Technology, then people, then process

Some people say process leads technology but I think it's usually technology that leads most peoples' decisions because it's so shiny. 

There's an order to getting things done with technology that should be followed to be successful and not spend too much or buy the wrong thing.  What we ultimately want in life and business is processes or flows that serve us in efficient, effective, fun, valuable, and entertaining ways.  To get these flows (ideal experiences), though, we have to follow a very structured process and invest in technology and experts.  The process starts with technology identification and selection, then leads to people and experts, and then finishes with you (hopefully) getting the processes that you want.

Technology.  The technology selection part is fun.  My mom's looking to get an iPad soon and she's excited about that.  Looking at technologies is fun and we can learn a lot by studying them but we have to first know our goals and criteria.  We can and should build our ideal process requirements in this phase.

Then people.  The people part of the process can also be fun and enlightening.  This phase is about bringing in experts or geniuses to support you in learning and achieving your goals and objective processes.  You'll find that many of the geniuses out there have a vested interest in *their* technologies or solutions and are not necessarily customer advocates.  True business analysts, managers, and customer advocates inquire with the customer then select only those technologies and suppliers that can meet their long-term, strategic needs.

Then process.  The process part is also fun and where the rubber starts to meet the road.  In this phase, it is about putting the technologies and people you bought into a practice and flow and making it work for you for your objectives whatever they might have been.

In review, working with technology is fun but we have to make sure we surround ourselves with advocates for us who help us get the technologies we need to achieve our process objectives.

Adjust your dreams to align with reality and what's possible (focus on next steps)

Take one step at a time and focus on the water.
Maybe it's good, maybe it's not.  To dive in or not?

Dwelling--or really spending much time at all--on analyzing the way things are or why they are the way they are is kind of a messed up, useless waste of time but apparently we have to do it as humans.  I'd rather spend my time imagining the future and figuring out what I need to do to get there.

Focusing on where we want to go and figuring out how to get there is a really important and necessary thing for us to be happy.  We have to take one step at a time and crawl, then walk, then run there.  We want to imagine ourselves warping into the future, to the place where we'd rather be.  But it takes time to get there in reality and our imaginations are way faster than time and real-world processes are.

We need to make things happen in reality through our actions and by externalizing our vision to other people and the world around us.  This takes time and keeps us grounded in the now and thinking about what steps are required to execute next.  We have to keep our pace and sense of urgency high (by developing new, more complete and current visions) to get to the future fast enough or it could be gone by the time we get there. 

So be flexible in your vision and let it change because hopefully it will only get better or more realistic as you take the steps to getting there.  Don't just be a dreamer, be an adjuster of dreams to align with reality.

See communications and delivery as separate but a part of the same customer-centric whole

It's all part of the same thing,
we just don't know the difference sometimes
but we have to create and define it.

Most projects are tough because there are two main and competing parts to them: doing the work (adding value) and communicating about the work (selling).  I wrote about these two things yesterday.  When we're in roles like project manager or business analyst, we have to do both and can't focus on just one or we'll fail. 

One time at Microsoft I focused exclusively on delivering the value and failed because I didn't spend enough time on communications and change aspects with the customer (I had no time or willingness to, either, so serves her right...). 

On the flip side, dealing exclusively on with the selling aspects is the same as analysis paralysis and we shouldn't just want to sit there and talk about it all day: that's not the goal either.  So there must be some kind of balance between these two things.

I think we're lucky: Scrum makes communications a daily occurrence through standups and has a standard process and roles for communications.  Scrum fixes the time of communications and gives most of  the time to the development team to do their work.  In the meanwhile, management and planning activities happen in parallel. 

In Scrum there's a clear and defined way of communicating and this is necessary.  Many new projects don't have this structure and need to get it as soon as they can.  So, in summary, we need to have the role of delivery, the role of sales, and then a defined and clear relationship between them.  Get it!!

Don't just do it, teach it

Teaching others how to do what we
know can be extremely satisfying
and gratifying.  And kind.

A lot of us go through our days and lives doing what we do best but don't take the time to show others how we do it or how they could do it.  We probably think they don't care but I bet they do.  I bet they would like to learn and understand our crafts. 

If we're truly passionate about what we do, then we should want to teach and show others how to do it.  Let's make it a collective point today to set aside some time with someone we like or care about to show them how we do what we do.  Really sell them on it.  Try to convince them that the thing that we do is the thing that they should do, too.  But listen, too, and maybe the thing that you independently do you can do together. 

