Let's Talk EVM

Co-hosts: Amber Young and Barbara Phillips
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Management
  • Updated Weekly

A public service podcast to engage with the Earned Value Management (EVM) community

  1. 2d ago

    Episode 36: Risks and Decisions with Michelle Storm

    We spend enormous amounts of time identifying, documenting, quantifying, and analyzing risk. But when it is finally time to make a decision, why do smart leaders sometimes ignore the data sitting right in front of them? In Episode 36: Risks and Decisions, Amber and Barbara welcome Michelle Storm, a project management and Earned Value Management professional with more than 20 years of experience, to explore risk from two very different but deeply connected perspectives: the discipline of managing uncertainty and the psychology of making decisions when the answer isn't clear. Michelle's experience spans program management processes, tools, training, risk and opportunity management, and the implementation of earned value systems across government and industry. The conversation starts with the fundamentals. What actually qualifies as a risk? How is an uncertain event different from uncertainty about how long something will take? When does a risk become an issue? And are the things sitting in our risk registers actually risks at all? Michelle challenges some common practices and explains why getting the language and concepts right matters. Risk management is its own discipline, and when we confuse the fundamentals, everything we build on top of them can become confused too. But then the conversation takes a fascinating turn from how we manage risk to how humans respond to it. Michelle dives into the psychology of decision-making under uncertainty and asks a question nearly every project controls professional has experienced: Why can we present leaders with sound analysis and compelling data, only to watch them make a completely different decision? The discussion explores cognitive and behavioral biases, emotion, framing, optimism, confirmation bias, and the ways our perception of uncertainty can influence what we ultimately choose to do. This isn't just an area of professional interest for Michelle. It is at the heart of her doctoral research, where she is studying the relationship between how program managers make decisions under uncertainty and project success. The conversation raises an intriguing possibility: perhaps improving project outcomes isn't only about producing better data. Maybe we also need to better understand the humans making decisions with it. Whether you're a risk manager, scheduler, cost analyst, CAM, project manager, or leader responsible for making difficult decisions, this episode will make you think differently about uncertainty. Because identifying risk is only the beginning. The real question is what happens when someone has to decide what to do about it.

    Episode 36: Risks and Decisions with Michelle Storm

  2. Sep 11

    Episode 35: What is the Truth? with Roland Atencio and Chelsea Moore

    You have the data. But do you have the facts? And even if you have the facts... do you have the truth? In Episode 35 – What is the Truth?, Amber and Barbara welcome father-daughter EVM practitioners Roland Atencio and Chelsea Moore for a conversation about what it really takes to create information leaders can trust. Roland brings more than two decades of experience spanning scheduling, EVM, and analytics, while Chelsea brings her own years of experience in scheduling and EVM - along with a perspective shaped by learning from Roland as both a mentor and her dad. The conversation begins with a deceptively simple question: How do you know your data is true? Organizations can have spreadsheets, schedules, accounting systems, cost tools, dashboards, and countless individual analyses, but if those sources tell different stories, what should a decision maker believe? Roland and Chelsea explore the importance of traceability, validation, consistency, and establishing a trusted source of truth. But Roland makes an important distinction: validated data gives you facts. The real value comes when those facts can be trusted enough to support decisions. And that is where this episode becomes about much more than data. EVM is a team sport. Schedulers, cost analysts, CAMs, accounting, project controls, and program managers all contribute pieces of the information leaders ultimately use. Bringing those pieces together requires integration, but it also requires trust, accountability, culture, and people skills. When the data reveals a problem, how do you investigate it without turning the conversation into blame? How do you help someone understand the downstream effect of an issue while preserving their ownership of the work? And how do you create an expectation of excellence across the entire system? Then the conversation takes a more personal turn. Roland talks about the responsibility experienced practitioners have to pass their knowledge to the next generation before hard-earned lessons disappear. For Chelsea, that transfer has been happening for years. And some of the most important lessons her dad passed down weren't technical at all. As Chelsea puts it, “data doesn't have feelings, but people do.” Technical knowledge, dashboards, analytics, and metrics matter, but knowing how to work with people may be what ultimately makes all of it successful. This episode is about finding the truth in our data - but it is also about what we do with that truth once we find it. It is about trust, integration, accountability without blame, and preserving the knowledge of one generation while giving the next generation room to make EVM even better. Because the purpose isn't simply to produce the numbers. It's to create information we can trust, make better decisions, and ultimately serve the bigger mission.

