One more thing. Check out my daughter’s fashion and style blog at http://www.laculturecreators.blogspot.com/; you’ll be glad you did!  

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Post from: EveryJoe

Last Post for PM411 For Awhile

One book CIO Insight missed, which has completely changed my thinking about the highest impact actions a company can take, is Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO by Gerald Kendall and Steven Rollins. My brief conversations with Mr. Kendall reveal him to be the real deal with excellent experiences and success. His use of Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints as it applies to governance models and PMOs is groundbreaking and should be considered by every company, large and small. Gaining control of selecting, eliminating, and prioritizing projects along with aligning them with company strategies, using the approaches in the book, WILL make an impact no matter what kind of organization you belong to; this is evidenced by the numerous case studies from organizations as diverse as manufacturers and counties.

Much of my writings stem from seeds planted by that book- check out my Choosing the Right PMO Vision series. There you will see how to establish an approach and criteria for selecting a PMO vision that can change your company. Keep in mind that a PMO can be very small depending on the need. So, you smaller companies can also benefit from how to connect your strategies to the projects you do!

This is a MUST READ for all IT AND C-level executives.

Have you got a book that has changed your business life? How about your personal life? I just about recommended Henry Kissinger’s Diplomacy because of it’s excellent, practical applications to business.

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Post from: EveryJoe

What IT Pros (AND C-levels) Should be Reading

I’ve been doing a research project on how continual improvement programs are embraced and drive companies from the executive and cultural perspectives. Interestingly, the best practice that seems to be emerging is excellent project prioritization based on alignment with strategies first, followed by value measures. One company tried several times to start continual improvement programs; it didn’t happen until the CEO and others embraced the program as strategic and then followed through with organizational changes such as placing a high level executive in charge of continual improvement programs.

What is your experience with continual improvement? Do you see how high level governance processes can be continually improved and be important to a continual improvement program? Can a continual improvement program exist without the excellent governance processes? I think not- but WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Continual Improvement Projects Require Excellent Governance

Fortunately I’ve suggested that they focus on research, organizing, coordination/compilation, and decision making skills in college (vs worrying too much about a specific major). The ability to quickly gather information, assess a situation, and make good decisions is essential in a world that changes EVERY DAY. You will recognize the emphasis on innovation AND being prepared in this blog related to organizations, PMOs, governance structures, and strategy execution. Sometimes I think that the best training we could give in colleges and universities is how to set up Theory of Constraints based project management, PMO and governance systems. Organizations, teams, and individuals would benefit.

A lot of young adults approach the world of change and innovation as a roller coaster to be ridden through exciting times; in other words, there will always be something exciting happening. If YOU want to be the creator of the excitement, rather than a casual “experiencer”, your ability to do your “homework” and be prepared to make decisions is essential. It’s a lot of work but work that has EXTREME rewards and extreme satisfaction.

Finally, the best advice I’ve received that somehow says it all assuming you have a spiritual and moral compass: have fun and make money!

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Post from: EveryJoe

New Beginnings Require Preparation, Preparation and More Preparation!

Alan W: A while ago, I was a bidder on fair sized contract with a specialized mfr. They had a BIG IT plan, SAP, SCN, you name it. They were hostage to their IT man, he had them seduced and bought in to the tune of 30 projects (none fully implemented) and 400K in licenses (way more than a company this size needs in a Webbiz20 services era).

I did not get the [deal], because I spoke the truth – but somehow, I think that my honesty will get me back in. Here is what I said while trying to get this seven figure (career high for me) 18 month re-engineering project:

“Dear Colleagues, you have over 30 individual related and unrelated integration and installation projects….I ask you to total the months and items of completion…”

Silence. Then the excuses from the people running the project… well, Wilensky, what would you do about it?

“I am glad you asked. Cut at least 75% of the unfinished projects, make what you have work in 90 days or less, and move to hosted CRM and billing”.

Then, after I delivered the print out of my analysis, I met the CIO in private….“Your company can’t finish one project and the consultants and internal IT steering [you] towards these complex packages are making the excuses seem plausible”.

PM411: This is very typical in my experience. Hopefully, you opened some eyes above the CIO also. This points directly to the need to get a PMO operating OUTSIDE of the purview of the IT folks. There are just too many factors that support such a multi-project result when IT is guarding the henhouse.

