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ASTUTELY OBTUSE
Snark, insight, and strong language
Welcome to Astutely Obtuse, a site dedicated to discussing the obvious in a snarky way. The business world and project management aren't the optimistic utopia often expressed by colleges and instructors with certification bodies. Astutely Obtuse is our way of discussing what happens when things go to absolute shit.
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A Reader Responds: “How I Improved a Companies Processes, Sped Up Project Timelines, and Saved Them a Fortune, and Was Fired for It.”
If you had an opportunity to get sign off on the user experience before any work starts, why wouldn't you?
Jer
7 days ago10 min read
2 comments
Your Accreditation Body Sucks: How Professional Certifications Crush Your Soul
To suggest that you have a book with all the answers, but you must pore over it to truly understand it isn't a cert program, it's a religion
Josh
Apr 168 min read
0 comments
It's Good to Be Queen
an autonomous PMO is driven by delivering the project. A project team without that autonomy is driven by making someone else happy
Jer
Apr 98 min read
0 comments
They're Babies with a Second Grade Reading Level
If you met a baby who could read at a second-grade level, you would be pretty impressed, right?
Jer
Apr 211 min read
0 comments
Your Project Team Sucks: When Grotesque Inefficiency Isn’t a Strong Enough Descriptor
why are AAA games so damn expensive to make? Is it the voice actors; the marketing; corporate expenses?
Josh
Mar 2611 min read
2 comments
When PMing Turns into Babysitting
The client wanted me to communicate with everyone what had happened. What went down was a slow-motion train wreck in 4k.
Jer
Nov 27, 202413 min read
0 comments
Why Your Project Team Sucks: Your Organization Loves to Hurt those who Help
Finding the right template takes time. Why would you put in the effort if you’re just going to get hit with directors in full riot gear?
Jer
Nov 20, 20248 min read
0 comments
The Not So Quiet Genius of Herb Wasserman
Herb recognized that clients are “snot-sucking bastards with the IQ of lumpy fucking gravy.”
Josh
Jun 10, 20247 min read
0 comments
Why Your Project Team Sucks: Your Stand-Ups are Alive, with the Sound of Jargon
Prioritization by categorization probably isn’t going anywhere.
Jer
May 20, 20246 min read
2 comments
Case Studies | The Toxicity of the Shitty
Is that fucking toddler being enabled by the CEO? Are the people being promoted incapable of saying no?
Josh
Aug 21, 202312 min read
0 comments
Gaps, Bridges, Just-The-Tip, and New Kinks: Why Only Going Half-Way Will Fuck You
My first question was why an organization would just try to recreate the shitty manual process
Josh
Aug 14, 20237 min read
0 comments
Beyond Agile: Part 3 | Introducing the Theatre Model
A few years ago, I was introduced to a novel methodology called the Studio Model. It’s a true work of genius and is a fantastic place...
Astutely Obtuse Staff Writer
Apr 24, 20237 min read
0 comments
Beyond Agile: Part 2 | The PMO: Definition of a Diva
Now that we’ve discussed some of the key and support players in a PMO, it’s time to start to define what players you need when you are...
Astutely Obtuse Staff Writer
Apr 17, 202310 min read
0 comments
Beyond Agile: Part 1 | Slow Your Roles
The very first thing we need to discuss here is one regarding what roles are important to fill when forming a new project team. We are...
Astutely Obtuse Staff Writer
Apr 10, 202313 min read
0 comments
Beyond Agile: Part 0 | Before We Start
I would like to register a complaint with the Department of Standardization of Business Best Practices, Pomposity, and Cursed Fro-Yo...
Astutely Obtuse Staff Writer
Apr 3, 20233 min read
0 comments
Your Project Teams Sucks: Part 7 | Your Processes are Bad, and You Should Feel Bad
If a process is so loosely defined that I can make a valid argument that something isn’t my job, even if it is, you have a problem.
Jer
Mar 16, 20239 min read
0 comments
Your Project Teams Sucks: Part 6 | You Follow the Philosophy of an Aging Rock-Star
How does an octogenarian piece of shit fit in with your project team sucking?
Jer
Mar 13, 20236 min read
0 comments
Tales From the Fringe: He Didn't Just Say What I Think He Did, Did He Edition
We asked various project professionals to share their horror stories. We asked, “what is a time a client said something that left you...
Astutely Obtuse Readers
Mar 6, 20238 min read
0 comments
Your Project Team Sucks: Part 5 | The Perfect Hire: Listen All Y’all It’s Self-Sabotage
They don’t actually care about your experience, they just use it as shorthand for “doesn’t need instruction.”
Jer
Feb 19, 20238 min read
3 comments
Why Your Project Team Sucks: Part 4 The Whirlwind Romance with Tech-Debt
I told our PM that if we don’t do it the right way now, we’ll never get around to it. It’s just how we work, tech-debt is never revisited.
Jer
Feb 8, 20237 min read
1 comment
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