iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

🎂 PMI was founded October 1, 1969, by five volunteers in Atlanta. 57 years ago, a profession was born. Every PM who earns a credential honors that founding act. #PMI #PMHistory pmi.org

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 30/09/2026

End of Q3. The Stoic PM asks: Did we deliver what we committed to? Did we lead with virtue? What does Q4 demand of us now? Review honestly. Plan deliberately. #StoicPM #Q3Review

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 29/09/2026

The PMO (Project Management Office) is not a police force—it's a center of competence. A well-run PMO accelerates delivery; a poorly run one creates friction. #PMO #ProjectMgmt

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 28/09/2026

Seneca: 'We should every night call ourselves to an account.' End-of-week project reviews are not a management ritual—they are a Stoic discipline. #Seneca #ProjectReview

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 27/09/2026

Agile metrics—cycle time, lead time, throughput—measure flow, not just output. What gets measured shapes what gets improved. Choose your metrics with intention. #Agile #Metrics

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 26/09/2026

Epictetus: 'The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.' The Stoic PM measures success by the quality of decisions, not just results. #Epictetus #StoicPM

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 25/09/2026

A project governance framework defines decision rights, escalation paths, and accountability. Without governance, authority is assumed—and assumptions create conflict. #Governance #PM

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 24/09/2026

Marcus Aurelius: 'Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.' Self-regulation is the PM's most powerful project tool. #MarcusAurelius #StoicPM

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 23/09/2026

Extreme Programming (XP), developed by Kent Beck in 1996, introduced pair programming and test-driven development. Discipline in craft produces quality at speed. #XP #Agile

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 22/09/2026

🍂 Autumnal Equinox: Equal day and night—a natural reminder that balance in workload, planning, and rest makes for sustainable project delivery. #StoicPM #SustainablePace

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 21/09/2026

The Stoic PM treats team feedback as a gift. Criticism from a trusted colleague is more valuable than praise from a stranger. Seek honest input. Act on it. #StoicPM #Feedback

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 20/09/2026

Seneca: 'Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.' Project closure is not an ending—it's the data and discipline that feeds the next project's start. #Seneca

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 19/09/2026

The PMBOK 8th Edition reintroduces five focus areas: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing. The cycle is timeless. Work it deliberately. #PMBOK

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 18/09/2026

Musonius Rufus taught that philosophy must be lived, not merely studied. For the Stoic PM: methodology is only valuable when it changes how you actually work. #MusoniusRufus

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 17/09/2026

A project manager who can't say no is a project manager who will eventually fail. Scope, time, and budget are finite. Saying no is a service to the project. #ScopeManagement

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 16/09/2026

Saw this quote in a book I'm reading right now: “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” ~Albert Einstine, Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut, or Yogi Berra (who knows)

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 16/09/2026

Epictetus: 'He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.' Count project wins—even the small ones. #Epictetus

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 15/09/2026

PMI's Pulse of the Profession reports consistently show that organizations with mature PM practices waste significantly less on failed projects. Maturity is a business case. #PMI #PMMaturity

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 14/09/2026

The Stoic dichotomy of control applied to team performance: you control how you coach, equip, and support your team. You cannot control their every output. Lead, then trust. #StoicPM

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 13/09/2026

Seneca: 'Begin at once to live.' Project managers who wait for perfect conditions to improve their process are waiting for a day that will never arrive. #Seneca #ContinuousImprovement

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 12/09/2026

A sprint backlog belongs to the development team. The product owner owns the product backlog. Respecting that boundary is how Scrum stays healthy. #Scrum #Agile #ProductOwner

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 11/09/2026

📅 A day for reflection. Great projects—like resilient communities—are built on trust, preparation, and the courage to keep going when plans fall apart. #Leadership #StoicPM

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 09/09/2026

Value Stream Mapping, a Lean tool, visualizes the flow of materials and information. Find where value stalls in your delivery process and eliminate the wait. #Lean #VSM

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 08/09/2026

Much of what I post here revolves around #ProjectManagement & #Stoicism, but because I also write/post @sartimes.com, I’ve been neglecting my weekly writing habits on TheStoic.PM. I’m getting my plan together now and finishing my book (yes, another): Essays of a Stoic Project Manager.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 07/09/2026

Seneca: 'Associate with those who will make a better man of you.' The teams and mentors we choose shape the PM we become. Choose deliberately. #Seneca #TeamLeadership

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 06/09/2026

NORTHING, book one of a finished trilogy, launches on Amazon on October 26, 2026. Coast Guard and intelligence thriller, written by a Coast Guard vet and former Ranger. Looking for a handful of advance readers willing to leave an honest review at launch. Free copy, no strings. Reply if you're in.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 05/09/2026

Stoic Calendar: Commemoration of Musonius Rufus - Stoic teacher and Epictetus's mentor. He taught that philosophy is only useful when practiced. A PM's creed. #Musonius #Stoicism

