Posts Tagged ‘Strategy’

4 steps to effective Disaster Recovery planning

by Marc Watley, Aug 23, 2010

IT executives today are, in fact, increasingly faced with the threat of disasters – whether natural or man-made. As organizations – and their customers – increasingly rely on database, server, and IP-connected applications and data sources, the importance and responsibility of maintaining continuity of the business infrastructure and limiting costly downtime in the event of a disaster, is paramount. Read this article to get a high-level, best-practices overview of the DR planning process. more…

Character and Personality #8: Competency

by Gary Monti, Aug 24, 2010

A good leader is also a good politician, one who finds a way to thread through a situation to reveal a path that, when followed, benefits the common good. Competence pulls technology and sophistication together so that one person can meet another person’s needs, i.e., a connection comprising the humanity of the stakeholders who need and commit to finding a solution that works. more…

Social Media and Tribes #9: The fear factor

by Deepika Bajaj, Aug 25, 2010

Even professionals who have gone through many technological innovations in the past don’t find the idea of being transparent and authentic over social media too appealing. They were worried about identity theft, making a wrong impression on a potential employer and above all were overwhelmed by the friend requests on Facebook. These are valid concerns, but not an excuse to avoid social media.  more…

Flexible Focus #16: The decision trap

by William Reed, Aug 26, 2010

Ambiguity causes anxiety in those who are inflexible, and creates possibilities in the minds of the people who have flexible focus. Tolerance for ambiguity drops when you have to make a decision. Urgency adds pressure, and when the decision affects the core areas of your life, you can feel as if you are lost in a labyrinth of choices. Your decision sets the wheels in motion, whereas with indecision the wheel turns without you. Read about the Six Criteria for Decision Making to stay in motion and steer the wheel. more…

Investment Value

by Steve Popell, Aug 27, 2010

In a previous post, Business Valuation in Divorce is Different, Steve discussed why Investment Value is more appropriate in the context of family law.  But, this method is not just for divorcing couples.  In any situation in which the party acquiring an interest (or a greater interest) in a company will become (or continue to be) part of the management team, Investment Value is often the most appropriate method.  Read this article to find out why. more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: active garage, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Business Valuation, deepika bajaj, execution, Flexible Focus, gary monti, http://activegarage.com, leaders, Leadership, management, marc watley, Social Media, steve popell, Strategy, technology, william reed, www.activegarage.com, www.datacentertrust.com, www.deepikabajaj.com

4 tips for selecting the right consultant

by Brian Beedle, Aug 16, 2010

Vendor selection process can be an arduous, time consuming, and stressful task.  Receiving quotes that run the gambit of the budgetary spectrum, deciding which product will give your company the biggest bang for the buck and wondering if saving a dollar or two is really worth the frustration of finding the “right partner”.  Every Project Manager has dealt with these issues. In this article, Brian lists some key points may provide some clarity and assist with narrowing the decision-making process when seeking a value-added business partner. more…

Character and Personality #7: Courage

by Gary Monti, Aug 17, 2010

Tiger Woods’ difficulties with his swing and Mark Hurd’s (HP’s CEO) inability to fill out expense reports correctly can be traced back to complexes. In a very public way they both show how trying to succeed simply by ego has limits and the desire to be complete as Self will, when denied, erupt and wreak havoc without any regard to the consequences. more…

Working Hard – Still no progress?

by Vijay Peduru, Aug 18, 2010

According to most economic historians, the Industrial age ended about 20Yrs ago in 1989 when the Berlin wall came down and the internet came up. In the industrial age, working hard meant, using our body and working long hours i.e physical labor. The easiest way to do hard work in the post industrial age, is to love change, train ourselves to love challenges and question the status quo all by using and exerting our mind. more…

Flexible Focus #15: Karma and Connections

by William Reed, Aug 19, 2010

You reap as you sow. Therefore if we want to achieve positive results, you need to think, speak, and act positively. There is also collective Karma, which is often thought of as collective fate, but more constructively can be interpreted as collective action. Things are connected in ways that are not always obvious. Even when the connections are not obvious, it is possible to take small actions which use the butterfly effect to create good Karma. more…

