve your products

1. Model bucket-filling behavior
2. Staff projects with natural bucket-fillers
3. Reward bucket-filling behavior on your project (Meta Filling?)
4. Call out behavior that unnecessarily dips from a team member's bucket

Followup: Project Librii is Funded!

I posted about a great kickstarter project to build wired libraries in Africa.  The project, called "Librii" is funded and will happen!

Multiple donors pledged $10,000 or more to make this great project happen.

I'm still waiting to get the call as PM for this one . . .

Original Post:  http://www.aboutprojectmanagement.com/2013/03/i-want-to-run-this-project.html

Kickstarter Page:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/248645035/librii-new-model-library-in-africa?ref=category

Six Ways to Shorten the Planning Phase!

This post explores the effect of losing a PM (Temporarily) and considers mitigation strategies . . .

Last week I went down with something like the Flu.  I was in bed with a fever, switching from chills to sweats and back for the full weekend and two business days.  I returned to the office on Wednesday, but was at no more than 50%.  I think that today, Monday, is my first full capacity day in over a week.

As you may imagine, my projects suffered a bit.  One project is in Design, that took the smaller hit.  The other project is in early planning stage, and this project basically lost a week due to my illness.

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In "The Lazy Project Manager," Peter Taylor explains that projects are "fat" at the start and end when considering the Project Manager's workload.

This means that it is most important to have contingency or mitigation plans in place for the initial planning phase of the project (when the PM is most heavily engaged).

The question becomes - how to limit the effect of a PM's temporary illness - during the critical initial planning phase of a project.

My Prescription is simple:  Do Everything Possible to Shorten the Planning Phase

Six Ways to Shorten the Planning Phase

1. Use a workshop approach to Planning: 
• Get everyone in a room for a morning to hammer out the plan.
• Get Approval (Conditional Approval if needed) before the workshop ends.
2. Assign Extra Project Managers for the Planning Phase:
• Add additional PMs to exercise (or develop) specific skills
• Assign a PM to each Planning Deliverable (Charter, Schedule, Budget, Etc.)
• Note the added benefit, multiple PMs now understand the objective and scope of your project.
3. Strip Planning Deliverables to the bare minimum
4. Eliminate any "Stop and Wait" gates and replace with post audits
5. Track "Days in Planning" as a project metric and celebrate successes (e.g., One Day in Planning List)
6. Calculate ROI for this approach and publish - the will quickly become the organizational standard.

Shaving weeks (yes weeks!) off of the initial project planning phase helps to both deliver valid projects and kill unjustified projects faster.  Get out of the planning phase - Just Do It!

Quote of the Week

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. 

—Max DePree

Simplicity in Design . . .

As a PM, I really appreciate simplicity in design.  Here is a great example.

From French design studio Faltazi, L’Uritonnoir - this is a urinal for outdoor festivals - straw bales and sheet metal provides a nice solution (at least for males) and turns the straw and urine into usable compost in about a year.

Simple.

Nice!.  

Here is a link to the article at dvice.com:

http://www.dvice.com/2013-4-27/best-new-way-pee

Quote of the Week

You manage things; you lead people. 

—Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

Blogging PMXPO - Jeffery Ma

After a frustrating experience last year, this year I am able to access ProjectManager.com's PMXPO!

ProjectManager.com (formerly Gantthead.com) offers this virtual trade show for PMs every year.  It is a

 great source of Professional Development Units with no cost at all.  Note that you may register for

PMXPO anytime and the recordings are up until late July.

First up - Jeffery Ma.  His claim to fame is that he was the guy profiled on the movie "21" - yes the Blackjack - Card Counting movie.

Some gems from Jeffery's talk:

• Always make the right choice (can't always have the right outcome).
• Make business decision independently of recent results
• Reduce risk by making lots of decisions (more is better!)
• Make Difficult Decisions (Don't hold on 20 - Split)
• Make Unemotional Decidions without Bias
• Focus on the process, not the results and you will drive positive results over time
• A decision to maintain status quo is still a decision
• Don't confuse outcome with decision (Good decisions can cause poor outcomes)

About 2,400 attendees for Jeffery's Keynote.  More later today . . .