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 03/09/2026

A project manager without a schedule baseline has no way to measure drift. Baseline before you execute. Variance is data - only if you know what you planned. #ScheduleMgmt #PMBOK

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 01/09/2026

The Agile Alliance was formed in 2001 to promote lightweight software development. Twenty-five years later, Agile principles have reshaped how every industry plans work. #Agile #PMHistory

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 30/08/2026

Seneca wrote over 120 letters to Lucilius - one of history's great examples of consistent mentorship. Find a PM mentor. Be a PM mentor. The craft grows through both. #Mentorship #StoicPM

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 28/08/2026

User stories put value in human terms: 'As a [user], I want [feature], so that [benefit].' Writing them well requires empathy. Empathy is a Stoic virtue. #UserStories #Agile

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 27/08/2026

Hey, all. Yesterday a lot of “life” happened and I made the decision to not support serializing my book. That said, I plan to start packaging it up for Amazon over the coming weeks. Thank you to the support from the #booksky & #writing / #writer community here. I’ll let you know when it’s out. ~r

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 27/08/2026

The Stoics believed philosophy was for use, not contemplation alone. The PM who reads Meditations and goes back to managing the way they always did has missed the point. The test is the next difficult conversation, the next impossible deadline, the next moment of real choice. What will you choose?

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 26/08/2026

One thing Stoic PMs do differently: they celebrate the close. Not the launch, the close. When the handoff is done, the documentation is complete, and the team is released - that's the moment worth marking. The project is finished. That's the whole point.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 25/08/2026

Every PM carries a mental model of their project. The Stoic question: when did you last test that model against reality? Not the model you wish were true. The one your team would describe if you weren't in the room. Go find out.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 24/08/2026

The Stoic definition of a good project outcome: the work was done honestly, the team was treated fairly, and the PM did not compromise their character to deliver it. On-time and on-budget are worth pursuing. They are not the definition of success.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 23/08/2026

Seneca said time is the one truly non-renewable resource. Every day a project drags past its natural close is a day the team could be doing something else. The PM who lets a project end instead of perpetuating it is practicing a form of Stoic generosity.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 22/08/2026

One thing Stoic PMs do differently: they treat feedback as data. Not as judgment. Not as personal. As information about the gap between the intended outcome and the actual one. That gap is the work.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 21/08/2026

The Stoic PM's checklist at the start of a hard week: What am I working toward that I actually control? Where am I likely to drift toward impatience or avoidance? Who on my team needs something from me that I've been deferring? Three questions. Ten minutes. The rest of the week tends to go better.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 20/08/2026

Courage in Stoic thought is not the absence of fear. It is action in the presence of fear. The PM who escalates the uncomfortable truth, who kills the failing project, who tells the sponsor the real number - they are not unafraid. They just act anyway.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 15/08/2026

Zeno's school was called the Stoa Poikile - the Painted Porch - because he taught in an open public space, not behind closed doors. The implication: the philosophy was meant to be used in the world, under real conditions, among real people with real problems. Not a theory. A practice.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 14/08/2026

One thing Stoic PMs do differently: they don't confuse being liked with being trusted. A team that likes you will tell you what you want to hear. A team that trusts you will tell you what you need to hear. Build for the second one.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 13/08/2026

The Stoic PM's approach to an unhappy stakeholder: listen without defending. Separate what's true from what's emotional. Address the true part. Don't fight the emotional part - it usually resolves when the true part is handled. That's the full process. Most people skip step two.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 12/08/2026

Epictetus on loss: 'Never say of anything, I have lost it; but, I have returned it.' The project that got cancelled. The budget that got cut. The team that got reassigned. None of it was yours to keep. The practice is remembering that from the start.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 11/08/2026

The post-mortem has one job: to give the next project team better information than this one had. It is not a performance review. It is not a blame session. The Stoic PM runs it like a scientist: here is what the data shows, here is what we will do differently, here is what we would keep.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 10/08/2026

One thing Stoic PMs do differently: they end meetings that have stopped being useful. Not rudely. But clearly. 'We've covered what we can decide today. Let's stop here.' Temperance is a real project skill.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 09/08/2026

The Stoics distinguished between a preferred outcome and a required one. You prefer the project finishes on time. You require that it finishes with your honesty intact. Knowing the difference resolves most difficult decisions before they start.

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 08/08/2026

Seneca: 'It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.' The honest status report you keep delaying. The conversation with the underperforming team member. The sponsor who needs to hear no. What are you not daring?

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Ryan @erickson.pm · 07/08/2026

Stoic practice is incremental. A difficult stakeholder conversation becomes practice in patience. A surprise budget cut becomes practice in the dichotomy of control. The skill compounds slowly, across hundreds of small moments. That's the whole method.

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