A diverse workforce: The smart thing to do

by Robert Driscoll, Aug 20, 2010

Diversity in the workplace should not be limited to race, gender and age, but differences of views and personalities as well. If this diverse workforce is guided properly, they will share their unique knowledge and discuss their differences rather than what’s common between them. This will lead to generating innovative ideas that could potentially change the marketplace you are in. more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: active garage, brian beedle, Business Strategy, gary monti, http://activegarage.com, Leadership, possibilities, Project Management, Robert Driscoll, Strategy, technology, vijay peduru, william reed, www.activegarage.com

In my last post, I talked about the pillars of success to help start your venture.  In order to make sure that the pillars stay up, you have to have a solid foundation, which are the principles of the leader.  These principles are: integrity, credibility, attitude, teamwork, excellence and vision.

In order to become a leader, you must have integrity.  Without integrity, you won’t have any followers.  Your integrity is your brand not only within your company, but in the marketplace with your customers as well.  As a leader, you are constantly building it and making it better.  You create, maintain and build your integrity throughout your career, but it only takes one unethical act to destroy it.

As you build and improve your integrity, you start gaining credibility not only within your organization, but with your customers as well, as you keep and fulfill on your promises.  You can’t have integrity and build your credibility without the right attitude.  You need to know how to build people up and help them overcome challenges and go above and beyond to not only create opportunities but create success as well.  An organization with smart people with the right attitude in an organization will go much farther than an organization without.  Sounds simple, but great people with the right attitude are the hardest, and most important, assets to find in a business.

A leader with integrity, credibility and the right attitude with a group of people following them who also have the right attitude must be able to create a teamwork environment.  Employees who are able to effectively work together allow a company to accomplish tasks and meet goals that would be very different, if not impossible to do, as individuals.

Being the leader of a company, you must strive for excellence.  You should constantly push to improve your product and services in the marketplace.  Not only listen to your employees recommendations, but more importantly, your customers as well.  Use these recommendations to continually improve your products or services.

In doing all of this, don’t forget about your company’s vision. Always remember it and ensure that your colleagues and employees practice it, believe in it and share it with your customers.  As a leader, you must be able to not only share the vision with others but also make sure it its being followed and practiced.

We all have skills and capabilities that help our organizations, but none of us are perfect.  If you can master most of these, along with the pillars of success, you will not only be an effective leader, but will create a company with effective employees helping you build a successful business.

This article was contributed by Robert Driscoll, co-founder of Active Garage. You can follow Robert on Twitter at rsdriscoll.

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, Business Strategy, Communication, execution, http://activegarage.com, leaders, Leadership, management, Robert Driscoll, Strategy, www.activegarage.com

3 Steps to making the Outsourcing choice

by Matthew Carmen, Jun 21, 2010

It is now rare to find a company, of any size, that hasn’t outsourced some portion of their IT functions.  This could be as small as an application or as large as the company’s entire IT department.  If you’re considering outsourcing within your own organization, Matthew’s article will help you think through the next steps in detail.  more…

Leadership and Mythology #7: Zeus, Greed and Change

by Gary Monti, Jun 22, 2010

Being greedy can lead to disastrous results. Nurturing your network and cultivating abundance is critical for sustained success and peace of mind. Greed and its consequences show up in Greek mythology. The lessons are quite relevant today especially in a complex, chaotic business world. more…

Social Media and Tribes #3: Mob mentality

by Deepika Bajaj, Jun 23, 2010

Contrary to popular conventions about the Web opening minds, people are more likely to read information or participate in social groups that reinforce what they already believe. A tribe can show dramatic increase in the undesirable action compared with doing nothing at all, because it demonstrated that lots of others engaged in the behavior. But if your message to your tribe is right, you can make positive change happen.  more…

Flexible Focus #7: Inside the lines

by William Reed, Jun 24, 2010

Thinking outside the box is a synonym for creativity. Although this metaphor has captured the popular imagination, the real challenge is to engage in applied creative thinking that solves real problems. Just like tennis is a game that is played entirely within the box, the most exciting and productive creative work is often produced and performed inside the box. In this article William explains how to use the Mandala chart to expand your thinking and stay within the lines.  more…

