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- What architects should be doing (and mostly aren’t)
- When will enterprise architecture really make a difference?
- IT filled with teams “preserving knowledge” is doing it wrong
- Top level metrics for the business to direct IT
- “If an experiment is sweet, you go ahead and do it” doesn’t belong in business
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Monthly Archives: May 2012
Find Where the Value Is in Every Change
It should go without saying, but it bears repeating: not all changes that are requested are worth doing, and a CIO needs to have a rationale for saying “yes” to this one, and “no” to that one. For many, the … Continue reading
What can Conductors teach Managers?
“In order to conduct the orchestra, you must turn your back to the crowd.” This statement was made in a client meeting recently, and it immediately sparked a heated discussion about the orientation a manager should take. Is their focus … Continue reading
Is Your Change a Real Change?
It’s amazing how resilient basic IT organizational design has been in the face of change. From residual CIO offices (where everything is outsourced) still laid out as “the infrastructure maven”, “the solution delivery manager”, “the policy guy”, and so on … Continue reading
Use Complements to Accomplish More
For several years canny managers have risen through the ranks by ensuring they had the support of people who filled in the gaps in their own talents. I have seen, for instance, one leader with skill in out-of-the-box, big picture … Continue reading
Are Your Portfolio Assumptions Wrong?
No matter how comprehensive the analysis of an IT portfolio is, the subsequent discussion and action planning is typically far more constrained. Typically, over 75% of the portfolio is “off the table” right from the beginning: no matter how much … Continue reading
Rapid-Fire Risk Assessment
More change initiatives will turn on satisfying executives as to the risks being taken on (and the ways these will be managed or abated) rather than simply on financial business cases. I say this because the last few years have … Continue reading
Different Kinds of IT Organization
It wasn’t all that long ago that IT in one corporation was pretty much the same as IT in another corporation. We are, however, entering a transitional period, which will end with the total reconstruction of IT. Many of today’s … Continue reading
Allow Generalists to Emerge
The hierarchical organization is built on a concept of mass replication. Taylorite in its origins, the idea is to create replicable jobs. The actual qualities of the incumbent are far less important than that they simply do what the position … Continue reading
Clearing a Path for Excellence
Most companies will enter 2013 with a renewed emphasis on “operational excellence” as the global economy shudders yet again. This will often end up being defined in ways that can be equated to “competing on cost” — and, as the … Continue reading
Getting Value from IT 