During the summer of 2007 I asked myself two questions (well, some more, but who cares about my favorite pizza):

1) why is the most popular way of doing Project Management plan driven?
2) why did agile methods pop up during the mid-nineties and not earlier or later?

Red Square - Moscow

The answers resulted in two papers published last year at PMWorldToday and spurred the birth of "Project Shrink" (yeah, this blog).

You have to read them to see where this blog is coming from

How Male Machismo Shaped Project Management
Why Agile Popped Up on the Radar When it Did

On "Project Shrink" a recurring theme is "globalization". The following postings are among my favorites within this topic:

The Big Pond: Global Village

"Until now we didn't touch on the current trends that are taking place. The world is shrinking. But what does that mean? The world is getting flat is a statement we hear a lot. It reflects the effect of globalization on economic needs."

Tiananmen Square - Bejing
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If you are looking for a great starter to discuss cultural diversity within teams or diversity in general, this fabulous short story from Pixar "For The Birds" is a good help.

The animation is 3 minutes long and you can find it here on YouTube.

Other postings that get you started:

Deviant Behavior In Project Management
Do You Know Why Every Manager Wears A Suit?
Project Sociology - Part One (video)
Project Sociology - Part Two (video)
Change Perspective: Working In Bangalore