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Icansaythisclassremindedmeofabootcampclasswhenyouarecompletely
outofshape.Youbeginthebootcampclassnotinthebestfitnesslevel.Afteryourvery
firstclassyouarecompletelysore.Youarewalkingaroundstiffanddreadingthenext
class.Thisclasshadthesameaffectonme.Gettingtheinitialgradeformyfirstpaper
wasaharshrealty.IwalkedaroundangryforabitandkeptthinkingabouthowhardI
hadworkedonthepaper.Eventually,Ibegantolearnhowtotrulyorganizemythoughts
andreadtherubric.Ilearnedhowtoreadtherubricstohelpformmypapers.Itfinally
clickedthattherubricwasthescopeoftheproject.DeReyck(2010)discusseshowover
50%ofITfailureswerebecauseofapoordefinitionofthescopeofaproject.Ibelieve
thatthisnumberwasmuchhigherforthewholeclassforthefirstpaperweallturnedin.
Thispaperwilldiscussmyjourneyinthisclassbylookingathowtheawarenessofmy
biasesincreased,howcrucialplanningwasforthisclass,andfinallyhowlearningto
utilizefeedbackallowedmetogrowasapersonandPM.
ThefirstpaperthatIturnedinwasdiscouraging.Ihadcompletelyleftoutthe
sectionofanalyzingmyownbiases.IthoughtIhadpointedthemoutandanalyzedthem,
butafterreceivingthefeedbackandrereadingmypaperIrealizedthatItrulyhadnot.I
hadassumedthatIreallydidnthaveanyandnowrealizethatwealldo.Myinitialpaper
focusedonmybiasesaroundexperience.Halverson&Rock(2015)statethis,aswhatI
seeistherightwayofdoingthings.IhavebeeninmyroleforquitesometimeandI
bringsomegreatexperiencesandknowledge.However,forcedmetoevaluatemy
THE JOURNEY
biases,alot.ItshowedmethatIreallydidhavebiasesthatwerealiveandactive.
Acknowledgingofmybiaseskeepsallowsmetobeabletolookatthewholepicture.
ThebiasIhadtokeepincheckforthisclasswastheavailabilitybias.Halverson
&Rock(2015)statethisasmakingdecisionsbasedoninformationthatcomestoyou
firstinsteadofinformationthatismoreobjective.Iunderstandthisaslookingaroundfor
thefirstthingtohelpyouproveyourpoint.Ihaveseenthisutilizedbymeinmy
marriage.MywifeandIhaveanoldcraftsmanhousebuiltin1910.Wearefixingitup
slowly.Mywifehasavisionforwhatshewantsthehousetolooklike.Whenweare
shoppingaroundforaccentsforourhouseshewillwanttoshopthewholestore.Hegets
frustratedbecauseIgoinandjusttryandfindsomethingformthefirstrowofthestore
thatweareat.Shehaslearnedtogivemeatimeframeforthelengththatwearegoingto
spendinastore.Irealizedthatmybiascamefrombeingannoyedabouthowlongwe
weregoingtospendinaspecificstoreandalsohowmanyotherstoresthroughoutthe
day.Communicatingtimelinesallowedustocometoanunderstandingregardingthe
lengthoftimeforhertolookaroundandformetonotbeannoyedandmostimportantly
beopentoreallylookaroundmyself.
Duringthisclass,theavailabilitybiaswouldcreepupasIwaswritingmypapers.
Iwouldfocusonthefewthingsthatwereatmydisposalandnotreallydigdeep.Iwould
notlookattheadditionalresourcesthatwereavailabletome.Thiswasshowninregards
withthescorethatIwasgivenintherubricofdepthofanalysis.Thisclassgavemethe
growthmindsettobeginlookingbeyondthefewresourcesthatIhadatmydisposalthat
werelistedforthisclass.DuringthestudyoftheBigDigwewatchedagreat
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documentary.Iwasabletogainfurtherinsightbygoingintotheadditionalresourcesand
lookingattheinterviewwithFredSalvucci.Thisgavememoreinsightthenthevideos
allowedmetosee.Theincreaseofmygrowthmindsetpushedmetolookformore
information.Dewck(2006)stateshowthosewithagrowthmindsetfindsetbacks
motivating(pg.99).TheinitialgradeonmyfirstfewpapersmademereevaluatehowI
spentmytimepreparingforthepapersforthisclass.Thefeedbackfromtheverylow
gradeparalyzedmeatfirstbutthenmotivatedmetolookatthepuzzleandfigureout
howtosolveit.
