More than half of adult cellphone owners used their phones in stores this holiday season while deciding what to buy, according to new research released by Pew Internet. They called friends for advice, looked up product reviews and even comparison shopped–sometimes skipping the in-store purchase and buying online. While these purchasing trends are not exactlyRead… Read more »
by my friend Mike Selfridge of Silicon Valley Bank: The CFOs I know don’t typically think of themselves as bankers, but a walk in wingtips would serve them well. Paramount to a bank’s success is the chief credit officer, responsible for the institution’s credit portfolio, lending practices, and overall risk management. Successful policies established byRead… Read more »
I’ve met a lot of people in government that have hit a glass ceiling. They are doing great work but they tell me they can’t get more responsibility or a raise until someone retires. Here’s a career tip – If you find yourself in that situation, try to change jobs and go to a growingRead… Read more »
Scientists at Berkeley Lab do. One DOE-funded project at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab takes Berkeley scientists and pairs them with expertise from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and General Motors (GM). The net result? A plan to develop a cost-effective hydrogen storage system for vehicles. The basic idea is to make aRead… Read more »
The U. S. CIO Steven VanRoekel issued a draft Shared IT Services Strategy in December 2011, which may be found at http://www.cio.gov/sharedservices.pdf. “Shared First” is the foundational paradigm for this Federal Information Technology (IT) Shared Services Strategy, which provides Federal agencies with guidance on the identification, implementation, and operation of shared services for commodity, support,Read… Read more »
“Ninety percent of a project manager’s work is communication.” You have probably seen this commonly quoted statistic but what you don’t see is a statistic that tells you how much of the 90% is devoted to listening. Why is that important? Because, poor communication is at least one of the three causes for failed projects.Read… Read more »
The Twitter network below was created by Marc Smith, Social Media Research Foundation. He used it in a recent workshop on Social Media Network Analysis that I organized here at Syracuse University on January 19-20. I picked it up and posted it here on my Social Media in the Public Sector blog, because it relatesRead… Read more »
There is no such thing as a “filibuster-proof majority” In his State of the Union address to Congress last week, President Barack Obama asked the U.S. Senate to amend or abolish its filibuster rules to break the Congressional gridlock. Don’t hold your breath. Neither party wants to change those rules because they always benefit theRead… Read more »
Dr. Paul Giammalvo and I have a lot of heated and fun discussions about project management best practices. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree vehemently. From Paul: “As you know, I am NOT a fan of “ad hoc” or creating customized WBS’ unless absolutely necessary. (And how many projects are TRULY unique) I spend anRead… Read more »
A key element in organization (and work units within an organization) success is its structure – how its work activities are organized; and how responsibility and authority are identified. Structure affects how employees – even at the very top of the organization – execute their responsibilities and authority, coordinate and work with others and achieveRead… Read more »