Author’s Journey #27: Building relationships with your readers

by Roger Parker, Jun 25, 2010

It is increasingly obvious that the whole point of writing a book is not to sell books, but to build long-term and profitable reader relationships. Consider your book the core of your long-term self (or business) marketing plan. In this scenario, your book becomes the hub of a relationship-building strategy that begins long before your book appears and continues for years afterward. more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: active garage, author's journey, Business Management, Business Strategy, deepika bajaj, Entrepreneurship, gary monti, http://activegarage.com, invincibelle, Leadership, management, Matthew Carmen, possibilities, purpose, roger parker, Strategy, Writing for Business, www.activegarage.com

In its simplest term, a leader is someone who people choose to follow.  They influence others to do things and there is a difference between managing people and leading people.  There are certain characteristics that make someone a model leader, which I will list below, but we don’t need to have all of them.  If you have a good understanding of most of these characteristics, you can become a model leader.

Operate with honesty and integrity.  This is the most important characteristic and the foundation for a model leader.  People who work for you need to trust you and should want to work with you.   Without this foundation, everything else is irrelevant.

Execute efficiently.  You need to know how to formulate a plan and put measures around your plan.  You have to be able to take data and measure your plan and understand why you accomplished it or know what went wrong.

Demonstrate financial savvy.  It is imperative as a business leader to understand profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statements.  In business, this is how we keep score.  More importantly, as a model leader, you need to know how to explain these statements to others.  If you don’t understand them, you can’t be effective in business.

Strive to optimize the end-to-end value chain.  A leader needs to develop and nurture not only the people in their organization, but partner organizations who can contribute to your organizations success.  While you need to have a team with your same values, inside and outside of your organization, you need to continually work to make them better.

Develop and nurture the organization.  As one moves up the corporate ladder, this area becomes more important.  It is important to not lose sight of what your front line employees do.  Spend time working directly with your teams and help them grow and prosper.  This in turn will help you grow and prosper.  As a leader, you need to be focused on making sure you have the right people in the right positions while helping them develop the right skill sets to help them prosper and grow.

Think independently and critically. Don’t just be a “yes” person, but don’t  always get in to fights with your colleagues.  Pick your battles and when your views differ, have data to back it up.

Practice situational leadership. Know and understand your dominant leadership style but also pay attention to the situation at hand and be able to effectively articulate what you need.  You might need to be able to act in a manner that is uncomfortable for you but is necessary to get the job done.

Communicate effectively.  Make sure that your message is clear so that it’s not misunderstood.  The last thing you want is to have the task not completely correctly.  Take your time.

Like what you do. If you don’t, then think about where you can be more effective.  Be up to the challenges that you are faced with in your job every day.  Be excited about it.  Negative energy spreads quickly.  Be positive and like what you do, otherwise move on.

The marketplace is always changing which requires you to constantly adapt.  As you work on improving these characteristics, before you know it, you will stop being a manager and will become a model leader.

This article was contributed by Robert Driscoll, co-founder of Active Garage. You can follow Robert on Twitter at rsdriscoll.

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Communication, execution, http://activegarage.com, leaders, Leadership, management, Robert Driscoll, Strategy, www.activegarage.com

Webinar Strategy and Elephant Chunks

by Wayne Turmel, Apr 19, 2010

Most small companies and startups do not have the time and money to create marketing webinars, customer training and recordings for the website. The task may seem daunting, but not so if you break it up into small bite sized chunks. In this article Wayne provides a concise strategy to attack this problem. more…

In Sharing look for Caring

by Guy Ralfe, Apr 20, 2010

Great article! A must read. In your entrepreneurial endeavor, you will meet a variety of people. Guy has made it really simple to identify them into 4 distinct categories. Partners are those with high level of domain knowledge and have the inclination and capacity to assist you. Seek them. At any cost stay away from onions and decoys. But make sure your assessments of people are correct though. more…

Leadership Cancers #6: Leave your heart at home

by Gary Monti, Apr 21, 2010

Yet another deeply thought provoking article by Gary! Life is challenging and business is even more so. Every day you come across situations that require you to make tough decisions. When at a cross road, reach out to your inner compass. This reminds me of the great speech Al Pacino delivers in the movie Scent of a Woman. more…

Announcing 99tribes.com – People discovery engine for Twitter

The Active Garage Team, Apr 22, 2010

This is a great day for us at Active Garage! We are proud to announce the launch of our newest project, 99Tribes – A People discovery engine for Twitter.