The Power of Words

My cousin sent me this wonderful video and I would like to share it with you . . .

Cheers,

Quote of the Week

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. 

—Lao Tzu

Quote of the Week

“All things are created twice; first mentally; then physically.  The key to creativity is to begin with the end in mind, with a vision and a blue print of the desired result.” 

~ Stephen Covey

Hat tip to SourcesOfInsight.com

I want to run this project!

Librii is a project to bring wired libraries to Africa.  It is a project of Architecture for Humanity.  The 2013 goal is one functioning library in Ghana.  The video is from a kickstarter.  I'm in for a few dollars, and I encourage readers to fund this project!


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/248645035/librii-new-model-library-in-africa?ref=category

Yankees Ain't So Different . . .

Keith Dryden just ended a long-term engagement with me in Michigan.  We encouraged our colleagues and team members to join us for dinner and drinks on Tuesdays after work at Tracy's Tavern on Francis Street.  Keith has been travelling from Columbus GA to work with us, and we've been damn lucky to have him!  Last week was Keith's last week on this engagement, and for his final Tuesday at Tracy's he wrote and performed a song.

Yankees Ain't so Different - Enjoy!

Good luck with the new gig Keith!  We'll miss you up here in the Union :)

YouTube Link:   http://youtu.be/BnpZWV-zivo

Update: Duolingo

We wrote about DuoLingo (DuoLingo.com) here months ago.

Tech Crunch offers up their research showing that DuoLingo Rocks! (but we already knew that . . .

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/17/study-learning-spanish-with-duolingo-can-be-more-effective-than-college-classes-or-rosetta-stone/

Awesome Camper Project

If you loved the camping scene in Harry Potter (at the quidich cup) then check out this truck - camper.  AWESOME !!

Hat tip to BoingBoing.com.

PS  I want one!

Quote of the Week

That which does not kill us makes us stronger. 

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Age in Days

For an interesting different perspective - use this page to calculate your age in days:

http://www.korn19.ch/coding/days.php

Here are my results:

Balancing PPM for Business and IT

CA and ProjectManagement.com hosted a summit yesterday titled "Balancing PPM for Business and IT""

The sessions are available as recordings and most qualify for PDUs.

Here is the link:  http://www.ca.com/us/lpg/SummitPPM.aspx

Here are the session details . . . 

Summit Webcasts:

Beyond Tactical Shores: Ride the New Portfolio Management Wave 1 PMI PDU
Presented by guest speaker Margo Visitacion, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc. & Mary Cauwels, CA Technologies

7am PT/10am ET/3pm GMT - Register Here

Portfolio management is something everyone says they need, but few use it to its fullest potential; too often it’s tactical and too narrowly focused. Planning is reduced to annual budget cycles rather than strategic investment, emphasizing time over value, bogging down the demand pipeline, making it impossible to pivot when high value work is needed. This elemental disconnect frustrates business executives, IT and product organizations alike because they cannot effectively trace costs to value. Product and project teams are continually faced with bottlenecks caused by a combination of constrained resources and unforeseen dependencies. Companies are trying to combat this, but they’re not holistically; they are interested in business process and capability management, but not always linking it to planning and execution processes. They are trying to adopt Agile but in isolated projects. This tension is creating a culture shift that is forcing companies to fundamentally change the way they plan and execute. The next generation of portfolio management must be holistic, a combination of approaches and supporting technology that marries long term vision while optimizing work in ways that supports flexibility without incurring unnecessary risk. This presentation discusses the cultural shifts, current technology trends, and future opportunities for companies to use portfolio management to its greatest potential in order to plan strategically while managing the flow of work in a way that promotes flexibility and predictability in order to achieve greater value.

All attendees will be eligible for 1 PMI PDU.

Featuring:

PPM In 4 Weeks- Yes it is Possible!
Presented by Crystal Miceli & Nadeem Malik, CA Technologies

6am PT/9am ET/2pm GMT - Register Here

8am PT/11am ET/4pm GMT - Register Here

Join Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) expert, Nadeem Malik from CA Technologies, as he discusses the fastest, most cost effective method to receive immediate PPM benefits without the traditional PPM price tag. Learn why some organizations can benefit by adopting a SaaS-based PPM solution and how they can leverage centralized, real-time project and resource management, as well as cost and time tracking with CA Clarity® PPM On Demand CODE 50.

