Paul Clarke has an excellent post in which he talks about the importance of having a purpose when trying to measure things. That’s not quite the point of his post, but it does nevertheless provide a really telling concrete example of why it can be meaningless to try to measure something if there isn’t a … Continue reading
I was struck last week by the story of the Netflix customer revolt — it shows that even young companies have problems managing change. To review: Netflix want to shift their business to video streaming, and away from DVD delivery. As part of this they’re reducing the service to DVD customers so that you can … Continue reading
The other week I joined a number of peers at IndigoBlue‘s November Second Wednesday breakfast to discuss the subject of critical success factors in complex projects. As usual it was held under the Chatham House rule. What follows, then, are not minutes, but some of the important discussion points that stuck with me. Contents Definition … Continue reading
There’s a short piece on eBay over at the Wall Street Journal that’s hugely instructive about strategy and technology in a non-technology company. So many lessons in such a small space… Adequate technology hobbles the business; A strong technological backbone opens up new opportunities; Technological short-termism is really costly; The business strategy needs to include … Continue reading
I’m amazed and disappointed that it’s still acceptable for people who run major companies to show wilful ignorance of technology. And I don’t mean what firewalls do or how to get wifi working on your laptop. I mean what it means to the companies they run, how it impacts their people and their customers, and … Continue reading
My public service for today is that of matchmaker, and specifically finding a match for the many online commentators who have a start-up-shaped solution for newspapers’ current crisis of faith and future. Over on Mashable, Vadim Lavrusik has a useful round-up of “12 things newspapers should do to survive”. It’s good to see a lot … Continue reading
These are some thoughts on how news organisations (and specifically those which have a background as newspaper companies) might create new opportunities for themselves. In particular I want to focus on why and how those opportunities might come from outside the organisations themselves. The thinking behind this piece has sprung from two articles: the first … Continue reading
This is the third and final installment of a series attempting to redeem words tarnished by management. Previously I looked at “strategic” and “leadership”. Today: governance. This is a word that doesn’t tend to get used much among software development teams, and when it does it tends to carry the claustrophobic feel of heavy bureaucracy: … Continue reading
This is the second in a short series of articles intended to restore the reputation of certain words — words that have been abused by managers and therefore have likely become meaningless to people who have to listen to them. Today: “leadership”. “Leadership” is surely a word that needs saving from the management jargon-fest. It … Continue reading
This is the first in a haphazard series which takes various management phrases and tries to ground them in reality. First, though, a bit about why I’m writing this. A poor choice of words can be damaging. There are numerous times I’ve received an e-mail introduction from a company, and after a couple of paragraphs … Continue reading
