Pearl Harbor, a Project Management Perspective: 2 Hours, 2 PDUs!

Event Date/Time: December 7, 2022, 8-10 pm EST, 5-7pm PST

December 7, 1941, is, in President F.D. Roosevelt’s words, “a date which will live in infamy.”   Could the Japanese surprise attack have been avoided?   If defending the Hawaiian island of Oahu against internal and external threats was the primary objective of the military authorities, could the U.S. forces have been better prepared?  Just how good was Japan’s plan for “Operation Hawaii”? This presentation will address how project management could have helped mitigate or outright avoid one of the darkest days in the history of the United States.  The first hour of the presentation covers the events leading up to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, while the second hour of the presentation examines the Japanese project of attacking Pearl Harbor and the U.S. project of defending Hawaii from a project management perspective, using the PMBOK Guide Knowledge Areas.  Also discussed are the assumptions made by the military leaders of both countries, what happened to the main protagonists involved directly or indirectly in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and valuable lessons learned for today’s project managers.

Your Presenter: Walter Viali, PMP

Walter brings over 30 years of experience leading projects and building PMOs for his clients around the globe. He brings his clients a wide range of expertise, including Strategic Business Planning, Business Reengineering, Portfolio Management, and Project Management Office (PMO) implementation.

He has extensive experience conducting organizational assessments using the Software Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SEI CMM). He teaches project management and business analysis at the University of Houston. Walter is the co-author of the book Accelerating Change with Organizational Project Management: The New Paradigm for Change.

Walter is an active member of PMI, volunteering in leadership positions for the Houston Chapter and Clear Lake Galveston Chapter, serving as the Region 6 Mentor, and making numerous presentations for chapters and at the PMI National Congress.