What distinguishes 99Tribes from all other people directories on Twitter? 99Tribes helps you find and DISCOVER twitter users who share their interests. Based on the patented Rawsugar technology, you can start discovering people by typing what you are interested in (popular examples being: marketing, sales, blogging etc.)

Don’t wait. Go ahead, check it out, add yourself to 99Tribes and have fun discovering others with like interests!

Author’s Journey #18: Evaluating your current online visibility

by Roger Parker, Apr 23, 2010

After going through the first two steps Planning and Writing, we are now at Step 3, Promoting. The first thing to do in this stage is to evaluate your online platform that determines your online visibility. In this article Roger provides some great tips and techniques to cultivate and enhance your online assets. more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: 99tribes, active garage, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Communication, Entrepreneurship, gary monti, Guy Ralfe, Rajesh Setty, roger parker, Strategy, technology, Twitter, Wayne Turmel, Writing for Business, www.activegarage.com

Lifecycle Management: Knowing what your company owns, how it’s being used and where it lives

by Matthew Carmen, Apr 12, 2010

The key to managing a financially sound IT organization is to start with a sound planning and implementation process. You need to know what it is you are managing. They are software licenses, hardware assets, leased equipment and the list goes on and on. Knowing this is the first step to understanding how they are used and the details surrounding the total cost of ownership. more…

Leadership Cancers #5: Simplemindedness

by Gary Monti, Apr 13, 2010

The difference between simple and simplemindedness is a razors edge. When designing a solution for a customer, you need to understand the disciplines, principles and the balance between them that is required to go from customer requirements to functional specifications to design to production. Failing to recognize any one aspect will lead to a simpleminded solution that will introduce unintended complexity. more…

Customer is King

by Guy Ralfe, Apr 14, 2010

As Guy wades deeper into his new domain of business, he is able to understand with great clarity that the first order of business is to take care of customers. This cardinal notion spans across all industries without exception. If you do not take care of your customers, somebody else will and you don’t that to happen. more…

Business Valuation in divorce is different

by Steve Popell, Apr 15, 2010

In a divorce situation, the manager-spouse purchases the community property interest of the non-manager-spouse through the process of community property division. The standard “fair market value” method of evaluation is not valid here. Read this article to understand the fundamentals of this evaluation method. more…

Author’s Journey #17: Finishing your book on time and avoiding writer’s block

by Roger Parker, Apr 16, 2010

Finishing a book on time and avoiding writer’s block is a challenge to many authors. Better planning will help you finish your book on time. Start by creating a content plan and commit to a daily progress. more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Communication, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, gary monti, Guy Ralfe, http://activegarage.com, Leadership, roger parker, Strategy, Writing for Business

In these difficult economic times, companies are creating processes that are not consistent with the ways in which they have traditionally managed their business.  Whether you are the CFO or an entry-level analyst, everyone must actively learn how to re-engineer and strategically manage in this new economic environment.

The expectation of companies’ Board of Directors is simply to increase top and bottom-line revenue (and by extension, profitability), with little concern for everything in the middle. Before you can even consider instituting measures to contribute to the Board’s expectations by implementing cost savings initiatives, it is necessary to develop a well thought out and orchestrated operating plan.  There are many approaches to this. Some companies prefer the “top-down” method, where management dictates the spending of the operating units and it is then up to the operators to manage within their allocated budgets. On the other extreme, management may prefer to push down the responsibility of planning to the operators and ask for a “bottoms-up” approach.  This approach requires the operational managers to develop assumptions and create a detailed operating plan with very little finance intervention.  Typically, the results of the “bottoms-up” approach may not be what you expect, but merely a wish list that even Santa Claus cannot deliver!  Sure, these may very well be extreme cases – most likely the process your organization uses falls somewhere in the middle. In any case, it is imperative that the process be organized and well executed.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:

Q: “Why would a company be willing to invest the capital in a tool that provides little or no tangible Return on Investment (ROI)?”

A: This question is certainly justified, and the answer is surprisingly very simple: This perception is incorrect.  There is statistical proof which supports a direct correlation between implementing performance management tools and its downstream, positive impact to shareholder value.  Among this positive impact is increased accuracy of strategic capability.

