Category: Portfolio, Program and Project Management
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Be Like Water: Leadership Lessons for Your First 90 Days in a New Role
Many new managers and executives feel pressure to prove themselves by introducing new processes, reorganizing teams, or making immediate changes. But what if the best first move is something different?
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Beyond Scope, Schedule, and Cost: 4 Vital Signs of Project Health
The traditional project management Big Three of Scope, Schedule, and Cost are foundational. They are not going anywhere, and they should not. However, those metrics primarily measure the process. If you only look at data on a digital dashboard, you are missing the human element that determines whether a project…
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The First 30 Days of Any Project
In this episode, Kevin Pannell shares practical lessons from the front lines of project leadership. We dive into why early alignment matters and how clear intent, open communication, and shared expectations in the first month create a foundation for long-term success.
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Musashi’s Principles for Portfolio Leadership in 2026
As portfolio, program, and project leaders head into 2026, clarity matters more than complexity. Judgment matters more than volume. Discipline matters more than speed. That’s why I revisited Miyamoto Musashi’s Dokkōdō, his 21 principles for life, and translated them through a modern portfolio leadership lens. Not as philosophy for its…
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Evergreen Product Thinking, Client First Delivery, and the R.I.C.E. + D Method
In early 2023, I had the opportunity to sit down with Jillian Funes for a wide-ranging conversation about product thinking, client delivery, and how to make decisions when everything feels important. Fast forward to today, Jillian is now a Technical Product Manager, Principal Consultant at Hitachi Solutions America, and what…
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Five Lessons from Another Year Leading an IT PMO
As the year wraps up, I’ve been reflecting on another year leading an IT PMO. Not in terms of tools adopted or templates refined, but in terms of what actually moved work forward and helped teams succeed. A few lessons kept showing up in the work, the conversations, and the…
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Closing 2025 and Setting Conditions for 2026
As 2025 comes to a close, I wanted to pause and look at the data behind People, Process, Progress. Not as a scoreboard, and not as a celebration, but as feedback. As of the end of 2025, the audio podcast has generated approximately 78,000 total listens across 324 episodes, with…
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How to Make “Done” Mean Done
A clear definition of done can make or break a project. In this episode, How to Make “Done” Mean Done, I share lessons from projects where success was obvious, as well as moments where even well written requirements failed to reflect what the customer really needed or what the leader…
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How to Fix a Failing Project
Learn how to recover a struggling project by escalating early, building trust, and simplifying your plan so your team stays aligned and engaged.
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Build the Sidewalk Where People Already Walk
We’ve all seen it. That dirt path cuts across a field before the sidewalk ever gets poured. It’s human nature to show us what works. In project management, and in this episode, Build the Sidewalk Where People Already Walk, I share how the same principle applies. We shouldn’t build based…