Breaking News:

NZ National Conference: Iain has accepted an invitation to present a keynote address on 23rd Feb at the PMI NZ national conference to be held in the Takina Conference Centre in central Wellington. Titled 'Becoming a Value Amplifier' the presentation will centre on options for dealing with todays organisational challenges and disruptors. He has also accepted a further invitation to be a panelist discussing portfolio, program of work, and project governance. More here.

Boosting Business Results masterclass: Come join Iain for a 1-day immersion in a hunting and capturing business value workshop. Scheduled for 21st February as part of the forthcoming PMI NZ National Conference this masterclass session will focus on lifting organisational performance, reducing waste, and simplifying operational matters to achieve and sustain better value.

For a short period only, the organisers have arranged a 10% discount to take advantage of. The promocode to apply at the check out is: PMspeaker10  More here.

2024 PMI Training: After the success of the training workshops delivered in Las Vegas late last year, Iain has been retained by PMI Training to deliver his business management centered workshops on organisational change management and on delivering business value for the 2024 year. Locations are Scottsdale, AZ in February, San Diago, CA in August, and Las Vegas, NV in early December. Check out this link.

Selected Older Headlines:

PMI Global Summit Book Sellout: Over 3,500 professionals gathered in Atlanta, USA late October 2023 to learn, share, and advance the P3M profession. The PMI Bookstore sold out its stock of my 'The Business of Portfolio Management' book. This was on day 1! It's clear that professionals are seeking guidance on boosting organisational value through the use of value-driven portfolio management. Whilst the summit is now over, you can still get copies from PMI, IPG, Amazon, and selected book stores. Grab one and be inspired! With the festive period almost upon us, grab a copy for a business colleague or customer as a thank-you.

Library Donation: Iain has recently donated his entire business collection, some 250 titles, on leadership, strategy, business, and project management related books to the Graduated School of Engineering at the University of Auckland. This donation will allow all students to access information and knowledge as they pursue their graduate studies at no extra cost to them.

Panel Session: Iain spoke at a recent 'Leaders in Project Delivery' webinar last August. Organised by PMINZ and attended by many from overseas, the session was a panel format that debated the theme 'Leading with Purpose or Process'. Passionate about the power of purpose statements within organisations, Iain offered deep insights towards organisational levels as well as at program of work and project levels. More at www.pmi.org.nz

On-Demand Webinars: Almost 53,000 people around the world have gained insight from a series of webinars that is centered on Iain's '3P's to Success' business philosophy. That philosophy is detailed in his top-selling business book 'The Business of Portfolio Management - Boosting Organizational Value' which continues to sell well globally in all formats. The five webinars, are hosted on PMI's Projectmanagement.com platform. Search on 'Iain Fraser' and enjoy!

Global Megatrends: PMI has issued its latest research on emerging global megatrends. It identifies and details six areas of focus that all leaders should consider and discuss in terms of organisational impact. Despite being sponsored by PMI the content equally applies to board members, executive teams, and operational teams. Many organisational leaders are likley to identify areas that require change within their respective business plans, markets, sectors, as well as geographies. The report is much more than an operational signpost for the project management community. Read the report here.

Speaking: PMI's hugely respected and global Leadership Institute (LI) invited Iain to speak at its recent Alumni Annual conference. The virtual event was attended by leaders from across the globe. A packed agenda saw Iain in a 'lightening talk on leadership' session with the great Spencer Horn that set the tone for the the day that followed. The LI program is seen by many to have a mini-MBA focus that trains those with recognised potential to be strategic leaders of the future.  More here.

Whitepaper Award: Iain is delighted to mention that his 5-part series on portfolio management and business effectiveness has been awarded by the PM World Journal (PMWJ). The highly-respected PMWJ publication has a large global audience and is considered by many to be the global voice of portfolio, program of work and project management. The award is for the series titled 'Boosting Organisational Value Through Smarter Portfolio Management' which was influenced by the top-selling 'The Business of Portfolio Management' book authored by Iain. 

Climate Change and Carbon Emissions...

It was interesting to learn that 71% of the worlds carbon emissions come from households with transportation, energy, and food consumption producing the largest amount of emissions. This information from Benji Hall of Cogo during a recent presentation on collecting carbon related data.

Still with the above title, it was noted in a recent BBC News article that a bus company in Scotland, that operates a fleet of electric buses, uses deisel powered generators to charge the fleet. This is due to the apparent high price of electricity. Talk about unintended consequences!

Become a Value Amplifier...

Business value and its management are increasingly terms being used in the business environment. They should be! Whilst some organisations are chasing the latest thing or fad, courageous leaders are seeing the need to combat the VUCA-induced world in a proactive manner by focusing on business value. With that though comes the need to make sure that the culture of the organisation is sound, flourishing, and integrated.

To Iain business value and its management have gone beyond the traditional 'hard-wired' definitions associated with monetary or ratio aspects. Today value must be considered as "the perceived benefit, tangible or intangible, to stakeholders". This should include value to customers and value to staff & brand.  

Blending the above together with a philosophy of doing business that is based on the '3P's to Success' (purpose, people, performance) will see most organisations flourish and get ahead. 

Random Thoughts...

• The disruptors of the VUCA world are forcing us all to change faster than ever before. This type of change requires courageous leadership using the combination of head, heart, and gut decision-making. Be strong!
• Short-term nimbleness will lead to longer-term organisational resiliance.
• Future leadership needs to focus more on purpose and culture and on populating those through the organisation.
• Organisational governance needs more 'active directorship' so that directors are nimble and positioned for change by being overlapped with the ELT.
• There are those that see the good in all, and then there are those that moan, complain, and find fault in just about everything. Unfortunately there seems to be more of the later than the former. Time for change!
• Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part!

Really Random Stuff...

Value, business value, value management, value-driven, portfolio, portfolio management, value-driven portfolio management, governance, P3M governance, strategy, strategic plan, strategic goals, strategic acumen, business plan, business objectives, VUCA, disruptors, lean, nimble, flexible, EPMO, PMO, programs, projects, training, speaking, public speaking, mentoring. They should be!