Taking the leap to performance management is a major commitment for any organization and should not be made hastily or taken lightly.  Performance management initiatives do require careful planning, decisive action, and ongoing support from within the organization.  When it comes to performance management implementations, there is a fine line between success and failure.  A well planned-out and executed implementation will yield great success and gain acceptance.  However, a sub-par, marginal implementation with little or no added user benefit, will lead to frustration for the legacy users, leading to further resistance to the new technology and potentially the perception of a failed implementation.  The fine line between success and failure is extremely important to keep in mind.  Moreover, there are several factors that also need to be considered before beginning the journey to performance management, so that the end product delivers results not only in a positive ROI, but also in true business “intelligence”, and not a lack thereof.

A few of these factors are:

• Before the decision is made to move forward, it is important that a thorough assessment is conducted of the current business planning and intelligence environment. One of the most common mistakes that many stakeholders encounter when implementing this type of a solution is poor design.  Take this opportunity to think outside of the box. Challenge the operational business managers who are responsible for preparing the physical operating plans and forecasts to research what is needed to successfully manage their business. Take a look at your current reporting – does it provide value?  You may be surprised to find out that the need of the finance team may differ greatly from the needs of the overall operation.
• When preparing a proof of concept and statement of work, a best practice would be to set milestones and plan in phases. Establish reasonable expectations.  It is okay to under promise and over deliver.  Keep in mind, less may be more. Over complication of models and tools may only cause frustration and not be helpful in gaining user acceptance.
• A successful implementation will require commitment by leadership within the organization. It is true that many of the leading enterprise planning and business intelligence solutions companies pride themselves in offering applications that are typically implemented and maintained by finance departments and require little or no IT support. This in many cases may be true, depending on the skill set of your administration team. However, for small to mid-size companies, these finance department resources may not be available as in larger organizations. Engaging network/server and database administrator resources up front will result in a far easier and more successful configuration of the environment. Before purchasing any hardware, it is advisable to discuss the requirements with your server team/consultants to ensure that your solution is being configured optimally, yet in the most economical fashion.
• Provide training to users with relevant materials and be sure to seek feedback.  (Just because a solution is implemented, does not mean there is not room for continued development and improvement.)

Some of the points discussed in this article may sound quite elementary in concept,   however it is important to step back and not lose focus of these basic principles -  ultimately gaining a deep understanding of what it takes to successfully implement performance management initiatives.

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This article is contributed by Brian Beedle, Vice President and Senior Partner at Datacenter Trust. Brian has an extensive background in financial management in many industries including entertainment, travel and leisure, health care and technology. Brian is a practitioner of financial systems implementation and administration, and experienced with many of the top performance management tools on the market today.

Tagged as: active garage, brian c beedle, budgets, business intelligence, datacentertrust, management, operating unit, performance management, Strategy, top down, training

Everything is so amazing and nobody is happy

by Vijay Peduru, Mar 22, 2010

Have you taken a moment to reflect how amazing it is to be living this time and age? There are so many gadgets and tools that increase our capacity phenomenally, but we often end up complaining about trivial things about them. Watch a short humorous video in this post and that will help you realize that we are very lucky indeed! more…

Leadership Cancers #2: The insanity of multitasking

by Gary Monti, Mar 23, 2010

The human brain is similar to a single core microprocessor. Multitasking in either case involves context switching which is expensive. But is it effective? Multitasking should not be confused with some tasks we can perform simultaneously, like chewing gum and walking. In this post, Gary argues that high value tasks or tasks that have high impact when something goes wrong, are not conducive to multitasking. Don’t agree? Well, have you read about the impact of texting and driving? Or next time you go to a meeting, try working on your laptop and listening to the conversation at the same time.

