“Governance” is one of those words that consultants and managers like to throw around to make it sound like they know what they’re talking about. It is also one of the most widely misused words–if not concepts–currently employed in organizations. Why this is, what it means (and doesn’t) and what it should represent are what this article explores.
Managing Process Improvement
There is a great deal that, on the surface of it, would appear straightforward about process improvement. Define your current state. Identify the problems with your current state. Figure out solutions to the problems. Implement the solutions. Really, how hard can this be? Actually, it can be very, very hard. A simple solution? Keep it about the improvement, stupid!
Strategy Isn’t Hard (We Just Make It that Way)
All too often, strategy is viewed as difficult. Complex. Sometimes ethereal. And frequently completely disconnected from reality. One of the inherent challenges in many organizations is that strategy is considered to be–at the same time–conceptual, abstract and elusive. It is something that happens “up there” and “out there”, and that tangibly seems difficult to grasp. It does not have to be that way. It shouldn’t be that way. But for some reason, for too many organizations–public and private sector alike–we make it that way. And to be clear, yes, I am suggesting that this is a deliberate choice. Or at least, it is a failure to not be any clearer regarding the strategy of our organizations.
I Resolve to Be a Better Project Manager…Now What?
The beginning of the year is the time of making resolutions. This is usually followed quite quickly by the breaking of those resolutions. So what if our resolution was to become a better project manager? What then? There is a whole range of changes that this might contemplate. At the same time, there are any number of potential roadblocks that might derail us at the first turn. Doing something different requires defining both what “different” will look like, and determining our strategy for realizing that new way of operating.
What Failure Has Taught Me About Success (…and Vice Versa)
We don’t like to talk about failure. Failure is the dark secret hidden in the back of our subconscious. It is the unwanted guest lurking behind the door. The ever-growing pile of detritus swept under the rug. Failure, for most of us, represents the things in our past that we would much rather forget than actually deal with. And yet… failure is how we learn. If we can embrace failure, we can grow and improve.
When Strategy Met Projects
Projects should be all about delivering business strategy. And business strategy should be all about projects. So why does business strategy have nothing to do with the projects we do? In this article, one expert endeavors to address both dimensions. In doing so, he will try to help project managers establish an approach that can support bringing the domains of strategy and projects just a little closer together.