Scott Belsky on project management

In Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming Obstacles Between Vision & Reality published by Portfolio/Penguin (2010), Scott Belsky introduces what he calls the Action Method and urges his reader to use it to “question many of the traditional practices of project management. For example, “the most productive people run their own parallel processes to accomplish projects [i.e. strategic objectives] more flexibly. These homegrown systems share a common set of principles.

1. A relentless bias toward action pushes ideas forward. Always be results-driven. Always.

2. Stuff that is actionable must become personal. Each task must be assigned an owner as well as a deadline.

3. Taking and organizing extensive notes aren’t worth the effort. Focus on completion of specific, sequential Action Steps.

4. Use design-centric systems to stay organized. “The color, texture, size, and style of the materials used to capture Action Steps are important.

5. Organize in the context of projects, not location. Use a project/task-centric approach rather than a location-centric approach.

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