“Very engaging plus informative. Dr. Brown has a wonderful way of tying in life events and recognizable situations to project management practices.”
— Karen Bersch, HSBC

“Dr. Brown cuts through the daily BS to actionable/call it like it is lessons to take back to our company for improving our projects.”
— Neil Halpert, Mid Atlantic Convenience Stores

“Excellent! Don’t often have the opportunity to laugh in this business.”
— Lisa Houser, HP

Texas Hold’em saw an explosion in popularity since the World Poker Championships were featured on TV. Part of the popularity is the easiness of the game to learn, the rush of winning, and the luck factor that is involved. Playing the game is simple. Winning consistently is not simple. The winning Texas Hold’em player has two tactics that project managers must also have to be successful.

• Ability to make probabilistic assessments
• Ability to read human behavior as it responds to risk

Just like the Texas Hold’em player, project managers must deal with uncertainty and work with humans. This keynote presentation will provide the project manager with tips for probabilistic assessments and an understanding of human behavior as it specifically relates to risk.

To quote Texas Hold’em player Anthony Bee, from Important Concepts in Limit Holdem, “This means being able to recognize profitable situations and exploit them to the full. It also means avoiding unprofitable situations and therefore costly mistakes.” Could Anthony Bee have been talking about project management?

Takeaways

• Critical thinking is required with respect to risks
• Human behavior is a factor in risk assessment
• Communication of risks is tactical and strategic