    Episode 35: What is the Truth? with Roland Atencio and Chelsea Moore

  3. Sep 5

    Episode 34: EFCOG, NDIA IPMD, NASA Cost & Schedule Symposium Overview

    Three events. Three communities. And a surprisingly connected conversation about where project controls is headed next. In Episode 34 – ⁠EFCOG⁠,⁠ NDIA IPMD⁠, ⁠NASA Cost & Schedule Symposium Overview⁠, Amber and Barbara compare notes from three major industry gatherings spanning the Department of Energy, defense, and NASA communities: EFCOG, the NDIA Integrated Program Management Division Forum, and the NASA Cost & Schedule Symposium. With overlapping schedules sending Amber and Barbara to different events, this episode becomes their chance to bring the conversations back together and share what stood out. Rather than walking through every presentation, they focus on the themes that kept surfacing across organizations and disciplines. How do we get useful data into the hands of decision makers faster? What role do communication, leadership, and psychological safety play in whether that data is actually trusted and used? How are AI, analytics, scheduling, risk, and performance measurement changing the way practitioners work? And are we finally reaching a point where the EVM community can stop apologizing for EVM and simply move forward with it as a fundamental part of good program management? The conversation also explores the sometimes difficult handoffs between estimating and execution, the importance of preserving assumptions and risk information as projects move from one phase to another, and why strong project controls depend on more than a tool or a report. People change. Teams change. Projects change. The information has to survive those transitions. From emerging uses of AI and schedule analytics to debates about how we measure, forecast, communicate, and manage performance, Amber and Barbara offer a practitioner-level look at what people across these communities are wrestling with right now. And perhaps the biggest takeaway is not any single presentation at all. It is the community. Across DOE, defense, and NASA, many of the same practitioners, ideas, challenges, and conversations continue to intersect. These events create the space to challenge one another, share lessons, test new ideas, and keep moving the profession forward. If you have ever wondered what actually gets discussed when the EVM and project controls community gets together, this episode gives you a seat in the room. -------------- BONUS: Quagmire has the figurative definition of a predicament: A sticky, complicated, or dangerous situation with no easy solution or way out.

    Episode 34: EFCOG, NDIA IPMD, NASA Cost & Schedule Symposium Overview

  4. Aug 21

    Episode 33: GAO PM Assessment Guide with Contributor Laura Bier

    What if the quality of your project data depends less on the system itself and more on whether people feel safe telling the truth? In Episode 33 – GAO PM Assessment Guide with Contributor Laura Bier, Amber and Barbara sit down with longtime EVM practitioner and GAO guide contributor Laura Bier to explore the GAO Project Management Assessment Guide and the bigger ideas behind effective project management. The guide brings together important practices across planning, cost, schedule, risk, performance measurement, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement. But Laura pushes the conversation beyond processes and guidance into something more fundamental: the human environment in which all of that work happens. Because good data does not appear simply because we have good systems. A schedule can be technically sound. A cost estimate can be rigorous. A reporting process can be perfectly defined. But if the people closest to the work do not feel comfortable saying that something is late, an assumption is wrong, a forecast has changed, or a decision needs to be challenged, how much confidence should we really place in the information moving through the system? That question leads Amber, Barbara, and Laura into a thoughtful discussion about psychological safety, leadership, culture, communication, and the responsibility to create environments where people can surface uncomfortable information early. Laura makes the connection directly: reliable project information depends on teams being able to speak candidly about what is actually happening. They also explore why lessons learned should be more than a postmortem at the end of a project. What if learning were continuous? What if teams were encouraged to experiment, adjust, and make small improvements as the work unfolds rather than waiting until the end to document what went wrong? Ultimately, this episode is not only about a GAO guide. It is about what has to exist around our project management processes for those processes to work. Because informed decision making requires credible information. And credible information requires something profoundly human: people who are willing, and able, to tell the truth about what they see.

    Episode 33: GAO PM Assessment Guide with Contributor Laura Bier

  5. Aug 14

    Episode 32: We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident, Part 2

    Apparently, Amber and Barbara aren't the only ones with some EVM truths to tell. In Episode 32 – We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident, Part 2, Amber and Barbara return to their growing collection of EVM aphorisms - but this time, the Let's Talk EVM community joins the conversation. After Part 1 sparked an extraordinary response on LinkedIn, listeners and practitioners shared their own hard-earned truths about Earned Value Management. And some of them were too good not to talk about. What follows is a rapid-fire conversation through ideas shaped not just by theory, but by years of actually trying to make EVM work. Amber and Barbara take on the community's submissions, compare them with their own thinking, challenge a few assumptions, find some unexpected connections, and occasionally discover that someone else has already said exactly what they were thinking. The discussion moves through what EVM really measures, the difference between producing data and actually using it, the role of judgment and communication, and what happens when we remember that the system is supposed to help people manage projects - not simply generate reports. But underneath the individual ideas is a bigger question: What have decades of collective experience taught the EVM community that deserves to be said out loud? Maybe these are aphorisms. Maybe they're axioms. Maybe they're maxims. Maybe they're the beginning of something the community builds together. Amber and Barbara aren't quite ready to put a label on it yet - and they're definitely not finished. The conversation started with a few truths of their own. Now it's becoming ours.

