Adaptability will be The Key!
Interview with Ricardo Viana Vargas
Executive Director of Brightline Initiative
Managing Partner at PMOotto.ai
Past Chair, Project Management Institute
Interviewed by Yasmina Khelifi
International Correspondent, PM World Journal
Paris, France
Introduction to the interviewee
Passionate about transforming ideas into action, Ricardo Vargas is a chief advocate for the project economy. Specializing in implementing innovative global initiatives, capital projects and product development, Ricardo has directed dozens of projects across industries and continents, managing more than $20 billion in global initiatives over the past 25 years.
Ricardo shares his expertise with millions of professionals around the globe through his “5 Minutes Podcast,” which he’s hosted since 2007. He has written 15 books on project management, risk and crisis management, and transformation, which have been translated into six languages and sold more than half a million copies. His latest book Project Management Next Generation: The Pillars for Organizational Excellence, in partnership with Dr. Harold Kerzner and Dr. Al Zeitoun has been released.
Ricardo’s influence on project management was affirmed when he became the first Latin American to be elected Chairman of the Project Management Institute.
More than two decades ago, he founded Macrosolutions, a global consulting firm with international operations in energy, infrastructure, IT, oil and finance.
His work as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur in artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, chatbots and machine learning resulted in tools and products that have revolutionized how users bring agility and agile management into project management software.
Between 2016 and 2020, Ricardo directed the Brightline Initiative, a Project Management Institute think tank bringing together leading organizations into a coalition dedicated to helping executives bridge the expensive, unproductive gap between strategic design and delivery.
Prior to his work with Brightline, Ricardo was Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Infrastructure and Project Management Group, leading more than 1,000 projects and $1.2 billion in humanitarian and development projects.
Ricardo holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Federal Fluminense University in Brazil and an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering, as well as a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil.
- ricardo-vargas.com (Company Website)
- His latest book Project Management Next Generation: The Pillars for Organizational Excellence, in partnership with Dr. Harold Kerzner and Dr. Al Zeitoun has been released
- ricardo-vargas.com/podcasts/ (Podcast)
- com/rvvargas (Youtube Channel)
- Linkedin: com/in/ricardovargas
- Twitter : rvvargas
Interview
Q1: How did you project management journey begin?
Ricardo Vargas (Vargas): My project management journey began, I would say from a flipped door, a side door. I started learning project management when I was a student of chemical engineering and I was also a representative of Microsoft in Brazil. And Microsoft was releasing project management software called Microsoft Project. And then, they invited me to a study to learn and to teach people how to use the tool. And this was, I would say, my first step into trying to learn and understand what project management is about.
Q2: You are working in project management for more than 20 years, what are the three main changes you noticed? What impacts did they have on projects?
More…
To read entire interview, click here
How to cite this interview: Khelifi, Y. (2022). Adaptability will be The Key: Interview with Ricardo Viana Vargas; PM World Journal, Vol. XI, Issue VIII, August. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/pmwj120-Aug2022-Khelifi-Interview-with-Ricardo-Viana-Vargas.pdf
About the Interviewer
Yasmina Khelifi
Paris, France
Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI- ACP, PMI-PBA is an experienced project manager in the telecom industry. Along with her 20-year career at Orange S.A. (the large French multinational telecommunications corporation), she sharpened her global leadership skills, delivering projects with major manufacturers and SIM makers. Yasmina strives for building collaborative bridges between people to make international projects successful. She relies on three pillars: project management skills, the languages she speaks, and a passion for sharing knowledge.
She is a PMP certification holder since 2013, a PMI- ACP and PMI-PBA certification holder since 2020. She is an active volunteer member at PMI France and PMI UAE, and a member of PMI Germany Chapter. French-native, she can speak German, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and she is learning Arabic. Yasmina loves sharing her knowledge and experiences at work, in her volunteers’ activities at PMI, and in projectmanagement.com as a regular blogger. She is also the host and co-founder of the podcast Global Leaders Talk with Yasmina Khelifi to help people in becoming better international leaders.
Yasmina can be contacted at https://yasminakhelifi.com/ or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasminakhelifi-pmp-telecom/
Visit her correspondent profile at https://pmworldlibrary.net/yasmina-khelifi/
