Project management vs Program management vs Portfolio management

Reference: PMBOK, pmstudycircle.com

Project: A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. Projects cease once their objective is achieved.

Project management: Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques that helps projects achieve their objectives.

Program: A program is a group of related or similar projects managed in a coordinated way to get the benefits and control not available from managing them individually -- program has multiple projects that are similar, closely related.

Program Management: program management is the centralized, coordinated management of a program (inter-related, interdependent projects) to achieve its strategic objectives. Program management strives to:

1. Optimize resource utilization
2. Reduce friction or constraints between projects in program

Portfolio: is a group of related or non-related projects, programs. Portfolio may consist of multiple programs, or "multiple projects with no program at all".

Portfolio Management: is the centralized management of a portfolio to identify, prioritize, and authorize the projects or programs. (Based on organizational strategy, business objectives). Portfolio Management does not oversee any individual project or program.

Enterprise Business Agility - Brad Bennett (EPIC Agile)

Business Agility

Business Agility refers to the ability of businesses to rapidly respond and adapt to market changes (both internally and externally) -- respond flexibly and rapidly to changing customer demands, the ability to react to emerging competitors, shifts in market conditions, and rapid adaption to technology trends. All of this without compromising on quality, lead the change in a cost-effective way, and still be continuously holding competitive advantage (vis-a-vis its competitors).

This Enterprise Business Agility model (certified by ICAgile) comprises the following 7 pillars.  

Customer Centricity / customer seat at the table

a. Do you know who your customer is?

b. Are you engaging your customer (understand requirements and get their feedback early)?

c. Do you engage them regularly?

d. Do you change your roadmap based on the feedback of the customer?

Customer Seat at the Table is the same as Stephen Dennings' Customer Centricity - placing the customer at the center of solutioning.

Lean Portfolio Management

a. Do you have the ability to refresh the portfolio so all your best ideas are on the top?

b. And Bad ideas never get in?

Lean Portfolio Management is applying lean thinking to managing enterprise (agilityhealthradar.com), program and product portfolios to streamline high-value work. This ensures delivering most-high value work is delivered first, while limiting WIP, limiting interruptions, and aligning work to organization's intended outcomes and team capacity. 

Organizational Design and Structure

a. Do you have the ability to be able to redesign your organization based upon the missions and the high priority initiatives that happen?

Delivery Frameworks & Agile Mindset

a. Have you built multiple delivery frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, XP, etc.)?

b. Do you know what framework you are using?
c. How do you build an internal culture and a learning mindset within the organization?

Leadership and Culture

a. Have your leaders gone on the Agile journey?

b. Are they taking this on?

c. Are they embracing in?

Make it Stick (sustaining the change)

a. Do you have a Talent acquisition strategy in an Agile world?
b. Do you have the Capability growthmap for your employees?
c. PR & Comms around Agile happening (within and outside of the organization)?

Adaptive Technology

a. Do you have tech infrastructure in place to enable business agility?

Allen Holub on Twitter -- Selling Agile and Changing Mindsets

"Don't know if it's possible to "sell" agile. Politics should show us that people do not use rational thinking when it comes to ingrained beliefs, and anti-Agile literature and social media is rife with confirmation bias.

 It seems it's not facts or rational arguments that change minds or behavior. Has more to do with social interaction and status. Just look at politics.

Many intelligent and highly educated ppl are climate-change deniers. Facts do not change their opinions. Confirmation bias runs rampant. Same applies in the Agile realm, I think. E.g. If someone believes in cmd/control, you can't change that with facts.

There are very few approaches that work: If the new information comes from somebody you know and trust, you might pay attention. If the people around you believe something, you'll pay attention. If your status goes down if you don't do it, you'll pay attention.

In general, a rational argument will be of no use whatever. Even demonstrating that somebody's "wrong" (e.g. with a pilot project) will not change minds.

Ultimately, the only solutions that work are rooted in social interaction. We programmers tend to not believe that. We talk with incredulity about how ppl ignore "the facts," but facts will sway nobody."

"Yes, you can "sell" them on adopting the lingo, or maybe you can sell them classes or certificates, but selling them on the hard changes that have to happen to make things actually work is much harder. "

Allen Holub

Influencing agility

OODA Loop - John Boyd

Observe -- situational awareness, Orient -- interpret what's going on, Decide -- to do something or something different, Act -- Do and Adjust.