1 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,320 Welcome to the Everyday PM Podcast, the podcast where we 2 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,200 discuss project management principles for your everyday 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,240 life. My name is Anne Campia. 4 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:23,000 I am the founder and host of The Everyday PM and I'm so excited 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,280 to welcome back to the podcast a very special guest and one of my 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,280 favorite people, Brian Summons, who is the senior internal 7 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,600 consultant for strategy activation at the Children's 8 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,400 Hospital of Orange County. So Chalk Hospital, Brian, you've 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,840 been on the podcast before. It's been a minute. 10 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,400 I'm so happy that we found time to reconnect and bring you back 11 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,480 on professional journey. Now, you and I have had some 12 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:51,680 like offline conversations to the point where we said, let's 13 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,120 just bring this topic to the Everyday PM. 14 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,200 Let's have a conversation about it because I'm sure there are 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,400 project managers out there wondering what do I do next? 16 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,160 So why don't we just dive into it instead of just going into 17 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,600 your introduction, Brian, because we're going to talk 18 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,560 about you and your role. So let's start with this. 19 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,000 Many PM follow the traditional corporate ladder within one 20 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,840 organization. You know, you could go project 21 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,160 coordinator, project manager, senior PM, whatever that may be. 22 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,040 But you chose to pivot into a strategic consulting role. 23 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:26,000 So can you walk us through that aha moment when you realize the 24 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,480 conventional PM path wasn't for you? 25 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,960 And what specific experiences or skills from your PM background 26 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:36,960 became your secret weapons as a now strategic consultant? 27 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,040 Absolutely. And Anne, thank you. 28 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,480 SO much for having me back. Absolutely. 29 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,800 It's it's been a while. So I'm, I'm glad to be back. 30 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:51,080 I think that that aha moment for me happened as I was thinking 31 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:58,360 about my next step kind of as a project leader, you know, as a 32 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,440 project manager, like you mentioned, there's different 33 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:05,280 tiers. So you can be PM, senior PM, you 34 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,240 can go into program management and portfolio management. 35 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,919 And, and I've kind of done all of those roles. 36 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:16,640 And so as I was in management, I think my next move would be to a 37 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:22,560 director level role. And so rarely what I noticed is, 38 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:28,760 is it seems to be a cap, right? You cap out as a director and 39 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:33,520 there's rarely project management officers across the 40 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,800 organization and, and so you kind of get pigeon holed into 41 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,480 being a director. So you'll be a director and then 42 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,360 you'll go to your next role and it's a director of project 43 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,120 management or a director of this or that. 44 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,520 And for me it just didn't sound appealing. 45 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:57,440 And So what I, what I did know is that you can't just solely be 46 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:03,000 execution focused. And maybe the aha moment for me 47 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,800 was maybe you need to look at also being strategically 48 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,480 focused. And when you marry the two 49 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:15,720 things together, you know, with the strategic focus and project 50 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,360 management, you get strategy activation. 51 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,560 Talk a little bit about the role itself for those that you know 52 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,960 maybe have not heard of that title or or how that would 53 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:28,800 function internally. Yeah. 54 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:34,080 So internally, you know, our team is charged with bringing 55 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:39,120 our strategic plan to life. And so my core audience and, and 56 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,520 group of folks that I work work with are, are initiative owners 57 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:50,080 at the VP level. So really working in partnership 58 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:56,240 with them to understand, you know, what strategic things can 59 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,480 we look at from a performance standpoint that is going to 60 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:04,320 drive performance and also help us reach our goals and then 61 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,720 holding them accountable to those things. 62 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:13,360 So we identify a set of tactics that we want to tackle within 63 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,640 the fiscal year and assigning different milestones. 