germanflores’s posterous

How to Win Friends and Influence People is a self-help book written by Dale Carnegie first published in 1936 and republished in 1981. I will be reviewing the 1981 edition which is very, very, dated but contains core principals not so much about influence but I would say on how to be a good person. Since I'm not much of a paper book reader this review is for the audio book version.

The book in it's major sections covers how to handle people, things you can do to make people like you, techniques to influence others, and leadership. At first I disliked the dated anecdotes used to drive the main points but after a while they're more of a novelty due to their historical reference than an annoyance. The book structure is: anecdote followed by principle. This format is effective in helping remember the content.

Self-help books proliferate bookstore shelf's and their shier volume can be intimidating and insulting (I'm looking at you Dummy Books). I love self-help books that provide understanding on why people act the way they do. Many of the principles described in How to Win Friends and Influence People are common sense and aren't ground breaking but ground-breaking research is not usually what is lacking when trying to influence people, the problem or deficiency is applying the techniques properly to get the results you desire.

This self-help book contains very good principles about influencing people but as you know all can read but few can apply what they learn hence not everybody can influence. The read will be easy, applying the principles (executing) will the challenge.

Resources:
How to Win Friends and Influence People Principle
Dale Carnegie

I'm writing this the review of the Agile Project Management training from ASPE because when I was searching for reviews for this training I didn't find any, so in hopes that this might help somebody here is my review.

Instructor
Bill Gaiennie wasthe instructor provided by ASPE, he is knowledgeable, knows Agile/SCRUM practices and has working experience implementing Agile/SCRUM. The risk with training sessions is that they're taught using perfect world scenarios but Bill managed to relate the practices to real world challenges you might encounter with Agile/SCRUM in your organization.

Learned a new word among many things from Bill: Propinquity: proximity: the property of being close together.

Training Content
The contentcovered comes from the ASPE Agile Project Management book and covers topics from high level to a low level i.e. Agile Project Management to Estimating. With a two day class the depth of the material can only go so far but it provided more than a general overview.

Impact Professionally
After attending Agile Project Management training am I a better project manager? Yes. Sometimes you gain knowledge by reading, sometimes by attending training, and sometimes by doing. I learned key Agile/SCRUM concepts, but being able to implement the concepts learned is what really matters moving forward (executing).

Impact On Job performance
This training will impact my job performance in a positive way. I plan to start using iterations, daily SCRUM calls, deliver working software and deliver often. Note that implementing SCRUM in an environment that does not support Agile/SCRUM practices will be tough and management support is key.

My Outline
In addition to the training book from ASPE I have a list of bullet points that I want to remember:

"The world is run by those who show-up". If meetings are going over the scheduled time you need to be more efficient in the way you conduct them. Always start on time and end on time.

Build set of expectations to change behavior. Be up-front about the project to build the proper expectations.

Requirements: Who, What, and Why. Good requirements give you a why and reduce misunderstandings.

Too much detail upfront gives the impression that more discussion is not necessary. When doing stories with your clients remember that detail comes later in the tasks.

Goldplating: Substituting goals of the customer with other.

"Trust but verify". Love this quote.

Ask developer what is done? Don't ask for work in progress. Work in progress doesn't exist.

Lessons learned should be conducted at the end of each sprint/iteration/timebox not at the end of the project.

I found these on the web and I saved them to a draft email as way to save them and being able to search for them in my email. I can't find the original link.

You can run these from Run in Windows

Accessibility Controls
access.cpl

Add Hardware Wizard
hdwwiz.cpl

Add/Remove Programs
appwiz.cpl

Administrative Tools
control admintools

Automatic Updates
wuaucpl.cpl

Bluetooth Transfer Wizard
fsquirt

Calculator
calc

Certificate Manager
certmgr.msc

Character Map
charmap

Check Disk Utility
chkdsk

Clipboard Viewer
clipbrd

Command Prompt
cmd

Component Services
dcomcnfg

Computer Management
compmgmt.msc

Date and Time Properties
timedate.cpl

DDE Shares
ddeshare

Device Manager
devmgmt.msc

Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)*
directx.cpl

Direct X Troubleshooter
dxdiag

Disk Cleanup Utility
cleanmgr

Disk Defragment
dfrg.msc

Disk Management
diskmgmt.msc

Disk Partition Manager
diskpart

Display Properties
control desktop

Display Properties
desk.cpl

Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected)
control color

Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility
drwtsn32

Driver Verifier Utility
verifier

Event Viewer
eventvwr.msc

File Signature Verification Tool
sigverif

Findfast
findfast.cpl

Folders Properties
control folders

Fonts
control fonts

Fonts Folder
fonts

Free Cell Card Game
freecell

Game Controllers
joy.cpl

Group Policy Editor (XP Prof)
gpedit.msc

Hearts Card Game
mshearts

Iexpress Wizard
iexpress

Indexing Service
ciadv.msc

Internet Properties
inetcpl.cpl


IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration)
ipconfig /all

IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents)
ipconfig /displaydns

IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents)
ipconfig /flushdns

IP Configuration (Release All Connections)
ipconfig /release

IP Configuration (Renew All Connections)
ipconfig /renew

IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS)
ipconfig /registerdns

IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID)
ipconfig /showclassid

IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID)
ipconfig /setclassid


ava Control Panel (If Installed)
jpicpl32.cpl

Java Control Panel (If Installed)
javaws

Keyboard Properties
control keyboard

Local Security Settings
secpol.msc

Local Users and Groups
lusrmgr.msc

Logs You Out Of Windows
logoff

Microsoft Chat
winchat

Minesweeper Game
winmine

Mouse Properties
control mouse

Mouse Properties
main.cpl

Network Connections
control netconnections

Network Connections
ncpa.cpl

Network Setup Wizard
netsetup.cpl

Notepad
notepad

Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed)
nvtuicpl.cpl

Object Packager
packager

ODBC Data Source Administrator
odbccp32.cpl

On Screen Keyboard
osk

Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed)
ac3filter.cpl

Password Properties
password.cpl

Performance Monitor
perfmon.msc

Performance Monitor
perfmon

Phone and Modem Options
telephon.cpl

Power Configuration
powercfg.cpl

Printers and Faxes
control printers

Printers Folder
printers

Private Character Editor
eudcedit

Quicktime (If Installed)
QuickTime.cpl

Regional Settings
intl.cpl

Registry Editor
regedit

Registry Editor
regedit32

Remote Desktop
mstsc

Removable Storage
ntmsmgr.msc

Removable Storage Operator Requests
ntmsoprq.msc

Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof)
rsop.msc

Scanners and Cameras
sticpl.cpl

Scheduled Tasks
control schedtasks

Security Center
wscui.cpl

Services
services.msc

Shared Folders
fsmgmt.msc

Shuts Down Windows
shutdown

Sounds and Audio
mmsys.cpl

Spider Solitare Card Game
spider

SQL Client Configuration
cliconfg

System Configuration Editor
sysedit

System Configuration Utility
msconfig

System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately)
sfc /scannow

System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot)
sfc /scanonce

System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot)
sfc /scanboot

System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting)
sfc /revert

System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache)
sfc /purgecache

System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x)
sfc /cachesize=x

System Properties
sysdm.cpl

Task Manager
taskmgr

Telnet Client
telnet

User Account Management
nusrmgr.cpl

Utility Manager
utilman

Windows Firewall
firewall.cpl

Windows Magnifier
magnify

Windows Management Infrastructure
wmimgmt.msc

Windows System Security Tool
syskey

Windows Update Launches
wupdmgr

Windows XP Tour Wizard
tourstart

Wordpad
write