Thisclassrequiresalotoftimeandefforttoacquireagoodgrade.Ihadtolearn
howtoplanaccordinglytobeabletomanagetheworkloadforthisclassandOGL350
DiversityandOrganizations.Ialsoneededtobalancemyjobasafulltimestoremanager
forStarbucks.Lastbutnotleast,Ialsohadtomanagemyresponsibilitiesasafatherand
husband.Learninghowtoplanallthemovingpartsrequiredmetoalsofocusonanother
biasthatIhadtokeeponcheck.Halverson&Rock(2015)statetheplanningbiasis
underestimatinghowlongitwilltaketodosomething.Iunderstandthisasnotgiving
myselfenoughtimefortheamountofworkthatIhavetodo.Icameacrossthisbiasmy
firstsemesteratASU.Ihadsignedupfortwoclassesandalabformyfirstsessionlast
fall.Ihadplanned/projectedthatthelabwouldnottaketomuchtimeformeto
complete.Buhler,Griffin,andRoss(1994)statesthatpeopleusuallyfallshortaround
theirpredictionsonhowlongthingstakebutweregreatatmeetingthedeadlines.This
wasthecaseasIfoundmyselfdrawingsrocksforaGeologylabuntilmidnightsoIcould
turnitinontime.Ihadpredicteditwouldtakemeanhourbutinrealityithadtakenme
THE JOURNEY
closeto6hourstocompletetheassignment.Unfortunately,Ididnotlearnfastenough
duringthatsemester.Ifellvictimtotheplanningbiasthewholesessionandsurvivedthe
courseworkloadwithnosleep.Imetthedeadlinesbutwashorribleatpredictinghow
longitwouldtakeme.
FortunatelyIhadmoreexperienceonbalancingandplanningalltheworkloadfor
ASUandmylife.TheplanningIusedforthisclasswasfocusedaroundtryingtocreate
someconsistencyaroundmyworkschedule.Intheretailsectoryoulearntoliveina
worldwhereyouhavenoconsistencyaroundwhatandwhenyouwork.However,I
foundthatthemostcrucialaspectthatbegantoleadtomysuccessinprevioussemesters
wastogivemyselfWednesdaysandSundaysoff.Mydaysoffgavemeaccesstodo
schoolworkwithfreshenergy.Herrolen(2005)discusseshowaddingbuffertimesinto
thesoftwaresystemsallowforthepossibilitytoaccountforthetimeneededifsomething
goeswrong.ThatiswhatthesetdaysofWednesdaysandSundaysallowedmetodo.
DuringtheotherdaysIhadtosplitmyfocusonbeingatworkandalsoreadingsformy
othercourse.Whicheverdeadlinewasduenextrequiredmyimmediateattention.The
bulkofmydayoffwasutilizedintotheassignmentthatwasduesoonest.Utilizing
growthmindsetandlearning/beingmotivatedfromthefeedbackallowedmetolearnhow
tobestutilizemytime.Learningtousetherubricallowedmetofocusonwhatthegoal
wasfortheassignment.Itcreatedthescopeforthepaper.Wiefling(2007)statesthatthe
firsttemptationthatanyprojectmanagermustovercomeisthetendencytostartworking
ontheprojectbeforethegoalsareclear(pg.46).Myinitialpaper,mybaseline
assessment,Ijustbeganwritinganddidntreadtherubric.Ididntknowwhatmygoal
THE JOURNEY
wasforthepaper.Thefeedbackallowedmetolearntousetherubricasthescopeofthe
project.Aftergrading,Ilearnedtousetherubricasfeedbacktoincreasetheaccuracyof
mypredictionofhowlongitwasgoingtotakemetowriteapaperforthisclasswhile
meetingthedeadline.Theinvestmentofthetime,energy,andmostimportantlygrowing
mygrowthmindsetiswhatIwasbeingrewardedfor.
