PDD 2024 COURSE CATALOG
Keynote #1: 8:30 - 9:30AM
The Art of Clear Thinking: A Fighter Pilot's Guide For When Things Don't Go As Planned
Speaker: Hasard Lee
Based on a career of planning and flying high-stakes missions as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Justin "Hasard" Lee shares the lessons he's learned for planning missions and overcoming adversity.
The training to become a
In The Art of Clear Thinking, Hasard distills what he’s learned during his career flying some of the Air Force’s most advanced aircraft while sharing gripping stories from the cockpit.
Session Objectives:
- How to make decisions under pressure
- How to react when things don't go as planned
- How to stay focused on what's important
Breakout Session #1: 9:45 - 10:45AM
BUSINESS ACUMEN
Tools and Tactics for Recovering Trouble Projects
Speaker: Shawn Belling
This session covers identification of troubled projects, environmental factors that lead to troubled projects, classification of troubled projects, assessment and troubleshooting of troubled projects through all phases of the project lifecycle, and planning and executing project recovery.
Session Objectives:
At the end of this session on Tools and Tactics for Recovering Troubled Projects, you will be able to:
- Identify troubled projects
- Identify root causes of troubled projects
- Assess various types of troubled or failing projects at different stages of development and evolution
- Develop and recommend options for recovery of troubled projects
- Develop and execute recovery of troubled projects
POWER SKILLS
Orchestrating Synergy in a Disconnected Team
Speaker: Barb Monson
You need to hit milestones and drive results, but you can’t because your team isn’t well connected. Or, can you? Come and learn some actionable techniques to achieve project milestones while navigating an increasingly disconnected and individualistic work culture.
Session Objectives:
- Learn to inspire team results in an individualistic culture
- Find middle ground between diverse generations
- Manage team performance (even if they aren’t your employees)
- Uplevel your communication with extroverts, introverts, and everyone in between
WAYS OF WORKING
Fr'Agile Innovation
Speaker: Nicki Vo
In today’s fast-paced world of innovations, team leaders often grapple with the challenge of fostering high-performing teams, while navigating constant change and rapid growth. Despite their best efforts, many team leaders find themselves inadvertently fostering an environment of uncertainty and chaos, hindering their ability to achieve personal and team objectives. This leads to a decline in trust, collaboration, and efficiency, ultimately feeling that Agile methodology is no longer effective.
In this session, we explore the crucial element of psychological safety, a key element to successful Agile Innovations. By cultivating an environment where team members feel safe to take risks, voice their opinions, and experiment without fear of judgment or reprisal, leaders can unlock the full potential of their teams and drive remarkable results.
Through interactive discussions, attendees will gain insights into overcoming barriers to team excellence and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
Session Objectives:
- Identify the primary obstacle preventing teams from achieving optimal team performance.
- Uncover the elements of psychological safety that builds high-performing teams and delivers team results.
- Learn how psychological safety dovetails into Agile to deliver effective, fast innovations.
Breakout Session #2: 11:00AM - 12:00PM
BUSINESS ACUMEN
Complaint Free Business
Speaker: Wendy Babcock
Complaints in the workplace have the ability to negatively impact workplace culture, profits, future focus, leadership cohesion, and employee mental wellbeing.
Wendy Babcock’s Complaint Free Workplace training has been proven to transform complaints into contributions and to turn complainers into collaborators.
Wendy teaches a powerful and simple framework that your audience will both remember and use.
Weaving inspiring stories and humor along with life-changing information, Wendy teaches how to identify the real reason behind every complaint AND what to say to spin that complaint into a positive contribution.
Session Objectives:
- What’s wrong with complaining? (Complaining’s destructive effects on health, happiness,
relationships, and career) - What is (and isn’t) a complaint?
- The 5 reasons people complain (as remembered by the acronym G.R.I.P.E.)
- How to get other people (and ourselves) to stop complaining
- Positive leadership in a negative world
- You’ll leave inspired, mindful of your own complaints, and motivated to approach complainers with new, simple and effective strategies.
POWER SKILLS
5 Essential Emotional Intelligence Strategies for Decision-Making
Speaker: Roger Wolkoff
This program dives into the world of emotional intelligence (EQ) and explores its impact on effective decision-making. You'll learn about five key EQ strategies that can be applied to your decision-making process, potentially leading to more informed, well-rounded choices. This program is ideal for anyone who wants to leverage the power of emotional intelligence to become a more effective decision-maker.