64 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,320 KP is completion indicators, things of that nature where 65 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,880 we're tracking the progress throughout the fiscal year and 66 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,960 ensuring that the things that we intended to do get done. 67 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:34,760 I also have a unique opportunity to jump into a couple of 68 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,880 projects every now and then as well. 69 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:44,280 So the very highly visible, very strategic things that we're 70 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:48,560 doing, when these things need course correction or if they 71 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,280 need some consulting to get things back on track, I'm 72 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:56,120 already kind of embedded within the project and I can step in 73 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:01,360 and and help to ride the ship. I'm also afforded the 74 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:07,560 opportunity to kind of stand up some committees and focus some 75 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:12,760 of the efforts as it relates to committees and structure and, 76 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,600 and things like that as well. So it, it's really a, a dual 77 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:22,440 purpose position where you can do a myriad of different things. 78 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:27,880 You can solely be tracking the plan and to the plan and helping 79 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,200 to develop the plan. You can jump into some projects 80 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:36,920 and right when they kind of need some direction and right the 81 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,080 ship. And then you can also be working 82 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:44,360 to stand up some of the different committees and things 83 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:48,280 like that and and provide the structure and things related to 84 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:51,840 that. So it's really a position that 85 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:56,600 allows you a ton of opportunity, if I would say so. 86 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,240 It just sounds like such a fun role. 87 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:04,920 I mean, obviously you and I grew up in project management, so you 88 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,400 always kind of think like, how do I add value? 89 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,120 Where, where's my place in the organization? 90 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,800 And some folks think, you know, that could be leading other 91 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,720 project managers and that sort of supervisory role, which you 92 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,520 and I have kind of both been there done that as well. 93 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,480 Some folks, you know, as you get further into your career and 94 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,480 start to really open up like you mentioned, what are the 95 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,480 organizational objectives? How can I make that connection 96 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,080 point if I'm just APM? And I'm sure a lot of the folks 97 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,960 in our community who are kind of in that interesting spot in 98 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,440 their professional journey where you're trying to decipher for 99 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:45,680 yourself, you know, what's the next step? 100 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,720 Is it leading people that will, you know, satiate me? 101 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:54,400 Or is it going to be being that connection point kind of 102 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:59,640 strategically to to be able to flex not just your project 103 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:01,840 management muscles, which is what you described, right? 104 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:04,320 You still jump back into projects every once in a while 105 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:06,880 as well, But then you get called in. 106 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:09,720 You're the pinch hitter for something's off track. 107 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,600 Like Brian, what do we do, you know, or how is this particular 108 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,480 project adding value to the organization? 109 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:17,760 And you're that connection point. 110 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,480 So there's it's such a beautiful journey that we make as project 111 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,240 managers and, and just hearing your side of you know, you, you 112 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:29,360 did the, the management part of it, the leadership part of it. 113 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,600 Now you're kind of in many ways you're still doing that, but 114 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,160 it's not just people, it's the organization, it's the 115 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,680 objectives, it's the KP is, it's the ROI, all the things that an 116 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:41,760 organization would care about strategically. 117 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:42,920 And you're that connection point. 118 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,200 So cool. And I'm just happy that I got to 119 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,440 watch and and still getting to watch your journey through this. 120 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:54,080 So let's talk a little bit about now that you've clarified what 121 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,760 you do as a internal strategic consultant is what's the biggest 122 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:03,160 myth about transitioning from what we would call an in house 123 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:09,000 PM to a strategic consulting role, Something that you maybe 124 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,600 wish someone had debunked for you earlier? 125 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,000 And on the flip side of that, what unexpected challenge caught 126 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,600 you completely off guard that traditional PMS considering this 127 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:24,040 past should prepare for? Yeah, I think the the biggest 128 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:30,160 myth is that strategy work is really all about big ideas. 