    Episode 32: We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident, Part 2

  6. Aug 6

    Episode 31: We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident

    After years of working with Earned Value Management, some lessons stop feeling like opinions. They become truths. In Episode 31 – We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident, Barbara and Amber turn the microphones on each other for a different kind of conversation - no guest, no predetermined list to work through together, and neither knows exactly what the other is going to say. Instead, they bring their own EVM aphorisms: principles shaped by years of implementing, using, certifying, surveilling, and sometimes wrestling with Earned Value Management Systems. What follows is part technical discussion, part friendly debate, and part discovery as they unpack ideas that can sound deceptively simple until you start asking what they actually mean in practice. Why do some of the most fundamental concepts in EVM remain among the easiest to get wrong? What happens when the different pieces of an EVMS don't work together the way we think they do? Why can seemingly reasonable decisions undermine the very information the system is designed to provide? And how can the way we measure performance change the story we think our data is telling us? Along the way, the conversation moves through systems thinking, scope and budget, change control, performance measurement, the human side of implementation, and the sometimes uncomfortable difference between what our processes say we do and what actually happens on a project. Some truths are technical. Some come from experience. And some seem obvious only after someone finally says them out loud. Amber and Barbara have their lists. How many of their EVM truths would make yours?

    Episode 31: We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident

  7. Jul 31

    Episode 30: Forward Leaning Self-Governance with Joe Venditti

    What separates organizations that simply maintain an Earned Value Management System from those that continuously improve it? In this episode, Amber and Barbara welcome Joe Venditti, a longtime project controls leader with decades of experience spanning the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy, to explore the evolution of forward-leaning self-governance. Drawing on lessons learned over an extraordinary career, Joe shares how his organization transformed self-governance from an annual compliance exercise into a daily management discipline. He explains how a difficult certification process became the catalyst for a lasting cultural shift—one where leadership embraced accountability, success began to build upon itself, and continuous improvement became part of everyday operations rather than something reserved for formal reviews. The conversation dives into the practical side of making that vision a reality. Joe discusses building automated self-governance tools, creating authoritative data sources, leveraging software to identify issues before they become findings, and empowering a "shadow army" of technical experts to strengthen project performance across the enterprise. More importantly, he explains why the true measure of a mature EVMS isn't passing surveillance—it's using the system every day to make better decisions. Whether you're just beginning your EVMS journey or leading an established program, this episode offers practical ideas for moving beyond compliance and building a culture where governance becomes a competitive advantage. Join us as we explore why the strongest organizations don't wait for someone else to find their problems—they're already looking for them themselves.

    Episode 30: Forward Leaning Self-Governance with Joe Venditti

  8. Jul 23

    Episode 29: EVM is Ready. Is AI? with Craig Haseler

    Artificial intelligence is transforming nearly every profession, but is it ready for Earned Value Management? In this episode, Amber and Barbara welcome Craig Haseler, technical lead for the Department of Energy's Project Assessment and Reporting System (PARS), to explore one of the biggest questions facing project controls today: Can AI truly understand EVM? Craig shares the story behind developing one of the Department of Energy's first AI assistants, affectionately known as Walt, and explains why project management, and particularly EVM, is a surprisingly powerful environment for applying artificial intelligence. Together, they unpack how large language models actually work, why they're fundamentally different from traditional software, and why understanding those differences matters for anyone using AI professionally. The conversation explores everything from deterministic calculations and AI-assisted coding to prompt engineering, hallucinations, security, and the importance of pairing AI with trusted analytical tools rather than expecting it to replace them. Along the way, Craig offers practical insights into building AI responsibly inside government, discusses the safeguards needed when working with sensitive project data, and explains why the future isn't about replacing human judgment, it's about augmenting it. Whether you're AI-curious, already experimenting with large language models, or wondering how emerging technology will shape the future of project management, this episode provides a thoughtful, balanced perspective grounded in real-world experience. Join us as we explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and Earned Value Management—and ask the question: EVM is ready. Is AI?

    Episode 29: EVM is Ready. Is AI? with Craig Haseler
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

A public service podcast to engage with the Earned Value Management (EVM) community

Information

  • Creator
    Co-hosts: Amber Young and Barbara Phillips
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Show Website
    Let's Talk EVM

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