A learning model for professional services organizations

It sure would be nice to have a manual.
It shouldn't be that hard for our groups to make one.

I'm sure many of us would say that our organizations do not provide us with sufficient training for us to be truly great at our jobs.  They also don't provide us enough knowledge-sharing and partering abilities with our peers. 

I just recently started a job that had next to no training provided to me.  Without it, I had to go find people and resources on my own to give myself even a small clue of what I needed to do.  And even then I didn't have enough information and it made it way more complicated than it needed to be.
While there, though, some colleagues and I built a model that provided us the training we knew we all needed.  We saw training being delivered in three levels: A) our roles B) our accounts and finally C) our projects. 

Role level.  We agreed that by first focusing on our roles, we would be able to help each other become excellent at what we do, individually.

Account level.  We next decided to focus on our customers and accounts.  We felt that the politics and preferences of our customers mattered a great deal and that there was a big need for teammates to be trained on accounts.

Project level.  The final thing we knew we'd need to focus on was our projects.  We agreed that our projects should be the simple part of this.  We all know what we have to deliver and fit in, so the training here really should be minimal.

By training and accumulating knowledge at these three levels a professional services organization can learn, continuously improve, and deliver the maximum values to its customers.

Software suppliers as a service

We need to shape our organizations wisely and can't have
too many crazy cooks in the kitchen.  We need to create
the role of the master chef for our enterprises.

I've been brought into a few situations recently to help companies where the software they bought was not performing as they had expected it to.  They thought it was going to be great based on what the vendor had told them but when it came down to business and reality, it wasn't doing the job.

There's a problem in industry today and it's probably always been there.  I think our organizations went a little bit crazy in implementing tools and technologies but never thought about the big picture, the architecture, processes, or operations that would support the organization in the long term.

Our organizations have to become more lean and agile but they also have to partner very wisely.  Rather than implementing tool after tool, they have to question the process and way by which they are doing this.  Are they doing it in a controlled way?  Are they doing it in a sustainable and continuously improving way?

There are a lot of tools and vendors out there and they all might be pretty good but organizations need a single service that helps them contain and control technology acquisition costs and partners.  Let's not run amuck and buy a bunch of tools without control or process.  Thanks.

Think of services instead of projects

Hitting the drum once is fun and nice and all (and important)
but playing a sweet drum solo is really what you prefer.

Projects are a convenient way to think about things: they have a beginning, middle, and an end.  How cute.  But the truth is, though, that we shouldn't want to think about the end because this means no pay and no relationship!  I'm not talking about death or anything that serious here, I'm talking about the end of our projects when the value has been delivered and the relationship with the customers and project team is over.  What I'm trying to get at here is that we should rather think in terms of long term and strategic (at the program and account level) than at the project level. 

All this said, we really can't have long-term and strategic without projects and immediate value delivery mechanisms.  The truth is that most value is and can be delivered through projects but we have to learn and enact ways to do projects continuously and forever for our customers.  This takes teams to do. 

Let's start imagining things that are built to last and repeat forever rather than one and done.  Forget the old-school ways.

Do two things: add value and sell

Doing two things, even doing one, is hard sometimes.
But it's required.

As contributors to the world I believe we have to do two very basic things to be effective and successful.  Some of us are good at none of these, some are good at just one, and there are a few (possibly lucky?) others out there who can do both.  Those two things are 1) adding value and 2) selling.

Adding value is about doing things that make peoples' lives and businesses richer.  In order to add value we have to know our audience, know our customer, and know ourselves, then choose to do something that is both reasonably interesting and unique to make a difference.  Adding value can be a very high bar and our audiences can be very picky: they don't always laugh, care, or buy.

Selling is all about the spit and polish we put on the value.  Selling is the sizzle on the steak.  Selling is having the guts and courage to do what we think we need to do and doing it.  Selling is about being steadfast, dominating, persistent and controlling.  We don't want to overdo it on selling but we can't add enough value.

Selling and adding value are required to be successful in life and business and for many of us it is a daily struggle to do both...or even just one.

Choice is a powerful thing

Judges.  They are all around us and we are also one.

We might like to think that we can affect, influence, and even control all of the stuff around us--and we can to a large part--but sometimes we can't have as much control and influence as we'd ultimately prefer.

Decisions start and stop all things.  Decisions can come from within us or outside of us.  In this way, there are two competing forces: us and them.  Everything boils down to decisions and it is decisions that are the things that are affecting and creating the workflows, processes, and policies that surround us.  Decisions are the things that ultimately set our course of action in life.

