Five Lessons on Social Media from an Unexpected Source
A true-life story of collaboration in action; social media done right, with plenty of lessons learned. Because coffee!
Four Required Behavior Changes for Enterprise Social Media
Can Social Media technologies and practices translate well into your organization? Think differently about these four behaviors inside your teams - the right changes will drive the benefits.
Coffee Shop IT
A practical analogy for operating your IT function "like a business", with emphasis on design, usability, sustainability, and rigor. Think of your team as the boutique consulting firm that it really can be. The real payoff comes when you focusing on the built-in advantages of the internal team ...
Another 90 Day Sprint
... and now the work really begins ... For the second time since starting this site, I've made a change and taken on a new position. This time was a bit more structured, using the learning process from The First 90 Days, by Michael Watkins. I had read the book before, so the ideas weren't new - but as with any familiar technology or idea, it never hurts to go back for a review. Of note - in the past,…
Tilt-Shift / Timelapse Artistry
Another great example of tilt-shift / time-lapse film making - thanks to Photojojo and It's Nice That ... httpv://vimeo.com/37157187 I like the helicopter rescue at about 1:20, a mini-flashback to a previous video from this guy ... http://vimeo.com/3156959 ... which was featured on the Guggenheim site (what a great site to wander through for inspiration!) Take a quick look at the filmmaker's web site - the home page has a video of samples that are just stunning!
I Hate the Business
Hmm, not quite ... how about I Hate "the Business" More specifically - I really am getting uncomfortable with the whole "IT and the Business" meme: ... demonstrating IT alignment with the business ... IT's relationship with the business ... IT and the business need to work together / build partnerships ... the Project is made up of the IT team and the Business team ... and so on. It's an unhealthy mind set to get into; when corporate IT,…
“Lean” meets “Demand Management” in IT – Managing the Constraints
It has been a few months since I've posted, but I haven't been idle - two significant projects (aside from working very hard at the full-time job), only one of which I can talk a bit about at this time. Tomorrow (Thursday, 16 Feb 2012) , I am presenting at a conference on IT Portfolio Management in Rosemont, IL - a case study on how we use ideas from Lean Manufacturing and Demand Forecasting to solve a fairly common problem…
Help for the Newly Minted Project Manager
Congratulations! Due to the recent [acquisition / divestiture, market expansion / contraction, organizational realignments, other] you have been identified as a Critical Resource for this particular bit of business process change. And, to help us implement these changes, you have been named the Project Manager for this effort. So now you are a Project Manager (PM, for short); what does that mean? You may be vaguely aware that people get certifications for this sort of thing, or that Microsoft sells…
Introducing Collaboration Tools? Three Required Personas for Success
When introducing collaboration tools to an organization - creating the corporate intranet, defining project sites in Sharepoint, etc. - there are multiple skills you must master - well, at least get better at. You need to capture the ideas and communicate the data such that your target reader understands what you are trying to convey - but you also have to help them locate it in the first place. Three personas you'll need to adopt, three sets of skills to…
How to Draw an Owl
On Documentation One recent afternoon I found myself in deep conversation with potential consulting partners, holding out for a difficult requirement: "Excellent Documentation". That's a tough one to quantify, let alone describe; why hold out for something at once critical and ineffable? Doesn't every project talk about the importance of providing documentation, yet rarely deliver it? Don't most people flip past the pages of detailed work process, going right to the keyboard to bang away, expecting tool tips and intuitive…