129 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:35,480 I think in reality, you know, strategy activation is really 130 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,240 about clarity and alignment. And you know, most 131 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,679 organizations, they don't struggle to come up with 132 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,200 strategy. They really struggle to make it 133 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,360 real. And so you have different 134 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,720 departments, they kind of interpret their priorities 135 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:57,440 slightly differently and leaders are kind of aligning 136 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,000 differently. You know, my group brings all of 137 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,440 that together. And, and so we kind of focus on 138 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:09,640 the goals together, We create the goals together and, and we 139 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,960 attack it that way. And it's been, it's been really 140 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:23,560 good seeing it happen that way. And I think, you know, for me, I 141 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:28,920 think the biggest shift is like just really shifting away from 142 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:35,480 execution focus and really moving into more of a strategic 143 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:42,760 focus about the big picture. And we have this big strategy. 144 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:47,600 How do we take little pieces of it and make sure that we 145 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,320 accomplish all of the things at the same time? 146 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:51,880 Sure. Sure. 147 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,440 And you know, I know when you're consulting across multiple 148 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,480 clients and industries, you know, there are certain patterns 149 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,040 that you'd probably pick up and what we call anti patterns as 150 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,800 well that may be internal PMS, like when you're embedded in 151 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,960 that way at an organization might not be able to see. 152 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,200 So can you share an example of how this outsider insider 153 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,720 perspective has allowed you to solve a problem or unlock an 154 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,120 opportunity that probably a traditional embedded PM might 155 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,400 have overlooked? And also tagging on to that, how 156 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,200 do you balance being the expert consultant while still remaining 157 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,040 humble enough to truly understand each client's unique 158 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,480 context? Oh, that's a doozy. 159 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:39,560 So I'll tackle the first part of it first. 160 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:50,400 It it's really about seeing the whole organization right versus 161 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:56,920 just being in this bubble. I remember as a project manager 162 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:04,400 working in IC, we're doing really impactful projects across 163 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:09,160 the org, but just never really getting to see the impact of it 164 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:14,760 or never really understanding how this one project connects to 165 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:21,280 a larger strategy or you know, you would hear like this is 166 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:23,520 going to improve this or improve that. 167 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:29,360 Now being at the, the upper level, right, you can see the 168 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,960 whole organization and you see these projects happening all 169 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,600 kind of simultaneously, but also how they all connect to this 170 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,760 larger strategy or initiative that we're trying to push 171 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:47,840 forward, which is impactful for me. 172 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:53,680 And I think, you know, in hindsight, if I could, if I 173 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:59,480 could go back or if I could even share with people, I would say 174 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:05,160 step outside of the projects sometimes and really understand 175 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,640 our visualize what it's what it's actually doing and, and see 176 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,160 the fruits of your labor. You know, depending on your 177 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:16,920 organization, depending on kind of the tempo of things and how, 178 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,920 how things are moving, you may not always get the time in 179 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,200 fast-paced environments. You're doing 1 project after 180 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,520 another project after another project. 181 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,080 So as you complete 1-2 more are coming in. 182 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:35,800 But in this role that I'm in now, multiple projects can be 183 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:40,360 going on all at the same time in different domains, and you get 184 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:45,240 to see them kind of all going together and really see the 185 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,560 fruit of all the labor. So it's been a really eye 186 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:53,360 opening experience for me. Curve, curveball question here, 187 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,560 Brian, that I did not tee up for you prior to us getting on and 188 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:02,600 recording this episode is let's talk a little bit. 189 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:04,120 Thank you for that response. By the way. 190 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,240 Let's talk a little bit about the tears, right? 191 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:12,280 Because it feels like a role like you're in requires some 192 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:18,120 level of experience being able to make those connection points, 193 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,320 being able to step outside of what typically would be like 194 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:25,280 your tactical day-to-day execution. 195 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:32,720 PM My question is, can a project manager just jump into a role 196 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,120 like yours? Like what are some of the things 197 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:41,600 that you would see, let's say on a job description, some of those 198 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,640 requirements that project managers want to try to build 199 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:46,880 on? Now, if they're listening to 200 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:49,880 this episode and they're like, yes, I want to do what Brian 201 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:51,280 does. Like I want to, I want to do 202 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,840 exactly that. How do they get there? 