CODE 50 answers the needs of organizations across the globe by providing essential PPM features with future scalability into the robust CA Clarity PPM platform. Attend and learn how to get started today!

10 Tips to Help You Achieve Value from your PPM Program 1 PMI PDU
Presented by Crystal Miceli, CA Technologies and Laureen Heinz, CA Technologies

9am PT/12pm ET/5pm GMT - Register Here

Trying to balance genuine, short term needs and long term aspirations? Have you reconciled the full capabilities of your PPM technology with what your organization really values and can realistically adopt? Can you quickly deploy one solution that satisfies both business and IT needs and delivers increasing value over time? We’ll share lessons learned from 100’s of engagements, highlight common mistakes and provide you with best practices to help you get started.

All attendees will be eligible for 1 PMI PDU.

Developing the Right New Products for your Customers—and your Business 1PMI PDU
Presented by Jim Brown, President, Tech-Clarity Inc., Pamela Soin, Senior Manager, Kalypso, and David Werner, CA Technologies

10am PT/1pm ET/6pm GMT - Register Here

Too often, new product development is driven by guesswork, assumptions or the loudest customer or senior staff member. As a result, many new products that make it to market don’t deliver the sales, customer value or business benefits they should. Join David Werner from CA Technologies and Kalypso to learn how your organization can leverage established best practices to make sound product investment decisions. Learn how to use industry-proven evaluation criteria to identify the product investments with the best potential value for your customers and your business. Hear techniques you can use to build products that meet market needs, achieve financial objectives, and advance your business strategies.

All attendees will be eligible for 1 PMI PDU.

5 Steps to Agile Success – What Every Organization Should Know 1 PMI PDU
Presented by Andy Jordan, Research Analyst, Projectmanagement.com and David Werner, CA Technologies

11am PT/2pm ET/7pm GMT - Register Here

Join Andy Jordan, Research Analyst, Projectmanagement.com as he discusses five key recommendations that organizations should apply to their Agile processes based on an extensive recent survey of Agile practitioners. By attending this session, you will learn about trends in the evolution of Agile and how you can deliver the full potential of Agile for your organization.

Other topics include:

• Review of the results from the Projectmanagement.com industry research report “The Agile Evolution”
• Discussion on why the ability to demonstrate alignment between Agile execution and the achievement of business benefits is essential to success
• Recommendations for project professionals as they implement or enhance Agile within their own organizations
• Discussion on the future of Agile

All attendees will receive a copy of Andy Jordan’s latest industry research report “The Agile Evolution”.

All attendees will be eligible for 1 PMI PDU.

5 steps to agile success - webinar link

CA Technologies and ProjectManagement.com offered up an embed code for the just-finished webinar "5 Steps to Agile Success."  I watched the live version and I think the content is very good.  This is also one of my first experiences with "BrightTalk.com" and it seemed very smooth.

Enjoy the Webcast (and claim your PDUs)

PMXPO 2013 Sign Up Now!

Link:  http://www.projectmanagement.com/PMXPO2013/

I've blogged about PMXPO for the last few years.  From Gantthead (now ProjectManagement.com) this is an online virtual exposition that offers very good content in sessions that qualify for PDUs.

Highly recommended!

Quote of the Week

Perfectionists are responsible for more failed projects than incompetents.

~ gypc_dave in a comment at TheCriticalPath.info

Work Life Balance - Nigel Marsh' TED Talk

This is a good one on Work Life Balance . . .

Webinar - 5 Step to Agile Success - 1 PDU

Andy Jorden from ProjectManager.com hosts this webinar on March 7th.  Free PDU and could be awesome content!

Quote of the Week

Think of today as a prototype, what would you change?

Tim Brown, author of "Change by Design" and CEO of IEDO in a linked-in article called "Start Designing your Life"

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20121121191930-10842349-start-designing-your-life?trk=mp-details-rc

Kickstarter Project - a new concept in 3d printing

This is an AWESOME project on Kickstarter.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1351910088/3doodler-the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen?ref=NewsFeb2113&utm_campaign=Feb21&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

Massively overfunded - but the project is still open if you want to participate. . . .

