One thing that strikes me when talking to other project managers is that they fall into two categories: the product passionate ones, focused on the end result and why they do what they do, and the project passionate ones, focused on the way they do it and why they do what they do. Generally speaking all project managers are passionate about both and I reckon that’s a pretty good way to be as a PM, but it became even more apparent to me earlier this week in Uppsala at PMI Sweden’s biggest project congress “Passion For Projects”.
The amount of drive and energy I saw and felt around me from project managers to PMOs to those focused on leadership and corporate social responsibility was astounding. And of course there are the PMI volunteers, without whom we wouldn’t have had a congress at all. A few years ago I participated at Passion For Projects in Helsingborg as an exhibitor but this year I had different reasons for being there.
My colleague Petruska Rogmark was one of the guest speakers there, talking about the journey she and Refugees Welcome to Malmö made last autumn during the refugee crisis that swept Europe and eventually arrived at Sweden’s gate to Europe: Malmö. Listening to her gave me a sense of pride for two reasons: firstly because I know the immense effort she put into her work trying to get order out of chaos and create a structure for people to work around with the few resources at her disposal. She really doesn’t make a drama out of a crisis and deserved to stand there on stage recounting her experiences so that others could learn from her. Secondly, the fact that project as a work method and tool can be put to so much good use in so many different ways and the fact that, with the exception of the invention of the wheel, the invention of project management as a drive for change is one of the best inventions known to man. Ever! An invention much more worthy than being ignored by schools and academic establishments. I’ve yet to hear of a school that has project management on its curriculum and would welcome anyone’s input and news about schools that do already try to get their kids passionate about projects.
The planning and organization of Passion For Projects 2017 in Malmö is already underway and as part of the project team for next year’s congress I got a lot of ideas and inspiration from talking to speakers and participants in Uppsala. The flight home to Skåne only took 40 mins and for once I wished that I was on a transcontinental flight because I sat on a row for myself with a thousand thoughts and reflections to sort and save and needed about 10hrs to do it.
However, there’s one thing that sticks in my mind the most from the congress: Jennifer Tharp’s most interesting closing keynote speech on sharing knowledge in an organization. I will never look at a chicken in the same way again. And if you don’t know why, then you really should have been there! So don’t miss Passion For Projects in Malmö 13-14 March 2017 because you never know who you might meet or what you might learn!