The program will cover:
- The concept of emotional intelligence and its components
- How emotions can influence decisions (both positively and negatively)
- Strategies to develop self-awareness: understanding your emotions and biases
- Techniques for managing emotions and regulating your responses
- The importance of empathy in considering the impact of decisions on others
Session Objectives:
By the end of the program, you'll gain valuable tools to:
- Make more thoughtful and balanced decisions
- Navigate challenging situations with a cool head
- Improve your overall emotional intelligence
WAYS OF WORKING
AI for the “Real” Project World
Speaker: Joe Perzel
“AI can solve everything” … “AI can do all of our work for us” …. “AI is the Silver bullet” …Well not really. Between exaggerations and hallucinations AI is building a rep for being over-hyped. So, what can AI really do to help the project professional?
This presentation will talk about the good, the bad and ugly of the propaganda surrounding the AI revolution.
This session is a balanced conversation around how using AI offers many advantages and can save time in the administrative areas of your job. But falls way short in the 2 most important aspects of successfully delivering a project – Leadership and Strategy.
Session Objectives:
- Where can AI help the project professional
- Where is AI of no help at all or a hindrance
- Prompting basics for the project world – the key to effective use of AI
- How to counter management’s excitement or concerns around AI and its over-the-top hype
Keynote #2: 1:00 - 1:45PM
AI Intuition 101
Speaker: Tuan Ho
"AI Intuition 101" is a comprehensive and engaging presentation designed to provide a foundational understanding of artificial intelligence's current status, the conceptual distinctions between
Narrow AI and General AI, the potential impacts AI has on society, and a forward-looking perspective of AI's role in shaping our future. As AI continues to grow at an unprecedented rate and entrench itself into various facets of human life—from the economy to daily tasks—there is a rising need for a clear understanding of its mechanisms and implications. This presentation will delve into the evolution of AI from simple trial and error methodologies to complex systems that mirror human thought processes. We will explore AI's trajectory, estimate its influence on employment, and consider the neurodivergence evolution. Finally, we'll envision a world where AI and human values are aligned, paving the way for a new era of societal advancement.
Session Objectives:
- Understand the rapid growth and current state of AI, including its economic impact and early-stage development, as well as its swift adoption marked by the fast user growth seen in technologies like ChatGPT.
- Differentiate between Narrow AI and General AI, comprehend the trajectory from basic machine learning applications to systems capable of complex adaptive operations, and recognize the inherent growth limitations of human intelligence in comparison to AI's exponential potential.
- Appreciate the broader implications of AI on the workforce and societal functions, examine the potential for AI to replace certain job roles, the impact on 3D environments, and the importance of harmonizing AI advancement with human values to ensure peace and prosperity.
Breakout Session #3: 2:00PM - 3:00PM
BUSINESS ACUMEN
Beyond the Project Plan: Embracing Leadership in Project Management
Speaker: Barb Monson
Project execution relies on a series of completed tasks, but there are nuances of leadership that can make or break how well deliverables are met. Even the strongest leaders struggle! Come and dig into ways you can develop some of the “invisible” leadership skills that make it easier to get results.
Session Objectives:
- Find your blended leadership style
- Increase your credibility through vision
- Learn when and why to manage upward
- Learn how to delegate for development AND deadlines
POWER SKILLS
The Formula for Leadership Success
Speaker: Nicki Vo
In the business world, the disease affecting team leaders everywhere is the inability to know the right path to nurturing and building high-performing teams. Unknowingly, this is slowly making it harder for them to reach personal and team goals, inspire their teams during growth and change, and resorting to ‘management by chaos’. In the end, this leads to losing trust, teamwork, efficiency, and erosion of the ‘winning spirit’.
To achieve team leadership excellence, they need to uncover the formula for team leadership success. When harnessed correctly, this formula will help them know how to effectively lead their teams, teams achieve spectacular results, and the winning spirit is cultivated and infectious to drive significant growth and change.
By the end of your time with Nicki, team leaders will learn the three components in the formula for team leadership success that gives them a step-by-step recipe for knowing how to lead, gain confidence in their leadership, and inspire their teams to achieve goals that defines their team excellence.
