Technical Project Management #1: Why Your Project List Is Making Everyone Miserable

November 26, 2025
Technical Project Management #1: Why Your Project List Is Making Everyone Miserable

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Video Description

Everyone is drowning. Every team I work with is being asked to deliver more than they possibly have time to do. And when I dig into why things feel so chaotic, it usually comes down to three enemies — three patterns that make everything harder than it needs to be.

What you'll learn:

  • The three enemies: Overload, Thrashing, and The Void
  • Why having 15 things "in progress" means nothing's actually finishing
  • Little's Law: the math that proves working on less = going faster
  • The hidden tax of context switching and priority changes
  • Why "no vision runway" makes every request feel like a crisis
  • The evidence problem: no document = no trust
  • How a managed requirements list changes every stakeholder conversation

Key insights:

  • Your requirements list is a negotiating tool, not a to-do list
  • The list isn't the work — it's the conversation about the work, made visible
  • "Help me figure out what we bump" beats "we're too busy" every time
  • Little's Law doesn't care about your feelings: Cycle Time = WIP ÷ Throughput
  • Busy executives don't take your word for it — they need to see something
  • These realities won't go away, but you can navigate them without losing your mind

About this series: This is a project management skills course, not a methodology course. Whether you're doing Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, or nothing in particular — everything here applies. I use methodology-neutral language throughout, with a full terminology translation guide coming at the end of the series.

Full Playlist: [link to playlist]](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGxFXI4dC2shCJwhTY-P2726zts26_AKF))


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Chapters

  • 0:00 Why Your Project List Is Making Everyone Miserable
  • 0:31 A Quick Note on Terminology
  • 0:55 Sound Familiar?
  • 1:23 The Three Enemies
  • 2:00 Enemy #1: Overload
  • 2:38 Little's Law
  • 3:15 Enemy #2: Thrashing
  • 3:58 The Squeaky Wheel Problem
  • 4:50 Enemy #3: The Void
  • 5:33 The Evidence Problem
  • 5:58 What Goes Wrong
  • 7:14 The Reframe
  • 7:44 The list is the conversation about the work, made visible.
  • 7:53 Reality Check
  • 8:27 Key Takeaways

Video Info

  • Duration: 9:35
  • Published: November 26, 2025

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