Quote of the Week

Hope is not a strategy,

Luck is not a factor,

Fear is not an option

~James Cameron

Quoted in "The 4-Hour Chef" by Timothy Ferriss

Look Who is Featured in PMI's PM Network!

I just got around to reading the December 2012 issue of PM Network (PMI's Glossy Monthly Mag) and found this on page 25.

Yes, I'm the one with the silly smile.

Top 5%!

Woot!

Linkedin tells me I made the top 5% of profiles last year.

Quote of the Week

"I believe managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it."

   - Tommy Lasorda, American baseball legend (b. 1927)

Hat tip to Fred at Queensburo Shirt Company

Big Guys Vs. Little Guys in the Marketplace

CBS refused to run this Soda Stream ad during the Superbowl . . .

Soda Stream ran a replacement ad, but the precedent sucks!  If I were the Soda Stream PM, I would be howling!  How about some anti-trust litigation?

Hat tip to, and more details at:  Isreal Matzav

Quote of the Week

"You miss 100% of the shots you never take."

- Wayne Gretzky

Found in my new monthly planner from US Diary

Freeway Marriage Proposal

The video shows the results of a project.  A bike club halted traffic on an LA freeway to allow a member to propose on the center of the freeway.  Illegal for sure, but imaging the planning that went into this - including the photographers on the overpass.

Hat tip to BoingBoing.com

No worries!

I love the commercial that Volkswagen is launching at the Superbowl on Sunday.  Everyone knows that I think a positive attitude is key to success as a project manager.  This is what I'm talkin' about!

Hat tip to the powerline blog where they note that there are already complaints of racism :(

Quote of the Week

"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."

- Colin Powell

Found in my new monthly planner from US Diary

Quote of the Week

"You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note."

- Doug Floyd

 
Found in my new monthly planner from US Diary

Quote of the Week

" 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."

- Abraham Lincoln

Found in my new monthly planner from US Diary

The Best of Kickstarter 2012

I funded my first Kickstarter project and signed up for Kickstarter's mail list.  The first mail was a link to an awesome review of Kickstarter's successes from last year.  Check out the slides by following this link:  http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012

Is there a kickstarter funded project in your future?  It is well worth a look!  Check out Kickstarter at kickstarter.com.

PS  The project I funded is the "Fishbone," a paracord fastening system.  It is made by a metal worker who posts metalwork projects on Instructables (instructables.com) as "Mr. Balang."  His work is always very cool.

Modularity

As an IT Project Manager, we like to decompose the solution in to understandable modules to help us conceptualize the solution and to help us build quickly.  Here is an AWESOME example of modular engineering from WWII:

This illustrates what we need to achieve.  That is, the ability to grab a sub component quickly - to fix or replace it - and to reintegrate the solution very quickly.

Enjoy the video.

World's thinnest watch

Here is a kickstarter.com project with promise.  CST-01 The Worlds Thinnest Watch is half funded with 44 days to go.  Check out the video:

I love the minimalist design.  They cut a channel into stainless steel to hold the electronics keeping the width just .5 MM.  It takes about $100 of funding to get a watch.

Well done Central Standard Time!

Do What You Love - Part 2

Last time I highlighted Adam Baker's Ted talk "do what you love."   Today I'm thinking about how I can apply to that thinking to our projects.

 Recall that I summarized Adams talk with these four points:

1.  Commit to start collecting experiences instead of crap.
2.  Sell your crap.
3.  Pay off your dept.
4.  Do what you love.

Let's take this point by point. The first point,  "commit to start collecting experiences instead of crap," seems to half apply. I've seen too many IT projects collect tons of crap. Rooms full of binders, servers full of files, new work areas with all the desks furniture and stuff. Not to mention refrigerators, ping-pong tables, and other assorted toys.

The part about "collecting experiences" however, doesn't fit my project experience. I want to replace this with  "adding value."   this means that, from a project perspective, the first point becomes "commit to adding value instead of collecting crap."

