Classic lament of IT - I just want get involved, be part of the conversation - I want a seat at the table. Classic lament of everyone else - How can IT deliver value to the business? It sounds like two people reaching for each other - but in the dark. They want to connect, but they don't know how. The problem, of course, is that many - from IT and other areas of the business - default to the…
Even in the overhyped world of technology, these non-technical issues (resources, cost, time, priorities) are often the root cause of project difficulty and failure. Talking things out up front can save a lot of headaches and disappointment later.
I'm working this holiday week to get the majority of the written work completed for my 2013 Performance Reviews; I realize it's something that folks do not enjoy doing, but I see it as an incredibly important effort. I like to think my organization and I are doing a fairly good job of communicating on a regular basis, but the structure and the formality of the annual Review process ensures that we are "on the same page" regarding the critical…
[Records Retention refers to] the practice of maintaining records for an organization from the time they are created to the time of their disposal. (source: Wikipedia) That last bit is the tricky part; every day at most corporations eMails, spreadsheets, and presentations (collectively: “stuff”) are created, shared, and printed – along with all of the financial and transactional records issuing from the various ERP / accounting systems. Creating stuff is easy – but are we rigorous enough in the “end…
Practical, tested suggestions and approaches that will help translate cybersecurity technology and process to concepts that will resonate with the Board.
Marketing and IT may have strong opinions about each other - but there is value in understanding each other's point of view. Here are a number of hard truths that Marketing and IT have to realize and come together on.
Just an observation from the past week; I had a meeting with an IBM Sales Team, reviewing a range of products as they work to understand where IBM might help my business. I appreciate the fact that IBM has a wide selection of offerings, and we were doing an OK job of reviewing various families / groups of products ... until we got to something labeled Smarter Cities. This one piqued my interest - something potentially related to the products…
Like most organizations, we are talking a lot internally about Innovation - the Great Ideas that will transform the company and deliver top-line revenue and high-value earnings growth. The trick, of course, if figuring out how to make that Innovation happen - as if you could plan it out in advance, on schedule to make your quarter-end. It's not that easy - but then again, maybe it's not that hard. Check out this video from Steven Johnson - another terrific…
One of the benefits of ditching cable and going to internet streaming TV is that I'm watching more TED talks for a mental stretch break. True, I'm missing half of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but I catch stuff like this from Paola Antonelli, on bringing video games to New York's Museum of Modern Art ... [ted id=1752] It caught my attention because it's all about the importance of Design, and specifically Interaction Design. Antonelli moved from architecture to a focus…
First in a series of posts on presenting a summarized view of Corporate IT using SQDC-style KPIs - a Lean Management-inspired way of speaking in a language your Manufacturing Operations teams will understand.