Extension: Project Management

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Why This Extension?

Every leader needs to understand how to plan, execute, and deliver projects. This module covers both personal productivity (GTD) and team-level project management (Agile/Scrum), giving you practical skills for any management role.

Prerequisites: Phase 1B (Habits & Effectiveness)

Week 1-2: Personal Productivity with GTD

Core Concepts

Mind Like Water: The ideal state of stress-free productivity where your mind is clear because everything is captured and organized.

Open Loops: Anything pulling at your attention that hasn’t been captured, clarified, and organized. Open loops drain mental energy.

The Two-Minute Rule: If an action takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. The time to organize and track it exceeds the time to just do it.

This Week’s Reading

📖 Getting Things Done by David Allen (Full book)

• The 5 stages of workflow mastery
• The weekly review ritual
• Natural planning model
• Project vs. next action thinking

The GTD Workflow

The Clarify Questions

Is it actionable?
├── NO → Trash / Reference / Someday-Maybe
└── YES → What's the next action?
    ├── Will it take < 2 minutes? → Do it now
    ├── Am I the right person? → Delegate it
    └── Does it need a specific time? → Calendar it or add to Next Actions

Application Exercise

Set up your GTD system:

1. Capture Tool: Where will you collect everything? (App, notebook, inbox)
2. Projects List: What multi-step outcomes are you committed to?
3. Next Actions Lists: Organized by context (@computer, @phone, @errands)
4. Weekly Review: Block 1 hour on your calendar

Week 3-4: Agile & Scrum

Core Concepts

Agile Mindset: Embracing change, delivering value incrementally, and learning through iteration. Not just a process - a way of thinking.

Scrum Framework: A lightweight framework for complex work. Roles, events, and artifacts designed for transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

Sprints: Fixed-length iterations (usually 2 weeks) where teams deliver potentially shippable increments.

This Week’s Reading

📖 Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland (Full book)

• Why waterfall fails
• The Scrum framework
• Estimating and velocity
• Building high-performing teams

Scrum Framework Overview

Scrum Events

The Scrum Values

Week 5: Project Management in Practice

Core Concepts

The Phoenix Project: A novel that teaches DevOps and lean principles through story. Shows how IT and business must work together.

The Three Ways: Flow (accelerate delivery), Feedback (amplify learning), Continual Learning (experimentation and mastery).

Bottleneck Theory: Any improvement not at the bottleneck is an illusion. Identify and manage your constraints.

This Week’s Reading

📖 The Phoenix Project by Kim, Behr, Spafford (Novel - 10h)

• The Four Types of Work
• Theory of Constraints in IT
• DevOps culture and practices

The Four Types of Work

Key Insight: Unplanned work kills productivity. Reduce it by improving upstream quality.

Week 6: Integration & Application

Core Concepts

Hybrid Approaches: Combining GTD for personal work, Scrum for team projects, and traditional PM for predictable work.

Choosing the Right Method: Waterfall for known-knowns, Agile for known-unknowns, Lean for continuous flow.

PM as Leadership: Project management isn’t just process - it’s leading people through uncertainty.

This Week’s Reading

📖 Making Things Happen by Scott Berkun (Selected chapters)

• The truth about schedules
• How to make decisions
• What to do when things go wrong

When to Use What

Capstone: Project Management Toolkit

Build your personal PM toolkit:

1. Personal System: GTD setup and weekly review habit
2. Team Methods: When would you use Scrum vs. Kanban?
3. Meeting Rhythms: What regular meetings drive alignment?
4. Communication Plan: How will you keep stakeholders informed?

Key Frameworks

Resources

Books

• ⭐⭐⭐ Getting Things Done (Essential - 8h)
• ⭐⭐⭐ Scrum (Essential - 6h)
• ⭐⭐ The Phoenix Project (Recommended - 10h)
• ⭐⭐ Making Things Happen (Recommended - 9h)

Certifications (Optional)

• PMP - Project Management Professional
• PSM I - Professional Scrum Master
• PRINCE2 - Popular in Europe/UK

Free Resources

• Scrum Guide - scrumguides.org
• Agile Manifesto - agilemanifesto.org
• David Allen’s GTD resources

TED Talks

• David Allen: “Getting Things Done”
• Jeff Sutherland: “The Scrum Revolution”

AI Learning Integration

GTD Setup Prompt

Help me set up a GTD system.

Ask me about:
1. My current task management (what's working, what's not)
2. The contexts I work in (@home, @office, @phone, etc.)
3. My current open loops and projects
4. When I could do my weekly review

Then help me design a practical GTD system that fits my life.

Project Planning Prompt

I need to plan a project using Agile principles.

Project: [describe your project]

Help me:
1. Define the product vision and goals
2. Create an initial backlog of user stories
3. Prioritize using value and effort
4. Plan the first sprint
5. Identify risks and dependencies

Ask clarifying questions as needed.

Phase Assessment

Complete the following to demonstrate project management competency:

1. Quiz: Project Management Concepts (30%)
2. Case Study: Project Rescue Scenario (70%)
   • Diagnose a failing project
   • Apply appropriate frameworks (GTD, Scrum, etc.)
   • Create a recovery plan

I'm studying Project Management (Phase EXT-PROJECT-MGMT of my MBA program).

Act as a Socratic tutor - don't give me direct answers. Instead, ask me questions to help me discover insights about these concepts: Project Management, Agile Methodologies.

Start by asking what I already know about one of these topics, then guide me deeper with follow-up questions. Challenge my assumptions when appropriate.

After each of my responses, either:
1. Ask a deeper follow-up question
2. Point out a gap in my reasoning
3. Connect my answer to another concept

Let's begin.

Quiz me on Project Management. Ask 10 questions covering: Project Management, Agile Methodologies.

Rules:
- Mix question types (multiple choice, short answer, scenario-based)
- Start easier, get progressively harder
- After each answer, tell me if I'm right or wrong and explain why
- Keep a running score
- At the end, summarize what I know well vs. need to review

Ask the first question now.

Help me apply the main frameworks from this phase to a real situation in my life or work.

First, ask me to describe a recent challenge or decision I faced.

Then guide me through analyzing it using these frameworks:
- Which framework applies best?
- What would each framework reveal about the situation?
- What would I do differently knowing this?

Don't lecture - ask questions that help me discover the insights myself.

I want to practice case analysis for Project Management.

Give me a short business scenario (2-3 paragraphs) involving Project Management, Agile Methodologies.

Then ask me:
1. What's the core problem?
2. Which frameworks from Project Management apply?
3. What biases might cloud judgment here?
4. What would you recommend?

After each answer, push back on my reasoning before moving to the next question.

I'm studying Project Management and need to understand these concepts deeply: Project Management, Agile Methodologies.

For each concept, ask me to explain it in simple terms (as if to a child).

If my explanation is unclear or wrong, don't correct me directly. Instead:
1. Ask clarifying questions
2. Give me a scenario that tests my understanding
3. Help me refine my explanation

The Feynman technique says if you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.