203 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,720 Could you paint the picture or maybe a quick road map of of 204 00:13:57,720 --> 00:13:59,800 what that could look like for a project manager? 205 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:05,840 I would say the the first thing to do is really start to think 206 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:10,120 outside of the box. Don't don't limit yourself into 207 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,680 OK, I'm just doing this and this is all I'm doing. 208 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:19,200 I think in my role, I rely very heavily and, and most project 209 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:24,520 managers do on relationships and building strong relationships. 210 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:30,600 I've accomplished so much just leveraging the relationships. 211 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:38,680 So can people step from PM right into consulting and kind of 212 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:40,680 doing strategy work? Absolutely. 213 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,680 I think project managers can do anything. 214 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:50,920 I think that you have to get your mindset right and it helps 215 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:55,600 when you're doing stuff like looking at things with a 216 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,640 strategic eye. So when you're when you're 217 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:04,680 managing the project, don't just focus on this project, but focus 218 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,360 on the downstream implications of the project. 219 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:13,480 Focus on those KPI's and understanding how do these tie 220 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:18,000 back and what do they tie back to Ask those probing questions 221 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:23,200 to find out more. Talk to your leadership and let 222 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:28,400 them know, hey, I'm interested in having more of a strategic 223 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:33,200 view of projects and not just being solely focused on 224 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:37,960 execution because I think people can't raise your mind, right? 225 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:43,520 And I think in the job market, a lot of the times, you know, 226 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:49,080 we're trained to just work hard. And when you work hard, things 227 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,040 will just naturally come your way. 228 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:58,720 And I can absolutely tell you you'll just be working hard and 229 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,760 then ultimately maybe even a little teed off. 230 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,640 Yeah, things don't naturally just come your way. 231 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:09,040 So I think, you know, being vocal and advocating for 232 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:16,600 yourself, looking at things with a larger lens, being strategic, 233 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,640 asking, OK, yeah, we're tracking these KP is, but what are they 234 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,680 tied to? What are the downstream impacts? 235 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:27,440 If we don't do this project, what are we overall trying to 236 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:29,360 solve? How does this connect to the 237 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,960 organizational strategy? And when you're asking questions 238 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,160 like that, people perk their ears up and they and they want 239 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,160 to know like why are you inquiring about things like that 240 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:43,120 'cause it's just not naturally what most PMS do. 241 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,240 They're focused on what scope, time and budget. 242 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:52,080 And so I think even PMI is shifting away from looking at 243 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:56,720 just those benchmarks for project success and they're 244 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:01,400 looking at different things about how you can deliver and, 245 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:06,240 and measuring delivery, right. And so as we all shift and and 246 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,960 change our focus, if you're interested in pivoting and going 247 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,760 in a different direction because you want to become a more 248 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:20,560 well-rounded leader and you want to have a strategic lens, those 249 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,400 are some of the things I would recommend to do. 250 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:26,119 And then ultimately you get shit done. 251 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:28,760 You get the execution part out of the way too. 252 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,800 So alongside what Brian just mentioned in terms of there's a 253 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,440 path for you and this is what you should be signaling and 254 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:39,240 looking out for and understanding of how the value 255 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:41,200 add is there for this type of role. 256 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,760 We also then flex our PM muscle even in this type of role, which 257 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:47,640 is Brian will still get the work done. 258 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,040 He'll still make sure whatever needed to get done and the 259 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,760 connection points and the alignment get done. 260 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:54,920 So it's you get a little bit of everything. 261 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,480 So I'm, I'm not going to say I'm jealous of where you're at right 262 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:02,400 now, Brian, but I am super proud to know you and know that this 263 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,600 type of position can exist for our community. 264 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,160 And so for folks listening to this, you know, listening to 265 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,800 what Brian was saying in terms of how he described the role, 266 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:16,360 you may not see this role as listed, right? 