Flights of Whimsy

Given we are in the election period, then I think flights of whimsy and some fun are in order. It provides an alternative to the circus which is NZ politics.

So a number of posts will be less than serious. Some may even be amusing. Others will be as boring as usual, so as not to disappoint anyone.

Communication problems

My longtime friend and former colleague Richard Cheeseman sent me his latest promotional email today.

Richard is one of the good guys.

He may be able to help you in the increasingly complex telco space.

Richard believes in telling the truth.

Check Richard out. Let me know if he fails to deliver. I have a piece of 2X4.

 

Sins and Redemption: IT Project Recovery

Michael Krigsman has a guest post by Todd C Williams.

in this post Mr Williams looks at some key components of project recovery.

His scene setting opener is excellent and oh so true:-

Before we can proceed down the path of recovery, we must admit the existence of a problem. Pride, ego, emotion, denial, and inertia bias our view of the situation.  Project managers believe they can correct the problems. Executives try to help by assigning additional tasks, new processes to follow, numerous spreadsheets to complete and daily reports to distribute.  Eventually, the customer becomes aware of the situation and they go to the steering committee demanding action.  The latter gets action. The resulting scramble to appease the customer, however, does little to solve problems while only addressing symptoms

Read the post , it is well worth a look.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is dead. A great shame for his family, friends and colleagues.

Yet I confess I find the outpourings of grief by so many somewhat OTT, and much of the media coverage equally so, for example the front page of the Dominion Post here in Wellington this week.

Jobs was a great businessman in many ways, but he was not a saint. In many ways he had the instincts of a monopolist given Apple’s success at creating a walled garden for its offerrings.

More on paywalls

Over the last months I have written quite a lot on new media and paywalls. Given my focus elsewhere recently I cannot at this minute reference all that I would wish, but this post by Nick Carr is very pertinent.

On being silly

As a consultant I write and have written  about the need to keep my promotional outlets and social media current.

Like so many I have ignored my own advice. Over the last little while I have not kept them as current as I should have.

So, I am human and make mistakes, but this is one I must learn from.

Why IT Projects Fail?

Michael Krigsman blogs on a recent ITSMFAustralia conference where he took part in a discussion on IT Project Failure, presented in the form of a simulation. There is a link to the simulation at Krigsman’s blog.

Interestingly there is a strong NZ connection as Rob England, blogger, author (The IT Skeptic) was involved in developing the seesion and led it.Well done Rob.

The session repays study.

I have always found the use of hypotheticals/simulations an excellent way to communicate issues and highlight areas for focus.

The importance of people

More and more I have come to realise that you can have all the frameworks, policies, processes and business models that you like.

To a greater or lesser degree all will work, some better than others when attuned to the circumstances obtaining.

Yet none will have a hope in hell of succeeding if the people question is not taken into account.

What do I mean? Simply that to be successful an organisation must select, train and develop people at all levels who are in tune with the needs of the organisation. In that regard it is critical that boards and senior executives clearly set out straegy and expectations as to performance so that everyone can decise whether they can sign-up. This is especially the case when major organisational changes in strategy and direction are underway.

Being in tune does not being subservient, but understanding and engaging with the organisation, including being questioning. Organisations which do not accept that questioning is an essential part of proceedings today are unlikely to make progress.

People are the essential asset of organisations, many other things are critical, but it is people that make or break them. THat is why leadership at all levels is critical.

Current project providing some good material

The assignment Ihave been working on for the last few months isproving challenging and demanding, which is what I wanted. In addition it is providing some good material for the future especially as regards the importance of governance to successful and effective operations.

Strategy in 3 words

• Where are you going (what do you want to achieve and why)?
• What will it look like when you get there (your market, your offer, your organisation, etc. and why)?
• How will you get there (what will you do and why)?

Aim

Target

Path