Session Objectives:
- Learn the #1 reason that is holding team leaders from fully reaching team excellence.
- Discover the 3 components of the formula for team leadership success that builds high-performing teams.
- Engage in an interactive demonstration of the 3 components that inspires team leaders to apply learnings that will smash their goals.
WAYS OF WORKING
Establishing a Community of Practice
Speaker: Jenn Lang
We will discuss the development of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Project Manager Community of Practice and the value members receive from being a part of the group. Since its establishment just over a year ago in April 2023, the group has grown to nearly 250 members and is a shining case study for those wanting to learn how to incorporate a Community of Practice into their own organizations.
Session Objectives:
- Learn what a Community of Practice (CoP) is
- Understand how people can benefit from creating/joining a CoP
- Evaluate the experience of a university-based CoP
Breakout Session #4: 3:15 - 4:15PM
BUSINESS ACUMEN
Complaint Free Business
Speaker: Wendy Babcock
Complaints in the workplace have the ability to negatively impact workplace culture, profits, future focus, leadership cohesion, and employee mental wellbeing.
Wendy Babcock’s Complaint Free Workplace training has been proven to transform complaints into contributions and to turn complainers into collaborators.
Wendy teaches a powerful and simple framework that your audience will both remember and use.
Weaving inspiring stories and humor along with life-changing information, Wendy teaches how to identify the real reason behind every complaint AND what to say to spin that complaint into a positive contribution.
Session Objectives:
- What’s wrong with complaining? (Complaining’s destructive effects on health, happiness,
relationships, and career) - What is (and isn’t) a complaint?
- The 5 reasons people complain (as remembered by the acronym G.R.I.P.E.)
- How to get other people (and ourselves) to stop complaining
- Positive leadership in a negative world
- You’ll leave inspired, mindful of your own complaints, and motivated to approach complainers with new, simple and effective strategies.
POWER SKILLS
Navigating Complexity: Strategies for Success in Long-Term, Novel Development Projects
Speaker: Rachel Yarger
This presentation explores the intricacies of effectively managing long-term, novel development projects. Characterized by inherent ambiguity, evolving requirements, and dynamic stakeholder landscapes, these projects demand tailored approaches. The discussion will cover strategies and frameworks aimed at handling ambiguity, fostering resilience, and leveraging strategic execution to drive project outcomes.
Attendees will gain insights into the following strategies and tools for effectively managing and executing complex projects:
- Strategic Execution - Prioritizing tasks, decisions, and risks to allocate resources effectively and guide teams towards progress by emphasizing what is essential for success and avoiding unnecessary details.
- Leading Through Ambiguity - Involves providing clear direction and fostering adaptability within teams to navigate changing requirements and uncertainties.
- Program Manager Resilience - Emphasizes developing flexible approaches and emotional intelligence to adapt to changing circumstances and lead teams confidently.
- Project Governance - Establishes clear roles, responsibilities, and communication channels to manage risk, optimize resources, and ensure alignment with organizational goals.
Session Objectives:
This session provides practical insights and proven strategies for navigating the complexities of long-term, novel development projects. Attendees will gain the knowledge and tools needed to handle ambiguity, foster resilience, and execute strategically for successful project outcomes. After the presentation, participants will have gained the following competencies:
- Techniques for confidently navigating ambiguity
- Utilization of best practices in task management within complex projects
- Understanding the role of project governance in fostering long-term success
- Strategies for maintaining resilience throughout challenging, long-term projects
WAYS OF WORKING
5 Essential Emotional Intelligence Strategies for Decision-Making
Speaker: Roger Wolkoff
This program dives into the world of emotional intelligence (EQ) and explores its impact on effective decision-making. You'll learn about five key EQ strategies that can be applied to your decision-making process, potentially leading to more informed, well-rounded choices. This program is ideal for anyone who wants to leverage the power of emotional intelligence to become a more effective decision-maker.
The program will cover:
- The concept of emotional intelligence and its components
- How emotions can influence decisions (both positively and negatively)
- Strategies to develop self-awareness: understanding your emotions and biases
- Techniques for managing emotions and regulating your responses
- The importance of empathy in considering the impact of decisions on others
Session Objectives:
By the end of the program, you'll gain valuable tools to:
- Make more thoughtful and balanced decisions
- Navigate challenging situations with a cool head
- Improve your overall emotional intelligence