267 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:19,400 It may be titled something differently, but look for some 268 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,160 of those terms that Brian was using in terms of how he's 269 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,880 described his role at his organization. 270 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,480 And the even crazier thing about what you get to do and the 271 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:33,400 beauty of it is that you still get to be an internal 272 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,440 consultant, right? Which is very, very different, 273 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:40,120 which we didn't decipher that in this episode, but which is in 274 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:43,600 some ways vastly different than if you were to bring what most 275 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,120 people know consultants for, which is this external party 276 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:50,320 that kind of comes in and does that sort of consulting. 277 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,800 So I guess maybe to tie up this conversation, maybe we, we end 278 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:59,520 with that, which is what is it about you being internal facing 279 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,160 like an internal employee to your organization as a 280 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,600 consultant that makes it different than if we were 281 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,600 looking at roles, PM roles that were our strategic roles that 282 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,440 were kind of external coming into an organization. 283 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,920 Yeah, I think the superpower is that we know the business. 284 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:19,480 There you go. We know the business, we know 285 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,000 the people, we know the business. 286 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:28,600 And so we can dive in and things that are a little bit foreign 287 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:34,680 leverage relationships and turn things around very quickly 288 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,560 because we, we understand the business, we understand the 289 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:42,080 mission, we understand the priorities and so and, and we 290 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:46,640 understand the culture. I think a lot of your external 291 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:52,120 consulting revolves around changing a lot of those things. 292 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:57,160 And you know, internally I'm leveraging a lot of those things 293 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:02,160 to just move things forward. And so I, I think that's 294 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:06,520 actually the superpower if I were to think about it and, you 295 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:08,920 know, in my mind typically, you know. 296 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:13,560 Strategies don't really fail because of bad ideas. 297 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:17,840 In my mind, I think about it, they typically fail because of 298 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:23,280 unclear priorities or disconnected execution. 299 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:30,320 And that's exactly what I'm there for, to clear up the 300 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:34,120 priorities so that we can focus on the things that are most 301 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:39,240 important and then connect the execution to ensure that 302 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:43,160 everything that we set out to do that we're actually doing it. 303 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,040 And then we're reporting out and we're reporting out on it and 304 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:50,920 making sure that it's visible to the rest of the organization. 305 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:55,920 So I think honestly, that's the superpower, if I were to say. 306 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:01,880 Incredible, Brian, I time has flown already and I'm over here 307 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,120 grinning because I'm like, what do you want to be when you grow 308 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:07,040 up as APM? And I want to say I want to be 309 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,920 Brian Summons. So for folks listening and want 310 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,040 to continue the conversation, I, I know Brian, you've, you've 311 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,520 mentored a ton of PMS in our community as well and just 312 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,160 helped clarify that path for people. 313 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,880 Where can they find you online? Yeah, LinkedIn is like my 314 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,440 playground. I'm there all the time. 315 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:32,320 You can find me Brian Summons PMP on LinkedIn and happy to 316 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:34,600 connect with you. Send me a message. 317 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,720 We can connect and talk about a host of topics so looking 318 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,880 forward to. It everyone find yourself a 319 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:43,880 colleague, a friend like Brian I. 320 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,480 We are consistently just watching each other's career 321 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,800 growth and cheering each other on and I think everybody needs 322 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:52,800 that as part of the project management community. 323 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,760 For folks that want to continue the conversation with me, you 324 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,720 can also find me on LinkedIn by my name. 325 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,840 I'll make sure all the appropriate links are dropped 326 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:02,400 into the description of the podcast. 327 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,760 So for folks that want to continue to listen to the 328 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,680 Everyday PM Podcast, we are available on all of the 329 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,640 podcasting platforms and make sure to like subscribe, whatever 330 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:17,000 you got to do to make sure that we feel and hear your support of 331 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,600 this episode. So that will do it for Brian and 332 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,920 I on this installment of the Everyday PM Podcast. 333 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:27,120 Thank you so much for joining us and until next time, take care.