RSS

RSSArchive for March, 2008

Principle vs Specific arguments

I’m constantly reminded how a dynamic of argument and debate is in the wrong place. A recent issue cropped up where a colleague was pushing back to a technical supplier because insufficient information had been provided against a change request. The problem though was that the phrasing of the pushback was principle-based, i.e. he argued [...]

The impact of Unplanned Work

This might resonate with you if you’re a technical professional: how many times have you been asked to do a piece of work (often portrayed as a ’small’ job) which disrupts planned activities and means one of both slip or are done with compromise? A study in 2002 found that IT departments can be spending [...]

Knowing your craft, inside out

What have Michael Dell (of Dell Computers), Jack Welch (of General Electric) and Bill Gates (of Microsoft) got in common? They reached the pinnacle of their domain and organization by knowing their companies industry and products, inside out. These guys are true captains of their industries (whether you like their products or not). All three [...]

Can you spot a bad CIO? (… or CTO, or IT Director, or IT Manager, or Head of IT)

I was perusing the CIO.com website and found a good article which covers the traits of a ‘bad CIO’. If you forgive CIO.com’s annoying paginated delivery of content, you might enjoy reading this. I think it applies not just to bad CIOs, but as I suggested in the title it can apply to spotting anyone [...]

… whilst we’re on the subject of recession…

A recent article on HBS: Working Knowledge gave a marketing view on coping with recession (take a look.) You might notice a number of parallels between the advice aimed at marketers and the advice I gave in my last article ‘5 Recession Beating Tips’.
I think this is because marketing and technical departments face similar challenges [...]

5 Tips for beating recession in techical roles

 It’s hotly debated whether we’re heading into a global recession or not; my personal view is that the economy is slowing down sufficiently enough to spur me to prepare for recession. Taking positive action now could soften the blow if such a disaster were to happen, and I’d confront it on the front foot. Below [...]