Information Technology Blog

The Road To Organizational Change

The road to organizational change is an odd one: both well traveled and unfamiliar at the same time. The intensity of resistance, the many bumps and potholes and the sense of isolation all too often lead one to surmise that the road is one seldom traveled. It is easy to assume that few have passed this way, and those that have had not too easy a time of it. Certainly no easier than ourselves as we face it today as if for the first time.

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Projects and Investments

In a previous post, we discussed the reality that while the practice of project management may continue to advance, overall project results will not significantly improve until better decisions are made through the full lifecycle of an idea. One of the most significant barriers to improvement, however, is the comprehension of what this lifecycle represents in terms of stages — and where the responsibility for decisions resides in each stage.

A Critical Look At Executive Decision Making

We have all seen the statistics regarding project failures — by even conservative estimates, the majority of projects to date either fail to meet their objectives or are never delivered at all. Moreover, we have all sat through innumerable presentations dissecting the causes of project failure and prescribing the necessary and appropriate solutions. The reality, however, is that for many projects failure is dialed in from the beginning. The greatest challenge that organizations face is not how the project is managed, or who manages it — but simply how the choice is made.

Portfolios and Project Management Organizations (PMOs)

To do a project, or not to do a project. That is the question.

The rationale by which project decisions get made varies widely from organization to organization, and is for the vast majority of organizations largely a subjective process. While a few short years ago the linkage between projects and strategy was a much more tenuous one, it is now becoming much more widely recognized that projects are a key means of realizing organizational strategy. The choices we make in terms of the projects that are taken on have a significant influence in defining organizational strategy for the organization.

Is Project Management a Fad?

An emerging theme that I have encountered in conversations of late is the perception that project management is becoming the latest management fad. Interestingly, my reaction has ranged from "Is it?" to "Already?" to "Why did it take this long?" For someone who has been on the inside of promoting and developing project management as a corporate competency, it is easy to develop the impression that this is the way things have always been done. Objectively stepping back, however, project management as a formal discipline is a much newer concept for many organizations.

Projects Are Strategy

The column builds on the fundamental principle that many of the challenges stem from the fact that project management is not the primary purpose of organizations, and never will be. Companies are created, structured and run primarily to deliver operational products and services. Projects, however, are still critical to the business success of these organizations - in creating, enhancing, replacing and retiring products and services in response to competitive and market demands. The challenge, then, is to arrive at an approach to managing projects in organizations that can co-exist with their current operational focus. This series addresses the practical steps that organizations can and must take to successfully create an effective project management capability.

Strategy and Planning: Overcoming The Failures

This post builds on the fundamental principle that many of the challenges stem from the fact that project management is not the primary purpose of organizations, and never will be. Companies are created, structured and run primarily to deliver operational products and services. Projects, however, are still critical to the business success of these organizations - in creating, enhancing, replacing and retiring products and services in response to competitive and market demands. The challenge, then, is to arrive at an approach to managing projects in organizations that can co-exist with their current operational focus. This series addresses the practical steps that organizations can and must take to successfully create an effective project management capability.

Measuring Organizational Change

As I manage various organizational change projects, I never cease to be amazed by one fundamental truth that - while unspoken - is the single greatest burden that every successful change project must overcome: management acceptance. No more is this true than in projects implementing performance measurement programs.

The reason that this truth often goes unstated is worthy of special recognition. In many - if not most - cases, the management team that ultimately has the greatest difficulty in coming to terms with the nature of the change is frequently the same management team sponsoring the effort in the first place. Paradoxical? Perhaps, but there are some clear drivers of why this is so.

Tools Aren't Process, But Process Is A Tool

Project scheduling tools don't do project management. If I had a buck for every time a client said "We need project management. Can you teach us how to use this tool?" I wouldn't need to be a consultant anymore. Project management tools let you 'do' project management like a word processor lets you 'do' English.

To successfully use a word processor requires a number of skills. Familiarity with a computer and its operating system is a given. An understanding of the principles of the program, and what buttons do what, also has value. More important, though, is the understanding of the principles of words on a page, and the thought process behind creating them. Which means that the fundamental principles of English are essential: grasping paragraph and sentence structure, intuiting subject and object agreement, and knowing not to split your infinitives (the Oxford dictionary notwithstanding) is a fundamental pre-requisite in successfully using a word processor.

A New Way of Thinking About Organizational Projects

In my most recent series of columns, I have talked a great deal about the challenges projects face in most organizations. Many of these challenges stem from the fact that project management is not the primary purpose of organizations, and never will be. Companies are created, structured and run primarily to deliver operational products and services. Projects, however, are still critical to these organizations success - in creating, enhancing, replacing and retiring products and services in response to competitive and market demands. The challenge, then, is to arrive at an approach to managing projects in organizations that can co-exist with their current operational focus. This series addresses the practical steps that organizations can and must take to successfully create an effective project management capability.

The Battle For Control of Project

The concept of management by projects is a non-starter. The average company is not a project-driven company, and likely never will be. So why is this an idea that continues to be so prevalent? What problems — real or perceived — do it's proponents hope to address? And if the project-driven organization cannot exist, what business model will surface that will reasonably address these problems? This series takes an in depth look at these questions, and offers insightful and reasoned answers.

What I Learned At The Olympics About Managing

This column was originally published during the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. In honor of the Salt Lake City games, we've brought it out, dusted it off and are pleased to place it back in the line-up. Enjoy.

Fundamental to our society is the concept of keeping score. We measure ourselves (and more importantly, those we view as competitors) by income, social status, wealth, number of cars. Raw measures that provide an automatic comparison of how we stack up, and how far we still have to go. As the saying goes, he — or she — who has the most toys when they die wins.

Where Should The Responsibility For Project Management Really Lie?

The concept of management by projects is a non-starter. The average company is not a project-driven company, and likely never will be. So why is this an idea that continues to be so prevalent? What problems — real or perceived — do it's proponents hope to address? And if the project-driven organization cannot exist, what business model will surface that will reasonably address these problems? This series takes an in depth look at these questions, and offers insightful and reasoned answers.

The 5 Habits Of Highly Dysfunctional Companies

The concept of management by projects is a non-starter. The average company is not a project-driven company, and likely never will be. So why is this an idea that continues to be so prevalent? What problems — real or perceived — do it's proponents hope to address? And if the project-driven organization cannot exist, what business model will surface that will reasonably address these problems? This series takes an in depth look at these questions, and offers insightful and reasoned answers.

When Projects and Organizations Collide

The concept of management by projects is a non-starter. The average company is not a project-driven company, and likely never will be. So why is this an idea that continues to be so prevalent? What problems — real or perceived — do it's proponents hope to address? And if the project-driven organization cannot exist, what business model will surface that will reasonably address these problems? This series takes an in depth look at these questions, and offers insightful and reasoned answers.