One of our readers Avi commented that multitasking is related to picking up tasks in a “wait” state. While it is true that this enables efficient use of time, it does not mean that you can do multiple tasks at the same time. If task A takes 40 hours, you cannot expect task B to be fit in at the same time. If task A hits a roadblock and cannot progress, task B gets worked on. Do read Gary’s response too. more…

Past is NO way to the Future

by Guy Ralfe, Mar 23, 2010

Ever dealt with a financial advisor or read an investment brochure? Their standard disclaimer is that past performance is not an indication of future performance. While knowledge of the past definitely is valuable, we should be aware that the future will not mimic the past. Now, apply this to your life and your actions; don’t let the past hinder your future performance. more…

CAPEX-Free IT: How to refresh your technology, deliver stellar IT, and keep your CFO happy

by Marc Watley, Mar 25, 2010

Money is tight everywhere. According to most surveys and reports, CAPEX spending in IT is going to increase slightly this year at best, if not remain flat. Resources are down to 2005 levels. So, how do you do more with less.  With the advent of virtualization and cloud computing, there are numerous options to pay as you go. When implementing this strategy, do it the Kaizen way. more…

Author’s Journey #14: How to get others to help you write your book

by Roger Parker, Mar 26, 2010

In this post Roger describes three basic approaches to getting others to help you write your book. They are:

1. Paying for Help
2. The Network Approach
3. Social Media Approach

Read the post to understand what they are and how to leverage existing tools. As always, your choice should be determined by your goals and your resources. more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: Action, active garage, Business Management, Business Strategy, execution, gary monti, Guy Ralfe, http://activegarage.com, Leadership, management, marc watley, possibilities, purpose, Roger paker, roger parker, Strategy, technology, vijay peduru, Writing for Business, www.activegarage.com

Ever wonder who is in charge when you repeatedly try to change business rules and nothing happens? It can be maddening! You call the meeting, everyone agrees to make the change and then nothing happens. It feels like Sisyphus rolling that huge rock up the organizational hill only to have it roll back down again and again and…

The solution has two components – what to do and how to do it. The “what to do” comprises integration of three sets of business principles. The “how to do it”  balances all the solutions from the previous five posts in this Change Management Series.

What To Do: Align Business Principles

Three sets of business principles are tiered and integrated. They include:

• Business Modeling describing the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value in a holistic manner.
• Business Process Management aligning all aspects of an organization with the wants and needs of clients. Specifically, integrating the business rulesets (see below) from the various disciplines.
• Business Rules and Rulesets include the individual rules defining or constraining some aspect of the business and the rulesets that are a collection of individual business rules focusing on the same business activity across the organization.

For example, an outsourcing approach (business model) is chosen for a particular project. The management of vendors will involve both engineering and purchasing. The interplay between engineering, purchasing, and the vendor must be defined (business process management). Success lies in the detailed management of the situation.  Engineering and purchasing must combine their criteria (business rules) into a cohesive set (Business Ruleset) keeping the vendor consistently focused on providing value.

Notice how when we get to the most detailed level, Business Rules and Rulesets, they circle back to the most strategic level, Business Modeling. Let’s put that to use in determining “How To”.

How To Do It: Changing The Business Rules

Performance on this project is akin to mud wrestling! At one moment it feels like there’s a grasp on the situation and then the next moment – whoops – either stance, grip or both are lost.

The solution is learning how to referee and let the people in your organization produce the results. Specifically, take the recommendations in the previous 5 posts and perform them in the reverse order.

To produce a sustainable, stable set of business rules and processes focus on quality and risk as mentioned in the fifth post, “Projects: Three Tips to Avoid Creating Frankenstein”.

Is it easy? No. You are dealing with human nature. Use the solutions from the fourth post, “People: Building a Team with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” to gauge the limits of people and resources available, decide on trade-offs, and finalize goals.

If technology is part of the process implementation remember the remedies in the third post, “Technology: Too Good To Be True…Two Deadly Misconceptions and Their Remedies”

Keeping the project from becoming a chaotic mess requires a balance between letting people “go at it” and settling down to build some results. Act as described in the second post, Morphing Organizations: The Executive Samurai and Complexity Theory

Finally, you must be unshakable Do this by knowing your goals, values and beliefs. It sets the context. Lead the way as described in the first post Leadership: Navigating With an Executive Map and Compass

All this is done for one simple reason: to present something of value to the customer. In the seventh and final post of this series we will look at the product.

If this has been beneficial, if you have any comments, or just find this as fascinating as I do then send me an e-mail at gwmonti@mac.com or visit www.ctrchg.com.

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With over 30 years experience, Gary Monti consults/teaches/mentors/speaks in change management and project management with a focus on compassion and respect in the workplace. The work is grounded in project management, chaos and complexity theories combined with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership, management, possibilities, Strategy, www.activegarage.com