I recently wrote about the 11 Behaviors most disliked by IT Leaders, and #9 in that list was: Email-itis – in other words, staff using emails rather than interacting with each other in person. The added hatred was the use of blind copy and the overuse of copy to a wide audience
Leaders Must Exorcise The Curse of Email Read More »
Following my recent article, I’ve found an excellent article on the HBS Working Knowledge website which discusses the tendencies of women who are finding it easier to move jobs and maintain their star profile. This article shares the results of research that shows that females are generally more apt at switching jobs and preserving their ‘shine’, when
Update: How To Find a Much Better IT Job, Even in Recession Read More »
It wasn’t long ago that I advised you to feel confident in moving jobs, if you’re a master at your subject . I thought it would be interesting to think about more than moving IT jobs, but getting a better IT job. How could you do that? I’m going to caveat this by saying the
How To Find a Much Better IT Job, Even in Recession Read More »
Last week I met with 20 CIOs and other senior IT leaders over dinner and we approached the subject of behavior in their departments. We went around the table sharing the behaviors we would most like to see the back of. So I noted them down to share with you. I should first say that,
11 Behaviors Most Disliked by IT Leaders Read More »
The last six weeks have been an interesting time in the world of virtualization. In late June Microsoft released their final version of Hyper-V, their new virtualization platform built into Windows Server 2008. Hyper-V has been widely anticipated, as Microsoft’s absence from the enterprise virtual market has left VMWare and some smaller players free to
Is Virtualization a Buyer’s Market? Why it is a Real Opportunity for IT Read More »
The average tenure of an IT professional in an organization is still around two years on average, but there are exceptions where workers stay around what seems forever. Why? I know of several dedicated, experienced IT professionals in the US, UK and South Africa that are in a ‘trap’ – i.e. they feel stuck in
Why IT People Don’t Move Jobs Read More »
Lightworkers and Darkworkers are rare(ish) people who are polarized around a deeply ingrained intent. Lightworkers live and breathe to service humankind, whilst Darkworkers live and breathe to serve only themselves. The remainder of people on this earth could be described as Greyworkers, who tend not to know who they serve. I’ve written about Lightworkers and
Why I Prefer to Work with Darkworkers than ‘Greyworkers’ Read More »
The majority of freelancers in IT have their head in the sand, as far as their personal performance goes. IT leaders from across several industries have commented to me that freelancers tend to move from appointments without seeking feedback on their performance. It’s estimated that over 60% of freelancers do not receive regular feedback on
Freelancers Tend to Have Their Head In The Sand (and Nine Free Course places available!) Read More »
IT Leaders have been burnt badly over CRM (Customer Relationship Management). There are many failed CRM initiatives to dine out on. But CRM is set to face a resurgence as technology and business has matured towards being really ready for it. And this I think is they key reason why. CRM in the late 90s
Is CRM On Your Agenda? Read More »
Cloud Computing, where the architecture of your technology estate is based upon the integration of third-party technologies and services, is gaining momentum in the industry. It’s a natural extension of outsourcing where an organization uses technology within it’s own physical boundary (i.e. its data-center) but the technology is owned and operated by the vendor. The
Can You Afford the Cloud? Read More »
Web2.0 and collaborative technologies promise a new world of integrated thought leadership. However they are not without their flaws. There are three key weaknesses in the typical use of collaborative technologies. The weaknesses are in the way decisions are made that lead to action. Decisions are made by committees. The larger the group of contributors
Enabling Action-Orientation with Collaborative Technologies Read More »
A Leader isn’t a Leader without Followers. This is convention, but do you know what type of Follower you are, and what type of Followers do you have as a Leader? Take a look at this HBS Working Knowledge article which discusses the various categories of Follower – although it’s important to understand that a
Web 2.0 Enabled Followership: Implications Read More »
To continue the recent thread of posts about BPM, we’re going to look at the Real Tough Sell of it. BPM is about Evolution, not Revolution: The Western world is addicted to the Quick Fix, Instant Gratification and Revolution. High Impact is expected. BPM follows the concept of Kaizen (a Japanese philosophy) where the organization
Why BPM is a Real Tough Sell to Your Boss Read More »
We’re in recession – it’s a golden opportunity! If you are master in your craft industry then don’t wait for the recession to end, now is the time to move. This advice might seem counter-intuitive because in hard times it’s natural to want to feel secure in your organization, and certainly take advantage of any severance
URGENT: Now Is The Time To Move Jobs If You Think You Are S**t Hot! Read More »
I am not going to take credit for all of this post… I was inspired by Esther Schindler ‘s article on CIO.COM titled ‘Managing and Motivating Developers: Tips for Management Cluefulness .’ The subject is close to my heart as over the last 8 years I’ve been doing exactly that. I’d also say that Esther’s
How IT Leaders Can Get The Most Out Of Developers Read More »
BPM (Business Process Management) projects have been initiated in many of the organizations I talk to – it’s a hot topic. Vendors and consultants will be making all sorts of promises and bold claims – so I thought I’d document some of the things NOT TO DO. Jeepers I wish I had this info only
15 Blunders to Avoid when Implementing BPM Read More »
Can you afford to continue wasting time and resources by re-inventing the wheel and firefighting? This is the question many IT leaders are asking themselves in light of a downturn in financial markets and pressure to get more from less. Recent keynote addresses by companies like IBM and Forrester say that IT must move away
You Must Industrialize IT to Secure your Organization’s Future Read More »
I’ve just come from the Forrester IT Forum in Lisbon, Portugal, and discovered a number of insights that crystallized some thoughts I’d been having for a while. One of these insights that resonated especially was the future of IT Leadership and the potential fork in the road of the IT career path. During the last
Prepare for the Future of IT Organization, or Be Left Behind Read More »
This is a continuation of this previous article, which looks at the implications of the Product Life-Cycle. In the previous article, I discussed the phases Development, Introduction and Growth. Now onto Maturity. Maturity is the phase where the product is well established in the market in terms of market share and is turning a healthy profit for
The Implications of the Product Life-Cycle (Part Two) Read More »
Did you know that organizational shape and behavior tends to reflect it’s company’s products?
The Implications of the Product Life-Cycle (Part One) Read More »
