Continuing the prosperous theme of last month, new transformations are here—the leaves are metamorphosing to vibrant reds, oranges, purples, and yellows while the air is chilling to a fresh crisp: Fall has arrived. With the seasons transforming, so is PMI in only the best ways. Let’s embrace it and realize the possibilities . . . There are many enriching pursuits to come!
Furthermore, disruptive transformations are happening today in The Project Economy. What an amazing time it is and how fortunate we are to be a part of this ever-evolving industry!
What an eventful past month it has been; PDD, elections, 2020, LIM, transformations, new brand & Mentorship Program has kept our chapter engaged and in-tune with the theme of embracing new transformations.
Hats off to Ruth Birkholz, chair of 2019 PDD; our newly elected 2020 President-Elect; and the PDD Team for another successful event. Here are some of the comments I have heard already:
- “Everything was calm and extremely organized, thank you.”
- “Wow! No lines [at the registration desk], I appreciate that.”
- “Thank you for bringing the good food back.”
- “I loved all of the new speakers!”
- “Your volunteer shirts are very nice & easy to find a volunteer.”
Watch for PDD survey results coming soon!
The voting members have spoken, and I am honored to announce and congratulate our newly elected 2020 Board Members:
- Ruth Birkholz, President-Elect & COO
- Manish Kalra, Director of Finance
- Jacque Ince & Michelle Wilson, Directors at Large
Sara Swanson, 2020 President, is strategizing to better organize our Chapter events and tighten up our calendar for 2020. We have heeded your suggestions for events and are striving to implement them. In addition, Sara has already coordinated a November planning session for current leaders to strategize for 2020. If you have input, please reach out to Sara Swanson.
Recently, Chapter Leaders returned from Philly where the Project Management Institute began more than fifty years ago. We thank the members for sponsoring our Leadership In Management (LIM) trip and we look forward to sharing what we learned throughout the next twelve months.
Here’s what I learned from 2019 LIM:
- The project management mindset is shifting
- We are The Project Economy – Who we are and what we are has changed, we are so much more than Project Managers
- Organizations and economies around the world are in a race to solve big challenges and ensure their continued relevance – and the ways we are all working must change to accommodate these tectonic shifts (Sunil Prashara, PMI CEO)
- The way we work is changing
- Flexibility, agility & constant disruption is becoming essential in our industry
- We no longer have static job descriptions
- We are becoming the Global Association of the Future
- We are referred to as “the best thought leadership, mindset & experience"
- PMI manages & influences organizations
- We are the “Go-to for all things Project Management”
- PMI is for the Good of the People
- We need to support & mentor the NexGen
- The Chapter is launching a new Mentorship Program
- The NexGen wants to learn, volunteer, lead and seek coaching
Another transformation that has taken place is our PMI logo has changed for the fourth time in fifty years. Cindy Anderson, VP of Branding, and her team spent countless hours in market research for our new brand. After five iterations, they arrived at a logo that represents PMI’s direction and transformation:
As I mentioned previously, Fall is upon us once again and like the leaves changing colors to powerful oranges and purples, so is the PMI logo. The new logo colors express our distinctiveness as an organization while the icons symbolize collaboration and determination. Although collectively we share the PMI mission, we will continue to have our own chapter individuality. As a Chapter, we are working on our individual, lower-right quadrant logo, and plan to include the members on the decision. If you have any suggestions for our icon, unique to our Minnesota chapter, email PMI-MN Adminstrator. We would like to have all changes completed and implemented by end of March to accomplish this brand transformation.
The last transformation PMI MN is adopting is our new Mentorship Program that is set to launch this year. Director at Large, Alisha Walter, has been working tirelessly with her team to build a sustainable and valuable chapter program. Mentorship is her passion and I’m thrilled to actualize this long-needed program. It will be exciting to support and coach our NexGen of project managers. If you’re interested in being a mentor or mentee, please reach out to Alisha. She would love to hear from you.
In conjunction with the Mentorship Program, we are pleased to announce our first PMI MN Mentorship Community Event for 2019. We have invited a pilot group for this event to learn more about what our membership is most interested in gaining from these initiatives. We plan to announce our next group of events available for signup shortly. Stay tuned for more information about future offerings.
All in all, our ambitions and future endeavors are changing just as PMI founders Jim Snyder; Eric Jenett, PMP; J. Gordon Davis, PhD; E.A. “Ned” Engman; and Susan Gallagher realized fifty years ago. Who should we be? More importantly, who could we be & where do we need to be? We are in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution; resulting in a constant disruption of change. Companies are smaller, more flexible and quicker to change. However, large companies that are unable to adapt; where their efforts take months to make a simple change, are threatened by this change. Therefore, it’s critical to embrace adaptability and new transformations.
Finally, I would like to share a comment from PMI’s CEO, Sunil Prashara. He attended an international PMI event with several chapters and although they came from different backgrounds and cultures, when the music played they all danced together. It was at that time he realized his Ah-ha! ONE SONG – ONE DANCE – ONE TEAM…. Let’s have FUN together. Indeed!
