For the last few years, I have been working with a colleague on developing a new theory of project management. We argue that the project manager is not a manager in the traditional sense but a blending of manager and leader. This has been written about before by other project management scholars but I believeRead… Read more »
A week or so ago, GovLoop started a discussion on what a government innovation lab would look like. Some great comments on how to build collaborative workspaces but I felt that the discussion missed the greater point of how to make government agencies more innovative. The major problem with innovation labs is that they mayRead… Read more »
The graph below demonstrates something that every LEGO enthusiast quickly realizes: the more pieces in a set, the greater the number of different types of pieces. The same principle applies to projects: the more tasks needed to create the project product, the greater the variety of tasks. This is the first reason why projects canRead… Read more »
Recently, there has been a good amount of discussion on GovLoop about culture in the government agencies. I am hopeful that we continue the discussion because I fervently believe that cultural change is the key to fully realizing openness in local, state, and Federal governments. Maybe 2012 will be the Year of Culture as weRead… Read more »
For me, 2011 was a great year in personal development but the uncertainty and turmoil surrounding being a government employee reaffirmed the need for constantly developing my skills. I see 2012 as being even more turbulent and I am convinced that the best strategy is to be the “go to” employee who consistently delivers results.Read… Read more »
It’s a rather obvious observation that the modern world is complex and confusing. There is a lot that have major influences on our lives but we don’t know much about. Things like climate change, global poverty, Mideast peace, etc. When we feel ignorant about a subject that affects us personally, we do research to learnRead… Read more »
Last week, I posted some questions I had about creating organizational trust. Trust has been on my mind lately because of my research in complexity leadership, innovation, and culture change. A common theme in all these fields is building trust. Well, I don’t believe you can directly build trust. I believe it emerges from theRead… Read more »
This will be a short posting because I am not sure what I mean by “trust.” Oh, I know the dictionary definition and can even point to several books on the subject. Even so, here is my real dilemma: can I really trust my organization and my leaders when they embark on a trust-building effort?Read… Read more »
You have probably been involved in some type of strategic planning effort either at work or in your personal life. You know the scenario: a group in your organization meets to come up with a strategy for a project, your association, church, or to meet a mandate to have a strategy. You spend most ofRead… Read more »
Just after I posted “Business Process Management As If People Mattered: Adaptive Case Management” the latest issue of the Harvard Business Review downloaded to my Color Nook. This was a special issue devoted to talent management and so I flipped through it pretty quickly until I came across “Lean Knowledge Work” (Staats and Upton, OctoberRead… Read more »