The second point, "sell your crap,"  is directly on point. My recommendation is to get rid of everything that is not specifically related to adding value for your client. This means that the project owns very  little "stuff,"  while the project team members may bring what they wish with the clear understanding that they own the "stuff."   Yes, I prefer to have my project team members own their own computers, phones, and tablets.  No issue with finding a way to help them as needed.  Let me add that, as a project manager, I will ask project team members to remove any of their  "stuff" that's getting in the way of adding value.

Third point, "pay off your debt," doesn't work for me. As project managers we all know to keep an eye on our finances. Adam's point about paying off debt really speaks to a problem that individuals and families face, not  not one that is commonly faced by project managers and teams.

The fourth point, "do what you love," is exactly on point. As a project manager, you should love doing stuff. If you don't love doing this stuff, it's time to find a new calling. In addition to looking project work, find projects that are doing important things that matter to you. That is, find cool projects, projects that you can love.

For your project team members, find people who fit the specific project. That is, find people who will be doing what they love when they work on your project.

So here is a revised list for Projects:

1. Commit to adding value instead of collecting crap.
2. Sell your project's crap.
3. Limit any team member's crap if it adds no value.
4. Do what you love.
5. Engage team members who are doing what they love.

Quote of the Week

Procrastination is like a credit card.  It's a lot of fun until you get the bill."

- Christopher Parker

Found in my new monthly planner from US Diary

Do What You Love

I spent an hour yesterday (New Years Day) watching Adam Baker's TED Talk from TEDx Asheville.  Highly recommended!  Here is the video (click through to watch on You Tube) with my thoughts below:

Direct link to YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XRPbFIN4lk

This talk is titled "Sell Your Crap, Pay Your Debt, Do What You Love."

The Lede is a question - "What Does Freedom Mean to You?"  He tells the story of deep reflection at the birth of his daughter and a resulting decision to decrappify (my word, not his).  In 12 months he went from $18,000 in debt and an apartment full of "stuff" to zero debt and two backpacks worth of stuff.

"If there was one thing that was lacking in our life, it was clarity."   Amen!  Personal Life, Professional Life, Project Life, who can't understand that statement.

After the interesting story - another great insight - "We were the ones writing the script."

Then a description of the process.  "It starts right here, with your crap."  Very funny comments about the whole storage unit industry, with a great photo of a garage that looks like mine :(.

A great point that he hammers over and over is "What happens when you need to adapt?"   I think what happens when I lose my job; what happens when I get sick; what happens when Jennifer gets sick?  All damn good questions.

Per his experience - "As we sold layers of our crap, we realized, and we felt the weight being lifted off of us."

I WANT THAT!

Here is Adams prescription and my plan:

1.  Commit to start collecting experiences instead of crap.
2.  Sell you crap.
3.  Pay off your dept.
4.  Do what you love.

I'll let you know how it goes . . .

Alan

PS  Thanks to Jennifer and the family, we have a good start on number three, but even debt-free I think the other three prescriptions are on the money.

2012: The End is Here!

From the wizards at Jib Jab . . .

Burrito Bomber

Found on Boing Boing . . .

This one is too much fun!  The Burrito Bomber.  A technology project and new business concept.

Link to Boing Boing article:  http://boingboing.net/2012/12/10/burrito-bomber-open-source-ha.html

Note the YouTube account - DarwinAreospace :)

Kinekt Gear Rign

What a great project!

The Kinekt Gear Ring . . .

Gigwalk

Click through
to Amazon :)

Daniel Suarez' book "Daemon" is a great story (recommended reading) and describes a business model that has individuals working to fulfill requests that they receive anytime and anyplace.  In Daniel's novel, the instructions come from an artificial intelligence - it is a great read!

Gigwalk implements this vision (without all the scary AI stuff from the novel). Using smart phones.  As a project manager, Gigwalkers can be part of the solution.  Check out the video . . .

Here is the Gigwalk site:  http://gigwalk.com/

Duo Lingo

Duo Lingo

Tom Simonite, writing in MIT Business Review, calls Duo Lingo "the cleverest business model in online education.

I've been using it sporadically for Spanish, and it simply works.  I want to find a solid 45 minutes a day to see if I can really learn the language.

Interesting article - here is the link to Tim's MIT Business Review article:

http://6.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/kickstarter-600.jpg