When a leader or person in a powerful position above us or in relation to our project makes a decision, all things are put into motion and dependent upon that decision or opinion.  As project managers we have to be very aware of the decisions and opinions being made around us and make our own decisions of how we'd like to react given them. 

There are several ways we can decide to treat these decisions and opinions being made around us: A) we can work in compliance and agreement with them, B) we can work around or be ignorant to them, or C) we can directly against and in combat of that decision. 

Working in compliance and agreement of the decisions is the preferred--don't rock the boat--way of doing things.  It's the easiest and probably the most effective.

Working around or ignoring decisions is another form of compliance but it is a bit more subversive.  It is passive-aggressive to know but not necessary heed the decision.

The third type of behavior in relationship with respect to a decision is total war against that decision.  When we get into this mode, we do not agree with the decision and will do everything in our power to fight or change it.

We all want control and on a day by day basis we make our own decisions about the decisions and opinions that are taking place around us and set our own path in the maze.

Only make the sausage if they'll pay for it

It doesn't really matter how you make the sausage.
But the sausage had better be good and the customer
had better be willing to pay for it.  Regardless, don't start
making it until you are confident you'll get paid for it.

Sometimes it's really nice in projects to be given the opportunity of an "open" contract but it will frequently lead to disputes if you're not careful about managing customer expectations and the budget.  If you're not a professional project manager, you should not dabble with T&M contracts because you will get burned by hard-nosed customers that demand quality for their money (and they should).

It would be nice to bill people and see if they pay or not but you have to make sure when you're doing this that you're also able to defend your price and value for what you're billing.  This means that you have to have excellent metrics and measurements of the value you're delivering and a justification for that value (the business case and justification, ie the argument *for* the price).

Whether you're managing projects on a fixed basis (even Agile is fixed since it locks scope for an iteration) or on a T&M, more loosey-goosey basis, you have to be careful.  No matter how you're making the sausage, make sure that the customer gets it, is willing to pay, and likes you enough to fork the money over.  Otherwise, you might as well not start.

Unscrew screwed situations

Don't just be any tool, be a screwdriver.  Be the one that can drive
change in one direction or another and try to make sure
it's positive change that people want.

I'm frequently brought into organizations to unscrew screwed situations.  What I do is to figure out what's going on (the situation), try to talk to all parties and sides (get info), look at all of the pieces and parts and systems (analyze), and then look at the market and objectives and fact and make decisions and recommendations and plans to help steer the organization(s) into a clearer light (lead).

Doing this is an art and science, and a risky, difficult one at that.  To do it successfully, you have to be really careful of the people and goals and get everyone thinking and looking in the same direction.  Have you have to identify key bottlenecks and remove them one by one until you can see out.  Communicating effectively up during this time is also difficult, yet critically important.

Dive into organizations and find out where they are most screwed up.  Be the change that is required to correct the problem and point it into the direction that you believe.

Name the project

Even kids know how to tell us what to do.
In organizations we become followers.
But don't.  Be perceptive and share it.

Between all the clutter and crap of organizations there is a project somewhere.  You are the person that has to identify and name these projects.  Without you, there are no projects, just chaos and disorder.  Get good at finding, naming, and talking about projects and what they are.  Get good at telling people about them, getting them excited about them and helping them understand how they can help the project succeed.  Don't be martyr or fall guy for the project but continue to represent and be clear with people on it and the way forward, to a better place.

It can't be undone

Stack 'em too high and it all could topple but it sure is fun stacking
and each time we learn something new about our techniques.

In business and our personal relationships we frequently have to make tough calls and take risks.  We should be proud of the risks we take and prepare ourselves to deal with the consequences.  As we prepare to make a big decision or take a big risk, we have to think through the consequences and potential backlash of an action.  Thinking and behaving this way is *the* way in my opinion.  It's my goal to take risks and be prepared to deal with all that comes.  This makes life fun.  Dive in!

Name your price

An agreement on price lies somewhere but
make sure you're not compromising too much!!

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to name your price, I feel for you.  Sometimes it can be fun to name your price and drive a hard bargain but most of us are uncomfortable with this.  As American's we're typically not really barterers, but as business people we really have to be.  Maybe you've experienced this, too, where in business you have no choice but to talk about and deal with issues relating to price.  I guess my only tip is to buck up, be strong, and don't be afraid to drive a hard bargain.  You'll win some and you'll lose some but be fair, too.