Archive for 2011
Managing with blinders on
Most managers today have blinders on when it comes to solving the problems of complex projects: They are lost among the trees, and can’t see the forest for what it really is. Too many project managers are focused on the day-to-day problems of the project and have lost sight of their overall strategy. So, with KPMG telling us that nearly 70% of projects are failing to meet their goals, what’s the real solution? What’s the one thing that’s going to make the most difference?
In search of silver linings
Every enterprise, big or small, knows that cloud computing is going to be part of their business. Small companies use it every time they turn to QuickBooks Online, Google mail, or a hosted Exchange server. Large companies are increasingly being attracted by the promise of zero hardware costs and ease of deployment. Yet there’s still [...]
Training versus development
When it comes to leadership development, you can’t “train the leader.” Leadership requires too much contextual differentiation, innovation, and innate skill. These are qualities that can be developed, but not absorbed from a training session.
How to shift from survival mode to growth mode
Jay Goltz’ article in The New York Times is spot on: “[Einstein] said that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Too often, I think that’s really the definition of small business. Whether it is continuing to hire the wrong people because of a bad hiring protocol, [...]
Is being too wired destroying creativity?
Research shows that multitasking employees who are constantly bombarded with information are less creative and less focused.
Getting paid: A talk by Mike Monteiro
Mike Monteiro, co-founder and design director at Mule Design, recently gave a talk on getting paid and the value of having a well designed contract. As he says in this entertaining and very informative, spot-on talk: “Excuses vary – from ‘We ended up not using the work’ to ‘it’s really not what we were after.’” He [...]
Team-based performance is key, but only works with team input
Tammy Erickson’s recent blog post in the Harvard Business Review on Rethinking Performance Assessment is a spot-on article. She focuses on the value of team-based reward systems and how such systems only work if team feedback is part of the process. The article points out research suggesting that simply moving to a team-based reward system is an insufficient [...]
Tackling the global project problem, part 2
Launching a global project presents many problems that are completely foreign to most project leaders and managers. Last month I pointed out that we have to deal with a lot more than language barriers with global projects. For example, in some cultures, speaking openly is not to be expected, in any setting. For this second installment, I thought I’d share a few concrete ideas for tackling some of these issues, things that can make a real difference and that are easy to put into play. To keep on a theme, I’ll focus on strategies to tackle the common, core issue raised in last month’s article: communication and execution problems. One of the first things I generally want to take a close look at are the techniques and processes used to manage a project. Most of the time, they are not adequate for one reason: They weren’t designed to support a global, multi-cultural organization.
2011 Business and Technology Trends Seminar
Hyrax International and One Source Alliance have put together a great evening venue for a seminar on Business and Technology Trends of 2011. The seminar will be hosted at the Westlake Village Inn in Westlake Village, California, the evening of March 29. The session includes networking opportunities and will focus on OEM or B2B businesses and [...]
Scrum versus Kanban
Pawel Brodzinski makes a very succinct and key observation regarding the differences of Scrum and Kanban (and also links to a handful of opposing views by Ken Schwaber, David Anderson and Mike Cohn). If you want to figure out how Scrum and Kanban differ, this is a great starting point — be sure to check [...]
Connect
