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Category Archives: Technology
Technical Architecture – Static or Active?
What happens when the technology platform which you have adopted is eclipsed by newer more efficient or effective technology? It is easy for this to happen. The decisions made today will have a shelf life. Vendors of software platforms are frequently purchased leaving the acquired platform in limbo. Different technologies and platforms which perform similar roles can gain more market traction leaving the chosen platform in question. Continue reading
Posted in Technology
Tagged architecture, decision, decisions, information, obsolesence, technologies
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Playing to Win
I see many sports organizations consistently, year after year, playing to win – as opposed to playing to not lose. They will make the extra effort to ensure they have the right players are in place, but much more than that they will ensure the management talent is in place. They will have extensive recruiting networks, deep management talent at all levels (both at the professional and feeder teams), and cultivate a culture of success throughout the organization. In short, they have made the conscious decision to “play to win.” Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Technology
Tagged actions, business drivers, decisions, fudamentals, Leadership, strategy, success criteria
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E2.0 Fundamentals
Over the last few years I’ve been connecting dots, data points actually. These data points relate to innovation and the opportunity presented by Enterprise 2.0 (E2.0) technologies. While there is a tremendous amount of evidence from companies who have started navitgating down this road that these technologies, individually and collectively, provide great benefits and are seen as potentially game changing. With these new technologies companies are learning why and how to best make use of them within their organizations. Continue reading
The Problem With Ease of Use
Ease of use is something which is highly desired. Industries are built around it. Intellectual property laws allow entrepreneurs to innovate to make almost anything easier to do. In the 1980′s and 1990′s companies would spend a great deal of time and money on business process (re)engineering. The end goal was to have processes and systems which were easier to perform and easier to use. While it was recognized that this would be expensive, the elusive “ease of use / ease to perform” was thought to be well worth it when all was said and done. Continue reading
Posted in Technology
Tagged BPE, BPR, ease of use, end user computing, EUC, information architecture, simplicity
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Types of Meetings – It Depends on Your Perspective
The marketing guru Seth Godin describes three types of meetings which occur in business – Information, Discussion, and Permission meetings. I found this very interesting and somewhat of a parallel universe.
In the business world that I am familiar with, management of Information Technology, I am used to four primary types of meetings, and a different set than Seth describes. Continue reading
Posted in Management, Process, Technology
Tagged efficiency, meeting, productivity, protocol, workforce dynamics
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Memories
Recently, Seth Godin made a great point in Personal Branding in the Age of Google that while checking into applicants for a babysitting position he “Googled” each applicant and learned a lot about them through posts they had made on Facebook and other social sites. [A good read on this is Oh, What a Tangled Web Print We Leave, by Brett Popplewell] This is a great example of how people’s behaviors on-line mirror their off line identities. At least for those people that use their own identities on-line. Continue reading
The Art of Building a Team
Over the course of the last twenty years I’ve been part of and put together dozens of teams. Over the last few years I’ve been putting together teams more often. I’ve found that it is important to recognize that teams evolve. They take on an identity. They have a culture. At the beginning of a project they are a collection of individuals, at the end of a project the team is far more than the sum of its people – in ways that are difficult to predict. At its essence, teams are organic entities which are grown as opposed to assembled or built. Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Management, Process, Technology
Tagged goals, team, values, web2.0, workforce dynamics
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Connectivity Dependence
For a 24 hour period today I will be in an area with very poor Internet connectivity. This isn’t backpacking in the Andes, it’s downtown Tacoma, WA. This is in no way a condemnation of Tacoma, but a reminder that even in the urban environments we often have “dead zones” that we have to deal with. Continue reading
