Category Archives: Leadership
Spark!
Spark. The sound of an idea coming to life. Once born, it will seek out other ideas and inspire people to build on it, growing into and morphing into many other shapes and sizes… Continue reading
Next Level Thinking
Changing your way of thinking is not easy. Culture, habit, and time pressures conspire to keep the things as they are. getting to the next level, regardless of what level that may be, requires this very change however… Continue reading
Decisions are Made by Individuals
Let’s be clear. Decisions are made by people – by individuals. Decisions are not made by groups or committees… Continue reading
Leading at the Edge
…At the edge, the action is about change. The action is about identifying a vision and working towards transformation of an organization. In the post noted above, Edge IT is defined as functions and services that rhyme with IT Strategy, workforce planning, financial and operational modelling, scalability and capacity planning. This is an area where leadership makes all the difference… Continue reading
Managing at the Core
…This is also the area where truly great IT organizations separate themselves from their peers. Organizations which are able to articulate the problems to solve, the benefits and costs in doing so, and have develop a well though through approach in addressing the problem have a huge leg up. By doing so, the organization can avoid false starts and mis-direction, early involvement of stakeholders instead of late, and the projects have a better chance of running to conclusion. In general, this will provide a more efficient use of capital. Continue reading
Angry Exec Ratio
Making people happy is over rated. Making everyone happy is impossible. Getting the job done, no matter how difficult, is enormously under rated… Continue reading
Arrows of Change
It takes courage to stand up for what you believe to be right, for what you believe needs to change, or to the actions and decisions the authority figures and decision makers which you are accountable to. The movie Jerry Maguire opens with the lead character creating a manifesto for change. His vision was bold and would change much of how his company would conduct business. While this manifesto did not turn out too well for him personally in the short-term, in the long-term he was able to put his vision into practice and the industry was far better… Continue reading
24 Months
A recent Forrester study has shown that the average job term for a CIO is on the rise. I believe there is more to the story. Going with the assumption that both the employer and employee need to realize a value in what they receive in exchange for what they give there is an implied necessary balance and harmony required for a strong and long-lasting working relationship. Continue reading
Growing Pains
When companies are young, there is often abundant enthusiasm, and a scarcity of funds. From an IT perspective your decision horizon is also not too far out. You will typically have comparatively few users for the systems you have to build (or buy, or rent, or…). The criteria that you have to work with will typically be very basic functionality, low volume, and little interaction between functions. Given that the expectation that you will pull off minor miracles with two quarters and a dime, the best and easiest answer is to develop point solutions with minimal investment in the software platform. If you have enough foresight to the types of applications required ahead of time you may even invest time in an application and system architecture. Congratulate yourself if were able to pull this off in the typical start-up organization. Continue reading
Attraction of Identity
As an organization, who are you? What is your internal and external story? If you cannot crisply define yourself in a few words you likely have a problem on your hands. Continue reading