Alan’s candor is exactly what many companies need right now. Many are attempting to do projects that have nothing to do with strategies. The organizational structure and culture for project selection and management doesn’t exist at a broad enough level.

Do you have some stories of excess projects that aren’t getting done? Share them!

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Post from: EveryJoe

IT Led PMOs Create a Project Management Mess

CFO’s

I think it did and that Greenspan was right. An important point in my thinking is that the banks that failed did NOT manage risk on the risk they retained. And the CEOs of those banks did not emphasize risk management and involvement of top executives in that concept.

I’m the first to point the finger at government intervention as a culprit but this is simply passing the buck.

How do you feel about the subprime mess? Has it affected you? In what way? Are you upset with the banks for their poor risk management? What is the responsibility of the individual investor in this debacle?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Did the Fed Contribute to Poor Risk Management by Banks?

“Risk was not integrated but split between a credit risk officer and a market risk officer, both of whom reported to the CFO, who then reported to the CEO. That may work at a place like Goldman, where decisions are made collectively among executives. But at a firm with a strong-willed CEO, like Merrill, it can backfire. People close to Merrill say that even if Edwards [CFO] saw the risk, contradicting then-CEO Stan O’Neal was a dangerous game.”

This quote from the CFO magazine article on risk management on failing (Goldman) and successful (Merrill) banks, reveals a problem with many high profile, high impact projects; i.e., organizational culture trumps structure. Fear of contradicting a leader can drive a company in the wrong direction, even with a seemingly good reporting structure.

All this talk of organizational structures, reporting relationships, and bringing credit risk and market risk functions together can’t hide the culture problems that are behind the subprime mess. It’s really very simple, the CEOs let it happen. They risked their firms betting on extremely risky investments.

What do you think? And how does the concept of risk management apply to your business? Are you pursuing risky projects that could have a severe negative impact on the business?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Risk Management Problems Are Culture Problems

CFO

“the inability to properly manage risk, and the failure of stress tests have so far resulted in global bank losses of $265 billion. With a few notable exceptions, bank CFOs seemed willfully ignorant of snowballing risk.”

The worst performers, like Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, shared common problems of a siloed approach to risk and insufficient communication among executive levels in finance, risk and operations. The best performers so far, represented by firms such as Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, give risk a high profile in decision making and have CFOs who manage risk closely.

Many firms allowed the importance of risk management to wane. Contributors were both governmental and corporate leaders. More on this in my next post.

How does your company manage risk? Is it the purview of the CFO? If so, how does the CEO create an environment where all executives contribute to the risk discussion?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Risk Management: What Can We Learn from the Sub-Prime Crisis?

1. http://projectmanagement411.com/innovations-are-under-your-nose-go-and-see/

2. http://projectmanagement411.com/organizations-as-boxes-analogy-reveals-power-of-projects/

3. http://projectmanagement411.com/social-network-positioning-new-age-solutions-to-old-economy-problems/

4. http://projectmanagement411.com/heres-what-pmo-governance-boards-want/

5. http://projectmanagement411.com/a-softwares-history-gives-great-insights/

6. http://projectmanagement411.com/social-networking-strategy-more-important-than-being-green/

7. http://projectmanagement411.com/open-innovation-brings-companies-together-to-solve-problems/

8. http://projectmanagement411.com/how-to-protect-intellectual-property-in-collaborative-innovation

9. http://projectmanagement411.com/networking-an-important-step-in-collaborative-innovation/

10. http://projectmanagement411.com/a-key-to-collaborative-innovation-defining-the-problem-generically/

What’s the latest hot topic at your company? What are you doing about it? What are you doing to make your company’s strategies happen?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Top 10 Views at Projectmanagement411.com for May 2008!

I’m realizing that I’m a focal point for all things “project” having to do with executing strategies and innovation

If you like what you see, and many of you have told me so, then that probably means we have the same interests. Hopefully that doesn’t mean that we think alike because that would only lead to boring conclusions.

Blogs are for dialogue and changing minds. Help me do it! Change my mind. Get involved. Blog!

Here are some of the topics I’ve been dealing with this month- check them out and tell me what you think- these issues will change how business is done in the years ahead:

The Google Way to Innovation

Keep Governments Out of Business

I Told You! Your Carbon Footprint Will Be Taxed

A Fad That Will Pass? Social Networks

Does Multi-Company Innovation Work? Yes!

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Post from: EveryJoe

If You Don’t Get Involved You Can’t Make Change Happen