Forcingmyselftofacemyfailuresandallowittomotivatemetodobetternext
timeisthebiggestaccomplishmentthatthisclasshasgivenme.Learningfrommy
mistakesallowedmetochangetheprocessthatIwasusingpreviously.Thecasestudy
ofcreatingahelpdeskforASUseemsliketheperfectexample.Theknowledgeand
experiencegainedfromlearningfromthemistakesfromcreatingahelpdeskforthe
businessschoolgavethePMtheabilitytobetterpredict/plantoreachthedeadline.The
PMcreatedasystemthatwouldintegrateintotwoenterprisesystemsthatwerenotyet
created.Thegrowthmindsetoflearningfromfailureallowsapersontobetter
predict/planfornexttime.However,theTitanicwasacasestudythatshowswhathaving
alackofagrowthmindsetcanleadto.Ismaychosenottolearnfromsomeofthe
failuresoftheOlympicandproceededtofallvictimtohislossaversionbias.Ifhehad
learnedfromhisfailureshewouldhavemadesomechangestothedesignoftheTitanic
aftertheOlympicwasintheaccident.IfIhadfollowedinIsmaysfootstepsIwould
havenotgrownandjustkeptpushingforward.Mygradewouldhavesunklikethe
Titanic.UtilizingasimilarmindsetfromthePMinchargeofthehelpdeskatASU
allowedmetolearnfrommymistakesandreachtheendofthisclasswithhopefullya
greatgrade.
THE JOURNEY
Aprojectcanbeanything.Itdoesneedtohaveagoal,aplan,andaplantodeal
withanythingthatwillmostlikelygowrong.Thisclasshastaughtmethatthereare
projectsallaroundus.Wearegivenprojectsbyourbossesatworkandbyourpartners
athome.Workisprojectizedbecausetherearesomanythingstodoanditisfasterto
divideitup.Certainaspectsoftheprojectcanbecompletedatthesametime.Ifthere
arefivestepstoaprojectitispossibletocompletesteps1through3atthesametime.
Thesefirstthreestepsallowtherequireditemsneededtocompletesteps4and5.Ifwe
didntprojectizetheworktheneveryoneonateamwouldhelpcompletestep1.Once
finishedthewholeteamwouldmovetostep2.Wewouldcontinuethestepsuntilwe
wouldcompletetheproject.Thiswouldbecostintensiveandalsotakeforever.By
utilizingprojectsthePMcanfindthecriticalpathtocompletetheproject.Utilizingmy
keylearningsfromthisclasswillhelpmeineveryaspectinmylife.Thegrowthmindset
oflearningfrommymistakes,planning,andacknowledgingmybiaseswillallowmeto
keepgrowingasapersonandhopefullyasaleader.
THE JOURNEY
References:
Buhler,Griffin,&Ross.(1994).Exploringthe"PlanningFallacy":WhyPeople
UnderestimateTheirTaskCompletionTimes.JournalofPersonalityandSocial
Psychology.
Dweck,C.S.(2008).Mindset:Thenewpsychologyofsuccess.NewYork,NY:
BallantineBooks.
DeReyck.(2010).EffectiveProjectPlanning:MakingtheMostofProjectPlanning
Tools.ProductionandInventoryManagementJournal.
Halvorson,&Rock.(2015).BeyondBias.StrategyBusiness.
Herroelen.(2005).ProjectSchedulingTheoryandPractice.PRODUCTIONAND
OPERATIONSMANAGEMENT.
Wiefling,K.(2007).Scrappyprojectmanagement:The12predictableandavoidable
pitfallsthateveryprojectfaces.SiliconValley,CA:ScrappyAbout