S2E36: Why Schedules Always Fail & the Value of Time with Simon White

Simon White

Manager of Project Control BAE Australia at BAE

Val Matthews: Hello project people , welcome to the project chatter podcast. I'm Val Matthews and as always I'm joined by my co-host Dale Foong… Dale Foong : Hi folks! Val Matthews: In this episode we talk to Simon White! Welcome to the show Simon... Guest: [guest says hello…] Val Matthews: On this pod we'll be chatting to Simon about Why Schedules Always Fail & The Value of Time... …but before that here’s Dale with the Simon's bio... Simon White is originally from New Zealand. He went to university at age 10, specially selected to attend the Creative Writing school. As an adult, to pay his way through university, he worked as a Santa Claus, a seahorse, a cocktail flair barman, and a catwalk model. His first grown-up employment was as a shark diver and feeder at Christchurch Aquarium in New Zealand, which he did every single day for 3 years. Like all jobs, the novelty wears off eventually … Always having an interest in all things Air and Space, which included getting a pilot’s licence, launching hundreds of model rockets, and founding the Queensland Amateur Rocketry Club, he turned his attention to Aviation as a career. After failing at Military Pilot School, he became an aircraft mechanic, first with QANTAS Defence Services, then with BAE Systems as a Fighter Jet mechanic on the F-18 Hornet program. Like most people in Project Controls, he didn’t find it – it found him. After getting tired of constantly smelling like jet fuel, he volunteered to be a ‘CSA’, not knowing what it was. He was an integral team member in BAE Systems highly successful Critical Chain Project Management implementation. His contribution to the TOC/CCPM Body of Knowledge is the mantra ‘FOCUS and ACT’. He went on to work as Fleet Manager for the 33-strong RAAF BAE Hawk Fighter Jet Trainer fleet, and then Project Controls Management for the Aerospace Business Unit. He currently works as Manager of Project Control for BAE Systems Australia, but doesn’t care much for role titles – it’s more important what you do, not what you’re called – the role is to Deliver Reliable, Repeatable Project Control. He has received 2 BAE Chairman’s Awards for his efforts, and is currently driving the first Certificate IV in Project Control in Australia, to help counteract the Australian market supply/demand imbalance for the discipline. He thrives on thought experiments and interesting questions, like ‘What happens if you turn EVM upside down?’, or ‘Does the baton get dropped inside organisations because of the way we draw our organisational structures?’ Topics: Uni at 10 Pay for uni: Santa, Sea Horse, Catwalk Model First job: Shark Cage diving (3 years) Main topics - Why Schedules Always Fail & The Value of Time What is CSA? TOC/CCPM Body of Knowledge? ‘What happens if you turn EVM upside down?’ ‘Does the baton get dropped inside organisations because of the way we draw our organisational structures?’ Event, Response, Impact Certificate IV Project Control OBS doesn't talk about relationships in a Project Team Dale Foong: End (around 60min mark): [sum up episode] [Guest final words] [Val final words] Well, that's all we have time for on this episode but it doesn't have to stop here... Head over to our Charity Shop and get yourself some gear! All profits go to charity and you'll be helping out children in desperate need of fair opportunities and education! Subscribe via our website and you'll get a link to our online community where you can chat directly to Val, Myself, our expert guests and other community members! For more information, blogs and previous podcasts checkout projectchatterpodcast.com A big thanks to our guest Simon White, thanks as always to Val and thank you for listening. Till next time, we say stay safe, be disruptive and have fun doing it! Bye for now...