We talk about organizational culture a lot. We recognize that there are ways of working that are unique to individual organizations. That we need to learn those ways, and to understand “how things are done here.” We learn—sometimes the hard way—that we need to respect culture as we manage change. But what, exactly, is culture? […]
Taking The Time To Plan When You Are Too Busy Doing
You know the feeling. You’ve got a mountain of work in front of you. Projects that are critical are falling by the wayside to make room for the latest dumpster-fire of urgency that landed on your desk. The merely important projects mock you from the depths of notebooks that go back years, reminding you of […]
Kill Your Darlings
There is a lovely phrase that most writers know: “Kill your darlings.” When editing, throw out everything that doesn’t serve the story you are telling, no matter how in love you are or how clever you thought you were being. That’s true of writing, and it’s even more true of projects. We need to cut out everything that doesn’t serve the project. And sometimes we need to cut the project itself.
The Decisions Sponsors Have To Make
Being successful as a sponsor requires being attentive. We need to show up, pay attention and provide active support. Where this doesn’t happen, projects fail. Sadly, every once in a while, projects fail anyway. The challenge for sponsors is determining what to do next.
The Sponsors We Need To See In The World
The role of project sponsor is critical. With their support, projects have an opportunity for success. Without it, failure is almost certain, even for the most talented and capable teams. Despite this, there’s astonishingly little guidance in how to be a great project sponsor. And real life examples of awesome project sponsorship are few and far between.
So How Do You Keep Score?
We live in a world that wants concrete specifics. We have bosses that like measures. We have sponsors that demand proof, and want to know how you are going to demonstrate impact. And yet very often the more important something an initiative is, the less likely you are to be able to measure it. So what you can you do? What could you measure? And what are the cautions of doing so?