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Category Archives: Management
IT Cost Management via Your Ecosystem
“Cut your costs by 15%, I’ll need your report on how you will do this by Friday.”
Ominous words, but words which are all too common these days. People are stretched pretty thin as it is and if your company is like most people, the work being done isn’t going away. How will you do this? Continue reading
Posted in Management, People / Talent, Process
Tagged consultant, contractor, ecosystem, Management, people, productivity
2 Comments
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
Voices and Messages
If you have developed your culture where there is a healthy sandpaper to challenge ideas, there will be no shortage of voices to listen to. Are they all equal in volume? Are they all equal in critical thinking? Are they all equal in importance? The obvious answers are no, no, and no. 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
Dark Matter
Ask anyone (astrophysicists excluded) what the universe is made of and they will point to the mountains, oceans, plants, buildings, and people around us. They would be correct – to a point. The reality is that these known and tangible items account for four percent (4%) of the universe. Ninety six percent (96%) is unknown – called Dark Matter. What we know is vastly over-shadowed by what we don’t know. Given how much we don’t know, it is quite likely that we will learn that we likely don’t know the 4% that well either. Continue reading
IT Farming
…One interesting aspect to explore here is not the comments or absence of them, but how the situations being commented on came to be. While many times these comments can refer to specific events, more often than not, when you dig beneath the surface, you will find that what is being reacted to is a systemic condition, the seeds (either crop or weeds) of which had been planted long ago. Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Management, People / Talent
Tagged culture, decisions, people, workforce dynamics
1 Comment
Sandpaper
IT organizations are no different. There are a variety of people, processes, technologies, stakeholders, and customers in play. Communicating and decision-making in environments such as these is difficult at best. Successful organizations have figured out how to effectively do this. Continue reading
Posted in Management, People / Talent
Tagged decisions, diversity, workforce dynamics
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Top 10 Posts of 2009
The best audience is intelligent, well-educated, and a little drunk.
-Alben W. Barkley Continue reading
Posted in Consulting, Leadership, Management, Process, Technology
Tagged consultant, decision, Leadership, Management, workforce
2 Comments
Hey CIO, How Are Your Sociology Skills?
A first blush sociology and IT may seem distant concepts. Over the last two years, these subjects and functions have had a head on collision. Some say for the better. Some say for the worse. Continue reading
Posted in Management, Process, Technology
Tagged change, organization, social technology, workforce dynamics
2 Comments
