So, this name, Michael Collantes, popped up a while back. Kept seeing it in some online forums, you know, the kind where everyone’s chasing the next big thing in project management, or whatever fancy term they call it these days. Always some new guru with a revolutionary system. I was neck-deep in a project at the time, things were a bit messy, and I thought, “Hey, maybe this Collantes guy has some answers.”
Diving into the “Collantes Way”
I got hold of some material, supposedly by him or about his methods. It was all about this super intricate way of breaking down tasks and an even more complicated communication protocol. Sounded impressive on paper, I’ll give it that. So, I decided to try and implement it with my small team. Big mistake, huge.
Here’s what my “practice” with the Collantes method looked like:
- Spent a good two days just trying to understand the charts and diagrams. Felt like I needed a PhD in Collantes-ology.
- Then, trying to explain it to the team. You could see their eyes glaze over. Total waste of a Monday morning meeting.
- We actually tried to use his “synergy templates” or whatever they were called for a week. Productivity just tanked. Everything took twice as long because we were fighting the system, not doing the work.
- It involved so many steps for even the simplest of updates. Like, to report a small bug, you had to fill out three different forms and tag five people. Madness.
Pulling the Plug
After about a week of this nonsense, I was ready to pull my hair out. We had a deadline looming, and instead of making progress, we were just generating paperwork and confusion. I remember this one afternoon, I was staring at this flowchart, trying to figure out which color-coded status update to use, and I just thought, “This is ridiculous.”
I called a quick huddle. Told the team, “Alright, scrap this Collantes stuff. Let’s just go back to basics. Talk to each other. Use a simple to-do list. Get the actual job done.” The relief on their faces was palpable. It was like a weight had been lifted.
We ditched the whole complex mess. Went back to simple daily stand-ups, a shared document for tasks, and direct communication. And guess what? We actually started moving forward again. We even managed to hit our deadline, though it was a scramble, partly thanks to the week we wasted.
What I Learned from That Mess
So, yeah, that was my practical experience with the “Michael Collantes” approach. Didn’t meet the man, don’t know if he even really exists or if it’s just some internet thing. But the method? Pure over-engineered fluff, if you ask me.
It taught me a valuable lesson, though. Sometimes, these fancy, complicated systems are just a distraction. They look good in a PowerPoint, but in the real world, when you’re under pressure, simple and direct usually wins. Stick to what works, what’s practical, and what your team actually understands. Don’t get suckered in by the next shiny methodology promising miracles. Most of the time, it’s just old wine in new, incredibly complicated bottles.
Ever since then, whenever I hear about some revolutionary new framework or guru, I’m way more skeptical. I ask myself, “Is this genuinely going to help us build better, faster? Or is it just going to make us busier doing stuff that isn’t the actual work?” Nine times out of ten, it’s the latter. So, that’s my little story about Michael Collantes, or at least, the idea attached to that name. Keep it simple, folks. That’s my takeaway.