“Questions attract thoughts and new ideas. Asking questions creates a learning mindset.”
Plus, it’s the right thing to do. Being interested in others — reflected in asking questions — is part of treating people well.
Archives for 2010
The 3 Constraints on Every Project
Every project — every endeavor in organizations, society, and life — operates within three constraints:
- Quality
- Schedule
- Resources
Quality means how well it is done. Schedule means time — how long it takes. And resources means people and financial cost.
Here’s the meaning of this: these constraints are interdependent. And so you can hit it out of the park on any two of these areas, but not all three.
For example, if you want the end result to be very high in quality and done very quickly, it’s going to cost you a lot. Or if you want to use as little resources as possible, it’s either going to take you a very long time or you are going to have to sacrifice on quality.
You have to choose your priorities.
Reasons Projects Fail
Here are some main reasons projects fail, from To Do Doing Done:
- Unclear goals or objectives
- Changing scope
- Insufficient resources
- Conflicting priorities
- Lack of knowledge
- Poor communications
- Lack of leadership
- Lack of management support
- Lack of teamwork
- Poor planning
- Political issues
The Scarcity of Good Management
From an article in Fortune back in February of 2006; I don’t think things have changed much since, because the driving force of this problem is lack of training and skill:
“Talent of every sort is in short supply, but the greatest shortage of all is skilled, effective managers. Even [in China], where you can hire factory workers by the million, companies can’t find enough managers….Labor is abundant, but managers are scarce.”
Person-Based Pay vs. Job-Based Pay
Financial status and rewards in most organizations are based on the types of jobs people do. This approach is based on the assumption that job worth can be determined and that the person doing the job is worth only as much as the job itself is worth….
It is not clear that the worth of people can be equated with the worth of their job. This approach clearly does not fit with a company that depends on people for its competitive advantage. The alternative that is being increasingly adopted is person-based pay. It bases pay on each individual’s skills and competencies.
The Value of Being Able to Execute Projects
From To Do Doing Done:
“In our increasingly demanding world, the people who succeed will be the ones who can initiate and complete challenging projects. They will be the ones who know how to create a vision that engages everyone involved in the project.”
Remember: Everything that Crosses Your Email (and Desk) Falls into One of Three Categories
The three categories are:
- Trash
- Fileables
- Action items
Every email or piece of paper is either an action item (to be done or delegated), information, or trash.
Don't Miss It
“To every person there comes in their lifetime that special moment when you are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to you and your talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds you unprepared or unqualified for work which could have been your finest hour.” — Winston Churchill
More on the Importance of Beliefs in an Organization
“…truly great organizations think of themselves in a fundamentally different way than mediocre enterprises. They have a guiding philosophy or a spirit about them, a reason for being that goes far beyond the mundane or the mercenary.” — Built to Last
It is eye-opening to realize the critical role that beliefs play in organizations. For we typically think of beliefs mostly at the individual level. But it is the shared beliefs and values in an organization that play the biggest role in making the organization effective and meaningful, and a place where people want to contribute.
The Importance of a Basic Philosophy to Every Organization
“The basic philosophy of an organization has far more to do with its achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation and timing.” — Thomas Watson, Jr.
Who was Thomas Watson, Jr.? From Wikipedia: “Thomas John Watson, Jr. (January 14, 1914 – December 31, 1993) was the president of IBM from 1952 to 1971 and the eldest son of Thomas J. Watson, IBM’s first president. He was listed as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century.”